<p>Lassen - re the birthday: your daughter would enjoy some extra cash to go out to dinner with her friends at one of the excellent small restaurants adjacent to Vassar. There is a Unos Pizzaria just three blocks away (very walkable). So a gift certificate there would work well also.</p>
<p>Hey, ok so i will be graduating from my high school in Florida, in 2015. Ever since I was younger cornell has been my dream school to go to, i would love to study business there. I think i would take physiology as my major, but I’m not really sure yet. My grades in my freshman year have been good so far, mostly a’s and one b. could u guys please tell me what i need to do to increase my chances of going to cornell? also, if i send in an early decision will it help my chances?</p>
<p>I think you would need to head over to the Cornell thread to get an answer to that one.</p>
<p>I have a question: what was the exact time you got your decision last year? “Around 1st April” doesn’t really help much :(</p>
<p>I’m an applicant for the class of 2016. However, I found these in old threads. </p>
<p>The class of 2014 found out on Saturday, March 27th.
The class of 2015 found out on Friday, March 25th. </p>
<p>So, maybe we’ll find out on Friday, March 23rd? If the dates are kept similar. Or perhaps on Friday March 30th? If they like to do it the last weekend in March. </p>
<p>Anyone else have opinions?</p>
<p>I have been accepted to both Dickinson and Vassar for the class of 2016 and am having a hard time deciding between the two. Does anyone have any advice? I have heard that Vassar is very liberal and LGBT friendly. I am not opposed to this but I was wondering if anyone knew how overt this was. I also heard that academically Vassar is above Dickinson. Is that true?</p>
<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m a bit concerned about your concern about how ‘overt’ the LGBT friendliness is, to be honest. If you have any issues with LGBT topics, I would say that Vassar is definitely not the school for you. Seeing LGBT displays of affection is an everyday occurrence at Vassar and if that bothers you, that’s a problem. We are extremely queer friendly and people who are not would have a problem fitting in with the culture.</p>
<p>Also, Dickinson (#47) is ranked far below Vassar (#14) for National Liberal Arts colleges. They also have Greek life, which Vassar does not have. So, if you were accepted at both but have underlying issues about LGBT things (which asking if it’s ‘overt’ implies) I would say got to Dickinson.</p>
<p>hey… how do Vassar students view religion??
and how’s the geography department??</p>
<p>Um. Well, we have a huge Jewish population, but a lot of students are not religious, too. There is Challah for Hunger every Thursday, though, and it’s wonderful!</p>
<p>Some people do look down on religious people, but I, as an entirely non-practicing Jew, don’t hold with that. I’ve never encountered any overt rudeness from face-to-face interactions, but some anonymous online interactions have been pretty rude, but people like that are definitely in the minority. </p>
<p>Also, the religious life center does do some pretty cool things, and the Vassar Jewish Union does something for every major holiday we’re around for.</p>
<p>Do students generally feel safe going out into Poughkeepsie? I know that there are some stereotypes regarding the area, but I’m not sure how true these actually are.</p>
<p>mrbluelake: Vassar has a large and open LGBT community that has a large presence on campus. In terms of academics, I’m pretty sure Vassar is viewed to be much more prestigious than Dickinson. I know that the USA today rankings are mostly BS, but facts such as admission rates (48% Dickinson vs. 24% Vassar) do shed light on the selectiveness of the institution and the “quality” of the average student. </p>
<p>Lemming101: As was said before there is a large Jewish population on campus, both practicing and non-practicing. There is also an active Catholic Coalition on campus that runs mass every Sunday. I’m not sure about other religions, but I’m sure a quick call to the office of religious and spiritual life (I believe that is its title) would clear up many questions. In terms of the student bodies views on religion, I’d say its pretty indifferent. As a practicing Christian I have never felt harassed or isolated because of my religion. Also, I have never really heard other students actively putting religion down. Since Vassar is a liberal campus, certain stances of churches (i.e. abortion, gay rights, female clergy, condoms etc.) are at odds with the general stance of the students, but there seems to be a careful separation of religion and the stances of a church. </p>
<p>As for the Geography department, I think it is wonderful. I believe Vassar is one of the few east coast schools to offer a geography major, or have a well established department since during the 1950s (not 100% sure on this date) geography was not seen as a useful field during a time when everything was being quantified, for this reason Harvard closed its geography department in 1948. </p>
<p>SforzandoXIII: My views on Poughkeepsie are skewed since I grew up here. But, I feel perfectly safe walking around Poughkeepsie. In recent years the town/city has started to be revitalized and main street is once again drawing in businesses. It is important that stereotypes regarding Poughkeepsie or other rust belt towns be disregarded as they severely hinder investment and involvement that is necessary for them to rebuild (sorry this is my Urban Studies major coming out).</p>
<p>What would you rate the general attractiveness of the student body in comparison to other colleges?</p>
<p>I was at Vassar for the past 2 days and will most likely be attending in the fall. I found the student body to be incredibly attractive overall. Both boys and girls seemed to care about their appearance, which is more than I can say about many other schools. At least 80% of the people I met and saw were well above average when it comes to looks.</p>
<p>I, personally, think the most beautiful woman in the world attends Vassar. But that’s clearly a skewed opinion. Overall, I don’t think that the students’ attractiveness is actually all that high. I guess it depends on your idea of attractive; if it involves hipsters, then you’ll find someone attractive. If you’re like me and you’re incredibly picky, then you might not think too many people are attractive. In all, it has to do with what you find attractive. There are some conventionally attractive women on campus, and the men are also fine, I suppose. Nothing terribly special. </p>
<p>Also, why on earth would that be important to you? That’s so shallow! There are 2,500 people here. Some’ll do it for you, some won’t. It’ll be like that everyone. There are attractive people everyone. The real question is, “will they be attracted to you?”</p>
<p>It’s important because I’d be making a decision to spend the next four years. And yes, sure there are, but there’s different concentrations in different areas. Shallow? Sure. Do I care? No. Society is shallow. Our emotions and hormones are shallow. We’re attracted to attractive people. It’s just how life works.</p>
<p>Vassar is one of my top choices, and I really liked it when I visited campus, but I didn’t get to talk to many students. my question is this: In general are students at Vassar down to earth?</p>
<p>What is the best course to enroll in for a class?</p>
<p>How is Vassar’s music scene?</p>
<p>Vassar has a great music scene - academically and socially. S1 has participated in orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber music, jazz band and jazz combos. I have mentioned in other threads that faculty, students, friends, and even community people attend the concerts - the music is excellent and everyone is supportive and just happy to be there.<br>
S1 has also played in a campus band for 2 years and they play around campus twice a month on average. Lots of creativity and expression in his group. There are many campus bands playing different types of music so there is always something happening in music at Vassar. </p>
<p>I am not a student but can check with my student to answer any specific questions you have about music.</p>
<p>Depends on what you mean by the music scene; the classical music scene is pretty good. The choirs are good, the orchestra is great, and wind ensemble is pretty legit. Wind ensemble is less competitive than orchestra, which is quite selective I hear, and the choirs are fairly competitive (unless you’re a tenor).</p>
<p>The acapella scene is very, very hit or miss (mostly miss) and I’ve been less than impressed with the jazz ensembles. I heard the Jazz Combo always performs drunk, though, so that might be why.</p>
<p>I know there are campus bands, and they seem pretty well regarded. VCPunx comes to mind. They’re fun.</p>