I finally found some time to sit down in front of the computer and write a little about our experiences at the schools. We really enjoyed our visits to the 3 campuses on our quick trip.
Vassar: We started off with a tour of the dance facilities. My daughter liked that the windows that allowed natural light. We attended the VRDT performance that evening and thought it was very good with interesting choreography and talented dancers. It was a Friday night and the seats were almost full; it was a well-attended performance with a lot of supportive students.
Smith: After our campus tour we walked into the building where the studios are located and peaked inside. It was a Saturday and we didn’t get to talk to anyone about dance. We left the preview program early after one session and the tour. My daughter just had a vibe that she didn’t like it and we were hungry. We talked about what it was that she didn’t like, and she said she wished she knew because we both loved Northampton. Such a cute town! She enjoyed our tour guide so it wasn’t that. The only thing she could put her finger on was that she’d expected to like the house system and thought it sounded neat but when it came down to it she didn’t. I don’t know if it was the one we happened to see that she didn’t like but I suspect it also had something to do with the dining options spread out all over campus with fixed dining times. She thought the dining centers at Vassar and Mount Holyoke were beautiful and loved that they’re open all day. The way to her heart is definitely through her stomach, lol.
Mt. Holyoke: She really enjoyed the tour of the campus and the science lab building. She had a better feeling about it than Smith. We attended the student performance that evening. Like at Vassar, it was well attended. It was all student choreography so I’m not sure if it was representative of what the dance performances are usually like but we enjoyed it. We didn’t have a chance to talk to anyone from the dance department at this school either but we did talk to a few dance alums at the performance. They told us that there were a lot of performance opportunities with the school and the 5 Colleges.
It was a good first visit trip to get some ideas about what D might like in terms of campus size, school size, dance opportunities, dorms, academics, etc, which will help us form a list of other schools to visit. She’s only a sophomore and still has ACT/SAT testing ahead of her and plenty of grades that will determine her chances of acceptances to schools like this but I think the trip will give her extra motivation to finish this year strong and continue to work hard.