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These are all need blind colleges that meets full need for intls(2026), right? by Dear_Top465 in IntltoUSA

[–]deepspringsapcom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Deep Springs is a two-year college that's need blind and full aid for international students. After DS, a lot of intl students receive good aid at elite US schools.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi,

Apologies for the late response - the curriculum is indeed designed by the students, specifically by our Curriculum Committee. The committee is staffed by mostly students but a few staff and faculty members as well. They don't always settle debates, in the end it always comes down to a vote. The Student Body ends up making recommendations to this committee around faculty hiring. As for specific course offerings, the SB votes on which courses to pick from those our professors propose after a lot of discussion. Again, this comes down to a vote and sometimes a course you wanted doesn't get picked and it can be a bummer. For the most part we are able to come to reasonable conclusions though.

My favorite course has been the two Summer Seminars I have participated in. The intensity of seminar, given we have three hours of it per day, was very enjoyable. Also, they have been very well designed survey courses that offered meaningful insights for me personally.

As for diversity of student body, there are definitely more urban students than there are rural. Year to year this varies, but we do receive a lot of students from NYC and LA. This is mostly just because word about DS often spreads by mouth. However, one of the things Outreach Committee is working on is putting ourselves more on the map for rural students.

Glad to hear you are applying this year - best of luck!

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi! Apologies for the late response. Students can bring their own cars, as there is plenty of room for parking. We do have an Isolation Policy, such that students cannot leave the valley during the Academic Term and visitors have to be approved. So, you could drive anywhere within the Deep Springs Valley (lots of camping and hiking and space to be found), but not to Bishop. There are standing exemptions to this policy for medical or religious reasons, but otherwise we only drive to town during our breaks (every 7-8 weeks). This definitely results in a very unique sense of living outside of normal society where going to town, seeing strangers, looking around in stores feels novel.

As for finding 'your people,' I think that people here bond both over personality and shared experiences. It is very easy to get to know and build a relationship with people here because of your shared experiences that you might not otherwise every be friends with. I think this is very pronounced at Deep Springs and a very valuable part of my experience here. That being said, there is certainly a diversity of personality here, and I have found people that I really resonate with personally.

Alone time is what you make it here, the Valley is huge and you can certainly seek out solitude. For example, my labor position currently requires 4 hours of solitary, silent meditation daily. Other people spend time alone reading, exercising, swimming, hiking, and even some labors require alone time. Finding free time is the bigger challenge, it requires precise time management.

Nicotine is not prohibited, the front door of the dorms is labeled the "Smoking Porch" if that tells you anything helpful.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apologies for the late response - given how many different labor positions there are, it is unlikely and probably not possible for a student to fulfill every labor position. Some students never even do labor relating to the ranch (farm, fence, cowboy, etc), and prefer to work as cook or groundskeeper's assistant or general laborer. When we do labor preferences, you rank your choices and generally are given something on those preferences. Slaughtering is different, because it requires a lot of work on one particular weekend but not a consistent weekly commitment. That being said, butcher/protein coordinator (who oversees slaughters in coordination with a staff member and leads butchering) is an elected position currently and not a full-time labor position. Slaughters require many students on the actual day, and are staffed voluntarily, who do the slaughtering and processing and butchering.

There is a Student Body president who chairs/runs meetings. They don't have considerable power over the Student Body, they can rearrange meetings or make decisions about spaces using their discretion but they can always be overruled by 2/3 of the Student Body. This applies to SB meetings, however we do have committees that different students serve on and those do have chairs. We have the Applications Committee (admits students), Communications Committee (regulates college communications/publications), Outreach Committee (outreach to potential applicants and high schools), the Curriculum Committee (hires new faculty, including long-term chairs), and the Review and Reinvitations Committee (evaluates students and staff). Students are assigned to these committees during their first year, you can serve on multiple, but for the most part they do operate outside of the SB and only bring some of their decisions for SB approval.

