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Vassar College
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| Not so bright |
People who complain about Vassar College obviously are just not meant to be here. Yes Vassar kids can be "pretentious" and "snooty", but they are also incredibly friendly and if you can get around the idea that just because there are fashionable young people around you who you perceive to be judgemental because they care about how they look, you'll realize that they are in fact not judging you just because you wear american Eagle that happens to not be Fair Trade. Then you will love it here. I have friends from all walks of society. Punks, Jocks, Stoners, Hipsters, and Hippies. As long as you are comfortable with who you are and make yourself approachable and understand the idea of social diversity (not many people here are "Joe College" types) you will have a great time socially.
The thing is that Vassar is not for that single-minded kid who wants to major in business and is just coming to Vassar because it was the best school he or she got into. Vassar is for people who are still wondering where to go with their lives and it is a wonderful place to find out. I am taking classes in the English, History and Geography departments and find my professors to be both challenging and boundary-breaking. Liberal bias does seep through nearly everywhere on campus, but it should be expected, as the school has its own Anarchist zine and other leftist orgs.
The work load is not intense at all. other than a lot of reading (which you don't really need to do all of anyway), there are probably 3 to 4 papers per class. However, despite there not being a lot of work, the papers you do write should grant you a lot of freedom in choosing what to write about and allow you to express yourself in a way that you believes tailors towards what you want to get out of college. Moreover, these assignments are actually challenging and stimulating, not just generic essays.
Vassar has a beautiful campus that is just breath-taking in autumn and spring. The architecture, while predominantly Victorian, is beautiful and surprisingly varied. The biggest irony of Vassar is that while it looks like a preppy east-coast institution, the vibe is more counter cultural than it originally appears. I feel like at least half of the kids who go to Vassar move to Brooklyn to be artsy and businesslike simultaneously in a young hip neighborhood, while at another, similar looking school like Williams, kids move to Manhattan and work in business firms or something.
There are a lot of drugs on campus, and a lot of them go unnoticed by the administration, but you can avoid them easily if you want to. However, if you are into "getting fucked up" or reliving your parent's hippie adventures, if you know the right people, you can find just about anything.
This campus is politically involved and people seem to actually care about issues. People in the dorms tend to talk about lots of random things, but every so often, a really intellectual thought provoking discussion arises. To the person who said that Vassar students love the sound of their own voice, they obviously just do not understand the idea of stimulating oneself intellectually through engaging in discussion about the topics at hand. You will find yourself having a lot of discussions in class, and if you really love your classes, you should find yourself contributing, unless you're introverted in which case you should take pleasure in listening.
I love Vassar and feel like anyone independent-minded unique and free-spirited individual should love it as well. Apply if you are interested in social sciences/politics/the arts (especially drama)/and english. | Education Quality: A+, Surrounding City: C | | | |
| | Nov 30 2008 | 1st Year Male --
Class 2012 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Bright |
Now that I have graduated I can appreciate Vassar more, but I positively hated the four years that I spent there. Here's a breakdown of my experience:
Classes: Most professors are great. Smart and easily accessible. Classes are small, about 25-30 students for intros and 8 or 10 for seminars. Attendance is important and professors will notice if you are absent. Class participation is a big component of your grade, but I found that the occasional inane comment was sufficient. Caution: students here like to talk a lot in class. About nothing. Seriously, most just like the sound of their own voice. This was my biggest peeve and made a lot of classes downright miserable.
Grades: In a word, cake. If you major in the social sciences, expect two or three papers for each class. That's it. There's a lot of reading, but truthfully I never did any of it and I got all As and Bs. A few professors are tough graders, but if you put some effort into your papers you won't get lower than a B.
Academics: Expect to learn more about race and gender than you ever thought possible.
Campus: GORGEOUS. The dorms (with the exception of Jewett) are old, but I found them charming. Main is the best dorm (big, more anonymity, and has the Mug/P.O./cafe/bookstore downstairs), Joss has great parties, Strong is all girls and quiet, the quad dorms are all sort of the same, Cushing is far away and pretty much forgotten, and Noyes is for nerds and weirdos. The surrounding area is pretty rundown, but there are decent restaurants. I brought a car and it saved me from being confined to the "Vassar bubble," but Poughkeepsie is kind of a s****hole.
Campus Life: This was my biggest problem with Vassar. If you're a hippie/hipster/vegan/gay/bookworm or else socially awkward you will be right at home here. If you play sports, expect to be made fun of a lot and hang out primarily with other athletes. If you an attractive, straight girl DO NOT COME HERE. Seriously, there are usually maybe 3 moderately attractive to good-looking guys on campus and they will either be in a relationship or huge players. Conversely, if you're a normal looking guy you will have the opportunity to hook up with girls you will never be able to get in the real world. There are a lot of campus parties, but I got tired of them after the first two years of school. There are bars in Poughkeepsie and surrounding towns but Vassar students rarely leave campus on the weekends unless it's to go to NYC.
Post-graduation: Now that I'm applying for jobs, employers are really impressed that I went to Vassar. Interviews usually go like this: "Wow! Vassar is a really great school! So, what are you qualified to do?" The answer is nothing. I'm simultaneously over and underqualified for most positions and am having a really hard time finding a job that pays more than $8.00 an hour. Consequently I'm applying to law school. If I could do it all over again I would have gone to a much bigger university and majored in something like business or marketing.
Bottom line: Visit Vassar before you decide to go there. Take advantage of the prospective student program and get your host to take you to a typical party. Sit in on some courses. Have a meal in ACDC and observe the student body. There are people that love Vassar, and then there are people like me who would have fit in better at someplace bigger and more mainstream. | Preparedness: F, Reputation: B+ | | |
| | Oct 26 2008 | Alumna Female --
Class 2000 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Bright |
I learned more about writing in one month of newspaper work than I did in four years at Vassar.
Vassar is a finishing school. A fine place if you come from money, and are heading back into it. But woefully inadequate at preparing anyone else for a career.
I blanch at the homophobic comments by many of the negative reviewers. I was quite content with the social mileu at the time. But the academics were completely forgettable, and the facilities abysmal.
High school students: avoid Vassar like the plague. Unless you are so motivated that you would get something out of any school in the world, Vassar will only disappoint you. | Starting Job: Reporter, Preparedness: F, Reputation: F | | |
| | Sep 22 2008 | Alumnus Male --
Class 2000 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Super Brilliant |
What is good about Vassar is the individual support from faculty and staff. One can always see a professor, even if the office hours are bad, and they are usually very helpful. I had only one professor- who was a new hiree and was subsequently fired- whom I thought was an awful professor, but he was still very approachable and friendly, he just did not deserve to be a teacher. Other departments, like athletics and residential life are also very student-friendly.
What is bad about Vassar is the poor quality of the dormitory rooms and bathrooms (besides Jewett, and, presumably, Davison once it is finished). The common areas are beautiful and well-equipped, but the rooms are very small, especially some Freshmen doubles in the quad dorms, and often have doors which do not properly fit, so that noise travels easily into the room. The beds have terrible mattresses and the furniture is inconsistent between rooms and old. Also, the students tend to be very loud and ill-informed about political events and the economy.
But besides those complaints, I really love being at Vassar- even the radically-minded students are very friendly and approachable. The only reason I say I would attend a different university is to go to a research school for the last two years, to be able to take grad-level courses. | Faculty Accessibility: A+, Surrounding City: C | | | |
| | Aug 29 2008 | 3rd Year Male --
Class 2009 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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 Additional Resources |
CampusExplorer.com: Vassar College
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