Vassar or Tufts???

<p>I know this is a GREAT problem to have. But while they are very different, there is alot about them that is similar enough to make this a hard choice for my son. He is interested in politics, plays the guitar and might consider a music minor, is from a small public school in Westchester, wants small classes and is thinking he will go onto law school. He likes the size of Vassar and while not being near a city is not a factor for him right now, it might be down the road. He thinks Boston will give him more opportunities in politics, but Tufts is one of the bigger schools he applied to. He likes that at Tufts he can take Rock and Roll classes in the music dept. He likes the access to professors at Vassar. He is very liberal politically but doesnt back down from an animated discussion. He knows it might be easier for him to meet girls at Vassar :) But that is not his main concern....at the moment</p>

<p>I know that both are great choices. But is there something else we should consider? Dorms? Social life? Food? Quality of life? Study abroad?</p>

<p>I am also posting on the Tufts board...</p>

<p>I think both are excellent choices. My son applied to both schools, but ended up attending a different school. However, I think he would have been happy at Vassar or Tufts.</p>

<p>Many kids have a visceral reaction about a school that says either, “This isn’t my place,” or “This is my place.” I take it that your son did not experience either of these states at either school. That makes it hard, and he has to go on more objective criteria.</p>

<p>For us, the distinctive difference between the two schools seemed to be that Tufts has a more outwardly oriented philosophy, whereas Vassar stresses the creativity of the individual more. My son is more of the the second kind of person; your son can decide which kind of person he is.</p>

<p>Good luck. He can’t make a bad decision.</p>

<p>I agree with Mythmom’s comments. Also, since you asked about housing, there is a notable difference in the housing situation. Vassar guarantees housing all four years and almost all students live on campus all four years. Tufts only guarantees housing for freshman and sophomore years. The seniors at Vassar live in townhouse style complexes at the edge of campus. The underclassmen are in dorms mixed - there are not ‘freshman’ dorms’. Most stay in their residence hall all 3 years. This arrangement fosters an overall sense of community at Vassar. I would check into the housing specifics at Tufts if that is important to you. </p>

<p>Also, there are many student rock bands at Vassar, and being up the road from NYC, Poughkeepsie draws many bands for shows. The venues in northern NJ and Albany are not too far away.</p>

<p>Congrats on your choices - both really are great schools. Try to visit both again this month before you make your decision and see if your son gets the ‘this is my place’ feeling described by Mythmom.</p>

<p>Thank you both so much for your insights and info. In my heart of hearts I know that my son will be happy at both because each speaks to him. But I think after we attend the accepted students days and he spends a night and sits in on a class, something may indeed click for him. On a much smaller scale, I remember choosing a sleep away camp when he was 9. We did not choose the fanciest camp or the one with the most bells and whistles or the best food. But he spent 9 great summers there (and might go back to be a counselor this summer). What made it the “right fit” was the people. Granted, this is a much more serious decision, but while I attended a great school (Brandeis) and got a great education, what made it an incredible experience for me was the people (other students, professors etc). </p>

<p>I feel like this has been dragging out for so long. I really want to buy a T-Shirt, put a sticker on my car and be able to focus all of my energy and attention in one direction :)</p>

<p>Chiming in to say these are both great schools and a nice, albeit tough, decision to have to make. There are a lote of similarities with the “feel” of both schools, IMO, wqith the exception of their being no greek life at Vassar. I admit my bias, being an alum of one of those schools (and also originally from Westchester), so I will sit on my hands and see what your son decides. Is money an issue either way?</p>

<p>I think if he got money from either school then he could use that as his excuse. He actually eliminated the two schools he did give him money. My husband and I were both raised by single mothers and one of the biggest factors for each of us was our FA packages. I went to Brandeis over Vassar because they were very generous. Vassar is not giving him anything. We have yet to hear from Tufts, But I doubt it will be any different than Vassar. </p>

<p>I do appreciate the comment about Tufts feeling like a LAC and that he will have access to professors. I loved going to school in the Boston area but I grew up in Brooklyn and went to a large HS so Boston was “quaint” to me. Even though we are so close to NYC, he is really a suburban kid.</p>

<p>I will keep you all posted!</p>

<p>Thanks again</p>

<p>I know this is probably a little late, but I’m just gonna post anyways.</p>

<p>"He likes that at Tufts he can take Rock and Roll classes in the music dept. "
–In my Vassar interview, I learnt that the best friend of my interviewer majored in the history of Rock and Roll. So, I would not say that Tufts has this over Vassar, which also has a great music scene.</p>

<p>“He likes the size of Vassar and while not being near a city is not a factor for him right now, it might be down the road.”
—Students in Vassar rarely, if ever, go to the city during their entire undergrad years. So, Vassar does not really have this over Tufts.</p>

<p>Both are very similar really, and there isn’t much to separate them. But Vassar has a much more beautiful campus. Its students are very outspoken and liberal, and there are great debate teams at Vassar. The housing thing mentioned above is also a strong point. And Vassar is one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the country.</p>

<p>Needles to say, I am biased towards Vassar. But this bias has probably been fostered by the slew of amazing info I found about this college, and the little things such as Vassar farm, the shuttle, etc.</p>

