Vassar College Top Questions

There are several great apects about Vassar College's academics prospective students should be aware of. First off, there are NO "core" classes, only three requirements for graduation outside of your major. They include 1 freshman writing course (students get to pick from 40+ different courses that fulfill this requirement), 1 language course (which you can test out of if you choose to), and one quantitative course which can be fulfilled by taking any economics course, psychology course, or a variety of other classes including mathmatics, geography, computer science, etc. Because of this flexibility, it is very easy to double major at Vassar, or to simply take any courses you find interesting. Moreover, the classes at Vassar max out at about 30-40 students, which is a HUGE class here. On average there are approximately 15 to 20 students per classroom, and all classes are taught by Professors, TA's do not exist here. For instance, freshman year, one of my classes only had 9 students in it, and this semester I am taking an Art History class with only 3 other students. All of my professors know me, and I know them!

-Classes here are small, so you can be as involved in your discussions, classmates, and professors as much as you want to be. -The curriculum is incredibly flexible, so life here is really about finding what interests you personally, and pursuing that.

Very personal, small classes Engaging professors Challenging material

Classes are good. Some of my professors have tended to be a little old and senile and their classes were unbearably boring, but others make it really interesting and fun. I definitely recommend finding out about the professor beforehand- all the classes have potential, and in my experience it is always the professor that makes the class good or bad.

Excellent. The professors are brilliant for the most part, and always happy to give individual attention and meet outside of class. The classes are usually small (around 20 students) except for lecture classes like math. The English department doesn't grade papers; that's annoying.

When you take a class, your teacher will know. You will be able to email them (or in some cases even call their cell phones) if you have questions or just want to talk about class or even the weather. The professors are all really flexible and will just about bend over backwards to make sure you are getting the most out of their class. Once you declare a major, you get to pick a faculty member in your major department to be your advisor. I call my advisor by his first name and whenever I bump into him on campus we chat. Overall, the student body of Vassar College is pretty intelligent. I have been at a few dinners where world economics comes up, followed by philosophy and feminist theory! Since this is a liberal arts school, I think the educational goal here is more to learn for the sake of learning than learn to get a specific job. If you want to get very specific about what you study, you can, but you also have the freedom to take anything you want and expand your knowledge of the world.

Vassar has some of the most cutting-edge and revolutionary classes/professors/students going for it, and that's not exaggerated. I'm in a Political Science independent study, which started out as four/five friends meeting with a professor or two to discuss our lives, school, and current events in larger critical contexts. We meet in this dingy attic, but we always have food and the conversation is literally life changing! Our independent study has gotten so popular that its numbers have swelled to over twice its size, with more students and professors coming all the time. Our discussions last for an average of 4 hours per meeting, 6 hours being the longest meeting this semester! The duration is not compulsory or anything, people leave and arrive whenever they want/can, the duration is merely a testament to how compelling and important our discussions are. We're all given A's at the beginning so that it's a completely cooperative and stress-free environment, and the class is good for a full academic credit. The class has changed my life, and it's not the only class like it at Vassar!

Professors always know your name after the first week or two of class -- faster if you participate a lot. Even in sciences, the professors welcome comments, and we're always talking about some kind of philosophy outside of class (Really, the "lowest" topic I've ever discussed was handcuffs vs. rope, with the Squirm editor). Students are *never* competitive here beyond friendly contest. Even our premed is really laid back, despite the fact that it's one of the best in the country.

Professors for the most part learn your name, classes are small enough to make this a possibility. What's also nice is you can usually learn the name of your classmates as well if you pay any attention. Students study a lot here, however if you are able to manage your time well, it's not more intense than any other liberal arts school. Time management is key. And knowing your study habits will be helpful. Vassar students always have intellectual conversations outside of class. At dinner, someone will bring up an interesting conversation they had in class earlier that day, and the conversation will continue throughout dinner. People aren't afraid to share their opinions or be wrong, it's all part of learning. Students are surprisingly uncompetitive about grades. I have no idea how my friends do on their tests and papers and they don't know how I did on mine. No one really cares about anyone's grades except their own in my experience. Two unique classes I've taken: race and ethnicity in America:Whiteness and Greenhaven/Otisville. The former was a really interesting exploration of what whiteness is, how it came to be, and what it means for American society. The later entails visiting a maximum or medium security prison once a week and meeting with incarcerated men about issues they face. Both these classes really changed me.

