Why this econs grad from Columbia University is a big proponent for liberal arts colleges

Looking at Hui Yi Chin’s profile, one of the highlights you’d notice would be her master’s degree from Columbia Business School.

However, rather than focus on her days in the Ivy League university, she much prefers talking about her time further upstate in New York in Bard College, a liberal arts school where she pursued her bachelor’s in education.

Before we get to why she enjoyed her stint there, you might be wondering…

What is a liberal arts college?

When you think about a liberal arts college, what exactly do you conjecture? You might imagine a quad filled with “hippie” students who philosophise everything, poetry book in hand. And maybe in some part you would be correct.

Stereotypes aside, a liberal arts college essentially focuses on broad, interdisciplinary studies – this includes humanities, sciences, and arts. So, think subjects such as history, literature, philosophy, and even math.

Sadly, liberal arts colleges have faced a decline over the years driven by students seeking higher-paying jobs, which are typically in STEM subjects. Some liberal arts colleges have even had to shut down in recent years. 

So, why is Chin so adamant about its advantages?

Why she chose to study economics in the US

Born and raised in Malaysia, both of Chin’s sisters did music – which are slightly unconventional for Asian families. As the youngest (her parents’ “last chance,” if you will), Chin felt a bit of pressure to do something a bit “safer” compared to her siblings.

Like her sisters, Chin desired to study in the US. Coming from a middle-class family, though, she very much wanted to secure generous financial aid. That led her to Bard College, a liberal arts school in New York that was offering a full scholarship for economics.

“It was a no brainer,” Chin says.

Heading straight from high school to university in the US comes with its own plethora of challenges, though. For one, many of her teachers were not familiar with writing recommendation letters for uni applications, especially for those abroad, as that task was often reserved for college professors.

Thankfully, her sisters were already studying in the US, so she was able to get their guidance when it came to squaring away her visa and other logistics.

For those who might not be as lucky as she was, she recommends really leveraging USApps.org, a Malaysian non-profit organisation that helps Malaysians explore studying in the USA by offering workshops, sharing experiences from current students, and providing essential information about American higher education.

Hui Yi Chin studied at Bard College from 2010 to 2014. Source: Hui Yi Chin

What it’s like to study at “a place to think”

When it comes to economics, some schools offer it as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, whereas other classify it as a Bachelor of Science (BS) programme. Of course, there is a difference between a BA and a BS in economics. As you might imagine, a BS would likely have a stronger quantitative and technical focus.

Bard College offers the Bard Economics Program, which is a BA, but they also have a five-year BS in Economics and Finance degree. Chin was funded for the former.

The first year abroad was difficult as Chin felt very isolated and homesick. But as time passed, her love for Bard College began to grow.

“A Place To Think.” That’s what the motto of the college was. It was a place that really implored its students to think bigger, to take initiatives, to learn for learning’s sake, not just for the end goal, which may be having a corporate career or earning a million bucks.

Although she was studying economics, Chin was able to take many interesting classes, such as performing arts electives. This really helped build her character, exposing her to different fields.

One particularly memorable moment was when Chin witnessed a group of student activists campaigning for meatless Mondays. And they actually made it happen.

“The lesson was, if you keep quiet, you just get what you’re given,” she says. “If you want something, you have to act on it, and you’ll get what you want.”

Another revelatory experience Chin was through the Bard Prison Initiative, a programme that makes higher education accessible to incarcerated individuals.

Volunteering for this initiative, Chin got the eye-opening experience to tutor inmates at the prison. She was also a tutor for juniors in college, but the mentees she had in school versus the inmates had wildly different motivational levels. As students, we often take education for granted. For these incarcerated individuals, however, it’s a second chance in life.

“They know it’s a very precious opportunity and they cling on to it. And they put in 10 times more effort,” Chin says. That experience really inspired her – and exposed her to people of all walks of life.

Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Source: Hui Yi Chin

Should you attend a liberal arts school?

After Bard, Chin went on to do her master’s at Columbia Business School.

Transparently, she said that the choice was entirely practical – she knew that the prestige of the Columbia name and the network it offered would land her in high places and extend better career opportunities.

While she really appreciated the whole experience at Bard, she wished she had more awareness about career-building and other more realistic aspects of life.

That said, the idealism that Bard imparted to her is something that has unequivocably shaped her, or at the very least, amplified certain traits that she had.

The one word she uses to encapsulate her experience at Bard was exploration. So, if your mission in life is to explore what the world has to offer, then perhaps a liberal arts college might be up your alley.