Vassar College Top Questions

What is your overall opinion of this school?

Matt

Its a great school with really interesting students on a small yet beautiful campus

Dawson

Vassar is one of the county's most prestigious institutions, and for good reason. Some of America's most intelligent students receive some of the best undergraduate instruction in the country. It's a small school, which means you can develop extremely close relationships with faculty and with the community. It's very easy to get involved and earn leadership positions in extracurricular life. But there's just this sense of pure love that students and alumni have for the place. That love is really hard to define. But I could not have chosen a more rigorous, launching education. Vassar is incredible.

Charlene

The most important thing about Vassar is that, as we used to joke when I was there, it is a place where "square pegs in round holes" can build themselves a square - i.e., normal is not the norm.

Brian

Vassar is a wonderful place to go to college—I honestly could not be happier. There is definitely a lot of pressure and a lot of work, but it is also incredibly fun. The people are so interesting and so motivated; I never stop meeting fascinating people who have accomplished amazing things and yet are very down-to-earth. Poughkeepsie gets a bad reputation, but personally, I don't think it's so bad. Within a 5-minute walk from the campus, we have countless restaurants, barber shops, HSBC, Bank of America, an amazing bakery, clothing stores, coffee shops (Starbucks is not too far either!)... the list goes on. The Hudson Valley is an area with much history and character. Vassarions are all basically in love with their school—it's just a very happy place to be. I would describe it as a "work hard, play hard" kind of place: people are driven and devoted to their schoolwork (obviously...we all got into Vassar after all), but there is also time to relax with friends and attend literally hundreds of lectures, parties and events each week. Sports may not be as big as at state schools, but even in the past few years, athletics have really come into their own. Our Men's Soccer and Men's Basketball teams are doing especially well. The residential life system is one of the most unique and special things about Vassar. It provides the familial feel of a smaller community within the larger college. Overall, I highly recommend Vassar. It's an incredible school that can offer students so many opportunities for academic and extracurricular success. Plus it has a strong alumnae/i base, which proves helpful in the hunt for jobs and internships.

Michele

The best thing about Vassar is, hands down, its students. Everyone has a story, and if you take the time to talk to them, you'll gain a huge appreciation for the breadth of experience of the student population. There are very few people on campus who actually present justifiable reasons for dislike. The worst thing about Vassar is the Poughkeepsie. The area around campus, while "developing," is disappointing. There have been (somewhat misguided) initiatives by the administration to increase offcampus foot traffic, but there are fewer than 10 businesses around the campus that are actually worth a visit.

Robin

The best thing for me was the sense of community and the amount of academic choices. Many colleges or universities have a core curriculum, but Vassar doesn't really. The college only has 3 curriculum requirements, which are in addition to your specific major requirements. It really is a liberal arts college, in which you can take all sorts of different classes, in different disciplines and be really well rounded. For instance I took music, art history, film, sociology, and philosophy classes, while I was a psychology major. I also loved the sense of community. I have always been a liberal, but I am from a fairly republican, Christian suburb. While conflicting views and debate can help clairify your own views, it is nice to not have to defend your beliefs. Vassar was a place where I could be myself, and I was surrounded by people like me.

ant.

When you tell somebody that you go to Vassar, they will either say, "Wow! That's an amazing school! You must be really smart!" or they'll say, "Huh? Where?" Vassar is a great place if you are liberal. Everyone has the freedom to be who they want to be, and interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. We are a very welcoming bunch, Vassarions. BUT! Careful with joining some of the clubs in the ALANA center. They take self-victimization very seriously.

Rory

Like anywhere you go, you have your BAMFs and your assholes. There's lots of pretension floating around in some circles, but most kids are just looking to make genuine friends, laugh a little, maybe smoke. There's a big drug using population but no judgment taken against the drug-free. You can find your people whoever they may be, it might take time.

Kay

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.

Devin

Vassar is a self-satisfied liberal arts college that trains its students to pride themselves on being smart enough to carry on an academic conversation, and lazy enough to imply that they have other things to be doing (namely, blowing lines off of their dresser). An accurate description of Vassar can range anywhere from a rich kids' playground to a really freeing intellectual space in which to explore a wealth of ideas and experiences--it really depends on what faction of Vassar that a student associates themselves with. (Yes, I mean faction. Not clique. Faction.)

