HI I am a recent admit to both Emory and Vassar, and cant decide where to go. I think I want to go to medical school, and by the stats it seams that vassar does a better job about preparing its students for med school (76% acceptance rate opposed to 50% at Emory), but Emory I think is more of a science-oriented school so there may be better opportunities. For now money isn’t really a problem. Tell me what you guys think 
Emory and Vassar are strikingly different experiences- have you been to both? If not, if at all possible, get there. The feel is so very different, and we don’t know which will feel happier to you- which will matter more than any differences between the ‘opportunities’- you will do best in the place that suits you.
Not sure why you think that Emory is more science oriented or would have better science opportunities if Vassar’s acceptance rate is 50% higher than Emory’s, but the bigger piece is really fit.
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You can’t compare the acceptance rate for one year.
.http://www.career.emory.edu/prehealth/statistics.html
N.B. Vassar’s med school accpetance rates also includes dental, osteopathic and veterinary schools
http://institutionalresearch.vassar.edu/docs/VassarFactbook201314-Part-VI.pdf
thanks CrewDad that helped put things into perspective.
I will echo the sentiment that you need to be sure which environment you prefer. Vassar is very liberal. Emory is not as liberal and SOME have said it has a Southern Elite feel. Also, Emory has 7500 undergrads and then another 6500 grad students whereas Vassar has about 2400 students (all undergrad). Both excellent schools, both elite colleges. Emory was on my daughter’s short list too, but for her, ultimately she liked the smaller campus at Vassar, the fact that there are no graduate students there, so no TAs teaching classes, and the fact that Vassar does not have a Greek system which lends itself to the students in the houses (dorms) making stronger connections than on many college campuses. But, that’s just her perspective. Lots to love about Emory for sure. Congrats on being accepted to both. You have a decision to make! You should also consider the weather. Some people hate cold and snow…obviously more of that at Vassar.
Agree that they are different environments, with a different culture. If you don’t have a chance to visit, read the Yale Daily New’s “Insiders guide to colleges”. It gives a great sense from the student perspective to matriculate at each school.
i live in NY so i cant really visit emory but i will visit vassar, probs this weekend. i love the warmer weather, but i i think that a smaller campus and community feel among the students is important. since your daughter went to vassar stepay, do you know how it is to live in pougkeepsie? Are there a lot of things to do, and is it safe? Thanks for your imput
@butterpiglet - Sorry that I can’t give you an answer to your questions here, because my daughter will begin as a freshman in the fall…so, no experience yet. The reasons I gave were just the reasons she chose Vassar. I can tell you that Vassar has the reputation of having lots to do ON campus. They call it the “Vassar bubble”. They bring in speakers and entertainers and stuff for the students to do constantly. I think the college knows that there’s not a ton to do in Poughkeepsie.
butterpiglet, my D is a second year. You would not live in Poughkeepsie- Vassar is not even really ‘in’ Poughkeepsie, it is in a suburb of Poughkeepsie (who knew it had suburbs?!) called Arlington- you live on campus. It is beautiful and very safe, and as stepay says there is a lot to do- so much so that my D (who loves going to NYC) struggles to find time to go in! My D did not take a car to college- they have zipcars on campus that students can rent, so when they want to go to the movies, do a Target run, etc., it is easy to do.
There’s also a free bus that runs Saturday.
http://neighbors.vassar.edu/transportation/vsa_shuttle/
thanks that was very helpful!
butterpiglet, I don’t know anything much about Emory, but I’m a grad. of Vassar and my son’s there now and loves it. I think the experiences of those two schools would be SO different. Can you look for some YouTube videos of Emory? Living in Atlanta versus on the small Vassar campus in a little city in upstate New York are not even comparable. It’s a matter of taste. And then the larger population at Emory, etc.
I can just speak for Vassar: it’s a very friendly school, intimate, easy to make friends, no sororities that are going to siphon off people and make for “in” groups. Vassar is very inclusive socially. But maybe Emory is too? I don’t know!
You have nothing to be worried about re: getting into med school if you go to Vassar. It has, obviously, a great reputation. Don’t look at those percentages of admissions. You are going to get the grades you’re going to get, volunteer at the places you need to volunteer at, etc. You’re an individual, and obviously, if you’ve been accepted to both Vassar and Emory that means that you know how to do excellent academic work!
I hope you enjoy your visit to Vassar that’s coming up.
thanks DMelanogaster that is really helpful! I really do value having a collaborative atmosphere…
Am familiar with both Vassar and Emory. Both are great, but Emory wont have quite as intimate a feel. There are great opportunities right by campus (Emory hospital, the CDC, etc) and there are cute little shops just off campus (though the best pizzaplace, Everybody’s pizza, is sadly gone). The traffic is a bit of a challenge and there is frequently construction going on in the area, but its a beautiful campus, with its red-roofed buildings. In contrast, Vassar’s campus is gorgeous, with its striking library, some gothic style buildings and the gorgeous olmsted gardens. With only about 2400 undergrads, compared to Emory’s almost 8K, you will feel like a family, faculty may have you call them by their first name, and invite you to dinner. The former Juliet theater just off campus is now home to the college store. Both will offer great academics, but some programs at Emory will require an application (eg the business school) but then again there is no business school at Vassar.
Atlanta is definitely more fun than Poughkeepsie, but you really wont be spending that much time off campus at Vassar (unless you hop the train to NYC or go to Boston which are about 2-3 hrs away, respectively). So both have ttheir benefits. Weather is nicer in Atlanta, but it may start to get hot/humid in May. If you prefer snow, Vassar is your choice. I love both!
S1 and S2 also report that Vassar has an extremely collaborative atmosphere as DMelanogaster points out. ‘Collaborative’ was very important to them when choosing colleges and Vassar is just what they were looking for.
S1, during senior year, explored the Poughkeepsie area, attended local concerts, ate at the local restaurants and became a ‘regular’ at one pizza place. So Poughkeepsie has its pluses (yes it is not Atlanta but it is a small city) and New Paltz is just across the river with its eclectic shops/restaurants near SUNY New Paltz. The Hudson Valley has lots of great attractions and is a just beautiful. Oh and there’s the walking bridge across the Hudson with its great views…
I hope you can visit - let us know how you liked it!
i visited on sunday and it was beautiful- 60s and sunny and the campus was amazing with its ancient-european styled buildings. It is also building a new science wing, which should be nice. All of the dorms seem to be relatively spacious and the environment seems to be really friendly. However, i cant visit emory 
I am glad you had a good visit to Vassar. Take a look at the exact classes (and distribution requirements) you will be taking at each school. Vassar only has a few so there is a lot of freedom in choosing classes. I am not familiar with Emory’s requirements. Also you may want to read the posts on the College Confidential website under the Emory forum. If you read enough, you may get a ‘feel’ for the values and focus there, You can’t believe everything you read, of course, but I think it is helpful in assessing whether you are ‘comfortable’ with Emory and what the issues are. I would start a listing of pros and cons and write it down on a big piece of paper - for us the ‘visual’ helped a lot. Finally, just for fun, you could look at yourself in the mirror with a Vassar logo item(t shirt - or car sticker) on or held in front of you and then do the same with an Emory item. One will probably be more ‘you’ than the other . It was a fun way for S1 to make his final decision. You have two great choices - congratulations!
There are online video tours of college campuses. Have you looked at any of the Emory ones?
I’m actually having the same dilemma :((