Hi! I’m a high school senior from NYC with relatively good chances of getting into Midd or Vassar if I ED1. I want to study environmental humanities and sustainable development in Latin America. Midd is super strong in these areas, which I love. But I adore theater and am pretty artsy, and I worry that I won’t fit in with the ski bros and hockey lovers that I am concerned make up a lot of the Midd student body. I’m also a little worried that Midd kids will be really privileged, and hard to talk with about DEI stuff that I’m passionate about (they’re in the top five of schools whose student body is made up the most by the 1%). I know that Vassar probably has more of my people, and I’d love to be a little closer to home rather than in rural VT. But Midd has my dream academics, and I know so many people who have loved it. I find both campuses gorgeous and could see myself happy at either place. Thoughts?
I’d say this - ED or not - where do you feel most comfortable.
To me, it sounds like Vassar.
Can you note get similar academics at Vassar and partake in its Environmental Research Institute to satisfy your needs - combined with a study abroad in South America?
As an aspect favorable to Vassar, I believe its economics department includes faculty who are well regarded for scholarship in environmental economics. In that you seem to have an interest in environmental policy, this attribute might align well with your interests.
Hi! I’m a junior at Vassar and actually a pretty good person to comment on this given your interests. Seems like we’re into a lot of the same stuff! Sorry this is so long – hope that it answers questions and gives helpful context to half of the decision!
I’m an International Studies major focusing on Latin America, came in thinking I would do Environmental Studies. Most of what I take are International Politics classes/ history classes/ classes about Indigeneity/ Africana Studies.
Good and bad things – I don’t really like our Envr Studies program. Much more focused on the science aspect than the envr humanities. Science is cool but not my vibe. My impression is Middlebury would be better here.
However, Vassar has done a truly stellar job in hiring cool new faculty in the last couple years. Daniel Mendiola is one of my fav teachers – he’s our Latin American historian – and one of his specialities is environmental history (also borderlands and Afro-Indigenous coalitions in Central America). Just this year, they hired Arpitha Kodiveri (poli sci, does envr human rights law in India focusing on Indigenous peoples and the envr) and Candy Martinez (latin american studies, focuses on Indigneous filmmaking and sovereignty in Oaxaca, Mexico). They’re both incredible. In the last two years, Vassar also hired Ashanti Shih (Asian American and women’s history, also an envr historian, does stuff with Indigeneity) and Allison Puglisi (Black history, also an envr historian focusing on Black Ecologies). These five faculty are all truly stellar, and will no doubt radically transform how our envr studies department looks in 5-10 years once they’re established. For now though, they haven’t really impacted the department & institution… though you can take fantastic classes with all of them!
I assume you speak some Spanish too? Vassar also just hired Montse Madariaga-Caro in HISP, who focuses on Indigenous peoples in Chile, where she’s from. There are some older faculty too – Katie Hite is my advisor, and is excellent (politics of memory in Chile). Also check out Joe Nevins and Deon Knights in Geography. There are more I don’t know too. Not sure we have anyone who specifically focuses on sustainable development in just Latin America, though the poli sci classes are always talking about theory with sustainable development. I think you might find that most specifically in Geography, where I haven’t spent as much time. I like our International Studies program – it’s run by Tim Koechlin, an economist who’s also in the Latin American studies department and teaches about globalization/ economic development/ more… though I don’t think he teaches a class specifically on Latin American sust devel. International Studies at Vassar is incredibly open, and you kind of design your own major and focuses.
Vassar also has opportunities to get summer funding. I got the Cornelisen Fellowship the summer after my first year, which gave me 8k to spend the summer living with a family and taking classes in Cusco, Perú. I’ll be in Chile next Spring (actually with the Middlebury abroad program haha) taking classes in a Chilean University. Studying abroad is pretty easy and supported here.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression – I wish Vassar had more envr humanities and more going on about Latin America. But there are a lot of truly cool new profs, and there are always way way more cool classes than I have time to take. At the end of the day, you only need 4-5 cool classes a semester…
My gf is a Drama major – there’s so much going on here with Drama. Plays and performances all the time all over, and students are always writing plays that need actors to perform in (with all sorts of varying budgets and formalities). My gf has seen 4 Broadway shows, all paid for completely by the Vassar Ticket Fund (non-majors can also get funding) . She also just spent fall break in India on a trip paid for completely by Vassar, studying and watching Durga Puja, a traditionally Hindu festival that’s now UNESCO-certified and supported by the British Council (talk about globalization…)
Love that you’re thinking about income distribution too. Vassar does pretty good with this, though not as good as we did back when the NYT top 1% vs bottom 60% came out. Admittedly, this was one of the main reasons I eliminated Middlebury in my own search… that wealth gap scared me. Also reflects an institutional value about where money is spent… though Vassar was better then than we are now.
Also made me want to point out that it’s valuable to reflect on who would be in your classes. When you’re at a liberal arts school, the other people make and break classes, not just the prof who’s teaching, because so much of the learning is in discussions. I think people separate classmates from academics too much – your classmates make up so much of your learning outside of class to. Not trying to imply that Middlebury or Vassar are better or worse – looks like Middlebury has a more diverse class than Vassar, with more international students too. I’ve also heard those stereotypes about Middlebury, but I’m positive you’d find cool and humble people there too. Most Vassar students are humble and kind, but there’s plenty of privilege here too of course (: I think the most significant difference would be the number of athletes. Middlebury supports a football team (100ppl), Skiing (30ppl), and Ice Hockey (30ppl) that Vassar doesn’t have. I imagine that does impact culture and classes – maybe in a good way or maybe bad way. Subjective.
Your mention of DEI also invokes community work that happens outside of the campus. I’ve mentioned this a few times on College Confidential, but I love Poughkeepsie because it feels real. I worked with City of Poughkeepsie kids all summer, and volunteer weekly with migrants learning English. Great way to hear stories from people from across Latin America. There’s a huge population of Oaxacan migrants in Poughkeepsie too. Most folks don’t love Poughkeepsie as much as I do, and so the train station is nice to get to and from NYC. I use it a few times a semester.
Sorry for such a long ramble, hope it didn’t scare you off! Again, not an attack on Middlebury at all! I like Vassar and what it has to offer, and don’t know much about Middlebury. Please ask more questions too if you have any!
This post includes brief, subjective comments on these schools in the context of comments on a few other liberal arts colleges: Struggling with D21's List. ED & ED2: Amherst, Hamilton, Wellesley, Vassar - #7 by merc81.
This was such a wonderful, deep response to my question. This is exactly what I needed to hear. I’m still not sure but it’s really exciting to hear about those new profs. and Poughkeepsie seems like such a cool city, it’s definitely a part of why I’m interested in Vassar. Thank you so much!
Of course! Please ask if other questions come up or if you wanna clarify anything
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