<p>Since decisions are now out, I thought I'd open up a new general thread in which people can ask current students (and alums, if any are out there and interested in contributing!) any and all questions they might have about Vassar. Feel free to ask anything you can think of in regards to campus life, Poughkeepsie, academics, clubs, classes, sports, dorms, the social scene, dating, drinking, food, etc.</p>
<p>MODERATOR'S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.</p>
<p>You’re a great source of info. My son is seriously considering Vassar - he’s narrowed his choice down to 3 schools. He is a recruited athlete, but his stats are excellent for acceptance on his own. Here’s the only concern:</p>
<p>How is the “mixing” of the athletes with the non-athletes? He doesn’t want to be somewhere with a big divide. He likes the idea of going in knowing he’s “part of a team,” but he wants to be sure there’s not some type of attitude that keeps the athletes from being a part of the entire campus. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>He did spend the night on campus, went to a party, and had a great time. He felt like there were lots of people there, and I highly doubt they were all athletes. I know that athletics aren’t a big part of the campus culture, but the concern is that they maybe aren’t as accepted? What do you think?</p>
<p>Also, how is the dating scene there? My son is very open minded and pretty liberal (I don’t think he’d be considering Vassar if he weren’t). He went to an all-boy HS, so the idea of lots of girls at college is appealing!! I do have to say that the only other boy from his school accepted at Vassar is openly gay. He has absolutely NO problem with that, but it does sort of feed into that annoying stereotype…</p>
<p>Anything you can share with me that I can share with him to alleviate his concerns would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I’ve found that athletes mix in really well with everyone else on-campus and there really are no divisions between “athletes” and “everyone else.” If your son chooses to attend Vassar I seriously doubt that he’ll feel excluded from the rest of campus life because he also happens to be on a sports team. You’re right in commenting that sports aren’t a big part of campus culture; however, I’ve never heard of anyone being excluded from a social event because they happen to be on a sports team.</p>
<p>As for dating at Vassar… yes, that’s certainly possible. As a straight male at Vassar interested in dating, I’d say your son would have an excellent chance of finding a girlfriend (the male-female ratio does give guys a bit of an advantage there). While there are a lot of hook-ups on campus (I feel like that probably happens anytime you get a collection of 18-22 year-olds in a relatively open environment), dating also takes place. I can personally attest to that: I’m currently in a relationship with a guy I met here at Vassar.</p>
<p>this is kinda off topic but i got stuff in the mail for the “Focus on Vassar” thing on the weekend of an open house. The description was vague though, it said it was to celebrate diversity or something. It sounds like its just a more detailed version of an overnight but is there anything more special about this?</p>
<p>I am interested in Poli sci, how strong is the international relations/political science department there? Also, in terms of student activities, how well does the school provide things like guest performers, get togethers for students,guest lectures and so on? Also, how is the faculty interaction with students?</p>
<p>MZ2009, I’m probably performing at Focus, so I can tell you that it has some special performances and stuff. I think they try to pair “diverse” students with “diverse” hosts to assure said “diverse” students that Vassar is, in fact… “diverse.” (Sorry. It’s such a Vassar buzzword…) </p>
<p>Sonjanicky26, poli sci is supposed to be awesome but I can’t tell you a thing about it. Student activities rock. We have lots of guest performers and speakers. For music, last year we had MIA, this year we had Broken Social Scene (outside! it was awesome), the list goes on. Augusten Burroughs (the guy who wrote Running With Scissors) spoke in February; Ray Offenheiser from Oxfam is speaking next week; Jeffrey Sachs spoke last year. There are campus-wide parties at least a couple times a month and Mug Nights (which is when a campus org takes charge of DJing at the Mug, the on-campus dance club, which is sweatier than the gym but has its own… charm) every weekend. In addition to tons of student group performances and department shows all the time. There is never a dearth of something to do on campus. </p>
<p>Faculty interaction with students is great because of the small class sizes. I’ve never had a problem meeting with a professor or even had much of a wait getting an email reply. Professors are incredibly accessible and every one I’ve had seems to want to really help their students succeed. That’s the benefit of going to a small school.</p>
<p>Everyone says that the open curriculum is really good,but what are its drawbacks ?
