I got accepted to both Vassar and Hamilton and have been rewarded the same financial aid to both. I love Hamilton’s student community (I am in a groupeme with several incoming students) but I have done some research and have noticed that Vassar’s academic program is much better. I am looking to major in chemistry/biology (maybe biochemistry?) and I am having trouble deciding what school to choose. Any thoughts?
“I have done some research and have noticed that Vassar’s academic program is much better”
If your research is conclusive, choose Vassar.
However, if you’d like a school with a curriculum that is evenly balanced across mathematics and sciences, humanities and fine arts and social sciences, and which has produced Nobel Prize and Apker Award (physics) winners, Hamilton may be worth looking into further.
For faculty scholarly achievement in a field such as economics, you can consult an analysis such as “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges,” IDEAS.
Both colleges offer that, @merc81
OP, both colleges are in the same tier, and you won’t go wrong with either. Did you go to re-visit days? IMO, follow your heart.
“Both colleges offer that”
Roughly, but not precisely, @collegemom3717. Hamilton students study across the major disciplines in even thirds (in part because the college’s concentration of math majors is ~5X the national average).
Hamilton’s strength as a college derives partially from its having been formed through the union of two colleges with complementary curricular emphases. Hamilton’s current academic balance is not merely coincidental; it is a legacy of the school’s innovative history.
Sorry, @merc81- I thought you were talking about their offerings, not their graduation requirements. That actually is a difference then, OP. But I still think follow your heart.
In clarification, I’ll say that I was referring to the distribution of disciplines in which Hamilton students ultimately decide to major. Their students choose evenly among the three major areas of study mentioned (post 1). Hamilton’s course offerings, then, would be likely to generally parallel the primary academic pursuits of their students (and provide consequent benefit to any individual student with varied academic interests). I wasn’t actually making a comparison to Vassar specifically, but I believe Hamilton’s even distribution of interests among its students is fairly uncommon for colleges of any type, and worth emphasis for that reason.
^^
https://www.hamilton.edu/advising-resources/requirements-for-graduation
Vassar’s foreign language requirement is a significant differentiating factor.