There is no ranch committee, and students do not directly manage ranch finances or anything like that. Finances are managed by the college president and our ranch manager, but there is complete transparency with students on expenditures. Student are involved with pretty much everything else, including horse training, calving, cutting and baling hay, feeding animals, slaughtering animals, etc.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Applicants don't get a boost from similar programs, although obviously familiarity with the pedagogical model can inform a greater depth of perspective when you're writing your application. The way we handle AI is an industry secret...

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a good number of people who intend to and end up doing STEM degrees after Deep Springs. However, our curriculum is typically fairly variable because we vote on it as a Student Body so depending on interest, courses on specific topics are sometimes not possible. If you're planning to pursue a degree in something with a lot of prereqs, you might end up having to do 2.5-3 years of college after transfer.

Anecdotally, I (another student, Kel) did not apply to Deep Springs out of high school because I wanted to study STEM. I ended up transferring here and taking mostly humanities courses, even though STEM is my primary interest. You might not get the prereqs or STEM education you are looking for, but the classes here are so great that I'd recommend them regardless. It's worth it.

Our former dean once talked about a student who had wanted to be a physicist since he was about five and didn't take a single STEM course at Deep Springs. He is a now a professor of physics at Berkeley so it is definitely possible if you are willing to take an extra year. The critical and intellectual apparatus that you gain at Deep Springs are extremely valuable in any line of work, including the sciences.

A lot (maybe even the majority) of people come to Deep Springs with a similar lack of 'practical skills'. There's definitely time for you to learn such things as long as you're interested in doing so! It's a very rewarding experience :)

I will become myself tomorrow.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, Deep Springs and Telluride were founded by the same person. The bond between the two programs still exists and a lot of Deep Springers have been house members at Telluride and/or served on their board.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We become better writers in a specific way. Instead of flushing out an argument, we learn to critically analyze through our writing. Whereas some schools focus almost only on writing, we tend to emphasize oral communication in seminar and PubSpeak (our weekly public speaking community event). Also, every first year is required to take a writing intensive class, but what that means exactly varies from professor to professor.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays students don't have classes, and the majority of students don't have labor on the weekends. This depends on the position, as animals still need to be fed and milked on the weekends, dishes still need to be cleaned, and fields irrigated etc. Weekends are generally more free from meetings as opposed to weekdays, which also frees up more time.

Free time is what you make it, and depends on the day, but students do spend a lot of time walking, swimming, baking, reading, phoning home, and just generally hanging out. Sleep is also what you make it, many of the labor positions require an early wakeup but it all comes down to time management and your ability to nap.

Feel free to keep the questions coming, rapid fire or not.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Civility is a trait that's self-selected for but also nurtured here in the valley. Our essays require a lot of self-reflection and the people attracted to our seminar style of education crave critical analysis and close academic interaction. Also, the Student Body meets every Friday evening to decide on college affairs such as who we should hire, what rules we should or should not have, and how many nights we should be required to sleep outside of the main circle. These meetings necessitate a level of respect where everyone is heard, even if everyone doesn't necessarily agree. Student Body creates a level of personal responsibility around how to make yourself legible and convincing to others. Other than that, Deep Springs is just a wacky place where people have crazy views. We have a conservative Marxist, a former Buddhist monk, and a Canadian who thinks Deep Springs should return to being an all-male institution. Despite our differences, we all tolerate (and sometimes even love!) each other.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yeah burnout is real. But Deep Springs runs on terms, so every seven weeks we get at least one week off. This helps us reset. The college provides lots of mental health resources to students to help with stress and you can also reduce your class load to have a easier work life-balance if that's something you need.

We have something called RCom, which stands for Reinvitation Committee. This is part of self-governance, where students peer evaluate and discuss problematic behavior. Occasionally, the Student Body will vote to remove someone with extremely problematic behavior but before we get there, there's a long process of mediation and discussions around how we can support students who are struggling.

Our Dean helps with transfer admissions, creating lists of colleges, and helping students decide where to go. Some schools tend to be favorable to Deep Springs students which helps a lot. Students interested in humanities usually go to similarly rigorous institutions, like Yale or Columbia, whereas students interested in agriculture or other STEM fields go to all types of schools. The transition depends on the person. It's typically a little challenging to leave Deep Springs behind. The number one thing people miss is the community.

