Hello all. My son is trying to decide between Hamilton (where I prefer) and Vassar (where he prefers). Guess that’s my answer, but please share any insight into the caliber of instruction, students and campus life, if you have any…
Thanks!!
Why do you prefer Hamilton?
Why does he prefer Vassar?
Gosh, those are both great schools! Why not let him decide, as either one would be a great choice?
First of all, congrats to your son on his acceptances.
My S’18 is a freshman at Vassar and loves it - the campus, the classes, the diverse student body, the location and easy access to NYC (ok, he doesn’t love college food). He likes that Vassar only has 3 core requirements. There’s a particular type of freedom with knowing you’re not constrained by extensive core requirements.
My personal experience with Hamilton is limited to a tour during S’15’s college search. It wasn’t the right fit for him. S’15 attends Colgate now so we’re familiar with the weather and remote location. Winter in Central New York is cold and LONG. Clinton is a very small town surrounded by rural communities.
Good luck to your son and his choice.
He is going to college…not you. Assuming price isn’t a variable…let him choose.
These are both terrific colleges.
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.
Hamilton: Legacy of having been two colleges of complementary characteristics and emphases manifests in enhanced academic, social, architectural and spatial dimensions and balance. A writers’ college for students who’d like to enhance this skill – as they should – though similarly strong in quantitative fields such as math and natural sciences. Beautiful campus with Adirondack feel suitable for one’s inner Buck, though offers easy access to suburban amenities.
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml
Nice formulas and drop-box options to help you get started.
Congratulations to your son on having two great choices!
Caliber of instruction will be equal at these two fantastic colleges, which are more similar than different in many ways, mainly in all the qualities shared by top small liberal arts colleges.
They even both have a high degree of choice with few requirements.
Students are similarly talented academically at both colleges, and interested in learning and ideas, and professors are similarly excellent.
Campus life:
Hamilton struck me as having an exceptionally friendly atmosphere and a nice mix of students of different types, as reflected in the architecture. Hamilton does, however, have fraternities and sororities, albeit nonresidential. Whether that is viewed as a positive or negative depends on your son’s perspective.
Vassar has no fraternities or sororities. It has dorms where students spend three years, forming a tight community (then, seniors often live in on-campus college-run apartments). It has an inclusive vibe. It was a formerly all-female college (until 1969) and that still has an impact on the “equal” feel to the campus. Both colleges’ students are predominantly liberal, but Vassar has been a bit more known for protests through the years.
There will be a variety of students at both schools. He will find friends who share the interests that are important to him.
Ultimately, with two completely equal colleges such as these two, you can feel confident that whichever choice your son makes will lead to a wonderful four years. Encourage him to talk out his reasons, and maybe visit both again if he is unsure, and then he can make his choice!
**Reason you should prefer a college; **
Net Cost
Ability of graduates to get Jobs
General match of college to child’s abilities
It has their major/is direct entry
Cost to transport child home
** Reason your child should prefer a college:**
ANY REASON AT ALL
Vassar and Hamilton are both good LACS in the Northeast. Other than big differences in net cost, your child should be making the decision.
I interpreted the OP as simply having added a little color to her post by stating the direction her son seems to be leaning, in contrast her own thoughts. I wouldn’t presume from this that her son won’t be making the decision.
Twenty years ago, I would not have thought these were equivalent colleges. I would have viewed Vassar as a real cut above. I knew (and respected) a whole bunch of people who had gone to Vassar in many generations, and had a relative who was a long-time faculty member there. Hamilton was a popular destination at my (very preppy) high school for jocks who liked to drink. One of my best friends in law school, and one of the smartest people in our class, was a Vassar alum; there weren’t any Hamilton alumni in our class.
I no longer have anything like that prejudice, however. In my kids’ cohort, I have a nephew and a son-in-law who went to Hamilton, and they are both supremely well educated and had really wonderful college experiences there. My nephew’s career at Hamilton is something I trot out all the time to explain how LACs can work really well for kids. He wound up with a roll-your-own major in philosophy of agriculture, and among the things the college did for him were (a) funding a summer of research into the design of community-supported agriculture programs nationwide, (b) hiring a professor at SUNY ESF to supervise him, and © serving as the lead customer in a new Clinton-area CSA he created. My son-in-law and his college friends are impressively intellectual, thoughtful adults with interesting jobs.
Vassar, meanwhile, continues to attract really smart, generally really nice kids who want a very demanding LAC experience, who value the social structure the dorm system provides (like Yale’s residential colleges), and who like the idea of being able to spend a weekend in New York City pretty easily.
This is one of those decisions in which there really isn’t any wrong answer, at least as long as the cost is relatively similar. Going either way for any reason – including flipping a coin – will be the right decision.
Note that Hamilton graduates appear to earn more than those from comparable LACs in early career salaries:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/hamilton-college-2728
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/vassar-college-2895
In a direct comparison with Vassar, Hamilton graduates’ salaries are, on average, over 20% higher.
^That may not be to the discredit of Vassar. Lots of graduates who choose to “save the world” in lower paying fields!
A young family member who graduated from Vassar recently is a journalist for a reputable organization. My spouse is a psychologist. Spouse’s friends from Vassar are a minister, a professor of psychology, a professor of veterinary science, someone who owns his own business, and someone who creates the art for book covers at a major publisher. All happy, all employed in long-term stable employment, all with families. None chose to make a ton of money on Wall Street; they chose careers that attracted them.