<p>Background: Admitted student deciding between Vassar and Bates.</p>
<p>Is Vassar blatantly a better institution and I'm just deluded in my judgment? My interests are in English and then proceeding to law school, which I believe both schools are very strong at doing. Speaking with Batesies they make friends for life there and unreal love for their institution, can the same be said Vassar alums? Batesies can leave their doors open in their dorms and be very friendly but with Vassar I've heard that stealing is a problem. Also, there is currently on Vassar a conflict going on between a pro-Palestine group and the Jews on campus, I'm not Jewish, but is that actually a problem troubling the campus? </p>
<p>Also side note, I know the food at Bates is very great, when I visited Vassar it didn't seem too nice.. What do Vassar students think about the dining?</p>
<p>(Biggest questions I want to hear about are Bates vs Vassar (especially in terms of post undergrad success), and do alums from Vassar love their alma mater?)</p>
<p>S1 is a recent Vassar grad and is now in in graduate school four hours away from Vassar. He has driven to Vassar several times this academic year to visit friends who are still attending. He still wears his Vassar gear even at his grad school. It was obvious his success at Vassar helped him in grad school admissions. I have observed that alumni routinely return to visit and support the events on campus.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I can say whether or not Vassar is blatantly a better institution. However, I can say that Vassar’s english department is without a doubt utterly amazing. In addition, I believe the law school acceptance rate is quite high, above 80%. I can say that I have made beautiful friendships on campus here, ones that I hope will last a lifetime. I know there’s mixed feelings about school pride within the college. Some hate it, but the ones that love it will tell you there’s no better place in the world for them. Stealing really isn’t a problem. I don’t think I’ve locked my door once my whole freshman year, and I’m sure that applies for many others. The Palestine-Israel debate was in fact very intense, and it did feel as if pro-Israel views were quickly silenced. However, I can confidently say that Jews were not oppressed for their religion as it remained a strictly political matter about the legitimacy of Israel’s occupation of Palestine rather than Judaism. Furthermore, these sorts of events tend to die out quickly, and the outrage over Israel has for the most part died down. Discussions like this aren’t frequent, but they’re not quite rare either. If you’re a liberal, you’re going to love the political homogeneity but if not, it can be rough in that you’re the minority. People are willing to listen to your opinions though, with the exception of a core group of radical activists.
Vassar food admittedly tastes…mediocre. Depends on the dining center you eat at, (ACDC or Retreat), but the ACDC food is just ok.
I personally love Vassar in that it has created who I am today. Many people will tell you that their college changed their identity and perspective, but not all can say that it has created a fundamental drive to succeed, with full knowledge of who you are and the importance of others. It may be uncomfortable at first adjusting to Vassar, but I believe therein lies its biggest strengths, in that it exposes you to so much more than you would’ve experienced elsewhere.</p>
<p>@Vassarstu25 @chemusic thanks to the both of you. I went to the recent Vassar open house and I realized that’s where I need to be. Thanks again for the insights.</p>