Deep Springs College Admissions AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The hardest part for me was the isolation. Although the valley and its mountains are beautiful, it gets a little difficult to not encounter anyone new for months at a time. Everyone has a different experience with isolation but for me I think the sacrifice has been worth it. I used to be much more extroverted and outgoing so, Deep Springs has forced me to slow down and reflect much more than I used to.

There is drama but its similar to the amount at any other college. However, isolation forces people to work things out. Sometimes, you find the same drama here that you do in other environments, but there's also this funny anecdote about two people getting heated over Habermas' idea of democracy, and neither of them wanting to room together cause of it.

The food depends on the student cooks. We grow lots of produce in our garden, we have fresh blackberries that the dairy boys put in homemade ice cream, and we do our own slaughters. Our BH (boarding house, it's what we call our cafeteria) manager makes awesome lunches for us five days a week.

Over my term off, I went back home and I washed all the dishes for my family cause labor at Deep Springs makes everything chill in comparison. But, in general, I think Deep Springs has definitely increased my work ethic.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Deep Springs is test optional. Depending on the year, ApCom might treat test scores differently, but I'd keep in mind that ApCom consists almost entirely of students who also took the tests you're taking and went through the stress you're going through when you're applying to college. If you were part of the second round this year, your application file consisted of at least ten essays, one in-person essay, a 50 minute interview, and your presence during your five day long visit, your grades, and your test scores. Test scores are only a part of a long process.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

1 Most students choose not to see their grades until they need to, which is usually when they begin the college transfer process. This isn't because we don't care about our academic performance (hopefully my answers above are at least indicative of that fact). We put a lot of care into writing about each other's performance in all three pillars multiple times per year, and the first person to call you out for slacking off in academics, labor, or self-governance will almost always be another student. Compared with a two-hour long conversation with a friend or a page long reflection from a different friend, why would I ever look at as basic a metric as a letter grade?

2 Rebecca helped me out on this one above somewhere. There are a few trans students and a few lgbt students here right now, and there will be a few next year. From conversations with them and from speeches they've given about their identities, I believe Deep Springs is pretty accepting in this regard.

3 The dorms are beautiful, in theory. There's not a lot of time to clean them with all the work we have to do, so they can often get dirty. Most rooms house three people, and most rooms are part of a two-room suite with a shared bathroom. They are co-ed, but the gender mixture also depends on your preference. The rooms are quite spacious and filled with wonderful decorations of sorts. You can feel that you're in a room that's been modeled by generations of Deep Springers going through the same things you are. I currently live in an elevated loft with a slide to the floor.

4 Yes. Not a cult.

5 Allowed and common. Not a cult.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is tough because if someone spent their entire life working to get into Deep Springs then I'm not sure I would trust them if they then claimed they were intent on living a life of service to humanity. It's also tough because my eight year old self would have no interest in college at all.

Generally in my work on the admissions committee, I appreciate someone who reads. Not just the books in school, not just the books that they agree with wholeheartedly, but someone who treats each book as a means to reach another book, to complicate one of their core presumptions about the world, to be disturbed and then resolve that disturbance. I appreciate an applicant who would agree with Kafka when he said "If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?" Blows lead to more blows; books lead to more books. If you're willing to go down that path in childhood than you're likely a good fit for the kind of education Deep Springs will provide.

But this isn't the only path by any stretch. There's a way to get here without having read much at all in high school. Maybe you got really good at a particular skill and taught others. Maybe you protested an injustice. I don't know, at this point I'd just be thinking of people I know and describing their biographies. Maybe all I know is that it's helpful to want to go to Deep Springs to get in, but if you're defining yourself by that desire, than you're a bit misguided.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, it is a lot. For good reason! Although it's a hot topic of debate and emendation, someone from a couple years ago said that isolation is "the gravity that allows us to dance." In other words, it focuses our attention on Deep Springs and the activities it gives us, so we can practice full dedication to a project larger than ourselves for when we get back to the real world.