Do you get the classes that you applied for ?</p>
<p>@the bigcheese: One of the things I love most about Vassar is the open curriculum and, personally, I don’t think there are any drawbacks to it. I guess you could make the case that the open curriculum allows students to avoid departments they’re not interested in, thus causing them to be less well-rounded in terms of “traditional academics,” but I don’t think that happens very much. Because students can’t pre-register for classes until they meet with their advisor, it’s not possible to sign up for, say, four credits of dance and a physical education class. In addition, there is a graduation requirement that you need to take a minimum of 8 1/2 credits outside of your major discipline (Arts, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, or Foreign Language & Literature). Thus, students are required to have some exposure to something other than a science if they’re a biology major (for example). </p>
<p>In regards to getting into classes… that’s usually no problem. I’ve gone through four rounds of preregistration and have yet to be blocked out of a course (I was waitlisted once, but got off the waitlist). Occasionally students do get blocked out of a course; however, it’s pretty uncommon to have happen (I have one friend whose had it happen once). In addition, if departments see that a class had many more students apply for it than spots, they’ll oftentimes open up another section of that class… I’ve had that happen with two of my classes. Generally speaking though, most people I know at Vassar have little trouble getting into their classes. And, if they do, professors are usually willing to let them off the waitlist. </p>
<p>@sonjanicky: dc89 gave you a nice summary of events available for students, so I’ll talk a little about the political science and international relations programs at Vassar. I’m not a major in either of those departments, however, one of my good friends is an international relations major with an interest in political science. The Political Science Department is one of our bigger departments and has four different divisions: American Politics, International Politics, Political Theory, and Comparative Politics. Majors are required to take courses in each of these four categories, while minors choose to focus in one of the four. My friend has really enjoyed the political science classes she’s taken so far… the professors she’s had have all been great. The classes are pretty much discussion-based, while the homework is reading intensive. If you haven’t been there yet, I highly recommend you check out the Political Science website for information about the professors, classes, and major: [Political</a> Science at Vassar College](<a href=“http://politicalscience.vassar.edu/]Political”>http://politicalscience.vassar.edu/).</p>
<p>International Studies at Vassar is an interdisciplinary major. As such, it gives majors a lot of freedom in terms of how they’d like to go about getting the credits for the major. Usually, international studies majors pick three different departments in which they’d like to concentrate: two of them are social sciences (economics, political science, history, etc.) and the third is a language. They then take a series of courses in those three departments… I’m not sure how the specific requirements for that works. International studies majors are also highly encouraged to go abroad. For more information, see the International Studies website: [Vassar:</a> International Studies](<a href=“http://internationalstudies.vassar.edu/]Vassar:”>http://internationalstudies.vassar.edu/)</p>
<p>Okay–maybe this is a weird question, but here goes. There’s a perception that at Vassar your classes are likely to all have an “agenda”–like, a Shakespeare course will actually be about the domination of the patriarchy, or Art History will chronicle the portrayals of oppressed people groups-- what do you think? Is there pressure within the academics to conform to a pre-set stereotype? How about socially? Are kids welcoming and truly diverse, or are they only welcoming and tolerant of those they agree with? We’d love input about the stereotypical image of the school.</p>
<p>littleathiest-- you are a real gem on the Vassar board, thanks for posting so regularly. </p>
<p>My D is a junior and is extremely interested in Vassar. In fact, she likes everything about it and is seriously considering applying ED in the fall. We will be visiting this summer (not the best, I know, but we live in the southwest and this is the only time we can go). She has based her early impressions on a talk with an admissions rep who came to her school, what she has read on the website and in books, and on some communication she has had online with the daughter of a business associate who is a current freshman. It does seem like a potentially great fit.</p>
