Vassar College Top Questions

Professors for the most part learn your name by the middle of the semester - of course not in large lectures, but in most classes there are no more than 30 students (they try to keep it around 25) and professors can get to know you very well if you are engaged and active in the class. My favorite class - I've taken sociology classes on drugs, on prisons, on deviance that have all been very interesting and exciting to learn about. Currently I'm working on my Political Science major and I've discovered an interest in racial power and colonialism (specifically that of Britain) and it's ties to modern day penal codes in America - I'm taking an Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism course in the PoliSci department that has been very interesting and relevant to that. I'm also taking a seminar in Democracy and Power in America with a focus on war and more specifically, the Iraq war. I really like seminars because they really give you the chance to talk out the text with your professor and classmates. Students study a lot for the most part. It's a very academic environment, but we have fun, too. It also depends on your major and what kind of classes and how many classes you take, of course. Most classes are built around class participation. Intellectual conversations are quite common outside of class because students are very engaged in what they're learning about and also about social and political issues affecting the world at present. I would say students are not competitive. People try hard, but there is not the sense that I am pitted against my classmates for anything - it sounds cheesy, but it's more like competing with yourself to do better than with those around you. The most unique class I've taken was my freshman class. It was titled "Vampires, Lunatics, and Cyborgs" and it was a German literature class where we read a lot of wierd books and watched a lot of weird movies. I am involved with the Sociology and Political Science departments, and I've also interacted with the Drama Department a great deal through my job. If you're interested in social issues and politics I would recommend the political science department and also taking some sociology classes as well. I think sociology needs to be supplemented with other disciplines, particularly political science, because it's idealistic in nature - but that's the discipline as a whole, I think. In all three departments professors have been nice and helpful and always willing to lend an ear when I needed help or needed to talk out something that was concerning me from class. I'm kind of independent, so I tend to only go talk to professors when I need something, which is fine! I have other friends who will go to a professor's office hours just to shoot the breeze - professors like getting to know you here and they're interested in what you have to say for hte most part. I love the requirements! There's only three and you are on your own for the most part after that. Each major varies as far as requirements but they are all really flexible and they don't constrain you in any way. The education is geared towards both - you are there to learn and gain experience that is meant to help you in a variety of ways after you graduate. I think you are expected to come out well read and competent in ways that will make you appealing to a lot of different job markets and possibilities. A large percentage of grads are involved in fields that are completely unrelated to their majors.

Teachers work very hard to get know their students in my experience. They have regularly scheduled office hours during the week for extra help and if students can't make those hours they are more than willing to give up more of their time to help their students! Most of my classes are very discussion based! There are very few times when one of my classes is solid lecture. I don't know how much most people study but I would say on average my homework would take about 4-6 hours a day, its not busy work just a lot of reading!! The best part of the academics at Vassar is that there is no core curriculum, which means that I have been able to take whatever courses I have wanted since the very first semester I have been at Vassar.

All my professors know my name and value my thoughts, and have been very encouraging. Students study heavily. The library is pretty much full from Sunday through Wednesday--Friday classes are uncommon. People definitely talk about academics outside of class, too, oftentimes in social settings. But this can vary a little by social group. Students are absolutely NOT competitive with each other. Everyone who works their hardest does it for their own good and I have yet to meet a single person (really!) who wanted to compare their grades to mine to see who did better. And I'm a senior! The education is definitely for learning's sake, and not for job prep. The idea is once you've got a Vassar degree you have all the habits of mind and the intellectual skills you'll need to be a leader in any number of professional fields. You're versatile and well-informed in a number of areas. Who can say no to that?

My professors do know my name. Right now my favorite class is Verse Writing, a poetry class class I had to submit work to in order to be admitted. It's very small and intimate, which gives us a real sense of community - we're all working to help each other evolve as artists and poets. I'm also doing an independent study with the chair of the drama department on "The Winter's Tale", which I'm directing with my student run Shakespeare Troupe. My least favorite class is a bit bigger than the others (about 17 students) but is still engaging and enlightening. The most unique class I took was called "The Drama of Female Authorship". It was a class of all women, which was extremely empowering, where we explored female performance art and crafted and performed our own performance pieces as a final project.

