Curious to know, did anyone visit and any impressions?
We happened to be on the east coast the week decisions came out. The day after we heard, we drove to Vassar. We did a self guided tour and wandered around campus. We were impressed with the beautiful buildings, especially the library. The students looked happy. Great impression. My D is thrilled
6 Likes
I traveled the country with my son this past summer visiting over 40 different colleges and universities. In the end his top 3 were Grinnell, Hamilton, and Vassar. He ended up ED1 for Vassar which I think is the perfect fit for him. The campus is absolutely beautiful, the people were very nice and engaging. The immediate surrounding area outside campus was not as nice but then just beyond that there were some amazing views and great restaurants. Plus my son loves the theater so having Broadway a quick train ride away was a selling point.
My son could not be more excited to attend and we are as well. The top things I noticed is a beautiful campus, very diverse set of personality types among the students, and a serious focus on academic excellence but seemingly without the competitiveness between students.
That said, I can only speak to what we experienced in our visits there. Looking forward to going back on the 21st for accepted students day.
14 Likes
I wish your son the best of luck. He sounds like a great match for Vassar.
2 Likes
Ditto. Hope he has a wonderful 4 years.
2 Likes
Our impressions were the same - engaged, interesting and friendly students on an absolutely beautiful campus. My son is thrilled to join the class of 2027 and we are so excited for him. He will be there on the 21st as well!
3 Likes
Thanks for all the great info shared here
Did anyone attend the admitted students day? We werenât able to go and Iâm interested to hear what you thought!
We attended yesterdayâs event. Honestly we were disappointed and it seemed like Vassar missed opportunities to show off their campus, faculty and students. It was the 3rd admitted student event D23 attended and by the far the worst.
The event was essentially a series of Q&A panels, all located in the Chapel. The students were never separated from parents ( like other schools did) and my daughter said it was much more difficult to interact with the other admitted students. Either they were with their parents or they already knew people.
At BU, current students stopped by and chatted with her and the other admitted student during lunch. At Vassar, the current students just looked annoyed that we were there. (True that there were just too many people in the commons at the same time so I get it but by separating the students at lunch , it might have helped). There were no Admissions student ambassadors who talked to the prospective students. There were only students giving directions and checking people in. Why they didnât have panels at different locations or changed the format, I have no idea. Also, no faculty members in attendance for Film so my daughter got zero info on her major area.
We ended up leaving early, right after lunch because we couldnât sit through 2 more hours of panels. We noticed we werenât the only ones.
Perhaps the program is really geared to those who already have committed. There seemed to be plenty of them but my daughter felt like she got no sense of the community or academics and felt more welcomed at the much larger Boston U. At least we know that the school is not the one and moved it off the list.
3 Likes
Wow thatâs unfortunate. The admissions folks should be advised that this format was a dud.
1 Like
Agree that is too bad! Last yearâs event separated the kids from parents for lunch (kids in the commons and parents in a tent outside) and then the kids got some different panels than parents in the afternoon. The kids got an opportunity to meet others. Does seem like Vassarâs admissions needs some work which is too bad since although important now the students will never interact with them again after attending.
If they send a survey as some of the other schools did, I will definitely give that feedback.
1 Like
That format would have been perfect! I donât understand why they changed it this year. That makes it even more disappointing.
Regardless, I think the small size of the school is not what my daughter would in. Also, they mentioned that first years are discouraged from declaring a major and D23 is pretty set on what she wants to study.
Thanks for this feedback. Our interactions with the admissions office havenât been good (tours and correspondence), especially in comparison with other schools that make the student and family feel welcome and wanted.
I also went yesterday â I actually loved it! They definitely spend less money on their events compared to other schools and I didnât love being stuck in the hot chapel, but I adored hearing from faculty and students, I felt like I was able to have a ton of conversations with both current and admitted students all over campus. Agree that it definitely could have been done better, but I left more in love with the school than when I walked in. Almost sure Iâm committing to Vassar over Richmond and UVA, but hope you all find the right school for you!
4 Likes
The format was not the greatest, but since it was our only accepted studentsâ day (there were no accepted student days when D21 graduated), we had nothing to compare it to.
Most of the sessions were Q&A format with panelists held held in the hot, muggy chapel, except for the student resource fair which was in Main building (also very hot and crowded). The number of people attending dropped significantly after the lunch break.
There were few opportunities for accepted students to get together and meet/chat, which was disappointing. My musician daughter was excited for the arts breakout session, but it didnât include an instrumentalist (dance, theater and chorus only) so that when a student asked about different ensembles and informal musical groups on campus (which was also a question my D23 had) they had no clear response.
I felt that some of the questions were given more time than they deserved (âIf Vassar was a color what color would it be and why?â for example, didnât need to take up 10 mins of time for all 3 panelists to reply), especially when there were multiple people lined up to ask questions who didnât get a chance.
Definitely room for improvement, but we are happy we made the 3.5 hr drive. Despite the admissions office flaws, the vibe of the campus came through and it resonated strongly with my artsy, passionate daughter, who is thrilled to commit to Vassar for the fall.
5 Likes
Daughter accepted @ Hamilton & Colgate, WL @ Vassar (RD for all). On her initial visits she preferred Vassar and sheâs trying to decide how hard to fight to get off WL (if one can). Weâre from Nor Cal and sheâs undecided on major (studio arts, environmental studies, creative writing & history are all interests) sheâs both âartsyâ (painting/drawing, songwriting & a little acting) & outdoorsy (snowboarding, camping & volleyball). A bit on the quiet side til she finds her groove but very independent & driven. Any thoughts?
1 Like
This would seem sufficient to motivate your daughter to take action to be called from Vassarâs waiting list.
I agree the overall format could use some improvement and with some of the comments from others on how they might do so. Iâm assuming the extensive use of the chapel had to do with it being the biggest space they have to accommodate everyone (?) but it was pretty uncomfortable in there. I suppose not much they could do about the unseasonable weather though.
I donât blame you for leaving after lunch- unfortunately the academic panel and presidentâs remarks were by far the best sessions of the day, in my opinion, and they were in the afternoon. They should have done those in the morning and perhaps more folks would have stayed the whole day.
In the end, like another post mentioned, D23 still loved the campus and the vibe and will be committing for the fall.
2 Likes
I canât speak to the likelihood off the WL, of course, but your daughter sounds very similar to mine (NorCal, similar academic and arts interests, volleyball, independent & driven) who feels Vassar is the perfect place for her. It canât hurt to try (other than the agony of prolonging this whole stressful process even more!) if your daughter is really interested. The posts about many people leaving the admitted students day early on Sunday are correct⊠hard to know how many of those were turned off enough to not accept their admissions offer but certainly some of them were so, depending on the yield admissions planned for, spots may open up.
1 Like