My daughter has been looking at Vassar and would be playing lacrosse (she has already gotten good feedback from the coach). The coach seems great and the college is amazing. Has anyone or their child been a varsity athlete at Vassar? Is there a divide between athletes and non-athletes? Some colleges seem to have that and my daughter doesn’t want a place like that. Any thoughts would be helpful. TIA.
My general impression is that Vassar students have a “whatever makes you you is great” attitude. There didn’t seem to be cliques or standoffishness, if that’s what you’re concerned about. More – people seem engaged with what their interests are and busy. Athletes because of their schedule might know more athletes than other sorts. Their social groups may revolve around their interests because of just limited time, but to my mind there didn’t seem to be any sort of “athletes – ew gross” and “stay away from that group” of any sort. Athletes will probably have roommates that are nonathletes and all will probably go well.
Vassar on the whole is accepting of various types of lifestyles and interests.
There was a relevant article three years ago to the day in the school paper:
http://miscellanynews.org/2015/12/02/sports/gap-between-athletes-and-non-athletes-up-for-discussion/
Thanks for sharing @CGCC20 that’s what I was wondering about. I think it can exist at a lot of DIII schools if the overall culture isn’t sporty. My daughter is a top athlete but her friends tend to be non athletes (more mathletes) so she’s looking for a college experience that allows both as well. It seems like there is a divide at Vassar but that many students are open to bringing the two communities together (athletes and non).
Honestly, being a former collegiate athlete myself, I think there’s always going to be some degree of “divide” between athletes and non-athletes just because you spend so much time with your team in season. That said, my son’s an athlete at Vassar. He has a good chunk of non-athletic friends, and his friends on his team. Do the teammates eat together at the Deece? Sure. It’s right after or right before practice. Do they hang out together? Yep, but not exclusively. And, they support other athletic teams and friends in the arts. From what he says, he has a healthy balance between the two on his team, and as much as he loves his team, he’s looking forward to the season ending so that he can take part in many of the other activities on campus. Vassar is a truly special place 
Good luck to your daughter!!!
Thanks @kjs1992 I appreciate your reply. No matter where she ends up, I think my daughter will be similar to your son and have a mix of friends and enjoy celebrating what they love as much as spending time on her sport alongside teammates. She’s looking forward to visiting and learning more about Vassar.
S2 had non athlete roommates all four years. In senior housing, two of the roommates of the five were non athletes.e His team attended his senior recital as a group and that was great to see and also hiis non athlete friends often attended his sporting events and cheered on the team. The team was close knit in a positive way and he was also super close to many other friends attending their special events etc. As a parent of two Vassar grads and athletes, I saw they had many athlete and non athlete friends.
This thread makes me smile, for when I was there, we really didn’t have athletics to speak of, thought they came up with a ragtag team to plat Sarah Lawrence in the Pansy Bowl (which was written up in Time or Newsweek, I forget).
Thanks @chemusic that’s really great to hear - she is looking for a place like that to play in college.
My daughter is one of the class of 2023 women’s lax recruits who was just accepted today via ED. We love the coach, the current players, and the vibe of the team and campus. I know this doesn’t answer your posed question directly. but our experience (getting to this point) was really positive and encouraging. Check out schools and do more visits and research and maybe we’ll see you in the future!
Thanks @calbkr and congrats to your daughter on reaching her goal! Vassar is a great fit for my daughter in many ways and we’re looking forward to learning more as she continues the recruiting process.