<p>PS I don’t think you can go wrong with either decision.</p>

<p>I know it is late to reply and I only registered so that I could reply to you. My son also was accepted at both Tufts and Vassar. He visited both schools and is currently a music major at Vassar. My husband is from New York and I am originally from Boston. When he first applied, Tufts was he favorite but after being accepted he fell in love with Vassar. He is ridiculously into music and visits New York frequently. The train is 1 hour and he goes in to see concerts and museums etc. The scene at Vassar is much more laid back, very artsy and intellectual. He did not like the feeling of academic competitiveness that he sensed at Tufts.There are no core requirements at Vassar so my son is taking some amazing classes. He is extremely liberal and came from a small high school so he was really searching for a school where he felt a sense of community and could connect to his professors. Being from Boston I was disappointed at first, but now believe he is where he belongs. Both Tufts and Vassar are wonderful schools but I believe they are quite different in their atmosphere, remember Vassar has no greek life and my son felt the influence of that at Tufts. Also there is no football at Vassar although there is a lot of other sports. Vassar is a quirky school with an emphasis on individualism. Visit both schools and get a vibe, you will hopefully know which one suits you best!</p>

<p>Eatyoualive and MandMom, thank you so much for your very thoughtful replies. No its not too late! My son is going to Vassar this Sunday and will spend the night and attend a class on Monday morning. Next Sunday we head over to Tufts for an over night and a “Jumbo Day” (he is still waiting to hear if he will be able to attend a class). As much as I LOVED going to school in Boston, I love the idea of him being a little closer to home and NYC. Looks like we wont have a decision for at least another week. OY!</p>

<p>I totally forgot that Tufts has a core requirement. Vassar will require only that he meet the requirements of his major and to demonstrate a language proficiency, but that said they are amazingly flexible and will let him create is own major or an interdisciplinary major if he chooses with appropriate documentation of the rationale. Vassar is all about supporting community yet individuality.</p>

<p>For a little fun, browse around the new Vassar alum hub .Be sure to watch several of the Lisa Kudrow videos, They are a riot [Vassar</a> Alumnae/i Hub - Vassar College](<a href=“http://alums.vassar.edu/]Vassar”>http://alums.vassar.edu/)</p>

<p>We had a great day at Vassar. They did a brilliant job of stressing what makes Vassar so unique. The campus looked gorgeous as always, the students were friendly, the professors at the academic fair were approachable and all the kids were made to feel special. My son spent the night and they placed him with a guy that shared his interests in music and they even played guitar together. He felt very comfortable. So now we will do the same thing at Tufts next week…to be continued</p>

<p>My son had a very nice time at Tufts. They did a great job at organizing the visit and showing us alot of bells and whistles. But when my son did a gut check, he felt that Vassar was the place for him. Despite the allure of being a political science major in Boston and how great the restaurants are in Davis Sq and how good the food was at Tufts; it was the people at Vassar that won him over. He thought that the people at Vassar were interesting and genuinely friendly and it felt right for him. Thank you all for the help. I promise to help the next generation of confused (and perhaps over involved) parents.</p>

<p>Congrats! Nice choice with 2 great schools. Enjoy!</p>

<p>Wish when we had been going through the decision process I had been aware of this site. I am glad that your son got the feeling he did about Vassar. It has really been everything my son had hoped it would be and I hope your son finds that it is for him as well!</p>

<p>Congrats to your son. I hope his experience at Vassar turns out to be amazing. My daughter loves the school.</p>

<p>I am happy that your son decided on Vassar. Tufts is a great school but both S1 and S2 felt more at home at Vassar. S1 just called and told me that he and his friends just participated in the end of junior year tradition of ‘ringing the bell’ (they climb the bell tower and ring the bell). He said it was great. That’s all the detail that I have right now. There are many traditions like that at Vassar.</p>

<p>Hey, Chemusic. Ask your son what happens if you don’t ring the bell. I didn’t (was stuck in the library writing end-of-the-term papers) and I wound up just fine. And that was nearly 40 years ago! Too bad no more Vassar devils, or white angels (and blue men and green ladies).</p>

<p>Oh my, pizzatown! We have to have been there at the same time!! Don’t forget the white angels and demitasse and tea at 4 in the Parlor and of course the kitchen jobs like “scrape”.</p>

<p>If we’re talking about the same kind of job, only kids who were not on financial aid were able to be “scrapers” in ACDC. They wore aprons to keep their clothes clean and would bring books to read during quiet times. Didn’t do the demitasse scene in Main. Were you there for mail delivered to the dorms? Vassar just isn’t Vassar without our beloved white angels to greet you as you walked into the dorms and made sure you got all your messages. They knew all the dorm gossip.</p>

<p>When I was there, the first few years demitasse was in our dorm livingroom, and scrape (yes we are talking about the same thing) was in the dorm dining rooms! ACDC opened during my soph year, IIRC.</p>

<p>Every freshman was expected to have a “job” in the dorm. It might have been setting up or cleaning up demitasse or tea, doing “scrape” or sitting in for the white angels (who yes knew all the gossip and the one in my dorm sold um… er… inappropriate undies from a catalog she kept in her desk) while they went to lunch and dinner. The jobs were assigned to freshman, alphabetically. After ACDC I think they stopped demitasse, but tea at 4 remained in Main in the rose parlor. Is this long gone?</p>