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.