<p>hello! just a question about dorms - earlier in this thread someone said that juniors all get singles. Now, I haven’t actually experienced dorm life, so it’s quite possible that by junior year I would like a single. However, is there still the option to live in a double junior year?
thanks!</p>
<p>To aplomb: My son was in a double as a freshman, got a single as a sophomore, and decided he wants a double again as a junior. He likes the company, plus the room is a lot bigger.</p>
<p>I read a lot of articles from the miscellany news that were talking about the changes in the meal plan, and the papers that came from Vassar also mentioned this. I never really understood what the problem was though. What are the pros and cons of the new meal plan system and why do some students seem to be against it?</p>
<p>(oh and is the standard plan usually enough for an average student?)</p>
<p>^ I HATE HATE HATE the new meal plan. It’s absurdly restrictive for those of us who often can’t eat dinner until after 8:30, because that’s when ACDC (or, as you will quickly learn to call it when you come to Vassar, “the DC” - pronounced “Deece”) closes, and that’s the only place you can use your “meals.” Otherwise, you have to use your declining balance points. I’m on the minimum meal plan because I did not want to buy a bunch of meals that I’m not going to use - I have, like, 50 left right now - and I keep having to replenish my declining balance points and it’s a huge pain in the butt. It just really bothers me that I literally cannot use my meals because the dining hall ISN’T OPEN when I need to go and there’s no meal equivalency at the Retreat or UpCDC. </p>
<p>Also, Aramark is terrible. I sometimes work with a volunteer organization called Operation Donation that donates tons of nonperishables to Dutchess Outreach, a local food pantry, and last year we were able to collect points (back when everything was points, not meals) and use them to purchase nonperishables directly from Aramark, which we would then donate. This year, not only can we no longer collect points, but Aramark jerks us around when it comes to what they’re going to give us for the meals we collect. There was an incident last semester where we asked them to give us nonperishables in exchange for the meals we had collected, and they said no, but they would give us lasagnas, and we agreed because DO could freeze them. Then they jacked up the prices so much that we would have basically been paying $200 for a lasagna that fed 24 people. It’s disgusting. When they were thinking about changing the meal plan last year, lots of people spoke out about how much they hate Aramark (to top all that, the food really isn’t that good), yet the committee chose them again. I’m still annoyed about that. </p>
<p>Um, sorry for the novel…</p>
<p>@ sonjanicky… Unfortunately, I don’t know all that much about job placement out of Vassar because I’m only a sophomore. I’ve been to the Career Counseling office before and can report that they’re very nice and quite visible on-campus, but have little knowledge as to how good they are at helping people get good jobs.</p>
<p>@MZ2009… Like dc89, I really don’t think you need a printer at Vassar. I had one my freshman year (until my roommate broke it) and, although it was a little more convenient than heading down to the printer room on the first floor of each dorm, it wasn’t convenient enough to warrant the space and cost of ink and paper. The only exception to this is if you think you’re going to want to print a lot of stuff in color (maybe for Art History)… the only color printers on campus are in the library. As to printers in the dorm breaking down, well, it happens every so often. Computer Information Services (CIS) is really good about getting them up and running soon though. Also, because there’s a printer in every dorm and the library, it’s not really all that hard to just go somewhere else. </p>
<p>@rr4life… I personally don’t think the food is all that bad. I mean, it’s not what I get at home, but it’s not terrible. Options in the main cafeteria consist of a sandwich bar where you can get a sandwich made or opt for a pre-made sandwich, a bagel-toast station, two soups a day, a salad bar, a “home cooking” station with a meat/starch/vegetable that changes for each meal, two grill stations: one with a rotating special or omelets and one with burgers/fries/chicken/hotdogs, a wrap station, a pizza station, a Mediterranean station with salads and pasta options, a Vegan station, a stir fry station where students can make their own food (my favorite part of the cafeteria, hands down), and a dessert station. There’s also the Retreat, which is more of a cafe style dining area and has sandwiches (hot and cold), burgers, breakfast specials, a salad bar, and pizza. </p>
