How to decide between which college is best between the two.
Unfortunately cannot visit them before payment date as have exams. Since both colleges are great it’s a tough choice. International student with zero family in the USA looking to study well and create a well meaning career in any country.
Think academics and opportunities in both are great.
Reserved, bright, creative and hardworking student.
Bit wary of the reports of a very high alternate community in Vassar and very high prep school fair skinned community at Colgate.
Any guidance welcome.
Congratulations! Both are wonderful colleges! We visited both, and know Vassar extremely well.
In some ways, they are more alike than different. They both are top small liberal arts colleges, meaning that their student bodies are bright and motivated, classes small, professors dedicated to teaching and very accessible, discussions intellectual and stimulating, communities tight-knit, alumni loyal, and resources and opportunities abounding.
They are also both beautiful campuses, Colgate with everything in lovely matching brown stone and a lake, and Vassar with gorgeous buildings including an incomparably gorgeous library, Main dorm, Cushing dorm, the quad dorms, the psychology building, Sunset Lake, and the whole campus is an arboretum, etc.
Both are well-regarded and students do well getting into grad school or a job afterwards.
First look to to see if there are differences in the courses in your major areas of interest. Then look at extracurricular clubs and activities. If these do not differentiate the two, then the following points may help.
- Colgate has more requirements, starting with a couple of classes that every student takes in common. Vassar has very few requirements- just a quantitative requirement and a language requirement. Do you prefer more freedom or unifying classes?
- Alumni network areas. Both have good connections in multiple fields, but there may be some differences in which fields have the strongest connections (which may matter only if you are going into one of those fields). Vassar will take the prize for theatre/film, but Colgate has more of a famous alumni network for banking/ consulting types of areas. Colgate alumni also are famously loyal, with traditions about wearing school gear on the 13th of each month. Also, theatre is amazing at Vassar, with lots of student productions as well as festivals and visits from famous alumni.
- Social milieu. This one is huge!
A. Colgate has fraternities and sororities. Students can live in houses for these, although they do start out as freshmen in more unifying houses before joining Greek organizations. Vassar has absolutely no fraternities or sororities. Students at Vassar are sorted into communities with diverse student populations in gorgeous dorms, where they live for three years, then usually live in on-campus college apartment-like living for senior year. The presence or absence of Greek life creates very different campus communities.
B. Colgate is a small college with Division One sports, giving athletes and sporting events a big role on campus. Vassar has Division 3 sports and does not even have a football team! You can enjoy sports at Vassar, but their role is more comparable to that of other activities. At Colgate, sports are a big part of the school spirit.
C. Colgate was an all-male college that became co-ed. Vassar was an all-female college that became co-ed. Although these changes happened long ago, there still are cultural differences.
D. Vassar has a more liberal ambience overall. And more protesting social justice warrior types. In terms of your concern about the “alternate” students, I am not sure what you mean. If you mean artsy and social justicy types, they exist, but so do many other types of students. If you mean LGBTQ+ students, they are welcome and comfortable on this inclusive campus, but the vast majority of students are cisgendered and heterosexual.
- Finally, Colgate is in a beautiful rural area with a charming little town. Vassar has more access to “civilization,” in the form of restaurants and chain stores and possible weekend trips to NYC, but Poughkeepsie is not usually a selling point... although the Hudson Valley area is lovely and it is a short trip to nice hiking.
Academically, you can’t go wrong with two such amazing options. It probably will come down to cultural “fit.” At any college, there is a range of student personalities, and you can find “your people.”
Good luck! Enjoy your college years!
1 Like
Great post, @TheGreyKing .
I would emphasize that the “vibe” at these two schools is very very different.
Colgate has much more of a partying social scene, and it has D1 sports. For many students, it provides a college experience that is "traditional " - Greek life, tailgating, etc. It is more remote, and as is the case at all somewhat isolated schools, kids work hard at keeping their campus lively, so if you don’t like their way of doing that, you’re kind of stuck.
Vassar is more free-form socially, and it definitely is more attractive to alternative views for that reason. While NYC isn’t right around the corner, it is accessible.
At any school of this size, there is a dominant culture. Anyone can live, and thrive, outside of it. Whether that’s you, though, depends on how comfortable you are in that role.
Your description of yourself makes it sound like you might prefer Vassar, but it’s hard to tell from a few sentences!
What’s your net cost at each? Can your family afford it? Make sure to factor in international travel and health insurance.
I think you can work in the US for a year, then you’ll be expected to return home.
Vassar: Literary and fine arts veneer laid over a generally intellectual college. Excellent for social sciences as well. New science building supports continuing academic ambitions. Appealing library. Gender imbalance can contribute to uneven social relationships. Hudson Valley location connects atmospherically to the famous 19th century school of painting. New York City access for those who seek it.