Steve

Beautiful campus, smart kids. A lot of alternative styles. there is little political activism since everyone agrees.. the only real debates are liberal policies vs. very liberal policies. Lots of hipsters. The town sucks but the campus is awesome. Great place to spend time outdoors.

Tristan

I love that Vassar gives students a good amount of freedom when choosing classes and activities to prepare them for the future. There is more diversity than there is at many schools and we are not at all the average "frat" college. It is considered a small school, but I believe that this is only to students' advantage because classes are smaller and professors are easier to contact. Since we are not known as a party school and there are no fraternities or sororities, Vassar students find other ways to have fun. The dorms each organize a couple campus-wide parties/dances/activities a year, seniors throw parties, and many students use the on-campus dance floor/bar, "the Mug." Due to campus opportunities, students rarely leave campus. Poughkeepsie is not the most exciting college town, but the social life is good enough if you do not mind staying on campus.

KJ

I am very happy with the size of Vassar. It is small enough that I see people I know all over campus and can develop a bond with professors, and large enough that as a senior I am still meeting new people. The town around Vassar isn't a stereotypical college town, and I don't go there that often, thought there are some really nice places and coffee shops that I would visit if not for the fact that I have a prepaid meal-plan on campus and can't really justify paying money for a coffee off campus. There are some good, cheap restaurants in walking distance. Some Vassar students complain about the "Vassar Bubble," meaning that students keep themselves isolated on campus, but you create your own bubble, it isn't imposed on you. One thing I really love about Vassar is the care they take with supporting Freshmen and creating a positive residential atmosphere. During Freshman year, everyone is part of a "fellow group" of other Freshmen from their hall, with a Sophmore "student fellow," who is there to help you with anything you may need as you adjust to college life. It is a little bit of a corny pre-made friends group, but it means that you have an automatic network of people, which is really nice. And you are by no means forced to hang out with them. There are some people from my original fellow group whom I never see, and others are some of my closest friends. The beautiful campus is another thing I love about Vassar. I told myself not to choose it just because of the pretty campus, and I think I did have better reasons than that, but in the end it isn't an irrelevant factor. It really can improve your mood to be in someplace so lovely.

Allison

Vassar's a fantastic place where you can do anything that you want to do if you really work with the faculty. The best thing about Vassar academically is that you have so much freedom. You can create your own major if you want, you can go to petition to go to any country in the world that we don't have a program in already, just to name a couple of possibilities. We're extremely quirky. We have a different weirdly themed dance every week it seems like, and we bring in some amazing talent every year to perform. Also, we have some pretty awesome traditions, like primal scream, where the entire student body packs onto the quad and screams its lungs out on the night before finals. They can hear us all over Poughkeepsie. One thing is that Poughkeepsie isn't a very exciting town, but we can barely be lured off campus to do the few good things that it does have just because there's such a large amount of stuff to do on campus. In Poughkeepsie there is a lot of good food, because it is also the home of the Culinary Institute of America, whose graduates often set up amazing restaurants in town.

Julie

In my opinion, Vassar is the perfect size. There are enough students that I felt like I could always meet new people, yet it was small enough to successfully create the perfect college/family atmosphere. Perhaps one of the more common student complaints are around the fact that Poughkeepsie is not considered to be a college town. However, it is the perfect opportunity for students to reach out to a community that is not catered to their needs.

Julia

The size is great... small enough that you see who you want to see, and big enough that you're still constantly meeting people your senior year. Poughkeepsie is the pits. There are a few good restaurants and one or two places to go, but if you don't have a car, you had better like the Vassar campus. Luckily, there's always something going on, and campus is beautiful.

Alex

Really great school for about 2.5 years, then it starts to feel sort of small. But for those first years it truly is fantastic and wonderful and magical and a lot like Hogwarts. No college town to speak of, not really any off-campus locales unless you have a car and the money to pay for gas. Vassar does frustratingly little to encourage students to have any sort of interaction with the larger Poughkeepsie area. After 2.5 years, you realize that Vassar, is, like any other institution, an institution. Driven by the desire for more and more and more money, such that they put the desires of rich alumni over the needs of the current students... or the environment. Recently Vassar has had problems with a great majority of students drinking themselves stupid every weekend and having to go to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.