I think that the academic courses are great. I like the ratio of students:faculty and the fact that they are easily accessible.

The classes are pretty good, not very difficult if you took advanced courses in highschool. All of the professors are pretty nice, easy to get along with. A lot of good classes, a wide selection.

Unless your professor really sucks, they're bound to know your name sooner or later. The professors here are very approachable and terribly helpful. If competitive academics imply that students compete against each other in grades, then we're not competitive. Vassar students strive to compete against their own standards, and most people I know have pretty high grades. Regardless of what other people say about Vassar grads not getting a job, that's pretty untrue. We have a healthy balance of career prep and learning for learning's sake, and our atmosphere is quite intellectual.

I do work extremely often. even on Friday afternoons. You have to put a lot of time into what you do but it all pays off in the end. the language programs here are fantastic.

The Vassar academic environment is ideal. Because we have a small student body and no graduate program, small classes allow professors to meet with students one-on-one whenever needed, give a great deal of guidance and feedback, and develop close relationships. It is very common for a student to go out to dinner at a professor's home or to grab lunch together. You often hear stories of the professor who willingly met with a student at midnight to work around their schedule and assist them as much as possible. I would especially like to stress the lack of any graduate programs--this is crucial, whatever school one decides to attend. Our classes are taught exclusively by professors, our papers are graded exclusively by professors, and the individual attention is reserved only for undergraduates.

My professors always know my name, and are incredibly approachable. Many professors are really accessible by email or for meetings - and all professors have a few office hours a week, and you can really use them. It's an incredible opportunity to get to know the professors better, to have concerns about the class or a paper addressed, and just to feel like you're getting the most out of the course. My favorite class was Christian Ethics in Modern Society (Religion) with Professor Kahn. Least favorite was Intro to Native American Studies (American Culture) with Professors McGlennen and Wallace - nice women, the class just didn't work for some reason. Most unique class - Experiencing Art (intro to Psychology) with Professor Palmer, and Movement Analysis (Dance) with Kathy Wildberger We do have intellectual discussions outside of class - it feels like such a cliche, but I really have stayed up late on school nights (or weekends) just talking about religion, or sexuality, or politics, or philosophy. It's so fun, in a completely un-pretentious way. I'm a Geography-Anthropology major - one of Vassar's many interdepartmental programs. We have a crapload of interdepartmental and multidisciplinary majors, which is a fantastic choice for those of us who can't decide on just one department to study. I feel at home in the Geography and Anthropology departments, both with a great student cohort and vibrant array of professors. I'm also probably doing a correlate sequence (minor) in Religion, just 'acuse it's exciting stuff to think about. Vassar is anti-pre-professional to a fault. Everything is geared towards learning for its own sake, learning how to think, learning what makes you tick - nothing that could actually, you know, get you a job one day. We're all destined for grad school if we ever want to make use of our degrees, but I can't say I mind when it's so much fun in the meantime. Anyway, I didn't know what I wanted to do professionally when I came here (I still don't, actually) so it's not like I could make much use of a pre-professional opportunity at the moment, anyway. I like having so few academic requirements - so much freedom to explore different departments/programs. My only complaint is NRO restrictions - in theory, we can take four courses under the Non-Recorded Option (you decide on a grade standard - if you meet that grade, the grade gets recorded on your transcript; if you get below the grade, it reverts to pass/fail) as a way to feel free to experiment in new areas - but there are so many classes, or even entire departments, that you can't NRO that it's really quite limited.