Colgate: Many students pursue popular majors in the social sciences such as those related to government and economics, but excellent programs and facilities in the natural sciences should serve as a draw for many as well. D1 athletics and Greek life set a social theme for the school. Receives recognition from the Princeton Review for an active party scene. Authentic countryside location, with village noted in Forbes as one of America’s friendliest towns. Beautiful campus, on a hillside. Good access to the Finger Lakes.
Note that “active party scene” in that context means “students consume A LOT of alcohol, to the point of getting drunk and throwing up”. (It doesn’t mean " students get together to dance" for instance).
I’d say also that Vassar is more “learn because this is so interesting” and Colgate is more “learn because it’ll help you get a job”.
However students are accomplished and very smart at both.
Congratulations, these are two excellent colleges that are very hard to get into, with superb academics and awesome campuses.
Thankyou. Very insightful. @thegreyking @gardenstategal
How much does a campus visit matter??
Do a few hours really tell the vibe of the place??
Coming from a small local highly ranked pvt high school with a very conservative atmosphere, finding it very difficult to zero in on what will be the deciding factor.
Issues to deal with ::
vassar - kinky/ weird/ lgbtq/ activist atmosphere
Colgate- location and dominant group of students
Really very confused. Are there any videos of campus screening a normal day at college???
Gotta be honest with you OP, if you have problems with “weird” lgbtq individuals and the white man, neither one of these schools is likely to be a good fit.
Hey,
Not problems with any individual or group of individuals, but the general prevalent atmosphere.
make friends with everybody and get along famously. Just wanted to understand the dominant vibe in each college to better understand the scenario.
If you have access to the “Hidden Ivies” book, I found the description of each to be dead-on. I went to Colgate ages ago but recent research confirms that the dominant vibe still seems to be the same: conventional, pre-professional students (heading for Wall Street job at dad’s firm), largely apolitical, very sporty and hard-drinking; the university is unapologetic about enforcing a core curriculum centered on “Western civilization.” People who love it, LOVE it.
If you are uncomfortable with LQBTQ people being out, you will be uncomfortable at Vassar and more comfortable at Colgate.
^ well, at Colgate too being LGBTQ is…just who people are.
Depending on what country OP is from it may be a cultural shock but gay kids will be out at both campuses and no one will bat an eye.
OP, if you share more about your own interests and preferences—academic, social, hobbies, etc—you will be able to get much better advice. Good luck!
Thanks. The problem is since they are both par excellence schools how does one decide?? Based on an undecided area of study??
Based on whether you feel more comfortable around future Wall Street tycoons or around artists, whether you are really into sports or not, whether the idea of choosing any class you please sounds awesome or rather whether the idea that you and all your classmates will take some of the same classes in all subjects, whether the idea of a self contained community appeals to you or whether you’d like to hop on a train from time to time and any out in NYC, whether drinking a lot of alcohol is something that appeals to you or is a turn off.
You need to think of who you are, who your best friends are.
You can also ask questions on this thread that popped up:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/vassar-college/2138228-ask-a-current-vassar-first-yr.html
There may be a similar one for Colgate on the Colgate page.
Is there that much drinking?? So is the Greek life all about drinking n what goes with it!!
The gender ratio seems to be skewed in both schools with more females. Does that have any implications w.r.t. the general environment.
No, there’s not that much drinking. It’s a stereotype.
And all schools have different types of students who form a mosaic, not a monolith.
More dancers at Vassar, probably. More hockey fans with their great team at Colgate, sure.
But there are also dancers at Colgate and hockey fans at Vassar.
Vassar may be a bit more open minded and “crunchy granola”; a more flexible academic curriculum and no greek life. When I was at Vassar, the tag line was “Vassar college is not unique; every Vassar Student is”. Still true. Also, read “The insiders guide to colleges”. Excellent description from the students perspective.
Yes, by “rest of the world” standards, there is A LOT of drinking* on most US college campuses and Colgate is hard drinking.
- meaning consuming alcohol not not necessarily hard alcohol, until you’re very drunk
There is an entire Muslim studies group at Colgate that definitely doesn’t drink. There’s drinking everywhere. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to in life.
But it is a remote location, so that’s usually a common problem.
How do they manage to get any school work done and graduate? They must be sober once in awhile and not throwing up.
I know they smoke a lot of weed at Vassar, according to my niece who’s a sophomore there. But I’m sure it’s not everyone and all the time either.
These are stereotypes.
According to information published in The Atlantic,
From this perspective, Vassar, at 59% women, appears to be more skewed than the national average. While Colgate, at 55% women, appears to be less skewed than the national average.