Vassar College Top Questions

I didn't want to come to a small school at first, but Vassar surprised me. Instead of the intense scrutiny that tends to come with a small school, Vassar gives a personal feel without being smothering. That is to say, you don't have to try that hard in order to stand out, but you're not exactly under the microscope either.

There is no college town. At all. Be prepared. But there are still things to do on campus. There are occasionally some big shows. Lupe Fiasco was here last year and MIA just performed on Friday. The campus is beautiful!!!! and we're pretty close to the city. I am usually hesitant to tell people in Poughkeepsie that I go to Vassar because VC has a pretty bad relationship with Poughkeepsie people. But outside of Po-town, I'm usually pretty proud to say that I go to Vassar. People are usually pretty impressed.

Ten minutes into my first visit to Vassar I was sitting on the Quad with a group of sophomores smoking hookah and cheering on my host's Religion professor as he was breakdancing on a piece of cardboard. They call it 'Hip-Hop 101: Throw Back Jam', and I call it awesome.

Vassar has 2400 students, which can feel a bit small on occasion, but its wonderful walking around and always bumping into people you know and like. I think people here are generally very happy. While the work is rigorous, everyone manages to have fun, too. Most people live on campus, so its a very community-oriented feeling walking around the buildings and the quad. It is hard not to run into at least a few people you know as you walk from place to place.

Fact Sheet: -the kind of school where you know everyone and gossip travels fast -it's not an all girls school. not for a long time. -vassar is working very hard to connect students with poughkeepsie, but it's hard to bust the Vassar Bubble -it is impossible to shock a vassar student. with anything.

A lot of students show up at Vassar thinking of themselves as creative, unique individuals--which doubtless they are--and have a bit of a rough transition into being part of a crowd of super creative unique people. It takes some extreme action to stand out in a crowd at Vassar the way they would in high school...which definitely makes for some interesting people-watching.

It is very unique. The people are quirky.

One of the greatest things about Vassar is the non-competitive atmosphere. Everyone wants to do well, and we are a very hard working bunch, but our only competition is ourselves. Also, it's really easy to try new things here, whether it be theater, sports, art, or writing, there something very every level. I did wish there was a greater turnout at sporting events here. Being an athlete at Vassar can be frustrating, because the work is hard enough as it is without adding 2/3 hours of practice 5 times a week with little to no recognition from the student body or administration. There isn't much to do in Poughkeepsie or the surrounding area if you don't have a car, but if you do explore!

Poughkeepsie sucks, except there is a lot of volunteer work you can do. Dutchess County Historical Society, interning with Congressmen or other politicans, tutoring at local high schools and middle schools- Vassar makes it so easy with our Field Work Office. There is so much to do. Movies every weekend, concerts once or twice a week, great lecturers... and a lot of work. Vassar is academic and people are smart, but then people go big on the weekend.

The big picture: Vassar is in a time of transition right now. Ten years ago Vassar was considered a very politically active, progressively minded school. I would say that is changing. The study body is getting much more culturally heterogeneous. More much moderate, like-minded, politically apathetic, and socially straight-edge kids are being admitted. The older Vassar generation tries continuously to "Keep Vassar Weird" but that truth is, Vassar is getting more and more "normal" every year. I still love this place. The education I've received and the Professors I've had the honor of coming in contact with have changed by life but, with every new year I feel more and more distance from the Vassar student body. Here is a quick example. Every year the sophomore class gives a "gift" to the student body. This gift is supposed to be community orientated. It is supposed to help improve life for Vassar students and, historically, has been very socially and environmentally minded. Gifts in the past include: starting up a shared bike program, donating the money to help fund Vassar's transition to solar and wind power, and creating an internship fund for those students who cannot afford to take an unpaid internship over the summer. This years sophomore class gift, however, is Vassar card swipers for every vending machine. Once the class gift was announced there was a great outcry from both students and professors. There was a long article in our school newspaper that admonished the gift as being environmentally unconscious (because of the waste that results from all those prepackaged foods), socially irresponsible (because of the big companies that would benefit from increased vending machine sales), unhealthy and irresponsible (after all, isn't this just another way for Vassar kids to spend their parents money?) And, on top of it all, how does increased access to Vending machines really help the community? In the end the sophomore class refused to change their gift and next year, yes, we will all be able to use our Vassar Cards to buy Doritos.