Jenn

Vassar is a great Liberal Arts environment. You are surrounded by so many people who are interested in so many different things. There are different clubs and extracurriculars; they all give you a chance to try something new and get to know different people. In my opinion, I think that size of Vassar is just right. I came from a high school of about 4000 student and I honestly didn't feel a drastic change coming here. Most people know each other but if you still want a place of your own, the campus is so large, you can definitely do that. Poughkeepsie Town isn't really a "college town". Across the street from Vassar there are a few restaurants but that's about it. Most students don't go off campus much because they are so busy with activities. However, joining extracurriculars like Habitat for Humanity or some kind of Field Work at a hospital, like I did, can give you a balance. The administration at Vassar is very nice. If you need help, they will gladly help you. Professors are super sweet. Cappy, our President even allows students to go Trick or Treating at her house for Halloween! One thing I'd change about Vassar: Female: Male ratio.

Nora

There is a lot of school pride for Vassar - but not in the traditional "pep-rally kind." We are a group of unique kids who love being unique. There is no mainstream here and there is no one way to "fit in." And if there was, no one would want to. What makes us Vassar students is that we're all different, and we embrace and learn from each other's differences. The small size of the campus makes it seem at times that you know everyone. We are a family.

John

Vassar is generally a very positive, happy place. Granted, like all colleges, it has its downsides, but the vast majority of students love it there. The small size (about 2400 students) can be somewhat stifling. When you're in search of anonymity or "alone" time, it can be hard to get. The upside, of course, is that you know a great deal of people at the college. Life in Poughkeepsie is pretty much non-existent. You'll spend most of your time on campus, and not feel so bad about it, either. In terms of school pride, it's a subdued inner pride, unlike some large sport universities. Students generally feel passionately about political and social causes, and demonstrations and stances are large and visible. But there is a place for all viewpoints at Vassar, as students are generally the academic "heady" type.

Parker

I felt really at home in Vassar's community. The size of Vassar is perfect--there are always new people to meet, but it's small enough that there's probably only one degree of separation between you and anyone else--so, lots of opportunities to meet new people too. There's a lot of variety in the student body, but everyone is intelligent, well-spoken, and interesting.

Felicia

Vassar is awesome because you can be yourself and find other people who are going to embrace that and very few other people will think its weird if you dress in only orange or have six facial piercings and go to class in suits or love both playing rugby and watercolor painting. We're the right size, I think, big enough to keep meeting new and interesting people, but small enough to rarely see people you feel like you've never seen before.

Charlie

Vassar is a tight knit community that is completely isolated from the surrounding area. This promotes an incredibly strong sense of devotion to the school and the people that go there. The campus always seems serene (especially in the spring), and most people never leave. At times Vassar seems too small, but overall I appreciate it because I know most of the people. Vassar is a very unusual school with many strange traditions and parties. If you go to Vassar, you have to be open to trying new things and accepting of many different perspectives.

john

Vassar is a really good size, and I love the people there. There is a very wide range of people, so there are a lot of people I would not find myself hanging out with on a regular basis. However, it is rare that I have met people that are genuinely inconsiderate or people that I wouldn't be very happy to be friends with on some level. Campus is beautiful, and I try to read outside whenever I can. Play Ultimate Frisbee here!

Laura

I think Vassar is a great size. It's small, but entering my senior year I still feel like there are many people I don't know. There is a lot going on on campus all the time. Not much of a college town, but that is improving and the streets adjacent to the college have some great cafes, bookstores, restaurants, etc.

Amanda

best about vassar: freedom, everyone helps you become who you want to be. worst thing: the town

Morgan

Vassar is a very UNIQUE place to live/study at! Be prepared for some wild encounters and things you haven't seen before. You'll be put out of your comfort zone for sure, but it's all for the better.

Chris

The school is extremely small and encapsulated in an insulated bubble. If you want to avoid someone, chances are you will see them as soon as you step out of your dorm, and if you're talking about someone, chances are they are right behind you. There are rarely events going on off-campus and few travel to the city as the cabs are unreliable and expensive, and the distance is prohibitive.

Becker

The best thing about Vassar is the academics, which is a result of the superb quality of the professors that are employed there. Every single class I took at Vassar was a gem; each professor a true authority in his or her field. The size of the college can be a pain, everyone knows every other student, and this often results in extremely hostile rumor-mongering. The student body is immature, spoiled rotten, and often downright stupid. This isn't to say that there aren't good people at Vassar, but they are few and far between. The biggest recent controversy is the shutting down of Vassar's forum at boredat.net. This was a prime example of just how evil the student body can really be. Frequent student complaints include: intimidation by the administration, harassment by the security department, and complaints against other students.