<p>Pre-med isn’t a major at Vassar, although, I believe that students interested in pre-med have a special advisory program they work with to make sure they have fulfilled all requirements. Usually, but not always, pre-med students choose to major in a science. I know pre-med students who are neuroscience, psychology, biology, biochemistry, and chemistry majors as well as one who is a Medieval & Renaissance studies major. Overall, the science program at Vassar is pretty strong, if less talked about than some of the humanities majors. Biology and psychology are two of our biggest departments and, as such, have a lot of different course offerings. I’ve taken biology and psychology courses and have had good experiences in both… overall, I would describe both departments as quite strong. The chemistry and physics departments are smaller, but still solidly good. </p>
<p>@aplomb… Juniors are guaranteed a single, however, they don’t have to have one. The idea is that juniors pick their rooms before sophomores do, meaning that they get first dibs at which rooms they’d like. If a pair of juniors decided they’d rather have a double, they would certainly be allowed to choose one rather than go for a single. There’s also a number of suites in two of the dorms (Main and Jewett) which sophomores, juniors, and seniors can all apply to live in. Usually, they’re occupied by groups of four or five juniors and sophomores.</p>
<p>Oh! Thanks dc89, i appreciate your novel, lol. I definitely get the problem then. I read that its 1$ per point when you buy extra but how much is that really, if you wanted like a snack or something would it be a lot of points? Oh and is there anywhere else apart from the DC where meal points are accepted?</p>
<p>And totally unrelated to that, i read that the college tries to put you with a roommate that matches, but is that true? How would they go about doing that?</p>
<p>@MZ2009… there are two different types of points on the meal plan. One type is specifically for the all-you-can-eat system at the ACDC. Basically, your card is swiped, and one meal (worth about $12, I think) is detracted from your card. The other type of point system is the 1$ per point one you’ve read about. It’s used at the Retreat (and a couple coffee/drink places on-campus). Every time you decide to go there, you pay for things on an a la carte basis. Thus, you would probably go to the Retreat (or one of the coffee/drink places) if you wanted to get a snack, rather than waste an entire meal at the ACDC for, say, a piece of fruit).</p>
<p>Sometime in either May or June you’ll get a survey which you take to match you up with a roommate. It asks 10-12 basic questions about things like how clean you’d like your room to be, what time you plan on going to bed, how often you’d like to hang out with friends in your room, and whether or not you smoke. The idea is that the college is trying to match you up with someone that you’ll at least share similar living habits with. How well does it work out? Decently, for most, as far as I can tell. Keep in mind as well that because of the way in which freshmen are grouped into fellow groups of 6-16 other freshmen led by a sophomore or junior student fellow that all live in the same hall, it’s not the end of the world if you and your roommate end up being just roommates and not friend. I had a rather unpleasant roommate situation my freshman year, but because I was friends with a couple of the people in my student fellow group who lived close to me, things worked out.</p>
<p>Lol, a roommate survey, i like that. Thanks littleathiest, i think i can speak for everyone when i say that you’re a huge help to have around =)</p>
<p>Are classes discussion based or lecture based?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Vassar is more of a humanties school, so how is econ and math at vassar ? Also how are the train services to New York City, I mean are they clean and how much do they cost ?(I’m an international and its not possible for me to visit, so the second question might sound wierd.)</p>
<p>Hey, let me just briefly preface my question. I plan on majoring in film in college and thus appropriately applied to schools with a film major. Right now, I’m choosing between Vassar and Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications. In all honesty, I think Syracuse’s program is more specialized, but i would really just like to know if anyone has anything to say for Vassar’s film program.</p>
<p>Also, I just want a little input on Vassar’s social life. How are the parties? I often read about campus-wide-school-functioned parties, so how are those? In all honesty, I plan to party a good amount in college, all in good fun, but I’m just not sure if Vassar would provide the proper means for this. Basically, I just want to know about the social life in general, please!</p>
<p>@thisireal… It really depends on what class we’re talking about… this sort of thing varies by the nature of the subject, professor, and department. That being said, the majority of the classes I’ve taken (in the humanities, the social sciences, the physical sciences, and languages) have been a mix of discussion and lecture. Sorry if that’s not the best answer… if you want to ask about a specific department, I might be able to give you more of a sense of the typical rhythm of the courses in it.</p>
