MissMN,
My suggestion to you would be to post questions on the Vassar forum. You’ll get many more responses. The nice thing about Vassar is that its an easy drive or train ride (about 2 hrs at most) to NYC, but also not much more to Boston. You can also, in addition to the study abroad, consider going to one of the partner schools in the 12 college exchange (heres a link to it from Amherst) https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/study_abroad/all_programs/node/535760
The main question is,do you want a big research institution with about 28-29K undergrads (42K total students) or a small, liberal arts college with about 2400 undergrads. They are both great schools. Just very different.
1. What did you like and not like about it? Liked everything. Disliked nothing. But my idea of heaven is being anywhere other than a big city, and I can’t imagine attending a university the size of UCLA - I loved the intimacy of a small campus, and seeing the same people every morning on the way to breakfast.
2. Is the cold really that bad? Raised in California, never experienced winter before arriving at Vassar, and never even noticed the cold. When it’s snowing, wear a coat - problem solved!
3. What’s the social scene like? No clue. Guessing it’s changed since I was a student.
4. I’ve heard that Poughkeepsie is quite dead but is this true? Do people go into NYC often? When I was there, the only thing in Poughkeepsie was the train station - it may be different now, but I wouldn’t expect much. Don’t know if people go into the city often. I never did - I’d much rather hang out on campus with friends. But that’s me - like I said, not a city person. I’m sure there are people who go into the city more often.
And not that it makes any difference anymore, since this is ancient history, but when I was a student, we were allowed to have pets on campus. Not everywhere, just in the dorm I lived in, and in the student apartments. I didn’t have a dog, but lots of the kids on my hall did. Made it really feel like home.
Oh yeah, that’s one other thing, getting to have the independence of living in an apartment while still living on campus - no landlords, no hassle, but still your own (shared) place.
My experience was many years ago, but I adored Vassar and went in to NYC all the time. I had season tickets to the ballet and went in for lots of Broadway and off-Broadway productions. My freshman roommate was from NYC, so sometimes I stayed over at her parents’ house. I don’t know whether I would have enjoyed UCLA just as much (I too was choosing between them, and was a CA resident), but I’ve always felt that going to Vassar was one of the best decisions I ever made. And the campus is impossibly beautiful.
Another element to consider: you’re coming from Australia.
Do you want something a little similar to Australian structures of higher education, something that feels similar? Then choose UCLA (I think it’s a good equivalent to UMelbourne).
Do you want something uniquely American and unlike anything you’ve experienced before? Then choose Vassar (there’s literally nothing like it in Australia).
As for the cold: you get used to it. You wear a coat, earmuffs, mittens. You get to tell tales to your family and you impress them JUST FOR WALKING OUTSIDE!!
I came from a town where I could wear tee shirts in October, and went to college where there were 4-5 months of snow and sub zero temperatures for a while. It *really wasn’t so bad, and it actually was kind of fun to realize my sense of temperatures changed, also to do all the things you can practice in the snow, from snow angels to tray-sledding to broomball, not to mention snowshoes, snowmobiles, and even sleighs, either with dogs or with little bells (yeah, those last two are for tourists and I got to do that as a holiday treat, but it was fun nevertheless). In short, don’t choose based on weather.
Another thing: most college students’ life centers the college. They may go into the city a few times a semester, but what matters is what’s going on on campus. Both colleges will provide you with tons and tons of things to do. You’ll be busy 24/7 and if you’re bored, it’s because you’re trying very hard to!
Don't buy them in Australia. Buy your winter gear on location, where they'll have plenty of clothes that'll protect you from low temperatures. :)
MsMN,
I was serious when ii suggested posting in the vassar forum. Current students can give you a good perspective. Also, read the yale daily news’s “insiders guide to colleges” for a great perspective on what it’s like to be a student at both schools. Love that book.
@MissMN I’m applying to UCLA at the end of this year and I also live in Australia. Would you be able to provide me with your stats? Thank you in advance.
For some schools, anyone can go into the online course schedules to see the number of enrolled students (or the maximum) for any class of interest. Vasser has its “Ask Banner” listings: https://aisapps.vassar.edu/cgi-bin/courses.cgi
For example, in Fall 2014, the largest history class had 30 students. Only about 1 in 5 had more than 20.
And keep in mind, almost every Vassar class will be taught by a professor who already has a PhD.
UCLA also offers public access to course listings. You have to link into each individual course to see the enrollments.
For example, the History 1A (Western CIv) lecture enrolled 227 students in Fall 2014.This course also has 50 min/week discussion sections (which presumably are led by grad students.) Those sections typically enroll 10-20 students. http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx
Once there, you then need to select a particular term (e.g. Fall 2015) and department to bring up a list of that department’s courses, with the maximum capacity for each course indicated. (MAX = maximum capacity; ENR = number of students actually enrolled)
You also have the option of displaying the entire schedule for the semester, but that doesn’t provide the number of students in each course.
And it appears things have changed (a lot!) since I was a student . . . my 200-seat Intro to Anthropology course now has a maximum capacity of 30 students! (It’s not quite inversely proportional to the increase in tuition since my day, but it’s not too far off!)
I am not a student but am a parent of a current Vassar student. As other have said this is like comparing apples to oranges, which is perfectly fine I prefer oranges but two more extremes of education you could not imagine (except possible the university of Alabama and Vassar). Lets begin with Poughkeepsie, Vassar is not in but just outside of it in a place called Arlington, it has streets with some restaurants and shops, it feels like a small town USA. Poughkeepsie is a hole in the wall mostly except for one thing, because Vassar, Poughkeepsie are both on this place called the hudson river valley. Have you heard if the Hudson river school of art? The Hudson river valley is possible the greatest display of natural beauty on earth. Going on the train to union station is not just a commute And then the train goes on to Boston,Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Montreal.
The climate of the valley is NY ’ city’s climate It is not Minnesota or Michigan or even buffalo. It seldom gets below 0 Fahrenheit.
Vassar is very artsy. There are three theatrical troops, singing groups ect. For every student. I remember waiting for my son’s play to begin in one of the 1/2 dozen performance spaces and walking by a studio and seeing some woman crazy at work on a Friday night on some sculpture was creating . It is very laid back, unassuming, no one is trying to impress anyone except maybe at how hipster they are. It is very open and kind of still counter /culture and kind of hippyish. If you have any hang ups about anything it is going to be out of place there. It is an old storied east coast liberal arts college so there is some money there but you would never know it. The dorms are awesome. The first two floods of my sons dorm is wood clad open common area and each dorm has a couple of grand pianos that someone is usually playing. But it will be a much more laid back experience then UCLA which is going to be college as a bustling city.,high energy and high octane, maybe stressful maybe exciting. There are no fraternities at Vassar though there is drinking and true to the nature of the place, no enforcement of any rules. You know Vassar has coed bathrooms right? Social life seems to entail gathering s in peoples rooms seeing who can be the wittiest and most theatrical. There is a Vassar bubble and people seldom leave the campus because they already can’t figure out how to see that play their friend is doing and the art exhibit and that performance their other friend is doing and catch that guest lecturer you professor stopped you to tell you about while working on the papers due for the five classes your taking.
And why come to America if you do not experience autumn on the east coast 6 weeks of unbelievable natural beauty.
Anyway this I not an insiders look just my impression from feed back and numerous visits.
