I’m hoping folks here can provide some positive spin to Vassar after having a pretty horrible time visiting a few weeks ago.
We were on a college tour of a few schools a few weeks ago but could not get a guided tour spot for Vassar (not their fault - just no slots available). Still, we wanted to swing by to see the campus. Called admissions office the day prior to find out hours, and they are open till 5:00 pm. When we get there (about 3:00), we park and walk up to the admissions office, and are about to go in, when the person there rushes to the door, opens it (but blocks it with her body) and says “What do you want?” We’re obviously a family of four with two HS students there to see the school. The persons then says that the building is closed and that self guide printouts are “over there”. No welcome to campus. No “hey, how long are you here and can I direct you to a few notable things.” Nothing. This came after visiting 5 other LACs where the offices were EXCEPTIONALLY friendly (and, of course, open!). Our impression of the school after that (which was probably biased after the “closed building” admissions office experience):
Library there is probably one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever seen. Really, it’s something special (a student outside the admissions office saw our incident and suggested we check it out).
Main building is shabby and in dire need of repair.
Library is also in dire need of repair (it’s beautiful, but clearly not well maintained).
Dorm buildings also looked shabby… this is a theme - most of the campus - streets, buildings, etc, all look exceedingly poorly maintained.
Students were not very friendly with each other… we see lots of fist bumps and other indications of solid community at all the other schools we visited… not Vassar.
Students in common areas seem self absorbed… no conversations going on, not even studying, just no connection in spaces that again seemed poorly maintained.
Pick up a copy of the student newspaper… relationship column has a student asking how to ghost a one-night stand she had (she thought the guy was lame, but hooked up anyway). Another column has an article about the “Sex tree” being upset to have been named that and to see if people can stop using it for that purpose.
Seriously, can someone lay out what we may have missed here? What, exactly, is intriguing about Vassar? I’d find it hard to spend as much money as they charge only to have my kid go to an unfriendly LAC that does not take pride in its physical infrastructure.
we did not have that kind of experience there. more typical other than they were very rig about adding another adult to tour. i thought campus quite attractive from outside and inside of science building. presentation by admissions office underwhelming. done by a senior. not super impressive. where else did you visit?
We’ve visited, among others, Haverford, Franklin & Marshall, Skidmore, Hamilton, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh, W&M, etc. They were all excellent. We’ve also visited some on the west coast… same great schools and experiences. I’m just hoping I had something unusual and can get different data points
My kid is a freshman at vassar and loves it. She likes her classes, professors are great and she made good friends quickly and easily (not a given with her). Just as a data point. If you are looking for luxurious (or even pretty nice) dorms Vassar probably isn’t for you - though they are renovating. But the campus is pretty beautiful and in general the kids seem nice, friendly, quirky and mostly fun. Keep in mind a couple weeks ago was mid-terms and right before they went on break so maybe that was some of it? The admissions office reaction does seem a bit odd - not sure what to say there. But in general Vassar does not pursue kids aggressively like some schools do. We visited twice and were clearly interested and still got very little email (and no snail mail I remember) from them. They are definitely of the if you are a fit for us you’ll find us and we are not going to chase you. Pretty low key all around. But all my interactions by phone or in person have been positive (I called once randomly over the summer, for example, to find out when the student health insurance started so I could time dropping her off my insurance - the guy answering the phone had no clue but he went off and found someone who did and reported back - clearly not his job, but he actually got out of his office and found someone who knew the answer and was totally nice about the whole thing. Anyway sorry you had that experience! Sounds like Vassar may not be for you but it definitely works for my D and her friends who all think they landed in the perfect place.
Thank you (sincerely) for the additional info. Sounds like your D is having a good time, which is great to hear. I think we’ll chalk this up, primarily, to a very poorly trained admissions office person. The level of direct anti-welcoming hostility was intense… but probably just that person’s issue.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder – I thought Vassar’s campus was incredibly beautiful while I thought skidmore’s 1960’s hodge podge one of the most unattractive campuses I’ve seen (sorry Skidmore!!)
We didn’t have the best experience either, I visited with my twins, a prospective Econ major and a CS/math major. At the information session, the AO was talking about the open curriculum which was a draw for us but went on for over 5 minutes on how you would never ever ever have to take calculus again. Then on the tour, the guide kept making references to specific TV shows and other current references and after each one saying “if you don’t understand what I am talking about you don’t belong at Vassar”, neither my kids or I had any idea what he was referring to. Very short walk into science building (looked impressive) and was told the only reason he ever went into science building was to visit a professor’s dog. On a quick walk back to admissions we passed the math building, he said something about what was printed on the building and how no one really cared what it was because you know math. It was probably just a very bad match of tour guide, neither child applied. The library was gorgeous and Vassar is a great school but every school can’t be a fit. And sometimes, it may be a fit but one bad interaction is enough to turn you off.
We had a pretty amazing visit to Vassar (although S24 does not believe it is a good fit for him). Had wonderful tour guides and then a lovely personal tour of the music department with a professor who wanted to do whatever he needed to make my musician S interested in being there. The music building was not that impressive except for their music library but the main library, science and theater buildings were. I thought the place was gorgeous.