Poughkeepsie itself is no college town. Despite the proximity of Marist, there is no real life outside the campus. The best thing about Vassar is the open-mindedness of people and for the most part, every person is accepted by others. The administration is alright and takes care of their students. Most academic people are impressed when I tell them I go to Vassar. A lot of time is spent studying and finishing up projects at various buildings. There is school pride, but it's not in the athletic sense. The biggest complaints are, in no particular order, dorms, health services, and the food.

My favorite thing about Vassar is that I can be a two sport varsity athlete while also staying committed to my school work and education. Because the school is on a smaller scale, I am very close with my professors, all of whom know that I play sports. When a game comes up in the middle of the week, they understand if I need to miss class and do not penalize me for it. Conversely, my coach also understands if I need to miss/be late for a practice for a class or lecture. With this flexibility I have been able to compete for the past three years on two amazing teams, one of which I am a captain of and has recently been named as the Division III Field Hockey Team with the highest GPA in the nation, and the other is ranked as one of the top 20 Division III W Lacrosse Teams in the nation. I also still have time to enjoy the beautiful campus and hang out with my friends on the weekends. Vassar honestly is a college where you can do it all, and still have time to spare!

-Oh is that an all girls school? No. We've been co-ed since 1969, but our reputation as one of the 7 sisters still precedes us. If you're not from NY, most people probably won't have heard of Vassar, unless they're in the world of Academia themselves.

Perfect size, beautiful campus Distinct social culture Sucks at sports, unfortunately

I find that the administration here tends to not be very helpful. For example, I applied to switch dorms, and they denied my request citing that they were unable to find room in the dorms I requested. This seemed fairly ridiculous to me especially since I know they are holding some rooms for next years freshmen. It just seems that they often take the easy way out instead of trying to accommodate people. If you don't need to ask anything of administration, things here are great, but unless your experience needs no fine-tuning it can be kindof a hassle.

The best thing about Vassar is the people. The students and the faculty alike. Everyone is happy to be here and more than willing to help you out. I would like it if there were more things to do in the Poughkeepsie community, though. Overall, I think Vassar is the perfect size: small enough to not be overwhelming and to know you can go to the dining hall and run into someone you know, but big enough that you meet new people every day. I spend most of my time on campus in my dorm MPR and on the quad when it's nice outside. Unfortunately, Poughkeepsie is not a "college town." There aren't really cute shops or cafe's except for a good restaurant right across the street from campus. We have a lot of school pride and recently there was an issue about the sports' teams uniforms: our traditional school colors are gray and rose (pink), but when we went co-ed, the sports teams got to wear gray and maroon. Now the male athletes want to get back to pink!

I spend most of my time on campus in the library, it's great, though we're trying to get its hours extended, it's a good work environment, when the dorms aren't always.