KJ

expensive, luxurious, will not necessarily prepare you for a job but will prepare you to think and be in the world. stressful!

Maria

I like Vassar because you have the opportunity and freedom to do what you want. You can take on leadership roles as soon as you arrive--there is space to create your own club or launch your own program. You can dabble in theater even if you're not a major, and sing with the chorus even if you're not a professional singer. The campus is beautiful in all seasons, and Poughkeepsie is an wonderful, interesting neighborhood where a lot of interesting people live, and with lots of great places to eat, listen to music, or just hang out (by the river there is a lovely park and pier). There are certainly some problems with Vassar, particularly in reference to how we as a community view ourselves in relation to the rest of Poughkeepsie, and some of the hypocrisy of a liberal, non-profit college focusing more on status and prestige than accessibility, equality, and responsible citizenship. There is also limited diversity, but more importantly, a lack of space to discuss the issues surrounding diversity at any place of higher education, and the implications and tension of those issues.

Liz

the two things I get asked are: Is that all girls still (answer: NO!), and where is that again (good old Poughkeepsie NY, not that they know where that is either). Vassar is a great academic space, where professors are always available, and going to push you on your ideas whether you like it or not. While Poughkeepsie may not seem like the greatest place, you can get to know it better than you think and there are great places to go, and there are always things going on on campus.

Sasha

When I tell people that my boyfriend and I both go to Vassar, they say, "Isn't that a girls' school?" Vassar went co-ed in 1969, but some people never learn. (That's why they're not at Vassar. We learn stuff at Vassar.) There's always tons of stuff to do around campus, between plays, dance performances, comedy shows, concerts, parties, more parties, spontaneous games of Hallway Quidditch or Aliens (remember the movie?), you name it. So we don't really leave campus much. Which is good, since there isn't really anywhere to go. Although Vassar itself is quite safe, downtown Poughkeepsie isn't really a safe place to be alone at night, and there's not much going on there either. The administration is really friendly and accessible. Even more exciting is the fact that they actually listen to what students have to say! Students have an input on lots of important decisions, and it's very easy to get involved.

Arielle

Vassar is extremely hard to pin-point. It is full of so many different types of people and things to do. The best thing about Vassar is that people feel comfortable to do and think whatever they like. While there are still people who pass judgment on others, Vassar is really the most open place one could go. Everyone I ever talk to feels so at ease here and not scared to show their true colors.

Katie

I love Vassar. I've met wonderful people, made great friends. One thing I really love is the atmosphere here. The opportunities are pretty much limitless: you can experiment with pretty much anything you want, and you're bound to find another group on campus that's interested in the same things you are. One thing that can be inconvenient is location--Poughkeepsie is definitely not a college town. To get to the mall or the movies or most other stores, we usually have to spend at least 20$ round trip on cab fare; the college has a weekend shuttle but it's small and unreliable. They're just starting a new shuttle system that stops at the train station, though, which is very convenient for going to NYC.

Reese

The campus is beautiful. I love walkign through the Quad and watching the seasons change...when the leaves turn colors, or when the campus is covered in snow, or blooming, its absolutely gorgeous.

Frances

The best thing about Vassar are the people. They're open and kind, social, and they want to know about you and learn from your experiences. I would change student involvement with the community. Vassar isn't very connected with the Poughkeepsie, NY area and more needs to be done about that. Vassar is just the right size. I don't know everyone here, but I recognize most faces. It's close-knit, but you can always meet new people. I spend a lot of time in the Student's Building, my dorm room, the beautiful library, or in nature when the weather is good (the campus is gorgeous). Vassar's administration tries really hard. They're trying to make school more affordable, make themselves available, and I see members around a lot. Also, if there's any event that causes alarm, they send an immediate response and make sure the community is prepared to help everyone through it.

KJ

Many people haven't heard of Vassar, so I often find myself telling them "it's the school next to Marist," and then they'll usually get it. For people who have heard of the school, they're typically surprised when I tell them that I go to Vassar, not knowing that the school became coed in the 80s. With that said, Vassar is an amazing school. I don't fit the mold for the typical student; I'm most simply classified as a jock, yet I love it here. It is true that some students are entirely anti-sports, and look down upon athletes at our school, however I very rarely find this. In fact, the concentration of people at this school who are entirely open minded and willing to get to know you is astounding. The other thing that I love about people at Vassar is that there is way more to everyone than meets the eye; the life experiences and interests of Vassar students are varied and fascinating.

