Vassar College

Date: Mar 24 2006
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
There's always something to gush and something to complain about Vassar. The academics, while not absolutely beyond all reproach, are superlative, and the college works hard to make sure that it can attract and keep good professors. The campus is good-looking, the people are- on the whole- fairly friendly, and the school has considerable resources.

Naturally, there are things to complain about. The facilities are old and getting run-down, and while the school is working to fix that, it is a bigger problem than any school can handle all at once. The administration is unweildy and inefficient, and often it seems like one hand has no idea what the other is doing when it comes to administrative offices. Alcohol and drugs are very common, and while most often they are as easy to avoid as they are to find, there are cases where the residential life can seem like Animal House.

The school is mostly women, but that's pretty much how it's going to be everywhere if current trends continue. Another thing to consider is that this is a north-eastern school; the people, the attitude, and the politics are very much in keeping with its location on the map, which is fine with some people and bothers others. Also, the town around has been falling apart since it was ruined by IBM's manufacturing departure, but as an off-campus student, I would say that the town isn't as bad as its cracked up to be; you may need a car to do some things and it may not be pretty or comfortable for people who didn't grow up in a run-down city, but Vassar students' view of the town tends to be deeply affected by the fact they the college is relatively cut-off from the town around it.