<p>@thebigcheese… I know several economics majors here at Vassar and they’re all very pleased with the department. I haven’t actually taken an economics course yet, so can’t personally comment, but am under the impression that the department is quite strong. There are actually a fair amount of Economics majors at Vassar, so a nice range of courses are offered in it (As an interesting, if random, aside: our president is actually a professor in the department). If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the economics website for more information: [Vassar</a> Economics](<a href=“http://irving.vassar.edu/]Vassar”>http://irving.vassar.edu/).</p>
<p>The math department at Vassar is on the smaller side, but is definitely respectable. Although a good amount of Vassar students take math, there aren’t all that many majors, which has it’s pluses (individual attention from profs) and minuses (more limited course offerings). I took one course in the department with a visiting professor (he’s gone now) which wasn’t very good, but I think my experience was atypical. I know several people who’ve taken courses in the department (Single Variable Calculus & Linear Algebra) and have found the professors to be quite good. I would say that if you’re looking for a school with a huge math department, Vassar might not be your best option, but if you’re looking for a more personalized, intimate program, it’s an excellent fit. The math department website is: [Vassar</a> College Department of Mathematics](<a href=“http://math.vassar.edu/]Vassar”>http://math.vassar.edu/).</p>
<p>I’ve yet to take a train into the city from Poughkeepsie (the times I’ve gone have been via bus for class trips), but have friends who have done so. They really haven’t complained about the hygiene of the train, so I’d assume that it’s serviceable, if not particularly special. The train from Poughkeepsie takes you directly to Grand Central Station, which is pretty convenient: it’s the last stop on the Hudson line. I believe that the round trip ticket costs about $25, but I’m not 100% sure on that.</p>
<p>@sir oprah… Unfortunately, I haven’t taken any film courses at Vassar yet, nor am I very good friends with anyone who has. If you haven’t checked out the department website yet, that might be a good place to start: [Vassar</a> Film](<a href=“http://film.vassar.edu/]Vassar”>http://film.vassar.edu/).</p>
<p>The social life at Vassar is really what you want it to be: just about every weekend there are a variety of different things to do. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the campus-wide parties I’ve attended. Most are centered around dancing, but have their own individual flavors thanks to their themes (they’ve included Arabian Nights Prom, Moulin Rouge, Roaring 20s, Halloween, Seven Sins, Anything But Cloth, Heaven & Hell, Day-Glo Toga, and several Raves). In addition to these parties, there are also dances in the Mug (an on-campus sort of night club) both during the week and on weekends. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in more “illicit” activities, you’ll definitely be able to find that here as well. The all-campus parties serve alcohol only to those of age; however, there are definitely private parties on-campus where underage students can drink. There’s no pressure to drink, and not everyone on-campus does, but drinking definitely happens (usually in the senior houses, but there are also parties in the dorms at times).</p>
<p>So, I’m considering two other colleges right now, and I just can’t make up my decision. I’m a gay guy from Mississippi (we do exist!). I’m interested in doing International Studies and drama and also going to law school afterwards. Does Vassar sound like a good school for me? I really want to enjoy my experience, but I also want a school that offers incredible academics as well. Is Vassar that school? Also, side question. I see that Vassar is associated with Yale. How often to people go to Yale after Vassar? Is the association evident?</p>
<p>Hey there,</p>
<p>I’m currently a senior film major at Vassar.
Just wanted to pop in and say a few words about the film dept after I saw Sir Oprah’s questions.</p>
<p>There are basically 2 parts to the film program: production and theory.
Since we are a liberal arts college, theory is a large part of the film major. If you are looking solely at production, Vassar would not be the right choice. If you want a broad education in all aspects of the liberal arts in addition to learning about film, then Vassar is the place to be.
You can’t start the film major until you are a sophomore. There is one class for Freshman, but it doesn’t count towards the major if you take it. Sophomore year all majors take a year long class on World Cinema. It’s basically a history of cinema course and I really enjoyed it. It gives you a solid base in film theory. From then on you can take more specialized classes which can be genre classes (this year horror and scifi, next year they are doing the western, documentary, and romantic comedy) or other types of classes (in recent years we’ve had Southeastern Asian film and film in the McCarthy Era). You can also take classes in other departments that are film based. Junior year I took computer animation in the art dept, it was my favorite class I’ve taken at Vassar.</p>
<p>You don’t take production classes until your junior year. One thing unique about Vassar is that students are still taught using film stock.
Junior year you shoot small projects on black and white, silent film.
