in the futuree...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vassar College
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<p>okay. so i absolutely love vassar. but whenever i tell someone i got accepted to vassar, they go wtheck is that? and it just makes me feel bleh.
so i was just wondering, in the future, when we are all looking for jobs and all, and we tell our prospective employer that we are a graduate of vassar college, they wouldn't go wtheck is that? would they? what if they think its a bad college or something?</p>

<p>and i was just wondering, what fields vassar is the strongest in? like for wesleyan i know its film, for georgetown law, what about vassar?</p>

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<p>You're experiencing what's known as "liberal arts syndrome", and, unfortunately, there's nothing you (or I, who's currently going through it, too) can do about it. The fact of the matter is that most liberal arts schools in the US are not very well known--not because they're not fantastic, but because they're smaller than most other schools and a variety of other reasons like that. The truth is that Vassar is an excellent school, among the top one percent in the nation, and believe me, grad schools and employers know that very, very well. </p>

<p>I think the bigger issue here is that you're letting other people influence what you think. If you really love Vassar, then isn't that the only thing that matters? Choosing a college is far too important a decision to let other minds make for you. </p>

<p>Ugh. I sound so cliched... but I really do believe in what I just wrote. I'm going through the whole "wtheck" thing too, and I've found that reminding myself that this is my college process and mine alone helps me regain some perspective.</p>

<p>In terms of what Vassar is known for, I would tentatively say art history? But I'm no expert on its particular strengths--I just know it's a great school overall.</p>

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<p>I can't say I'm experiencing the "wtheck" factor because I live so close to the school, but I have been wondering if Vassar is known by employers and grad schools...thanks for reassuring me :)</p>

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<p>Vassar is absolutely known by grad schools and employers. I got my first job out of Vassar specifically because I went to Vassar. Vassar has a very high success rate with medical school, law school, business school and PhD program placement. In the job market, the alumni network is very strong and dedicated and i have found as a Vassar grad that people always equate Vassar with smart and well educated. I don't think you can go wrong with studying almost anything that Vassar offers. It is strong in the humanities and the sciences and more importantly, it is a beautiful place, full of interesting, smart people that you will treasure for a lifetime. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I know what you mean, suejinxp, about it being disappointing when someone doesn't recognize the name "Vassar," but the other posters have made some great points (going to a school for what it has to offer rather than the name, how well known it is amongst graduate schools and employers, etc.).</p>

<p>As for your question about what departments Vassar is best known for... I would agree with barbie123 in saying that just about every department here is at least solidly good, if not excellent. If you're interested in a specific department (or several departments), just ask and I would be more than happy to tell you what I know about it/them.</p>

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<p>may i ask about the follwing ?</p>

<p>math department
science department
economics department</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

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<p>In response to your question, cancercrab...</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Math Department. Although Vassar might not be known for its math department, I get the sense that the department is overall quite decent. Also, the small amount of students who opt to become math majors makes for lots of personal attention, which is definitely a benefit. I personally had a bad experience in it first semester--I had a visiting professor whose teaching style didn't work too well for me--but from what I've heard, the tenured staff is quite good. That's about all I know firsthand about the department (I'm not exactly a math person), but if you're interested be sure to check out the course offerings (Mathematics</a> Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College) and the department's website (<a href="http://math.vassar.edu/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://math.vassar.edu/)&lt;/a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Science Departments. One of the surprising things that I discovered about Vassar when I arrived on campus was the large amount of students who are planning on going to Medical School: I was, frankly, expecting everyone and his brother to be an English major. Seeing as there are so many pre-med students and no "pre-med major" at Vassar--although there is an advising program... there's some information about this in the 2007-2008 freshman handbook if you're interested <a href="http://deanofthecollege.vassar.edu/downloads/freshmanhandbook.pdf--the%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://deanofthecollege.vassar.edu/downloads/freshmanhandbook.pdf--the&lt;/a> biology and chemistry departments are quite strong. I don't know too much about Vassar's chemistry program, so once again would direct your attention to the course catalogue (Chemistry</a> Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College) and the department's website (<a href="http://chemistry.vassar.edu/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chemistry.vassar.edu/)&lt;/a>. I can, however, tell you more about the biology department: I'm considering a biology minor and have taken two classes in it thus far.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>My experiences with the biology department during my freshman year have overall been positive. The department is one of the larger ones on campus, meaning that it offers a nice diversity of classes each semester, although I personally feel that there's slightly more of a focus on the ecology part of biology rather than the cellular-molecular aspects. There's also a very strong student presence in the department... although I haven't personally investigated this yet, it seems like professors are quite willing to support students in doing extra research (and summer work), if this interests them. Classes meet about two-and-a-half hours a week for lectures, and then all of them with the exception of Biology-105 (this can be skipped with a 4 or 5 on the AP) have either one four-hour lab or two two-hour labs. In this manner, labwork is very much stressed by the department... if you decide to major in biology at Vassar, you're going to get a ton of experience working in a lab. Another benefit of the labs is the small class size that they promote... in both of my labs I've had 18 students, which is just about the largest they get. Seeing as the professor, the lab technician, and the lab student assistant are usually all present to aid you in your work and answer any questions you have, you get lots of personal time and mentoring. If you have any more questions about the department, be sure to check out its website (Biology</a> at Vassar College) and the course catalogue (Biology</a> Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DBiology">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/biol/)). </p>