The best thing about Vassar is probably the social scene. Organizations don't require anything to start (unless you want funding, in which case you have to go through a semester-long approval process first), so people form new groups all the time, like the Mixed/Bi-Racial Student association, which was founded in January. You can almost always get people to come to something -- I'm hosting a "midnight chess" event this week and I've already got more guests than boards. If I could change one thing, it'd probably be ResLife, as we've had a few quarrels with them this year. Vassar's a small school, so it doesn't have a lot of name recognition back home, but the places where its reputation DOES reach, you get a little bit of a "wow" factor. Most of the people in Poughkeepsie can tell we go to Vassar anyways, but down in New York we're on the A-list with Columbia students when it comes to eye-bulging. I don't come here for the name, though, I come here because I like the school. I spend most of my time either in the eateries, my room, the woods, or the swamp. I find the nature areas here to be very peaceful, so I'll often hike into one of them for a little study break. I spend my *free* time almost equally everywhere. We may not have much of a college town, but enough stuff happens after dark each night that I've never felt the need to wander past the sushi restaurant, a block away from the college. Vassar's administration varies by department, and by person. Almost everyone loves Cappy, our president. She's really accessible, too -- just in my freshman year, I've had over a dozen conversations with her, including the time I sat next to her at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you want to go to college at a place where the president knows your name, you're in luck here. DB Brown, the Dean of Students, personally visited me in the hospital when I had appendicitis. As for our other administration, well, a lot of us are happy that the current Dean of the College, JJ Jackson, is leaving this year, due to some of her unreasonably conservative policies regarding gender-neutral housing, which she refused to put before the Board of Trustees after it was unanimously approved by all Trans-related organizations AND the VSA. Luis Inoa, director of ResLife, has been coming under fire lately because of some housing problems we're having that are taking a bit too long to work out. That's about it, though. Administration and Students get along well here. School pride exists in spades here, if you're willing to accept the fact that we're never going to care about sports unless we're the ones playing them. The only rivalry I pay attention to is between us and Marist over Magic: The Gathering, and that's because I play it. I don't find a problem with non-sports-related school pride, though. The most unusual thing about Vassar is probably the student-run porn magazine, Squirm. I helped pick the cover for next year's issue, so I think you'll enjoy it.

I think the size of Vassar is almost perfect, but I would round out the population to an even 3,000 if I had my way. When I tell people I go to Vassar their first reaction is to ask if it's still an all girls school ( we went co-ed in '69!) It's a pretty annoying question after a while. Poughkeepsie doesn't have too much to offer, although it has the essentials (supermarkets, liquor stores, a big mall, some great mexican restaurants). For the most part my feeling is Vassar students don't utilize Poughkeepsie and would rather stay on campus than explore the city. Also, New Paltz is a great town and it's only 20 minutes away. I think a really hard thing about being an American Culture major at Vassar (and perhaps at any liberal arts school) is the feeling that all the inequalities and injustices present in our society cannot be changed by a single person. I entered Vassar a more optimistic person than I will leave it.

I think that there should be more support for/attendance at athletic events. For the past few years (although things have gotten a lot better within the past year), students on campus have expressed negativity towards athletes and Vassar athletics in general. When I tell people that I go to Vassar, most people believe that it is a.) entirely girls b.) artsy.

It is a pretty decent school, some nice people some mean people. Big on drinking and smoking, and judging others. Oh, there are the crowds that don't judge, but I don't think most people would want to hang out with them (think magic card freaks.) The size of the school is great when it comes to individual class sizes, but the downside is that gossip spreads fast. The surrounding town of Poughkeepsie is rather ghetto, and most students decide to remain inside "the bubble." That is probably the worst part about this school, people can tend to get locked up in this whole little world without realizing that there is life outside of Vassar.

Vassar's full of liberal, politically-active students who study very hard and play just as hard. We haven't got much of a college town (Po-town sucks so hard. Beware of robbers and sex offenders) but we're only 1.5 hrs away from the city. Many hook-ups occur on campus, and in a rather small school it gets a bit awkward. There are so many pros and some cons, including the rather extravagant tuition prices, but on the whole we quite enjoy the holistic experience.

i love the size, the location, the surroundings, everything. I wish there were more outgoing, fun, athletic people, but that won't happen because Vassar is not that kind of school. I love it here though and the education I am receiving is worth it all.

Not everyone knows about Vassar as it's quite small and very unique, but those who do fall in love right away! The gorgeous cathedral library, the Steinway pianos that are everywhere one looks, the flower gardens, the lakes... the campus is stunning! More importantly, the student body is small and very intellectually motivated. The small size of the school provides students with a great deal of individual attention and all the opportunities in the world! Most exciting however, are Vassar's very unique colors, Rose and Gray, originally symbolizing "the rose dawning of women's education against its gray and dismal past."

