Luckily, it’s not your husband who will be going to college
After 2 years, my D has not found it too small - and decided not to do study abroad b/c she didn’t want to miss everything going on there. A different D is at a college with 30K students- and equally happy. Neither would be happy at the other’s college. Seriously, it’s horses for courses.
Btw, my D also loves the theater- she is currently involved with a main stage production of Titus Andronicus, directed by Erica Schmidt (Vasser '97, who has 6 off-broadway directing credits and is married to actor (Game of Thrones) Peter Dinklage). They are doing it fully professionally- including union break schedules!
@collegemom3717 thank you for your experiences with Vassar. My D and I visited the school again (3X), ate in the cafeteria and felt so at home that she bought a Vassar shirt!!
Thanks for coming back & telling us, ILoveLabradors!* I am really happy to hear that. It is pretty clear to me that Vassar really is a “fit” school, and if she felt at home, it’s likely that it is a good fit. Good luck to you both.
@ilovelabradors - I did not go to Vassar. My daughter will begin there in the fall as a freshman. However, I went to a SMALLER Liberal Arts college with just 1800 students (Vassar is about 2477), and I found it plenty big enough. Began dating my now wife there, got a great education and was able to take leadership roles quickly. After I graduated, I went to graduate school at a large state university, and for me the difference was striking. Everyone is different, but I much preferred the small classes to some of the more than 200 student classes at the bigger school.
I went to Vassar when it had 1600 students and it wasn’t too small. I think even at a large school you tend to form a group of friends and not venture too far afield from them. More important is that Vassar is a very friendly place.
@ilovelabradors We visited Lehigh and Lafayatte during our D’s college search. Maybe it was the admissions directors fault but the presentation focused on “we have a lot of fun at Lehigh!” hum, ok.
We looked at student-faculty ratio, four year and six year graduation rates as well as freshman retention rates as indicators of how well the school nurtured and supported students once they matriculated.
For what it’s worth, Vassar is a much higher rated school. I don’t pay attention to US News & World Report but I find the Forbes college ranking more useful. She also liked that Vassar doesn’t have a greek system which artificially segments the student body.
She’s now spent three nights and about four days at Vassar and is happier with her decision now than when she was accepted.
@wherezwallace THANK YOU!!! I love hearing positive comments. My D did not want Greek life either and we loved the personal feeling you get from the faculty. Did your D get paired with a student to spend the week there and visit classes? What a great way to experience Vassar. The “party” part of Lehigh put us off as well. We put down our deposit and I feel great about her choice too. May our kids have a fantastic experience at Vassar.
@DMelanogaster My D definitely felt that friendly atmosphere each time we visited.
There were two opportunities for our D to spend the night. In each case, the emails came from Admissions. Our D responded and confirmed she would be attending. The day of arrival, the current Vassar student was waiting in Admissions to greet and escort her back to her dorm and the start of the overnight visit. The first time was an ED admitted students overnight. The second was the Focus on Vassar weekend. I’m glad she came back for the second overnight visit because her roommates the second visit were super cool and stayed on the wellness floor.