<p>So here’s the sort of question-- what impact does the small size have on the social life? I know from you that the people are great and that there is certainly a lot of socializing. I am not asking about whether there is a lot to do. What I am trying to get to is this–do people form tight groups? Is it clique-ish? Is there room for making a mistake socially such that there is no tension or unhappiness if you change-up who you spend your time with? Do you develop new friendships all the time based on residence, classes, or activities? Now that you are almost through your second year, do you have any thoughts about whether there will be social stagnation down the road? Are you planning all or part of your junior year abroad?</p>
<p>My D is drawn to LACs and I see their many advantages. My own experience and that of my older D is at bustling universities that are/were not huge, but are/were very different. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>cadence - well… to a certain degree, there is a Vassar “mindset.” And SOME academic classes are permeated by that. But in my almost two years here, I’ve only had one, and it’s an English class that I’m in this semester. However, I take mostly English, history, and Italian classes, so… it’s kind of hard to teach those with an agenda. I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, and if you want to avoid those kinds of classes, ask around about the professors before registration. Socially, there’s definitely a liberal mindset. The conservatives and independents on campus came out of the woodwork this year, though, mostly for the election, but also to make others like them feel more comfortable on campus. You don’t HAVE to be a liberal to be happy at Vassar. You just have to be able to back up what you’re saying (and I think that should go for everyone!). </p>
<p>nimby, I haven’t had a problem with the small size. I hang out with a very different group as a sophomore than I did as a freshman. I don’t hang out with anyone from my freshman fellow group (people on your hall) except for my old roommate. For me, it was easy to recover from social mistakes because I’m VERY involved in extracurricular groups, and my good friends are mostly from those groups. My best friends are from my two dance companies and from the musical theatre group that I perform with. But our groups also incorporate friends-of-friends, etc… I haven’t had a problem with stagnation. I don’t plan on going abroad (I’m staying for dance), and I think that my friendships with others doing “JY-Stay” will strengthen, and my friendships with those who ARE going abroad will be refreshed when they return. </p>
<p>I don’t know if that really made any sense, but in short, no, it’s not a problem. Being involved and not limiting myself to one activity helped me have a diverse group of friends (well, they’re almost all performing artists in one form or another, but those are just the kind of people I’m drawn to in general). I think that freshmen have to be careful not to get too sucked into dorm life, because when that goes bad, things… suck.</p>
<p>Oh thanks for answering our questions! really appreciate it! Vassar is one of my top choices . I want to know how many classes a day does a freshman usually have? How long are the classes? What’s a typical schedule for you? Are single dorms reserved for upperclassmen? Is the school so small that you see the same faces everyday and mostly everyone knows who you are? What is the process for joining clubs? If you know this, are the scholarships and grants that Vassar awards automatically renewed each year?</p>
<p>whoa i kinda went crazy with the questions but thanks in advance!</p>
<p>@nimby: dc89 gave you a great opinion… I’ll give you another, since I’m guessing that this sort of thing can vary from person to person. Like dc89, I don’t find myself having any issue with the small size of the school. I attended a small private high school, so when I initially arrived at Vassar I was actually surprised at how big everything felt! </p>
<p>I don’t really feel like I’ve run into any issues with cliques in my almost two years at Vassar… compared to high school, they don’t seem to exist. Sure, there are people tend to hang in certain groups pretty frequently, but the social scene is overall pretty fluid and there’s a lot of flow between different groups of friends. Because of this, changing up who you spend time with is also entirely possible… I’ve never felt stuck in my social group.</p>
<p>Along these lines, new friendships do develop often. Personally, I’m still close friends with two of the girls in my student fellow group (the other freshmen that live near you your first year at school), but I also have several friends from classes, friends from a student organization with which I’m involved, and friends who I’ve met through other friends. Some of these friendships have formed recently, while others go back to my first week at Vassar.</p>