I love Vassar's close-knit community. It's not too big or too small - I recognize a lot of faces and always run into a few friends/acquaintances anywhere I go, but it's not stifling. Also, the campus is beeeeautiful and there is so much natural and architectural beauty. On that note, probably about half of campus likes to pretend it's Hogwarts on a semi-regular basis. When people hear I go to Vassar, they've either never heard of it, say "oh, great! I had a friend who went to an all-women's school, too...", or have great things to say - I'd say it's about an even split between those three reactions. Poughkeepsie isn't a great town for a college, as the area's kind of depressed and many locals dislike Vassar students for no particular reason. But, campus is lovely with a vibrant social life, and the Hudson Valley in general is great (especially if you like coffee shops and/or hiking), so the lack of a college town is livable. Administration is so-so accessible and most of them are quite nice - people complain about bureaucracy but it's not half as bad as most schools, in my opinion. If you just learn to go to the source instead of putting up with red tape, it's no problem - and it's a small enough place that you can figure out how to do that pretty easily.

The best thing about Vassar is... most stuff. The administration is mostly okay but can kind of be douchebags if you actually need something--it's definitely the worst part of the school. Vassar's really tiny, which is wonderful and promotes gossip, because you know everyone and, likely, knew who they slept with last night (and you may well have slept with that person yourself). Most of your time on campus will be spent studying, so you hope you have something attractive to look at in your room. Poughkeepsie is sort of a joke, but there's a mall and a 24-hour diner, which pretty much gets the job done. There's not much school pride, especially when it comes to sports.

I love Vassar and would go here again if I had to do it over. The size is perfect because there are still people you don't know but when you meet them you will have mutual acquaintances that you can connect with. Most dorm and house parties are open to everyone, so there are lots of possibilities to meet new people if you desire to. I spend most of my time either in my dorm or the library, neither of which is isolating because that's where most people are. The entire campus community and the town and city of Poughkeepsie complain about Vassar's lack of involvement in the community. This isolation is largely the result of students and faculty coming to the area for the sole purpose of attending Vassar and then staying less than five years. Although Vassar is stable as an institution, the population is transient. The College has started running a shuttle into downtown Poughkeepsie to make the City more accessible to students. This is an effort with much support from every College group and will probably continue and expand.

The best thing about Vassar is the academic quality. Most of the professors are great and students really are dedicated to their work. I remember being impressed when I first came to Vassar that everyone in my literature class had actually done the reading and was eager to participate and debate. If I could change Vassar, I'd keep the spirit and academic caliber but make it larger and closer to a city; Poughkeepsie is pretty much dead, and while admissions tours brag that "it's easy to go into New York City on the weekends," the reality is that students rarely go off-campus. I spend most of my time on-campus when I'm not in class hanging out in the dorms, which is pretty common. There doesn't seem to be too much school spirit or pride here, maybe because Vassar's not really a prestigious "sports school," but most students are generally excited about Vassar. When I tell people I go to Vassar, they're usually fairly impressed, which is definitely a testament to the school's academic reputation. I think the most frequent complaints from Vassar students are the fact that there's not much to do except hang out on campus, and the usual slew off dining-hall complaints. Academically, Vassar is outstanding. If big cities and lots of off-campus life are your thing, then Vassar is probably not the place for you, but if you're into smaller classes and don't mind a more contained, quieter campus, you can't do better.

I like Vassar, but I would like to see change with the food system. Also, the housing. More opportunities for off campus housing? All in all, it's quite good. There's a lot of opportunities. I'm in 5 choirs.

when i tell people i go to vassar they think its still a women's college. athletes here are less popular than they would be at most schools. there are many queer people there are always a million student run events on campus every weekend. there's no need to ever leave campus for entertainment. vassar has its own on campus dance club/bar called the mug. we have live jazz music in the mug every tuesday night. wednesday is 80s night in the mug. there is usually some indie rock concert every thursday and student musicians often open for them. friday and saturday night its standard dance club and gets packed. theres tons of interesting lectures and speakers during the week. there's usually several a capella concerts, drama productions, sketch or improv comedy shows, or school sponsored dances going on each weekend. i actually have to keep a calendar of just events to make sure that i can go to everything. vassar students really participate in campus life vassar is the first college in the country to have its own erotica magazine- Squirm. All content (photos, art, literature) is by students and is completely editted and published by vassar students. it is only available on the vassar campus and circulation is kept tight. vassar is very open to all sexual viewpoints. there are some transgendered kids that get along well in the environment. there are many support groups related to sexuality including QCVC (queer coalition of vassar colleg), Twat Chat (female sex talk), CARES (relationship abuse help), CHOICE (safe sex supplies) and probably others i'm leaving out. it is a very sex positive place.