Chris

If Vassar is anything, it's not your high school. Almost everyone is eccentric here, in some way, shape, or form; and while some might be more judgmental than others, by and large people just don't care if you're off or not "normal". We almost never go into Poughkeepsie, both because Vassar always has things going on, and also because actual minorities scare the crap out of us. Sports aren't big, student government isn't big...actually, there really isn't anything that's particularly popular, but most things have enough of a following to keep them going. Vassar is a fantastic place to go if you have a good sense of self definition - but if you don't, well, that's ok too.

Blake

Vassar likes to pride itself on being kind of "out there" and forward thinking, but the truth is, we're pretty moderate. Most people on campus think that green is a good thing and couldn't give a rat's ass if their neighbor is gay, but that doesn't mean that they're actually willing to do anything about it.

Andy

the best thing about Vassar is that most students here are very driven and non-competitive at the same time. Everyone helps each other in deepening our understanding of the academic material, as well as the world outside the textbook. Being premed, i was especially worried about the competitiveness and the pressure of fellow premed students. however, i soon found that everyone had the "we're in this together" mentality and were more than willing to help me or be helped at all times.

Rachel

The best parts about Vassar are the people and the campus. The students and professors there seem very happy to be there, very enthusiastic about being a part of the Vassar community, and proud to be a part of the school. This was my first impression when visiting, and it remains true in my eyes to this day. The feeling of community is also noticeably strong on the campus--as freshman, life in the dorms is very enjoyable and feels very much like home because it is organized in such a way that people get to spend time together and become a type of family. My main complaint (and that of many others) is the school's location in Poughkeepsie. There are not a lot of resources (aka grocery store, movie theater, etc.) that are easily walkable, and much of the town is relatively rundown. This is a main reason I and many others stay on campus, which, because it is the most beautiful many have ever seen, is not such a bad deal.

Sonia

I love the size of the study body in relation to the size of the campus. We have a lot of beautiful extra space (preserves, golf course, farm) to roam around in and make use of. Most people spend the vast majority of their time on campus, because there really is no need to leave. People here are extremely comfortable with their sexuality(ies), which is something that might be a breath of fresh air- or might take some getting used to.

Reese

Best thing - Quality of education One thing to change - More freedom of speech Size - just right Spend most time -my room "What college town?"

Jerry

Vassar is a beautiful place, small, liberal arts, quaint, friendly, we have our issues but what place doesn't I love this college and her people and the incredible faculty that bring life and perspective to academia. Forget the pop-collar stuffiness of those pompous Ivy Leagues, our education and our student body rival that of any Harvard or Yale... we are the small and intimate place and all of us have chosen this place for a reason. Bring in the unique and creative and obscure and the "deviants" of societal expectations, we cherish welcome celebrate the weird and intelligent and the activist and the bookworm and the barefoot monkey and the strangeness of the NSO, we open up the sheltered conservative and expand the prejudiced and we and we and we and Vassar.... we are all home here, in some way. I would never have felt home in any other place, we were meant for each other.

Chris

Vassar is definitely a unique school. You get a VERY high quality education (and yes, that means a lot of work) but without the overwhelming size, preppiness, and pushiness/competitiveness of larger schools. It is true, Poughkeepsie is a dump, but no one actually goes into Po-town anyway, so it's like it doesn't even exist. You get a lot of personal attention from your professors, small classes, and a lot of freedom to study and do what you want. Nevertheless, Vassar can get to be a little homogenous in some respects, particularly in regards to political views. Add to it the fact that it is a very small school, and what you have is an environment that some will love and others will hate. Personally, I love it. Pretty much everyone I know who still goes here loves it, too. Still, there are always a few people each year you absolutely hate it.

Aaron

Don't let Vassar's physical size fool you! It's a pretty big campus, but be prepared: you're in for very intimate, close relationships with a lot of people. You'll find quickly that if you don't know someone directly, you probably have at least a friend (or twelve) in common. The great thing about this is it creates a really strong sense of community. The bad thing about this is that people find out about things fast. If you want to rustle some leaves, but don't want anyone to find out about it, this isn't the place for you.

