<p>Hey there! I just noticed this thread and thought I'd give you another take. I'm a female and a sophomore at Vassar, majoring in history. Unfortunately, I don't know all that much about the film program here... the best I can do is direct you to the film department website: Vassar</a> Film. That being said, I can give you some insight into life at Vassar, based on my experiences.</p>
<p>When someone asks me about the people at Vassar I often find myself at a loss to describe them. This is because, as cliche as it sounds, Vassar students are an incredibly diverse bunch. We're smart, friendly (the vast majority, at any rate), and primarily liberal. It's hard to draw more generalizations than that, so I'm not going to. Instead, I'll just say that we have students from all different sorts of backgrounds interested in all sorts of different things. Basically, you'll find yourself in an environment made up of students with interests in everything from biology to soccer to dance to drama to Medieval/Renaissance studies to activism. </p>
<p>In regards to the social scene... this is also the sort of thing that can be whatever you choose. As BigBrett44 has described, there certainly are plenty of options if you want to drink at college on weekends. Drinking takes place mainly in the dorms and the senior housing areas (called TAs, THs, and SoCos). That being said, there are also lots of options of things to do on-campus for non-drinkers (I'm one, myself). For example, there are dance parties each weekend in the Mug (an on-campus "club") as well as dorm-sponsored dance parties. These parties are held throughout the semester and have different themes such as "Seven Sins," "Harvest Ball" (a more formal event with a jazz band and swing dancing), and "Day-Glo Toga." Alcohol is sometimes served at these parties; however, it's only available for those over the age of 21, so they're really not parties where a lot of drinking takes place.</p>
<p>If dance parties don't appeal, there are a host of other events you can attend on-campus. Each weekend, for example, the Vassar film club shows a movie which is free for everyone interested in attending (this year's showings included Darjeeling Limited and the Dark Knight). There are also musical venues throughout the year which are put on by faculty performers, outside artists (in the past couple years Beirut, Girl Talk, Eric Hutchinson, MIA, and Rye-Rye have come), and student groups (a Capella clubs, jazz band, woodwind ensemble, choirs, the orchestra, as well as more casual open mic nights and band performances). Interested in an environment where there's lots of opportunities to see and get involved in the performing arts? Vassar is great for that too: there are comedy groups that perform throughout the semester, a variety of different theatrical groups that put on productions, and two dance groups which have several shows throughout the semester. In addition, there are, of course, sports games to attend, if that's something you're interested in.</p>
<p>During the week, things are a bit quieter in terms of the options available for entertainment on-campus. That being said, there are always lectures and movie nights put on by different academic departments, as well as occasional dinners sponsored by different clubs or dorms. Speaking of clubs... that's another major part of week-day (and sometimes weekend) activities. Vassar has over 100 student clubs on-campus which deal with a host of different interests: religion, activism, community service, the performing arts, ethnic/racial groups, athletics, and more general leisure activities. </p>
<p>Lastly, in regards to your question about safety. I've just about always felt safe on-campus. There have been a couple of security issues over the years on-campus, but, compared to a lot of other schools located in urban areas, they've been nothing serious. During the daytime I feel perfectly comfortable walking alone on-campus while at night I prefer to walk in a group, but don't feel any bit threatened (I more like to do so because I'm a bit of a nervous person :)). Vassar is on the blue light system, but I've never actually heard of a student needing to use it. In addition, there's also a student-run campus security patrol force which you can use to escort you from place to place at night if you don't feel safe. That being said, I've never heard of that group being used either... students seem to feel pretty safe on campus, as a whole.</p>