I love the creativity here. I love that everyone is getting a totally different education, but that we can all still relate. I loved how small it was when I first got here - now that I'm a senior, I feel a bit like a big fish, and kind of confined, but I still really appreciate the sense of community, and how many people I've gotten to know over the years. It's funny, because most people know of Vassar, but they don't know anything about it. "That's in Massachusetts, right?" "It's been coed for, what, five years?" "Do you think you'd stay there for graduate school?" People don't know enough about Poughkeepsie - including me. There are a couple great music venues, there are nightclubs, there are cool coffee shops, there are some really great bars, there are art centers - but people just don't bother to find that out. Part of the problem, I think, is that it isn't really a walking city, and to get to a lot of these places, it's necessary to go through neighborhoods where you wouldn't want to be alone late at night. I wish there was some sort of map, with places of note marked on it, so it wouldn't take until senior year to realize that you're living in an admittedly run down, but pretty cool place. An advantage of not leaving campus, though, is that you can come up with really creative ways to have fun right here. One time, my freshman year, a bunch of friends and I put on ridiculous outfits and played hockey in the college center, using brooms, crutches etc as sticks and an empty soda bottle as a puck.

The best things about Vassar is that many people here really do want to change the world. It's refreshing, to think that some people really do care about others, and really do want to make a difference. If I could change one thing about Vassar, I'd make the administration more responsive to students. At other universities I've visited, the admins seem to want to help the students, but at Vassar the bureaucracy just doesn't seem to care as much. My apartment had lots of problems with it when we moved in this year, but Vassar housing was unconcerned. My class was cut halfway through the semester, but no one from the Registrar or the Dean of Studies seemed to want to help me find a new class. I just wish the admins were as concerned with making current students content as they were with recruiting prospective students or with courting alumni for donations. Vassar is the perfect size for a school. It's small enough that you know plenty of people and you never feel lost, but big enough that you're always meeting new folks. When I tell people at home (Struthers, OH) that I go to Vassar, I get different reactions from different generations. If the person is older, they'll act very impressed; if the person is younger, they'll say, "Oh. Where's that?"

best thing about vassar - students i would change the make-up of the student body - more guys and students of color just right in terms of class size, too small in terms of socializing reactions: "Wow, that's a good school." mostly impressed, or have never heard of it I spend most of my time in my house or at work not a college town vassar administration has a stick up their ass biggest controversy - cost of tuition/lack of financial aid -> lack of diversity not a lot of school pride in the typical sense of campus events and sports games, but most people respect vassar lots of unusual things about vassar, mostly the students and their level of social awkwardness experience i'll always remember - founder's day complaints - food is awful, too expensive, no social life/party scene, the mug is skanky, no good musical guests

The best thing about Vassar is definitely the feeling of community. The fact that the professors live with us and their kids park their tricycles next to student's bikes makes for a very unique college experience. It's a good size for making sure you feel like you know people but very difficult to remain anonymous. The town-college relationship sucks, not because Poughkeepsie is so awful but because Vassar tries very hard to keep the students on campus all the time, which gets very smothering. The reaction I get when I tell people I go to Vassar is either "where?", "ooh, a smarty", or "good luck finding a husband", which is kind of representative of the experience here, strangely enough.