Just as there are a wide range of different students at Vassar, there are a wide range of academic and study experiences. Some people are constantly working, some hardly ever do anything and seem to get by just fine (albeit they don't have the highest GPAs). Kids with science majors always complain that they have way more work than humanities kids, but I've definitely experienced overworking and so have all of my friends (as far as their complaints tell). If you really love work, though, you won't be disappointed. At any given time of the day, someone, somewhere is doing homework. That's not to say that you'll always be doing work, but I find the work load to be quite substantial. All of my professors have always been willing to help with anything. There are no TAs, so all classes are taught by the professors themselves. It's also easy to stop by their office hours, and if you can't make those times, you can always contact professors through e-mail to schedule an appointment--they make themselves very available to students. A number of people I know (me, too) have even had dinner with one or more of their professors! Some professors are not strict enough with class-size limits. They want to please everybody so they will usually let more students into the course. Consequently this means I've had to take a seminar with upwards of 15-20 people or more, as many kids are in the intermediate-level classes. A group of 6-10 people is essential to a seminar experience, so these overloads are a bit frustrating for some students. There are a number of multi-disciplinary courses and programs which I enjoy. These courses allow students from many different academic backgrounds to work together, thus bringing different perspectives to the class. I'm currently in a cognitive science course that has kids with backgrounds in biology, anthropology, economics, chemistry, psychology, etc. Our discussion goes in many different directions which is something I really like about the class.

Professors know your name, friends, and blood type. It's been my experience that classes that you start off thinking will be great often suck, and classes you think are going to ruin your life end up changing it. Students study A LOT-if you can't find somebody, odds are, they're in the library. Class participation is pretty much required as the average class size is generally around 15 kids. The English department is pretty okay, especially since they don't grade papers--they just leave comments, which is nice except for the fact that you have to guess what your grade will be at the end of the term. There are virtually no academic requirments at Vassar, which is great, except then if your classes suck you have only yourself to blame. Education here is definitely geared toward learning for learning's sake--no one here is studying to become an engineer. Or even to get a job where they might earn money. Being poor is very chic right now.

At Vassar, most classes are pretty small: my largest this semester has 40 students, and that's pretty unusual. I'm also taking a seminar that has only twelve students. Most professors make an effort to know your name, but Vassar is really about students taking initiative, so professors will respond even better if YOU make the effort to establish a relationship with them. My favorite class this semester is a French Current Events class-- it has a ridiculous, engaging professor and we get to discuss a lot and use different media sources and methods to immerse ourselves in French culture. Class participation is common at Vassar, although every class is different. As a freshman, I don't spend much time with professors outside of class, but I know that as students get farther along with their majors, it's really common for them to establish closer relationships with faculty in their department. I wouldn't say that students at Vassar are competitive in a negative way, but there is definitely a highly level of work expected here, both by Professors and students. Vassar's academic requirements are pretty minimal-- you have to take one language, one "qualitative analysis" and one freshman writing seminar. I personally was frustrated, however, in choosing my classes second semester because while Vassar makes it seem as though students can take courses is anything they're interested in, it's not as easy as it sounds: I found at least twenty courses I REALLY wanted to take and couldn't, either because they were designated as "majors only," had numerous prerequisites, or various other reasons. The department I am most heavily involved with is the drama department, which has a pretty prestigious reputation among liberal arts schools. The shows here are always really impressive. The most frequent complaint about the drama department is that there aren't enough classes in it: after you take the introductory course, your selection is pretty limited. Academics at Vassar are definitely Vassar's strongest selling point, and the education I have gotten so far has probably been the highlight of my Vassar experience.

I don't seek out academic assistance, but people seem friendly enough.

i have had a wonderful academic experience. i've only had two classes with over 20 students in my 3 years here. i had one class with only 4 students. the teachers are very accessible and are willing to chat for hours at a time. i had a professor for a class once 2 1/2 years ago that i still make a point to sit down and talk with at least once a week. many professors will invite the class over for dinner. class participation is very common students are not competitive. they want to do well but aren't afraid to admit getting a C- on a paper. i got a C on a paper once and i was so upset that i told everyone. but i'm typically an A- student. there is no real core curriculum so students are free to choose which classes they actually want to take. i do wish that there were more intellectual discussions outside of class