Can anyone compare/contrast the student body at Hamilton and Vassar and also speak to which might be more competitive in terms of ED admission. thx .
Opinion
Vassar. English major and performing arts veneer laid over a generally intellectual liberal arts and sciences college. Appealing chapel and library. Connects, by atmosphere, to the Hudson River School, as well as, by train, to all of what New York City has to offer. Gender imbalance seems to be increasing in recent years. Students less likely to encounter errant aerial athletic equipment than at Hamilton. Established worldâs first undergraduate cog sci major. New science building supports continuing academic ambitions.
Hamilton. Legacy of having been two colleges of complementary characteristics and emphases manifests in enhanced academic, social, spatial and architectural dimensions and balance. Access to suburban amenities, proximity to Adirondacks. Academically strong across humanities and fine arts, sciences and math and social sciences. I know some people who donât like snow, but Iâm not sure I trust them. Find your inner Buck. Surrounding area among the safest locations anywhere, with zero violent crime reported in a recent year. A writersâ college, for those who wish to enhance this skill.
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in general, Vassar is more of a âfitâ school than Hamilton- think a pair of (sized) leather gloves vs knit gloves: the knit gloves are going to feel comfortable on a broader range of hands, but when the leather gloves fit they really fit.
I agree with @merc81 that Vassar has a more intellectual vibe overall, but I think saying Vassar is an English department and performing arts with a bunch of other stuff rather undersells the school. IMO both schools are âAcademically strong across humanities and fine arts, sciences and math and social sciences.â
Hamiltonâs overall admissions rate is a good bit lower than Vassarâs (24% v 14%), but that masks a pretty strong gender skewing at Vassar: the acceptance rate for women is about 14% and for men about 24%.
Hamilton takes about 15-20% of the class at ED, Vassar a little less. ED acceptance rates are problematic b/c of athletes and legacies.
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Both excellent schools, of course.
Vassar has a bit more economic diversity, but the differences are marginal.
Another way of thinking about what the students are like is to think about what the students hope to do when graduating. Vassar has a bit more of a reputation of producing future professors. For some students, that sounds like a fun group to hand with. For other students, perhaps less so. Take a look at this interesting link and it will give you data on this:
Baccalaureate origins of doctoral recipients (highereddatastories.com)
I donât see that @merc81 said Vassar is more intellectual than Hamilton.
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Vassar has no Greek life. A key difference in my opinion. Itâs also late her as far as SLACs go.
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The reputation of Vassar is more progressive, more intellectual, not fratty. Hamilton is a mix, with significant frat presence. Vassar has a gender ratio that is heavily skewed female. Hamilton is far from everything, Vassar is reasonably close to NYC. Both schools are strong in sciences as well as arts. My kid is applying to Vassar and not Hamilton based on fit issues for all above factors.
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The deeper aspects of this probably most distinguish Hamilton from its peers. The current Hamilton represents the union of a traditional, highly resourced liberal arts college with a progressively oriented college established under its auspices. Students seeking a variety of experience â curricularly, socially, spatially â on a single liberal arts college campus may want to consider how Hamiltonâs decidedly imaginative era of the 1960s and '70s has continued to influence its current atmosphere.
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I have a child who recently considered both schools. I disagree with relaxmom. Both schools felt intellectual and progressive to my child. Having known of a recent Hamilton graduate, I can definitely say that the fraternity aspect of Hamilton is not significant. The student I know did not frequent fraternities, and she had a full, active social experience. Fraternities are not an overwhelming force on campus, they are simply one of many social outlets available to Hamilton students.
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As for being far from everything, I think spending four years in a setting that is not close to a large city ought to be considered a positive. I wish more students were willing to be similarly adventurous with respect to college location. The cities will always be there, the rural college experience will not.
It should be noted, however, that Hamilton is within ten miles of Utica, a city of over 65,000.
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I completely agree (as long as the college takes good care of studentsâ needs for food, medical care, and transportation.) My 3 all initially thought they wanted a city but after many visit decided that college towns are the best. Not sure I would say Hamilton is even in a college town, but thereâs something to be said for the community-building that happens when youâre a bit isolated and really need to rely on other students.
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My son just graduated from Hamilton. I disagree that there is a âsignificant frat presenceâ. Greek life is there if a student wants it, but itâs not overwhelming. Also, as far as âbeing far from everythingâ is concerned, that is subjective. Is Hamilton near NYC or Boston? No. Is it near Target, grocery stores, strip malls and trendy restaurants in Utica? Yes.
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Last yearâs regular decision acceptance rate for Hamilton was 10%. If your child develops a decisive preference for Hamilton, an ED application there may be advisable in that it would leave much less to chance.
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thoughts on ed1 versus 2 for hamilton?
Half of last yearâs freshman class was filled via early admission, which speaks for itself.
While Hamiltonâs ED1 acceptance rate is higher than its ED2 rate, its ED2 rate is still well above its RD rate.
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Can you share the data source for ED1 vs ED2 acceptance rate? I donât see anything in the 2021-22 CDS for this, or for the current Class of 2026?
Even though Hamiltonâs ED acceptance rate is probably higher than the RD acceptance rate after adjusting for hooked applicants in ED (~75 recruited athletes, ~25 Questbridge/Posse students, legacies, URMs, etc.), itâs much closer than appears at first blush/without doing this analysis.
My guess is there is still a (small) benefit to an unhooked applicant applying in the ED rounds rather than RD, but in the absence of knowing the number of hooked applicants, thatâs just a guess.
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In prior years, Hamilton posted this information on its site. For these years, the pattern was consistent (ED1 > ED 2 > Overall/RD).
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So, no recent data to share?
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Students seeking robust fraternity life may want to be aware that Hamilton (1) does not offer residential fraternities and (2) does not register sufficient fraternity participation to appear in a list such as this: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-frats.
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