Vassar: The Big Picture
People's reactions were always interesting becaues I live in Oklahoma. Some people were like "hey, well done!" and some didn't even know where or what kind of school it was. The best thing about Vassar is the community. We have a really tight knit student body, (sometimes called the Vassar bubble). I actually really like the size of the school, because it's big enough so that students don't feel confined, but small enough so that you can obtain the one on one relationship with the professors and administration.
Vassar Academic Life
Most professors will know your name by midterms, but it all depends on what kind of class you are taking. In Art History 105 and 106, which are lecture classes with small conferences, most professors didn't know all of their students names. People definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Professors are really good about encouraging students to meet outside of class to discuss ideas. I've had multiple group sessions outside of class in philosophy to discuss the material. I absolutely love the requirements at Vassar. I am completely hopeless with math and science, so the one QA requirement that studends have is wonderful. It allows students to focus on things that they KNOW they want to do, without taking so many gen eds.
Vassar's Student Body
For the most part, the Vassar community is a great place for diversity and tolerance. All the groups interact really well, and I've never heard of any big cliques within the school. People have their friend groups, but there's not the emphasis on specific groups. Students mostly wear whatever they think is comfortable. The hipster style runs rampant at Vassar (even though it's not the only kind of style). I've also seen people wear sweat pants to class. It just depends. Most students are left, however.
Vassar Student Activities + Social Life
In dorms, a lot of people leave their doors open. You can always hear music or laughter--it's generally a nice place to live. I met my closest friends in my fellow group. Every freshman gets a fellow group that they eat with for the first couple weeks, which I think is a great idea! We also have some fun traditions at Vassar. There is Serenading for the freshman, where freshman from each dorm serenade the seniors while having chocolate and other gross stuff poured on them. It sounds disgusting, but it's a good bonding experience and all in good fun. Founders Day is another awesome tradition--it's a carnival day that has concerts and food and ends in fireworks. One thing that I love about Vassar is the fact that we don't have sororities or fraternities.
