I’m looking at applying to either cmc or vassar as an ED 2 school. I love both equally and do not prefer one over the other. Which one is a better option ? (looking at majoring in psych and econ)
“Better” is hard to say because there’s not enough info here. Better in what way?
Though these schools seem pretty different in many ways, both would be strong for economics: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html.
Just in general I guess? I love both and cant choose. Or what would the main differences between the two be
CMC – in the LA area of influence and all that entails
Vassar–in the NYC area of influence and all that entails. Economics maybe you’re interested in Wall Street? Vassar might be more helpful there. It’s on the commuter train line to NYC and that’s an easy day trip.
CMC – part of a consortium
Vassar – not part of a consortium
CMC – relatively conservative, but has access to v. liberal consortium schools
Vassar – relatively liberal, but still offers room for conservative students in clubs etc.
Vassar – lush, gorgeous extremely green campus with four seasons and plenty of space to enjoy outdoor fun in all seaons, including a farm, lake, spring flowers
CMC – beautiful mainly dry CA single-year-long-season weather
CMC – arty? Not so very much
Vassar – serious academics plus lots of arts, esp. theater (Hamiton though it started at Wesleyan did a polishing run at Vassar for example)
CMC architecture – modern, polished, snazzy
Vassar architecture – gothic, inspiring stained glass, hallways that are sometimes 12 feet wide because built for hoop skirts, rare books rooms,
CMC traditions – ponding the president? ponding students?
Vassar traditions – Daisy Chain, the Class Tree, Trig Ceremonies, Salve Night, Dome parties, and Serenading Vassar treats such as the “devil” and “angel” and “gremlin”
Vassar, though coed, has the storied tradition of being part of the Seven Sisters, which is a loosely joined group of seven original colleges for women, formed when women weren’t allowed to attend college. They were radical experiments in education of their day. They included Radcliffe (associated with Harvard and subsumed into Harvard); Wellesley (associated also with MIT and Harvard); Mt. Holyoke (Dartmouth) and Smith (independent) and Barnard (Columbia) and Bryn Mawr (UPenn and Princeton). Vassar’s association was with Yale. As a part of the Seven Sisters, though, you gain the unofficial assocation with these other vaunted women’s colleges and are loosely part of their networking group. A Seven Sister tends to help another member of a Seven Sister.
If you love both and can’t choose, don’t apply ED!
What are you looking for in a college experience? What do you really love about each school? Make a list of the pros and cons of both.
Those two schools seem like polar opposites in many ways – @Dustyfeathers did a great job in pointing out some important differences.
I would add that CMC has a more pre-professional and politically conservative vibe than Vassar and that more than half of the students are from CA.
There are more men than women at CMC (which used to be all-male; the opposite is true at Vassar). CMC is very strong in economics, finance, international relations, government and public affairs. Vassar is strong in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and has been putting a lot of money into the sciences.
I agree with @juillet that you shouldn’t apply ED unless you are 100% certain that you want to go to that school and that do you not need to compare financial aid and/or merit offers.
@LovetheBard - note that in 2017 46.8% of the students at CMC were from California. Not more than half. And only 52-48% male/female. Lots of details about the student body here: https://www.cmc.edu/sites/default/files/ir/enrollment/F17%20Enrol%20Chart.pdf. I agree about the pre-professional vibe versus Vassar - and, yes, less arty at CMC itself. But students can take advantage of programs and student bodies at all the 5C’s - theater, art, dance, music - and political persuasions. And CMC is hardly a monolith in terms of political leanings. My own son, who graduated a bit ago now, was, and is, very liberal.
FWIW, the OP’s other threads indicate that the student is an international. FA is not mentioned here so I’m assuming it’s not an issue and both schools are need aware for internationals. The Vassar student body is about twice the size of CMC but of course CMC has the consortium which is larger overall. CMC fills about 60% of its class through ED, so the ED acceptance rate according to the 2017-2018 CDS is 31% for ED and about 8% for RD. Vassar fills about 43% of its class through ED. I haven’t tried to break down the acceptance rates for Vassar in part because I don’t know if OP is male or female and that makes a significant difference in Vassar acceptance rates. But the point is that ED at CMC does seem to help one’s chances of admission.
Also of note, one has to apply to CMC by 12/1 to be considered for merit aid.
Completely irrevelant to this thread, but just in the interest of accuracy:
It was “In the Heights,” not the later “Hamilton,” that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote while he was at Wesleyan. Hamilton came later- and yes, an early version was featured at Vassar.
I think previous posters have done a good job of highlighting some key differences between these two excellent colleges.
Another major difference is that CMC seems to have some significant distribution requirements, whereas Vassar is one of the lighter colleges when it comes to requirements:
CMC: freshman writing seminar, freshman humanities seminar, third semester competency in foreign language, one math or comp sci, one lab science, three PE, two humanities courses outside major, courses in three out of four social science fields outside one’s major.
Vassar: first year writing seminar, one quantitative course, proficiency in foreign language, 50% of coursework outside your major and 25% of coursework outside the division in which you major.
My spouse, who is a clinical psychologist, loved the psychology program as a major in it at Vassar, as did one of my spouse’s friends who is now a professor of psychology at a college. Of course, that was many years ago, but it is still a well-regarded department.
and just another little correction about “women not being allowed to go to college.” Vassar was founded in 1861, went coed in the 1960s. As an alum I’m well aware that Swarthmore was founded in 1864 and was coed from inception; there are some others that were coed long before Vassar was even founded. It is true that most colleges and universities were male only well into the 1900s.
@starduste: Have you visited both schools ? If so, seems like the choice would be easy as they are polar opposites in terms of campus culture & location.
Agree that ED might be ill advised if you don’t have a strong preference.
Do you care what coast you are on? They are both great schools, and lots of the comparisons pointed out above bring up ancillary factors for both that are worth considering. One nice thing I assume is still true at Vassar is that if you want to design your own major combining your two interests, you likely can.
My son is a freshman at Vassar and said the student population could loosely be described as 1/3 artsy types, 1/3 athletic, and 1/3 neither/both/somewhere in between (or “normal people” as he put it 
).