Vassar’s professors are its number one asset. I have not yet taken a single class with more than 30 students, and I am on a first name basis with every one of my professors. No professor ever objects to an unscheduled appointment, either for homework help, or just to chat. How hard a student works is often dependant on which major they pick. No student has it easy here, but some students do have it easier than others. Vassar does not have a core curriculum, and some students use that to become a jack of all trades, perusing an English major along with a mathematics minor, but other students choose to buckle down and complete every single course a department has to offer. Vassar campus is very conducive to hard study habits. Although the main library only stays open until 1:30 AM on weekdays, there are several department libraries that stay open 24/7. Vassar is first and foremost a liberal arts college, so if you are interested in becoming a science major, you might find yourself frustrated by a lack of peers. Science majors are in a clear minority among students. However, our science facilities are top notch. The small number of students means small classes (less than 10 students in most cases) and huge personal attention from professors.

Academics probably can't be beat. Professors are experts in their fields and excited to teach. They know your name and are often available for consultation at any point in the semester. Often informal, personal, laid-back relationships with faculty members abound and make the learning process that much more engaging. Mostly everyone tends to work hard. Vassar is a place filled with ambititous people who want to get as far ahead in their field of study as possible. Cooperation is common and competition doesn't seem so prevalent. There are always those annoying freshman who attempt to put their intellectual prowess on stage by raising their hands every seven seconds in intro courses (which is why I've learned to avoid them), but that's before they realize it won't get them anywhere. The English department is popular and extensive and filled with a great faculty. Course offerings cover the whole breadth of subject matter, and many non-majors take courses up through the intermediate levels (for better or worse). In my opinion, the best professors are the ones who remain open to discussion, share their own wealth of knowledge, but are willing to put their foot down when someone offers some comment that isn't helpful or illuminating or is just inaccurate. Vassar is mostly a place for learning for learning's sake. Then again, you'll ultimately have to figure out what the hell you're going to do with that Philosophy and Religious Studies double major once you're out of here. But for four years, you're invited to pretend it won't matter! Yay!

Last week in class a professor I've had in a few classes before hugged me when I got an answer right that no one else seemed to know. Oddly enough, it didn't seem that weird. I feel totally comfortable going to a professor's office hours or just chatting with them after class. My professors usually remember me even after I'm out of their class. I <3 the Vassar faculty. I love Vassar because we're not very competitive. I honestly don't know how my GPA compares to that of my friends and the college as a whole. We only compete against ourselves to do as well as we know we are capable, and we try to help other students do well too.

professors know my name, where i am from, where i live on campus, and what i do for extracurriculars. favorite class has to be Politics of Difference, which challenged me to re-think an individual's role in society and participation in politics. Least favorite was economics. People study constantly. Class discussion is central. Intellectual conversations are happening constantly and is part of the academic experience here. Students are ambitious and borderline competitive. Greenville Prison class, where we went to prisons in new York. Poli Sci is a pretty sweet department, but you better like reading and writing. History is a great department, the professors are brilliant and make the students push themselves. I know a lot of my professors and have real friendships with some. there is no core curriculum, which means there are very few requirements and a lot of freedom! You will know how to read critically, write well and THINK, which makes you a good candidate for a job...but not any specific one.

All my professors know my names - I'm friends with a few of them and even met up with one while I was on study abroad. My favorite classes are in the history department, obviously, especially the Eastern European studies classes which can't be found many places. People study all the time, and class participation is a requirement. We always have intellectual conversations outside of class, but students are far more community-oriented than competitive. Vassar's academic requirements are hard but fair. Vassar is for learning for its own sake.

Yes, sign language, philosophy, all the time, very, yes, somewhat but not a rediculous amount, black feminism, sign language linguistic independent major, sometimes, very flexible, both.