Ellen

Vassar, like most colleges and universities, is what you make of it. Though I'd say it straddles the line of being too small, its size does allow for some incredible opportunities. For example, just through classes I've taken and people I've met, I'm now a Research Assistant for one class and I've been asked to help interview faculty candidates in a department on campus. Because Vassar is so small, the academic opportunities are not only plentiful, but they're attainable. Professors are incredibly available; if you need an extension on a paper or if you just want to sit and chat with them about something, they're typically quite open. I've had some incredible conversations with professors, and I genuinely don't think I would be able to say that were I at a larger institution. If I could change one thing about Vassar, I think it would be the social scene, to be honest. There's often a sense of hostility--a kind of "too cool" attitude--that permeates campus. People don't smile a lot when you walk by them (which may not seem like a big deal, but for a girl from the Midwest, this was kind of shocking), even if you've had a class with them or done projects together. And nothing gets vented about more than the dating scene at Vassar, or lack thereof. The female students get bitter because they vastly outnumber the male community, and the guys on campus tend to have an inflated sense of self regarding what kinds of ladies they can get. What's even more depressing is that the female students let this happen. I can't count how many times I've seen my incredibly intelligent, strong, confident female friends dumb themselves down for a guy who doesn't deserve them for the sake of a random hook up. This is where the small size, which is so great academically, comes back to bite you in the ass socially. Everyone knows everyone's business. Gossip runs amok. In a lot of ways, it can seem like high school all over again. When I tell people I go to Vassar, they're either extremely impressed, or they give a look of vague recognition and then say, "That's an all-girl's school, right?" For the latter people, I simply smile and explain that no, in fact, we've been co-ed for almost 40 years, to which they seem embarrassed. I'd say, outside of my room, I spend the majority of my time in Main Building. Administrative offices, the Retreat (one of the dining options), the parlors for rehearsals and studying, conference rooms for meetings, the Villard Room for concerts, Matthew's Mug for late-night dancing--Main houses a lot of things. It's kind of great to have most everything right there in one place. If I ever have to run errands on campus, they can generally all be taken care of in Main. Poughkeepsie, as I'm sure many people will tell you, leaves much to be desired. It's not the most accessible town to explore, so having a car has been a pretty great advantage for me. I've been able to find places to go and things to do that make Poughkeepsie a much more available place. The town really does have things to offer--great restaurants, for instance--you just have to be willing to invest time into finding them. The surrounding towns, such as Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, and New Paltz, are even more fantastic. They're quaint, quirky, and definitely jive with the alternative lifestyles many Vassar students have. I have to say that I'm really excited by the lengths the college is going to to make Poughkeepsie more available to students. They've just implemented a community shuttle that stops at numerous places around the town, and our new President, Cappy, has started some great initiatives to make Vassar's relationship with the community stronger. I wish Vassar had more school pride. Athletics, while they're often good, are not really supported by the majority of students on campus. Coming from a high school that had a lot of school pride, it was a big adjustment that I would rather have not made. But we do all have pride for our school, though it's not necessarily boasted through athletics or other competitions. We know we're lucky to be at this school, and I don't think we take it for granted. There are some great experiences about Vassar that I'll always remember: serenading in the fall to kick off the school year (where the whole campus essentially gets in a huge food fight after every dorm serenades the senior class), primal scream before finals (walking to the quad and screaming at midnight), Founder's Day (a big carnival in early May to celebrate our founder's birthday), Gays of Our Lives (a panel during Freshman Week that challenges gender norms), countless theater and a cappella performances--these things make Vassar unique.

Ian

Diversity really defines Vassar, both in a positive and negative way. On the one hand, in my relatively short time here, I've met more people with different and fascinating backgrounds, insights, worldviews, and experiences than during the entirety of the rest of my life. The school administration really makes an effort to maintain a geographically, culturally, and economically diverse student body, and it shows; their efforts to bring in speakers from all over the globe and put on events on every imaginable subject really contribute to the character of the college. On the other hand, at times efforts to support diversity go too far. The level of acceptance of the school's homosexual and transgendered population fills me with pride, but it also ends up stifling any discourse that could be considered even vaguely in opposition to the school's minority groups and prevailing social opinions. Despite the fact that there are a surprising number of politically and socially moderate or conservative students on campus, the overbearingly PC climate here generally keeps them from lending their viewpoints to conversations on a variety of subjects, sexually-based and beyond. Even if a lot of us might disagree with what they have to say, I still think its important that they be encouraged to say it; as things stand, the intellectual culture here is rather too isolated from opposing viewpoints and real-world conversation.

Jordan

Theater can very easily take a chomp out of your life. My favorite thing to do is to go from play to play helping out with building the set in each show's tech week. That way, schoolwork seems less important.