I got accepted RD to both of these schools with same financial aid offer + spot on basketball team. What is each school like and what are some big differences?
In addition to what posters offer on your own topic, you can read through the recent “Vassar vs. Colgate vs. Hamilton” topic in this forum.
Hamilton is in a much better athletic conference. NESCAC is more interesting than Liberty League but Liberty is OK.
Hamilton is much more balanced politically. Vassar is extreme. There was a movement to ban Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at Vassar because it is sold in Israel.
@OnTheBubble Wait, what? What’s wrong with Israel? (I was born and raised there so this could be a concern!)
It should be. Many liberal campuses in the US are either anti-Israel or worse anti-Semitic. Vassar has received a lot of media attention recently about this. It stems from the issues in Palestine.
On Feb. 16 the Wall Street Journal ran a story called “Majoring in Anti-Semitism at Vassar”.
Clearly not every student or even a majority but you should be aware on liberal campuses Israel is not well liked.
My advice is go to Hamilton of the two. Great school and better balanced politically.
You will enjoy playing in NESCAC much more. Look at the schools in that conference.
If you have concerns about the sentiment towards Israel on certain campuses, I suggest you research it yourself as objectively as possible, and not go by the comments of one poster on this site. This is the type of issue that conservatives love to exaggerate (and I searched for some info on this myself, and most of the sites I found that mentioned it were conservative sites).
That said, I don’t know much about these two schools, other than that they are both considered strong schools. Hamilton is in a more remote location; Vassar is closer to NYC. It might be relevant what you’re planning to study, and/or other aspects of your preferences (e.g., how important is basketball and the level of play/competition).
IMO, many quality liberal arts campuses have sizeable Jewish populations, especially on the east coast. I wouldn’t worry about that
@collegesucks111 what are you planning on studying?
From a basketball standpoint, vassar seems to be a better option since Hamilton came in last in their conference iwth only 2 wins. Vassar also beat Hamilton in a non league match. I was also looked at for a sport at vassar and their athletic facilities are pretty great and athletes get great support.
also as a very liberal arts college, vassar is extremely accepting and tolerant, so I highly doubt that there is any real anti-Semitic sentiment.
What is your academic interest? Sort through LinkedIn to see how alum are employed. I always ask my kids “Will you still like it here after you get cut?”. Did you hang out with players?Which bunch did you you feel more comfortable with?