DD2 is a rising Senior. She had a great visit to Vassar, and is very interested. She liked the setting, the small class size and the broad curriculum, the new science building, and the school is well respected. At other schools, she is considering currently interested in chem engineering, but really not certain. Vassar does not offer chem engineering, so she may consider a math and chem double major, the Dartmouth combined engineering program, Computer Science, or Econ. I think the theme is her comfort with math.
As a parent, my biggest concern about Vassar is what happens when she is done. I like the idea of a liberal arts degree, but I worry about the practicality of it, and her ability to find a job afterwards. I understand that liberal arts schools are about getting an education, and talking about careers doesn’t really fit in well, but I feel like it is an important issue. With the current cost of college, she needs to be employable, or able to tack on a masters degree and then be employable.
Can someone tell me about which majors have the best success finding jobs, or getting into grad school, and how well the school does at providing interview / job opportunities for students? If someone can educate me, I would appreciate it.
Here is what Vassar says - https://admissions.vassar.edu/after-vassar - notice well above national averages for acceptances to graduate school including medical school.
Also, I wouldn’t get concerned about a Liberal Arts Degree. They don’t have a B.A. or B.S. in Liberal Arts. It will be a B.S. in Chemistry or Math, etc. Vassar grads do very well getting into medical school, other graduate schools, and getting jobs.
When we visited Vassar (for my daughter who will begin as a freshman next month!), the school was very proud of their network for students to find internships especially, and of course those often can lead to employment.
Bottom line is that each student has to do things while in college to make them attractive job candidates, and all evidence points to Vassar not being a hindrance in any way and very likely is very helpful.
As an example of what stepay noted: S, along with at least a couple of other Vassar students he knows of, were awarded paid NSF research internships at UCs this summer. The UC professor who is directing his project specifically told him he was picked in part because of Vassar’s reputation in the sciences.
I am happy your D is still considering Vassar. I have not been on CC for a while. If you haven’t seen my other postings, S1 got his Masters in Engineering in January from a top engineering university and got his dream job in the exact area of engineering he desired. Vassar’s science prepared him well for the rigors of an engineering masters degree. He also had engineering/science related internships in the summers which helped his resume for graduate school and for employment opportunities. So if your D majors in math or science (chem, physics, comp sci) at Vassar and does science related summer internships, she will be prepared for any possibility and have the more personalized, non competitive, yet academically rigorous atmosphere, to grow in during her undergraduate years. S1 was very happy he attended Vassar as an undergraduate and that he attended the larger university for his masters. It worked out best for him.
Vassar’s URSI (Undergraduate Research Summer Institute) was impressive. I don’t wish the first two years of engineering school on anyone. Glad my kids chose liberal arts instead of my engineering path. But it is a good idea to keep taking the math classes through differential equations for potential engineering grad school
Vassar’s graduate school placement record is certainly stellar. But I think the thrust of your question is this: do top employers (Dow Chemical, etc.) regularly come to campus to interview students for jobs DIRECTLY after school? On-campus interviewing opportunities will be better at schools such as Michigan and Urbana-Champaign. I’m not by any means dissuading you from taking Vassar seriously. Just pointing out that interviewing opportunities need to be weighed against the social environment Vassar offers. (There will be an inverse relationship between interviewing opportunities and small, collegial settings).
Also, if you daughter seeks a chemical engineering position, know that many chemical engineering firms will scoff at chemistry majors. (An immediate family members hires Chem Es ). If chemical engineering is her aim, she needs to stay away from a program that doesn’t offer it. Otherwise, your daughter will have to sink additional time and effort into a graduate degree in chemical engineering which, while feasible with undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics, is nevertheless a needlessly indirect (and expensive) route.
Obviously the majors your daughter is interested in tend to bring in higher $$, although I’m not so sure about a BA in chemistry. I would recommend that your daughter assess the quality of various programs at different schools, especially through current students who would paint more realistic pictures than profs, including at Vassar. My friend is a physics major at Vassar and he has done nothing bur complain about its deficiencies–he loves everything else about Vassar, however, and thinks that is more important.
I’ll see @International95’s unhappy physics major and raise you two happy ones! Because it is a small department (b/c it is a small college) I can imagine that it wouldn’t make everybody happy- but I know some who are flying. Also one who really didn’t like a particular prof in one course and was astonished at how good a teacher s/he was for a different course…