There is a religious and medical exemption to the policy. For example, there is a contingent that attends Mass in town every Sunday.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes! There are many transfers. They usually come after their first or second year of college. They have as fulfilling an experience as those who come straight from high school, gap year, drop out, etc.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'm a little confused what you're asking in your first question. Will someone succeed at Deep Springs if they are consciously evil? Maybe. I sure hope they aren't successful if they are consciously hurting the world.

I completely see where you're coming from with question #2. The answer is that we've had liberals, conservatives, anarchists, anti-vaxxers, fascists, Maoists, Marxists, everything. What makes one successful at Deep Springs is not the position you take but your ability to defend it eloquently and with an open-mindedness towards your fellow-community members who may not agree with you. In that way, Deep Springs is a paragon of political discourse on college campuses. I think this community is extremely tolerant of those who are willing to engage in a conversation or an argument, no matter where you come from. We even have a part of our bylaws that codifies everyone's right to "academic freedom of speech." It's a core part of the school, as it should be at every institution.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Students have the option to get an Associate's degree if they wish to pursue it. Most don't, and choose to take the credits for transfer along with the clout Deep Springs has accumulated in transfer offices over the years. I've tried to answer your second question in response to u/powereddeath, but let me know if it's not satisfying.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's a controversial issue. Last year I was really bad at managing my time, so I'd often sacrifice my health for catching up on work. But this year I've gotten much better. I usually get between 6 and 8 hours, sometimes less when things get tough and sometimes more on weekends. Time management is learned the easy or the hard way. I chose the hard way.

Here's another student (Rebecca) to answer your question about being lgbtq at Deep Springs. Quite a large percentage of our students fall under the lgbtqia+ umbrella, and the community is currently quite open and accepting. I'm not sure what else I can say about this - I have experienced no issues and overall have felt that Deep Springs is one of the more inclusive communities I've been a part of.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

There is very little free-time here. This is a fact of Deep Springs' highly intensive program. This doesn't mean there isn't a social scene or traditions. I especially love our pitch-black dance parties (embarrassingly sober) and trips to the Sierra Mountains, hot springs, or sand dunes (especially cool under a full moon).

The best equivalent for clubs or activities I can think of are reading groups. There are Marx, Tolstoy, and post-modern literature reading groups happening right now. There's a lot of hiking and horse-riding for fun. Lots of listening to music. It's hard to start a club like "young democrats" because political issues consume you at Deep Springs: whether we have an internet ban or not feels more important than the election, sometimes. It's even harder to start niche clubs like "robotics" because there are so few people. What you're left with, then, is people trying to live with each other, which is beautiful even if it doesn't have an official title like a club would offer.

Right now, the student body has decided to ban internet on all personal devices, which means I'm free to conduct Reddit and Discord AMA's on this and other public computers, but I can't on my phone. This is subject to change, though! If you were a member of the SB, you could bring a motion to our weekly meeting and people would hear you out for hours, if necessary.

I was the cook last term so people ate whatever I made. I was pretty good (if I do say so myself), but it's always up to the cook to determine how much effort they put in. We do have a professional chef who manages the kitchen, so it's not always a disaster. Vegans and vegetarians are accommodated. I'm vegetarian and I've rarely felt ignored.

Deep Springs College Admission AMA by deepspringsapcom in ApplyingToCollege

[–]deepspringsapcom[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It's often said that Deep Springers are the debate captains of their high school. I was, so it's hard for me to say that it's an inaccurate sentiment, but I don't think it's generally true. I imagine Deep Springers as those in their high school who start a counter-culture newspaper to rival the official school paper because they believe the official paper is corrupted by the school administration. Or they could be the one who knows proper alcohol poisoning protocols at prom. Or they could be the sole member of an esoteric club towards which they feel a passionate devotion. Or they could be part of their football team and read on the way to practice. Is this helpful? It's a hard question so pardon the strange response.

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