<p>Moving along through the various science departments... Physics and Astronomy. I haven't taken any courses in either of these departments yet, so don't know much about them. I've heard mixed things about Physics (remember, this is all heresay), but very positive things about Astronomy. Sorry I can't tell you more about them; if you're interested, I will once again refer you to the college catalogue (Astronomy</a> - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College and Physics</a> - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College) as well as the departmental websites (<a href="http://physicsandastronomy.vassar.edu/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://physicsandastronomy.vassar.edu/)&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Another huge science-related department here at Vassar is psychology. I've taken the introduction class for psychology, and get the sense from that and others who I've talked to that the department here is of a very high caliber. A huge mix of classes are offered each year, so you should be able to find courses that interest you whether you'd like to concentrate in behavioral psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, neural psychology, or something other aspect of psychology. About the classes themselves... the 100-level class that I'm in (Introduction to Psychology) is relatively large for Vassar (~30 students), but I'm under the impression that they decrease in size as you move into more advanced classes. The introductory class is also primarily lecture-based, but I believe more discussion is included in intermediate and advanced classes. The department website is at Vassar</a> College Department of Psychology and the course catalogue is at Psychology</a> Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College. </p>

<p>Vassar also offers several interdisciplinary majors which fall to varying extents under the science department. These majors are usually largely based in one or two science departments, but draw from a variety of other departments, to varying extents. There's biochemistry (Vassar</a> College Biochemistry Program, Biochemistry</a> Program - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DBiochemistry">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/bioc/)), Earth Science and Geography (Earth</a> Science and Geography: Vassar College, Earth</a> Science and Geography Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DEarth">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/eage/)), Earth Science and Society (Earth</a> Science and Society - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DEarth">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/essc/)), Environmental Studies (VC:</a> Environmental Studies, Environmental</a> Studies Program - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DEnvironmental">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/enst/)), Geography (Earth</a> Science and Geography: Vassar College, Geography</a> - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DGeography">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/geog/)), Neuroscience and Behavior (The</a> Neuroscience and Behavior Program at Vassar College, Neuroscience</a> and Behavior Program - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DNeuroscience">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/neur/)), and Science, Technology, and Society (Science</a> Technology and Society, Science,Technology</a> and Society Program - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College%5DScience,Technology">http://catalogue.vassar.edu/courses/sts/)).&lt;/p>

<ol>
<li>Economics Department. One of the things that surprised me about Vassar was the large amount of people who seem to end up in economics. Because of this fact, the department is, from what I've heard at least, quite strong. Like you'll find with most introductory courses, the 100-level economics classes are larger and the classes get smaller as you progress through the major. Seeing as I haven't taken a class in the department, I don't know much about it aside from this, so I will direct you one last time to the department website (Vassar</a> Economics) and course catalogue (Economics</a> Department - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College)</li>
</ol>

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<p>thanks you soo much all of you. i think im pretty set on going to vassar.
i was just wondering, littleathiest about what the media studies department is like? i'm not too sure what that is really about. is it like communications? if i had an interest in becoming a broadcast journalist, would that be kind of in place of the communications major?</p>

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<p>Frankly, I don't know much about the media studies major that Vassar offers... just about all of my knowledge about it comes from the course catalogue. Based on the little I do know, I can tell you that its a HIGHLY interdisciplinary major, and thus one which allows you to go in a lot of different directions. For example, you could choose to focus more on film and art in relationship to the media or you could look more at the influence of the media on society and politics. Sorry I can't be of more help. If you're interested, the link to the course catalogue section on Media Studies (which has quite the long description of what Media Studies is, actually) is Media</a> Studies Program - 2008/09 Catalogue - Vassar College and the Department website is Program</a> History - Media Studies - Vassar College.</p>