The best thing about vassar was the beautiful campus and helfful biology teachers. I would change the fact that they need to better accomaodate students- i seemed to get a little "lost in the system" When i tell people i go there i either get a "wow you're really smoart" or "where's that?" Most of my time on campus was in the dorms or at volleyball practice- theres not much to do unless you like theater and music a lot. There is no college town really just a few useless stores- people don't really go off campus. Sometimes people go visit new paltz or marist. Vassar's administration was annoying and not very helful. But the individual professors i dealt with were very helpful. The biggest controversy on campus? there isnt much controversy- everyone knows everyone and is very chill and relaxed-no real fights- and security really doesnt bother anyone. We are trying to get co-ed dorm rooms now though. Theres always a new thing to try and protest or save.. after all, we are supposed to be liberal hippies. There is a descent amount of school pride- nothing like penn state football games though, we dont even have a football team. The unusual thing about vassar is that the entire place is unusual, wierd things happen and people are very often naked:) its pretty fun/funny. One experience i'll always remember was the first party with my volleyball team- man were we wasted .. oh yeah and theres always the wierdo roomate that lived in the closet.. should have go out of there earlier. M

The best thing about Vassar is undoubtledly the students. While my close circle of friends does not include all two thousand-something students I get along well with virtually everyone I meet. The other students are insightful, kind, and intellectually challenging. One thing I would change is the diversity in the menu of the dinning hall, but as our food provider's contract is up for renewal this year things might change. The school is just right. Reactions I get when I tell people I go to Vassar range from "what the hell is that" to "oh yeah...I got rejected so now I go to Brown". Though the enrollment is small, the campus never feels cramped. Ivoften find myself exploring everyday sometimes hanging out in other dorms with friends, sometimes appreciating the wonderful natural landscape of the campus, and sometimes sitting with friends and drinking coffee. Poughkeepsie and Vassar seem to have a tenuous relationship which the administration has been attempting to rectify by holding events which are open to the public as well as to the students. There is so much to do on campus that students don't very often venture outside the "Vassar Bubble", that is of course unless a trip to NYC is planned.

I love how much of a sense of community there seems to be here that I think so many other institutions of higher learning lack. This is a college in the true sense that classes are small where professors (on the whole) truly care about what they teach. Academics here are top notch love love love. About every semester that I've been at Vass there has been at least ONE class that has challenged and moved me. I would change the pretentiousness of this school sometimes however; being in what is called the "vassar bubble" can really make you feel like you're cut off from the rest of the world sometimes and isolated which can lend to the argument of it being too small at times. And petty gossip can threaten to rule your life but however not if you don't chose that. Its really up to you. Sometimes, you can feel like YOUR business is not your own but overall the good outweighs the bad and the school is just right for me. Many times people are impressed when I say I go to vassar cause it does have a GREAT reputation. I probably spend most of my time in the dining halls on campus lol! No college town unfortunately. I think the administration really does try to engage students and be "there" but sometimes not responsive enough at times. Controversies: we just had a rash of racially-overtoned signs inscribed on some parts of campus (noose, some swastikas) which obviously caused quite a stir (proof: school not as liberal as you think at times). There is GREAT school pride in particular though dorm pride and class year pride are also huge-most people love it here though. Student complaints: about administration, housing, and the food quality. One experience: so many hard to pin down one but when wyclef jean came here for a concert two years ago. FUNN!!unusual: we have a juggling and troupe act here called barefoot monkeys (who also throw fire) and a group here totally devoted to video games and dress up in leather and such called NONCON. Interesting...

Vassar is the perfect place to be yourself and to find out who you are. An incredibly supportive community we respect each other and always have a kind word for those around us. While Poughkeepsie isn't the perfect college town, it provides plenty to get involved in and help to improve it. We spend most of our social life on campus, which makes for a tight-knit social community revolved around having fun with each other.