Fall of senior year students are split into teams and shoot documentaries on digital. You submit proposals for docs, the class chooses the ones to be made, and whoever submitted the proposal is the director. Also in the fall, you take a class where you write short narratives, the class chooses the best ones, and the short narrative films are shot spring semester on color film, with sound. Each team has a director, cinematographer, sound person, and editor. </p>
<p>If you are interested in screenwriting, we have a wonderful screenwriting professor, he is the one who founded the film department when he first came to Vassar as a drama professor. In the screenwriting class you write a full-length screenplay for your project.</p>
<p>There’s been a bit of a regime change in the last few years, so the dept now focuses more on theory than it did in the past, but I believe the vast majority of film students are happy with the major. There is also the option to study abroad, which can be a bit tricky to maneuver, but seems worthwhile.</p>
<p>Hope this helped, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>i would really like advice on english 101 classes - are there any professors that are preferable to others? which classes are the best? i saw that this past year there was an american gothic course in english 101 and im really upset that its not being taught in fall 09. hawthorne is one of my favorites.</p>
<p>^ I can’t believe American Gothic isn’t happening! I was going to recommend that to you. Not that I took it, but I have the professor (Julia Rose) for composition this semester and she is a rock star. I love her. </p>
<p>There’s an English 184, which is also a writing seminar, taught by Natalie Friedman, who I took for American Lit (ENGL 225) last semester. She’s amazing and wonderful and I couldn’t recommend her more highly. The course she’s teaching is cross-listed with Jewish Studies. </p>
<p>Rate My Professors is actually a pretty good source for reading about professors. Some people don’t agree with me, but it’s always done well for me…</p>
<p>bkt0991- What are the other two schools? Vassar sounds like a good fit for you. (you might want a current student’s opinion too though…). But yeah, Vassar’s law school acceptance rate is usually between 70-90%, and drama at Vassar is very good, obviously. Dunno about Intl. studies. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if the Vassar/Yale association exists anymore, though, I thought it ended when Yale wanted Vassar to move there and Vassar went co-ed instead? Meryl Streep went to Vassar and then Yale, if that means anything, but I think that was when Vassar was still all girls.</p>
<p>dc89, that’s actually the writing seminar that I’m most interested in (the jewish studies class). I think it was offered this past year too - do you know anything else about it?</p>
<p>@bkt0991… I agree with afaceinspace: Vassar sounds like a great fit for you. Both our international studies and drama programs are, to the best of my knowledge, quite strong. I don’t know all that much about the drama department, but one of my good friends is an International Studies major (she loves the department), so I can tell you a bit about that. The department is an interdisciplinary one, meaning that you have a big say in determining which courses you’d like to take to satisfy your major. There are a core group of courses that all majors take; however, the majority are chosen by you, with the approval of your advisor and the director of the program. The idea is that you choose to have three focuses to your major: a language and two other categories (my friend’s are history and political science). Thus, you fulfill your major by taking classes in these three different departments. International studies majors are also strongly encouraged to go abroad for a semester or a year. For more information about the major, check out the program website: [Vassar:</a> International Studies](<a href=“http://internationalstudies.vassar.edu/]Vassar:”>http://internationalstudies.vassar.edu/). </p>
<p>I’ve found that Vassar does offer a good balance between strong academics and an ability to enjoy the “college experience.” Most of the courses I’ve taken have been demanding, but not to the extent that I feel that I need to constantly be studying to do well. </p>
<p>Historically, you’re right on. Vassar was associated with Yale prior to the 1960s when both schools went co-ed. Now, no real connection exists. That being said, Vassar students definitely go to Yale for graduate school: because the school is so well-respected, it’s a great place to come out of. </p>
<p>@nmatth… dc89 gives you some good advice (in particular, to check out Ratemyprofessors.com). I didn’t take an English 101 course for my freshman writing seminar, but know several people who did and have a couple friends who are English (or English-related) majors, and can give you some thoughts on a few of the seminars/professors:</p>
<p>[ul][li]101-01: Early British Literature. Amodio is supposed to be pretty good: I had a friend who took his Founding of English Literature course (200-level) and really liked it. Another friend took this actual Seminar and found it to be tough, but interesting at times. His one complaint was that Amodio spent a lot of time on Paradise Lost, which he didn’t enjoy. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]101-02: Symbolic Quest. I have a friend who was going to take The Fairytale (200-level) with Darlington this past semester, but after meeting her, she chose not to because she found Darlington to be a bit of a nut (a la Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter). I would definitely check out Ratemyprofessor to see if my friend’s feelings were right though.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]101-03: Inside Story: What’s News. As I was reading the course description for this one, I was surprised to see that Foster is teaching it. He co-taught the Founding of English Literature course my friend took last semester, and according to her, his specialty is Shakespeare. That being said, she really liked Foster and is planning on taking more classes with him, so that’s probably a good sign.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]101-17: Such Were the Joys. My friend has Robertson as her advisor and absolutely loves her. She’s also taken a course with her (on Shakespeare), and has greatly enjoyed that as well. I don’t know about this course itself, but can tell you that I’ve heard very good things about the professor.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>Sorry I can’t help you more with deciding. Since the English department is so big and I’m not very involved with it personally, I don’t have all that much firsthand knowledge of it.</p>
<p>afaceinspace- the other two schools are Tulane and Emory. I’ve toured both of them, and I found that I like Tulane more than I like Emory. I will be touring Vassar on Monday, so I can see how my tour compares with the other two schools. I just don’t know how much I can get out of a tour. Hopefully, I will get enough to make my decision much easier. </p>
<p>littleatheist- Thanks for all the information! Just one more question. What does getting interdisiplinary degree mean? Will I recieve a B.A. in international studies or just a B.A. in liberal arts?</p>