<p>And no, I’m not going abroad next year. I’m not all that into traveling, but also don’t have much of a desire to leave campus because of friendships and the course offerings.</p>
<p>@Heyduds… Usually, a freshman has two to three classes a day. You’re encouraged to take 4 classes your first semester, and most students take between 4 and 6 classes. If you take more than five, usually one of these classes is a half-credit course like introduction to soccer or weight training. The length of classes vary by type and department. Generally speaking, however, they’re either 50 minutes, 3 times a week or an hour and fifteen minutes 2 times a week. If you take a lab course, you’re probably going to have 1 four-hour lab a week. As an example here’s my academic schedule. Monday/Wednesday… two 50 minute classes and an hour & fifteen minute class. Tuesday/Thursday… one 50 minute class, and two hour & fifteen minute classes. Friday… one 50 minute class.</p>
<p>There are no such things as “single dorms” or “upperclassmen dorms.” All of the nine dorms on campus have a mix of singles, doubles, and triples and a mix of years in them. Generally speaking, freshmen end up in doubles and triples (although they can get singles), sophomores end up in doubles or singles (I have a single this year), and juniors all get singles. There is senior housing separate from the dorms as well. These are apartments clustered together in which usually four to five seniors live together. They consist of a sitting area, kitchen, and single bedrooms. </p>
<p>Vassar isn’t small enough for me to feel like I see the same people every day, although I guess I do recognize a fair amount of the school by now. There are a few people that most of the student body knows–they’re usually people who have positions in the student government–but I personally don’t feel like everyone knows who I am.</p>
<p>Joining student clubs is usually quite simple: just attend that club’s meeting. A few clubs such as the FlyPeople dance group and the a Capella groups require auditions to join, but the vast majority of the clubs are open to anyone with an interest in participating. There’s a club fair at the beginning of each school year where club members table for members. There, club members usually give away free items (food, t-shirts, etc.) and have papers where you can sign-up to get on the club email list and be notified about meeting times and events. </p>
<p>Vassar guarantees that it will meet all financial needs for your time at the school. What those needs are, however, are evaluated by the school annually after you do your taxes.</p>
<p>Hey, this is a weird question, but would you suggest getting a Mac or PC? I’m kind of technology challenged and don’t care either way, is there one that is better to have?</p>
<p>@afaceinspace: I have a PC on-campus and it’s no problem, however, the campus is probably a bit more Mac friendly. I believe the on-campus technology store caters more to Mac users and that the computer repair desk can help you more if you have a Mac. That being said, either is fine, so for those of you who have a PC, don’t worry about rushing out and buying a Mac. The campus is pretty balanced in terms of Macs and PCs.</p>
<p>How would you describe the job/career counseling? Is there a lot of recruiting at Vassar?</p>
<p>uhm…how about a printer? i first heard that you dont need one but then heard they break down and its better to have your own?</p>
<p>How is the food at Vassar? Also, how are the pre-medical studies? Are the science classes strong at vassar?</p>
<p>This is fun. </p>
<p>Heyduds: My schedule is like this:
Monday:
History 10:30-11:45
Dance 1-6 (half hour break somewhere in there)
Italian conversation hour 6-7</p>
<p>Tuesday:
English 10:30-11:45
Italian 12-1:15
Dance 3:10-4:25
More Dance 8-9</p>
<p>Wednesday:
History 10:30-11:45
Dance 1-8 (with one half-hour break and two fifteen-minute breaks)</p>
<p>Thursday:
English 10:30-11:45
Italian 12-1:15
Dance 3:10-8:20 (no break whatsoever)</p>
<p>Friday:
English Composition 10:30-12:30
Dance 1-3, sometimes an hour of rehearsal after, then again 5-6
I’m kind of an exception to the rule because I’m kind of hyperinvolved in my extracurriculars. But there you go. </p>
<p>faceinspace: Mac!!!</p>
<p>sonjanicky: Sorry, I can’t say much about that…</p>
<p>mz: I have one and never use it. I wouldn’t bother. There are enough printers on campus that if you’re REALLY desperate, you can find one. </p>
<p>rr4life: Food is kind of gross, but edible. (And I’m picky. I kind of live on grilled cheese and salad. And brownies.) Can’t say much about science, but people seem to like it…</p>
<p>Thanks to the both of you for your answers, they went right to the heart of what I wanted to know!</p>