<p>Yeah, I’d say so. A lot of us fly out of the city when going home, so there’s that, but people go for concerts, to visit friends, as part of a class, etc. Art history students had to go to the MoMA for a project recently.</p>
<p>The train ride costs $32 round trip. It takes 1 3/4 hours from the Poughkeepsie train station to Grand Central Station in Manhattan. It takes about 10 minutes from Vassar to the train station by taxi (around $8, if I recall, one way?) and there are Vassar buses that go there too (free, I believe). </p>
<p>Financial aid commits to awarding the entire difference between the cost of school and the parents’ expected contribution on the financial aid document, so that is generous. Also, unlike other schools that lure you in by doing that freshman year and then giving you less in subsequent years, Vassar commits to that level of support for all four years.</p>
<p>My understanding is that there’s a lot of marijuana around but very little use of harder drugs (except alcohol), and the college seems to be concerned about the latter and not so much the former. But, as stated, it seems cool either to participate or not without suffering from any stigma either way. My sources tell me that Vassar students are just very tolerant and non-judgmental in pretty much all directions.</p>