<p>I’ve narrowed my choices down to these 3 schools. Any and all commentary would be helpful.</p>
<p>Vassar is much more artsy, which I personally didn’t like but it could be great for the right person. Also, Poughkeepsie leaves much to be desired, compared to Bowdoin’s and Hamilton’s campuses (which are nicer in themselves, and so is the outlying area). So if you want a quaint little college town, Vassar’s not your choice probably. you may also want to consider distance from your house.
Hamilton is great but I think that the academics, in general, are known to be stronger at Bowdoin. It also comes down to what you want to study–for theater, for example, Vassar would be good; writing, and your best bet would be Hamilton; government/econ/languages, and Bowdoin’s the best option.</p>
<p>Yeah I’ve heard Vassar is sort of fringe artsy</p>
<p>S really liked all three schools and applied to all. He ended up making his Bowdoin app ED II and got in so he’ll be there in Sept. I agree with Emily’s comments and think S would, too. </p>
<p>I see from your other postings that you’re a guy from NY, so you probably have some impression of where Hamilton and Vassar are located. Although people seem to have somewhat negative things to say about Poughkeepsie, S liked the idea that it was pretty easy to get to NYC by train (he hasn’t really spent time in the City) and thought the Vassar campus was terrific. S is an athlete and also interested in creative writing/arts, so he thought he’d like Vassar even though it’s a lot artsier than athletic in its culture. As a straight male, he figured he’d have a pretty decent amount of female attention there since there are so many more girls than guys. S really enjoyed his alumni interviews at all and had no really negative impressions of any of the three schools. He has friends from school who are happy at Hamilton. </p>
<p>In terms of overall academic reputation, I’d say they go Hamilton, Vassar, Bowdoin, going up, if that’s at all significant to you. Besides what Emily said about various disciplines, Bowdoin probably has the strongest science depts. Vassar has a very flexible set of graduation requirements, which S found appealing. He liked being able to place out of a foreign language requirement with an SAT II score, foreign language not being his thing.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, Vassar has some pretty cool parties. S did an overnight on Halloween and had a blast.</p>
<p>You’ve got great choices, and obviously you don’t mind the cold. Are you going to any Admitted Students days at any of them? That could help you decide.</p>
<p>Just wanted to comment on Bowdoin academics:</p>
<p>“graduation requirements” sound just as flexible (if not more so) than Vassar… For instance, there’s no foreign language requirement at Bowdoin. Instead, there are 5 different liberal arts “division requirements” that you need to take to graduate and about 50 classes that fulfill each individual requirement. In other words, its virtually impossible to not find a class that you enjoy that will also fulfill each division requirement.</p>
<p>And Bowdoin has a sweet halloween party… fyi. It’s literally campuswide and held outdoors, with costumes and live music, and security supervising the whole thing making sure that people enjoy themselves without crossing the line into dangerous drinking.</p>