<p>Dad of an accepted student to these three great LACs asks "which college?"
History, Poly Sci and maybe Econ are main interests with an end goal being high level educator. Comments?</p>
<p>Now is the time to look over the course offerings at each school and note the differences. Check out faculty interests and see if any intrigue your son. Also, visit if you can - all three have different vibes. Think about distribution requirements - Vassar and Hamilton have only a few. Congrats on three great acceptances!</p>
<p>I agree with the poster above – even though these schools may seem superficially similar, they are actually quite different. I have a child at Vassar and we looked at Hamilton very seriously for another kid. Both are terrific schools. Hamilton is a more classic, preppy LAC in a pretty remote location in north central NY. The school still has some frats/sororities. The campus is very beautiful but I would imagine it can get pretty incestuous after a while, particularly in the winter time, where there is not much to do off campus. The school’s reputation is growing and it has recently opened a very nice new science center. Vassar is larger than Hamilton by about a third and is in the suburbs of a medium-sized, although run down city on the Hudson river much closer to NYC (the immediate area around Vassar is quite nice). The Vassar campus is gorgeous and the average student there is a bit less preppy and more ‘alternative’, although these are generalizations. Vassar is generally rated higher from an overall academic prestige standpoint, although my own view is that the difference between the two schools on this score is so negligible so as to be a non-factor. My kid absolutely loves Vassar and would choose it again in a heartbeat over Hamilton or any other LAC. Sorry, did not look at Colgate.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your thoughts. Son has scheduled over night stays at Vassar and Colgate over the next two weeks and it looks like Hamilton is fading a bit. He has been to each campus several times, so I think the over nights will decide the outcome. Again, thanks for the help.</p>
<p>If music, art or theater is important to your son, be sure to to have him attend a rehearsal, etc and meet some people. I think that was a deal maker for S1 when he attended the orchestra rehearsal during his overnight, he knew after 3 minutes that Vassar music was for him! Also, there is a strong sense of community support at the concerts, performances and sporting events. Students, faculty, parents and community people attend the concerts and everyone is there to just enjoy a great concert and support the musicians. </p>
<p>Hope he enjoys his visits and sees where he will be happiest!</p>
<p>I have nothing against Vassar College, the area around the school or the poster who made the comments below. And I don’t wish to nitpick. But, just to add my two cents …</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Which immediate area? And how are we defining “nice?”</p>
<p>The area west of campus (to the river) is a mixture of densely packed old single-family homes, semi-industrial and small urban. The area east of the campus is very typical single family home suburbia.
North and south of campus is very mixed … hard to describe. </p>
<p>I’d say, overall, more non-descript than nice.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The Town of Poughkeepsie (where Vassar is located) is not a suburb of (the city of) Poughkeepsie. Poughkeepsie is way too small to have its own suburbs. I’d bet the number of Town residents who actually work in Poughkeepsie could be counted on a few hands.</p>
<p>And, I’m not sure what our reference points are but I’d hardly call Poughkeepsie a “medium-sized” city. The entire population of Poughkeepsie could fit in any baseball stadium in the country … with room for another 10,000 people. To me, that’s tiny.</p>
<p>@GolfFather
Seeing your call name, I was expecting a critique of golf courses connected to or nearby each college. Although son is only somewhat of a player, dad loves the game. I only know of one course connected to a school on the list, but it’s a gem! Have you played Seven Oaks at Colgate? It is consistently listed as one of the top college golf courses and the honor is well deserved. Only played it once many strokes ago, but another round could be in the offing.</p>
<p>Not to put too fine a point on it, Vassar borders on the Village of Arlington, which is in the Town of Poughkeepsie, and it is considered a suburb of the City of Poughkeepsie. Arlington is also a CDP–census-designated-place. Because of a strange, antiquated N.Y. law, the Arlington fire/EMS dept. is not allowed to charge for their services, including Vassar students. The City of Poughkeepsie can. It’s complicated.</p>
<p>Rikflan, too bad your son couldn’t have applied to Mount Holyoke College. The Orchards, MHC’s golf course, was the host to the 2004 U.S Women’s Open and the 2002 NCAA Women’s Division III National Championships. It’s a fabulous Donald Ross course.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son. He has great choices.</p>
<p>Vassar has a 9 hole public golf course on campus. Student’s fee is only $2! It may be fine for someone who just plays occasionally. If you have time, please update us on your son’s visits and experiences. Best of luck!</p>
<p>CrewDad
I don’t have enough posts to reply to your other post, but I agree with pretty much everything you said. His visits over the next few weeks will probably settle the issue, but I’ll try to get back to you later. Thanks.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, unfortunately I have not.
I think the furthest north in New York I’ve played golf is probably Sullivan County, at the old Catskill hotels like The Pines or Kutsher’s.</p>
<p>Oh, wait. I did play near Schroon Lake once.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>OK, since we’re playing Geography, Arlington is not a village. It is a community (and a high school).</p>
<p>[Arlington</a>, New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington,_New_York]Arlington”>Arlington, New York - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>The incorporated villages within Dutchess County are: </p>
<p>Fishkill
Millbrook
Millerton
Pawling
Red Hook
Rhinebeck
Tivoli
Wappingers Falls</p>
<p>I know young grads from all three schools. I hthink it’s a bit of a shame that Hamilton is fading, because I would put it between the two for vibe and student body.</p>
<p>Since Colgate is so close to Hamilton (for more confusion Colgate is in the town of Hamilton) why not just give it a peek when he goes to Colgate.</p>
<p>I would have my kid sit in on a poly- sci class at each school.</p>
<p>My kids would have chosen Vassar, but we are on the arty, hippie end of the spectrum.</p>
<p>My D’s friends from Hamilton and Colgate both have wonderful NYC jobs. The Hamiltonian is in publishing, and the Colgatian is in finance</p>
<p>My kid went to Barnard and is in a funded PhD program, happy but poor compared to her friends.</p>
<p>@mythmom
Thanks for the info. Hamilton is still on the wish list, but the financial aid offer was less than either Vassar or Colgate which makes it a bit tougher to justify. I visited the campus with my son and he did the tour and info session with his Mom. All three of us liked the campus, the relative lack of core requirements and the emphasis on writing. Son especially enjoyed reading the list of grads. I also work with the father of a Hamilton Senior and he raves about the school and how much his daughter loves the school.
Ironically, on my drive to work this morning, I passed a car sporting both Vassar and Hamilton window stickers.
From what I have learned, I think you are on the money placing Hamilton between Colgate and Vassar as to vibe and student body. Frankly, I would be happy with any choice he makes from this group and which ever is his choice, we’ll do our best to make that happen. Thanks again for your opinion.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Technically you’re correct. Arlington is not incorporated, therefore it can’t legally be a village.</p>
<p>In NYC, there are three neighborhoods that are referred to as villages, Greenwich, East and West, but they’re are not incorporated. </p>
<p>I assumed that the Vassar encyclopedia reference to Arlington as a village was as acceptable as the NYC neighborhoods that are called villages.
No matter. Carry on.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Arlington</a> - Vassar College Encyclopedia - Vassar College](<a href=“http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/environs/arlington.html]Arlington”>Arlington - Vassar Encyclopedia - Vassar College)</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>