<p>Seems like a pretty dreadful place, nearby Beacon was great. Did we miss anything? Do male applicants have any advantage? Woderful campus, library, music, landscape. Intellectually challenging? I was surprised that many students are from out of state.</p>
<p>Can't offer much to mitigate the Poughkeepsie situation. But Vassar is most definitely an intellectually challenging school.</p>
<p>I think "dreadful" is a bit much. There are cool stores, and places to eat. And even if there weren't, Vassar more than makes up for it. There is really no excuse for boredom on this campus.
It's a very intellectually stimulating place. I'm continually amazed with the quality of my professors and their dedication to our learning. And yes, most people are from out of state, why is that surprising?</p>
<p>Vassar's biggest feed state is NY, followed by California and there are a large amount of kids from New England in general. Vassar does pride itself on diversity of all types including geographic so there is a conscientious effort to admit kids from every state and many foreign countries.</p>
<p>Poughkeepsie is much nicer than when I went to Vassar years ago and the immediate area right outside of campus has shops, restaurants and there are a few malls not far away and a free shuttle from campus. NYC is an 80 minute non-stop train ride. It is easy to go for the day. Some people from Poughkeepsie commute to NYC. I agree that there is so much happening on campus that most kids never leave anyway.</p>
<p>poughkeepsie offers a lot of oppty for community service which Vassar students do often.</p>
<p>We were there during thanksgiving, that accounts for lack of energy. I have found many of the new england colleges to be near low income, dying small towns. Students are so busy and I think the activities on campus more than make up for the inactivity nearby. I think I would rather be near Poughkeepsie than some faux, touristy, B&B community, Poughkeepsie has character and diversity.</p>
<p>Poughkeepsie doesn't have much to recommend itself to students but there are areas just to the North along the river that are very trendy and arty summer/vacation spots these days and NYC is only a train ride away.</p>
<p>Beacon, DIA</p>
<p>I can tell you that Julie's (its a little diner-type place) is excellent. Its in walking distance to the campus. Julie is so sweet and authentic.</p>
<p>I ate there, her and her husband were delightfull. They had some grilled muffins with plenty of butter</p>
<p>ugh Poughkeepsie is dreadful. It depends on what you're personally used to, though. I come from a huge city and grew up by a university with thriving campus life/downtown area. I need to be able to walk to bookstores, cafes, etc. in order to feel sane. In Pough-town, there's basically nothing to do...most people at Vassar find most of their entertainment ON campus - that's why it's known as the "vassar bubble". if you're comfortable being in a small area, then it's fine. otherwise...</p>
<p>I'm an international.. For those who says Poughkeepsie sucks.. May I know why?</p>
<p>Think about the entire Hudson Valley and not just Poughkeepsie.</p>
<p>Poughkeepsie is small with a handful of gems including the following:</p>
<p>"The Chance" for Rock and Alternative Music
"The Mid-Hudson Civic Center" as a larger venue
"The Bardavon" Historic Opera House with fantastic shows</p>
<p>Great Places to Eat including:</p>
<p>The Artist's Palette
Mill House Panda
All sorts of International Resturants including Lebanese and Vietnam in walking distance</p>
<p>The city is trying to comeback but it has not made the same progress as Beacon.</p>
<p>Route 9 has all the mall & commercial shopping you need </p>
<p>The Hudson Valley offers a lot including:</p>
<p>Woodstock
New Paltz
Rhinebeck
The Catskills Mountains
Skiing
Trips to Other College Towns</p>
<p>There is a ton of stuff if you look.</p>
<p>Somewhere on the Vassar website they have a link to like "101 Things to do in Poughkeepsie"... (still in progress)</p>
<p>the place isn't an awesome college town, but it's a typical city and vassar more than makes up for it on campus.</p>
<p>Coming from the Hudson Valley, I second Rush Fan's post...the Hudson Valley has a lot to do, especially if you're the out-doorsey type. Or the artsy type. Or a hippie.
That said, in order to get to anywhere you need a car. There are ups and downs to anywhere, though.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot.. Is Hudson Valley safe?</p>
<p>Depends what part...ex. where I live, you can leave your doors unlocked at night, but 20 min. away in Kingston you've got a different story
Poughkeepsie is a city, and that's where Vassar is, I don't know the crime rates and stuff there.</p>
<p>Vassar is in a great location. NYC is conveniently close, making trips to the Met or Broadway shows very easy, and Canada is a day (a long day, but still) away. The Hudson Valley and the geeral area have a ton of cool day trips (mansions, FDR's house, historic sites) and NJ, PA, and New England are all a few hours away. One of the biggest reasons I'm considering Vassar is because I love this area!</p>
<p>Sure, there are great day trips and train trips and whatever, but if you don't have a car or a lot of money to blow on train tickets, you're stuck in Boringville... just a little warning for those who are expecting a lot of off-campus fiestas.</p>
<p>Wow-I wasn't sure how to answer the question is the Hudson Valley safe. So I searched the web and found the following links:</p>
<p>Vassar</a> College Security - Federally Mandated Crime Statistics
Poughkeepsie</a> Crime Statistics (NY) - CityRating.com
<a href="http://www.manyvoicesonevalley.org/ratingpublicsafety.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.manyvoicesonevalley.org/ratingpublicsafety.html</a></p>
<p>I can tell you that the Hudson Valley is safe and you have nothing to worry about in general. The Poughkeepsie Crime Statistics was a little startling.</p>
<p>I can't tell you if they are different than any other city.</p>
<p>Yeah, on the "safety" topic, I feel like I should make a comment that Vassar has a student-run campus patrol force that covers virtually every area of campus (when there are enough patrollers, anyways) starting as soon as it gets dark and going until 3:00 am on weekends, 2:00 am on weekdays. As a student-run organization, it employs exclusively students; I believe somewhere around 100 students, including myself, are employees of campus patrol. We do a good job, from what I can tell, and there's a reason so many people work the job: the pay is amazing. </p>
<p>As for the Hudson Valley at large, it's all safe except for Main Street Poughkeepsie, which basically you just shouldn't walk down any longer than you need to. Any other dangerous areas of the town you wouldn't have any reason to be in, so although Poughkeepsie looks kinda sketchy, it's actually quite safe. </p>
<p>On the note of the entertainment scene, Poughkeepsie does have something for everybody, but it doesn't have very much of those "somethings." Case in point, there's a collector store less than a minute walk away, but if you want anything besides the basics, your fastest option is to go to Neutral Ground in New York City. But, Vassar's got a huge event going on almost every friday and saturday, and there's always the senior housing or Lathrop if you just want a party.</p>