When we went on the Vassar tour this poor little scared high school kid had forgotten to sign up for a space for his mom. He asked the tour guide if the mom could come along and they said No! It was summer of 22 so COVID rules were not being as strictly enforced as before - it would not have been an issue at all. It’s been bothering me ever since. (But that’s not why my daughter didn’t end up applying there - she didn’t like being so far from the city).
I don’t have any excuse or explanation for the lack of communication and rudeness you experienced, but we did the tour at Vassar in the fall, and their admissions building was off limits to visitors. I guess, but don’t know for sure, that this is COVID policy that is still in place (which could be criticized since everyone else seems to have opened up).
The scheduled tour started from outside the building, and we were led to an information session in an auditorium in another building.
So I guess that the admissions person was trying to block unauthorized access to the building, and things went downhill from there?
While admittedly I haven’t been on campus in a while. as a grad, it saddens and frankly surprises me to hear the library and Main described as “shabby”. They are classic buildings. Do they need a coat of paint?
I’m willing to give as much benefit of the doubt as possible (had a bad experience with admissions staff, was a cloudy/rainy day in mid-Feb, and it’s easy to overly fixate on physical appearance when that’s you’re entire experience there)… but, yes, the main building window frames needed a coat of paint (looks like last time was 15-20 years ago), the rusting window AC units (of which there were dozens and dozens) needed to go (a school like Vassar should be able to afford modernizing it’s main building… lots of colleges have old buildings and have undergone retrofitting), metal fixtures on the roof and around the building were falling apart and obviously broken. The main building is a classic style that could be amazing - so it saddened me to see it up close in such shape. The library itself is a thing of beauty overall (like walking into Hogwarts!), but a closer look showed a similar (though not as bad) pileup of deferred maintenance. On their own, even these things can probably be considered not so bad, but after seeing so many different campuses, the difference was jarring.
Malcolm Gladwell has an explanation. Maybe this will resonate.
In his new podcast series, Revisionist History, he makes this point by contrasting Bowdoin College, which is regularly cited by campus guides for outstanding food, with Vassar College, where students tell him the food is mediocre. Both are elite liberal arts colleges, with highly competitive admissions, respected faculty members and beautiful campuses. But Vassar enrolls a much larger share of low-income students than Bowdoin, and Gladwell blames the gourmet food Bowdoin students enjoy. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/18/malcolm-gladwell-sets-debate-over-whether-good-campus-food-prevents-more-aid-low
These comments support my stand that the quickie college tour road trip, with brief stops at a number of schools, leaves an impression that is largely dependent upon the “fit” of the tour guide,and maybe that day’s weather, not the school. Perhaps better to choose where to apply from academic criteria and other published criteria, and then make longer visits to acceptances (perhaps a three to four day weekend visit to a student enrolled there, who is a high school or family acquaintance) in order to attend a few classes and a few weekend social events, so as to get a more in-depth and accurate perception of the school.
I’d say if Vassar has the academics that your child wants, and the NPC fits your budget, and it meets the other criteria on paper, you shouldn’t cross it off your list based upon that unpleasant experience.
Its common for students on college tours to have one “drive by” experience (where they don’t want to get out of the car or dislike it for some funny reason). Usually its the kid more so than the parent!! For my older s it was Dartmouth (I was so sad, but he didn’t like it for understandable reasons, though he stuck it out for the day). For younger s it was College of Charleston (also stuck it out but couldn’t wait to leave). So if a student crosses of a school for whatever reason, so be it. But would hope it is ultimately the student’s decision as to where to apply.
It does sounds like a disappointing experience with admissions, but it also sounds like there are other reasons you don’t like Vassar, so it’s great that you had good experiences at other LACs. While I can’t give a tour/visit experience because we didn’t do one at Vassar, my daughter and I showed up sight unseen on move in day and she had a wonderful academic experience there. We had toured many LACS including Lafayette, Richmond, Davidson, Wellesley, but ended up not having time to go to Vassar. I think many colleges don’t look great in the winter, but I also think Vassar is beautiful (even compared with the other colleges mentioned above). Yes, the main building does seem in need of an update, but they are constantly making improvements and updates to the campus. The Bridge for Laboratory Sciences is an impressive building and the dining hall was newly renovated and very nice just before my D started there. I do agree that Vassar doesn’t seem to be the friendliest place compared with some other schools. However, my D found her group after some time and the educational, cultural and creative experiences were worth being so far from home and the hassle of getting there each time she traveled back and forth (lots of planes, trains and automobiles). She is very thankful for her time at Vassar and I can’t say enough good things about President Bradley and how she is so welcoming to and supportive of students (her impressive public health background was also very helpful during Covid). As someone else mentioned above, for those looking for fancy dorms, Vassar is not the place for them. They use their resources in other areas (but still update the dorms regularly). My comments are not intended to try to convince anyone, just thoughts for other parents reading in the future.