People are like "...oh" but in a good way. They don't expect it. It's like a cat out of a bag---bam! Vassar and then "mrow!" Vassar's administration is awesome...when we get a chance to see them The largest controversy is veiled racism and lack of motivation to do anything about it. We had a noose found in a dorm and instead of doing things about it we talked about it, being more vague than politicians in debate. Most students complain about the food but it isn't really that bad, people are just far too picky. Our womens rugby team could demolish the men and the mens volleyball team could wallop the women

The best thing about Vassar is how they encourage you to explore what you're into. You can take classes in anything before you have to choose your major. And they want you to have half the classes you take be not associated with your major. I would change the meal plan because it's expensive. The school is just right. Most people have either never heard of Vassar or if they have, they are impressed. I spend most of my time in the music building and in my room. This is not a very good college town but there are some nice places within walking distance of the college. Poughkeepsie is a good size and exciting city. Vassar's administration is very sensitive to its students. The biggest controversy is the want of students to kick Coca-Cola products off campus because of how the company treats its workers. There is a lot of school pride despite the lack of athletic pride. The Vassar campus is an arboretum. There are tons of types of trees and the entire campus is a state park. It's beautiful! I will always remember the first fireworks at the beginning of my first semester. It was a celebration of new friends, a new school, and a realm of endless possibilities and opportunities.

The small size is the best thing about Vassar. If I could change one thing, I would give the dining center better hours, they kind of suck. Most people ask if Vassar is an all girls school even though it hasn't been for like forty years. I spend a lot of time in my room and my friends' rooms... the library and the drama and film building... oh and most of my classes are in Rockefeller Hall on quad. I guess "what college town?"... there's a bunch of little restaurants around the campus (but it's mainly because Vassar controls the surrounding property)... but if you can snag a shuttle, a cab, or you have your own car there is lots of fun stuff to do on Route 9 and in the Hudson Valley in general - the city is also only a train ride away (we're the last stop on the Metro North line), though the price for the round trip ticket has been steadily increasing since I've arrived here. I find the administration very accommodating to student's needs, and while some people don't think we get coddled enough, I think they're a lot more flexible and willing to work and talk with you than a lot of other college administrations. We recently had a noose controversy involving the cord on a window shade... that sounds really bad, but my personal theory on that was someone was trying to get a controversy going (or didn't think they were doing something hateful when they tied the knot)... Vassar has always seemed to me to be a really inclusive place (of course, I'm white, so members of the minority community might tell me that I just don' have any idea what's going on), I have a lot of friends who are not white and who have never complained to me about not feeling included on campus... we are predominantly white, but I think for the most part people are open and accepting of all kinds of people, and a relatively isolated incident such as this should not be condemning of the Vassar community as a whole - the majority of us are acceptant of everyone. There's school pride, but not an overwhelming pep-rally type atmosphere. There's nothing more unusual about it than any other liberal, eco-friendly, hyperindividual place. There's lots of experiences, I've just been enjoying my friends and my classes and the opportunities I have to experience different things through Vassar. I spent 5 weeks of the summer after my freshman year in Italy with the Italian Department, I get to be involved in the production of drama department shows, and I'm currently applying to various summer opportunities for research and community service work that are available through different offices/departments of the college. Student complaints - the food: it's repetitive, it's mediocre, and it's over-priced. We might be switching providers (currently Aramark) but it could stay the same, this decision is being made this year. But there are always sandwiches and you can always cook your own meal at the Vegan stir fry station (there is a pasta area where you can bring in your animal items too.

I personally love Vassar. I couldn't picture myself anywhere else for college. I am a Theater and Political Science double major, and find it Vassar a fantastic blend of academics and arts! One of my favorite things about Vassar is that the students are so supportive of eachother. Being involved in both numerous theater and dance productions I am very familair with the Vassar audience. It is not uncommon to have two theater productions a dance show and an acappella concert all in the same weekend, and have every single one have a packed house! Its Amazing!!

I think the best thing about Vassar are the people. I've made lifelong friends here. And people love the school--people wear their Vassar gear around the campus all the time.

Vassar students are, for the most part, extremely friendly. There's little to no sense of competition when it comes to grades - in fact, students are very supportive of one another and will work together to ensure that they have a full intellectual experience.

Vassar is very isolated, but also very self sufficient. You could go an entire semester without ever leaving campus. Partially because all of your needs (entertainment, food, school supplies etc.) are provided on campus, and partially because Poughkeepsie does not offer anything better as an alternative. Campus itself is also very big. You can walk for over a kilometer and never set foot in the city proper. If you do come here, get used to needing to answer the following question to your relatives: "Vassar? Isn’t that an all girls school."

