<p>first off, when i visited vassar college, it was great. great place altogether. but the one thing that was disgusting, downright trodden, was the city of poughkeepsie. it served as an eyesore, and i couldn't even think of it when i sent in my deposit 2 weeks ago.</p>
<p>now i'm stuck going to vassar, in a city with an unusually high crime rate.</p>
<p>i want to go to gettysburg, and they said they'd keep my application for 4 years. but how can i change this now? i don't even need that 500 dollar deposit back. that's my punishment for my indolence.</p>
<p>is there any possible way i could still get in to gettysburg? i have already been accepted with the presidential scholarship. i am also going to call the office tomorrow to try and work something out. i'd be obliged if anyone at all could help.</p>
<p>Hey refusetheday, I don't know if this is any consolation (I guess you'd say a consolation, don't really know), but according to the Vassar student I spoke with when I visited the campus, the city of Poughkeepsie doesn't play a big role in the lives of the typical Vassar students. The campus is pretty separate physically speaking. Also, there's so much going on on-campus that the city of Poughkeepsie isn't a place where students frequently go. According to the senior I spoke with, if a student wants a city experience for a weekend or something he takes the train into New York. </p>
<p>Don't know if that helped, but it sure convinced me that being in Poughkeepsie might not be as bad as it sounds. Best of luck in figuring out your situation.</p>
<p>littleatheist, i'm glad you always answer my questions! haha, but anyway, i see the point.</p>
<p>it's just...i'm from a small town. i mean, small, small town. i think i'm just having jitters getting accustomed to a new place. but yeah, if it's going to be people like you there, i'm sure i'll be right at home.</p>
<p>i think i'm going to go ahead and give a call anyway before i make a rash decision, but thanks.</p>
<p>"Refuse," my d is graduating Vassar this spring. Safety has never been an issue - she goes out and runs at the farm, bicycles everywhere. Poughkeepsie, like many college towns, is euphemistically referred to as providing many opportunities for community service. But there has actually been steady improvement - check out the sweet park on the riverfront down by the train station- and that train (or a car if you're so lucky) can take you both to NYC and to some fabulous hiking/skiing a short distance away. Plus, the school brings in fantastic speakers, performers, and groovy bands that a fossil like me has never heard of - some just performing in the coop (Ferry House) in front of the fireplace. So the college has a marvelous combination of erudition, cultural awareness, and natural beauty. Gettysburg is a very, very different school, much more rah-rah around sports and a Greek system (friend's son is there) so you should think about who you are - it's a very different choice! Good luck.</p>
<p>I lived both on and off campus, the area of poughkeepsie adjacent to Vassar is harmless, we went out there for diner all the time (with the possible exception of the Juliets on the corner). I lived in a working class neighborhood just next to campus for a summer and and a semester and never, not once, did I have an issue. </p>
<p>I would also say that if it's something you're worried about, you really don't have to go off campus since most of campus life is very self-contained. Seems an odd reason to turn down a Vassar education to me but to each his own.</p>
<p>You'll loose your deposit, but otherwise you should be able to do it. Will nessesitate a phone call.</p>
<p>dgobblelew (interesting name by the way), it's more of....i guess a personal decision. i'm closer to home, i'm in the suburbs. it's just more homely to me than vassar could ever feel. and during the course of this year, i've really come to know that i'm more of the partying type. it's more that i want the traditional college experience- i've lived 18 years as a loner "emo" kid.</p>
<p>when i went to vassar, i loved it. loved the campus, loved the people, loved the ideas. but there was something missing, and that was a feeling of community. i just didn't get the vibe that the college was totally "together," or like, a brotherhood type of thing.</p>
<p>go with your visceral response, refuse. I've had three go through this and each time the decision was much more about what felt right. Good for you for questioning what seems inevitable!</p>
<p>I hope you don't change your mind on Vassar because of Poughkeepsie. It is harmless and a great place for internships that involve the real world. The part of Poughkeepsie that is near Vassar is fine and Poughkepsie itself (downtown) is no big deal either. You got bad information.</p>
<p>I did Astronomy research at Vassar last summer, but I'm not a Vassar student. Since I was doing lots of all nighters I would be walking around campus at all hours:12 am, 1 am 3 am 5 am, you name it, I was outside (okay, maybe not 8am, haha). Vassar has gates and guards, and people close the gates at nights. Someone said something about it being one of the safest campuses out there. I wouldn't be surprised, security is everywhere. </p>
<p>This one time, I went grocery shopping at 2 am at the Stop and Shop in the plaza with the Big Lots. Not a big deal, but I didn't give my roommates the opportunity to tell me I was nuts for doing it. Did anyone mug me? No. Did anyone try to mug me? No.</p>
<p>Yeah, I do agree that the part of Poughkeepsie around the corner from Vassar with the Ammo store and the KFC seems a little sketch. If you want to walk to somewhere sketchy, get a buddy. The end.
But the road Vassar is on, Raymond Ave was cute! It had lots of restaurants, a cute collectible store and a dollar store.</p>
<p>I liked my summer in Poughkeepsie, and I don't think it should be a reason against going to Vassar at all.</p>
<p>It's funny that you say that you didn't get a sense of community or togetherness. When I visited Vassar, I felt like that the college tried very much to make campus life an extremely prominent part of the students' lives. Each dorm is required to host an event every semester or something like that, and there seemed to be a kajillion activities otherwise. As for Poughkeepsie, people say that it's been improving. You won't be plunging headlong into inner-city gang warfare territory or anything like that.</p>
<p>When I was a student at Vassar, I rode the buses a lot in Poughkeepsie, I rode my bike to the grocery store. Never had a problem or heard of a problem. Vassar does have student patrol security as a campus job. On campus is completely safe and as I mentioned, I never heard of any problems in Poughkeepsie in terms of safety.</p>