Perfect size, though it gets smaller sophomore year--which isn't always a bad thing. Some people sadly haven't heard of Vassar or still think it's a women's school, but then they're probably not worth talking to anyway, right? Vassar is an excellent education and great friends. Occassionally ridiculous discussions will masquerade as good insight, though, and are often taken seriously by professors as long as you use words that sound academic and profound. That's my one academic complaint, and I think it comes from a sense of pluralism and the value in everyone's opinion that tends to be the default around here. The administration is growing increasingly conservative though they'll often deny it, and so it's important that the student body keeps a check on administrators, which it successfully does most of the time through constant organized critique. Not much school pride floats around here because athletics are so relatively unimportant, but I personally like it that way. There are lots of big universities for athletes, but Vassar is (or at least should be, I think) a place for students who want a different scene (without Greek life or mascots).

Vassar's administration has many good points, although it can be headache inducing. The good things: you can see a dean or someone else pretty high up very easily, and they do a good job of noticing students so no one falls through the cracks. However, they have driven me up the wall at points with all their forms and committees and stuff like that, but I suspect that any college would be like that. Reslife (the org in charge of dorms, etc.) is just ridiculous, though. One of my personal favorites of their screw-ups was during room draw when they didn't notice that the number of people they were allowing to transfer into the dorm (ahead of people who already lived there, WTF?) exceeded the number of people the dorm could actually hold, until one of my friends e-mailed them about it. To rectify this, they didn't let anyone transfer into the dorm at all.

Professor-student relationships are the pillar of the school. You are not just a face in a lecture, the professors know you as a student and person. They care deeply about their work and believe that they are molding us into aware productive adults. Location is the one thing I would change, but only in terms of flying. The Hudson Valley is beautiful and has great accessibility to the city, but you cant just hop off the plane and be back in your dorm. The size is just right. It is bigger than most other liberal arts schools, which I was unsure about when applying. Im really glad its bigger now. Most people know about Vassar and react positively when I tell them that I go there. It takes a lot of work to get in here and do well, people know that and usually are impressed. Most time spent is in the library. then the gym and my dorm. vassar's administration doesnt effect my day-to-day, which means they are doing a good job. There is a lot of school pride. I just got back from visiting a friend at another college and everyone was wearing sweatshirts from other schools, but at Vassar everyone is proud and represents us. People go to games, plays, etc. with enthusiasm. EVERYTHING IS UNUSUAL about Vassar. I dont think there is another place quite like it. A place that is so academic, but also supportive. It has balance, which is a hard thing to do when you are 20 and want to do everything. Most common complaint is that the library isnt open 24hours a day.

Best: the community spirit. Vassar's very welcoming of freshmen and very interested in keeping people involved all 4 years. You keep making new friends the whole way through because everyone kind of assumes that Vassar people are by default good people. You have to actively work to get people to dislike you. One thing I'd change: Less liberal echo-chamber. It's not as bad as the stereotype, but still not as diverse as one would hope. Lots of moderates are on campus, but very few people who fundamentally disagree with looking at everything from a social perspective or using government as a problem-solver. Vassar is the perfect size. When I tell people I go to Vassar they've either a) never heard of it b) think I go to a girls' school or c) old people think I must be a society girl. I spend most of my time on campus in my dorm with friends or at meetings or campus-wide parties. Well, that and the library for most of the second half of each semester. Poughkeepsie only really has one bad neighborhood, it just happens to be the major street in town. There's some great finds a bit farther away, like an amazing old-fashioned diner, and the Culinary Institute of America makes for amazing dinners with the fam. Vassar's administration has lately been trying to make Vassar more marketable and mainstream. They don't seem to realize that what makes Vassar so awesome and fun is the quirkiness and the freedom to be whoever you want without judgment.

Academics, drinking, a little too small but ok, think its great and that I must be very smart, dorm or library, "what college town", great administration, too much drinking, school pride?, nothing too unusual, everything, vassar bubble.