We are down to the wire and DD can’t decide. Looking for last minute tidbits/experience…hoping something will “stand out” to her that will help her make her decision.
Major - likely international relations. Is in the Elliot School of International Affairs at GW. Is also interested in Mandarin and Environmental studies.
She has been to both schools’ admitted students days. She loves both and sees the pros and cons to both. She knows she’s comparing apples and oranges. She has grown up half in a rural midwestern suburb and half in a huge city in Asia. So she values both big city as well as peaceful green surroundings.
She sees the biggest pros at Vassar as smaller class sizes and the close student/prof relationships. Also most of the professors seem very good, from what we’ve been able to tell.
Also seems to be a very accepting place with a lot of collaboration (vs competition), which she really values.
She worries it may feel too small and she may eventually feel closed in. She knows she can escape to NYC for a day trip, but feels the reality is there won’t be much time for that. She’s not a partier and would be happy to just chill on campus, but worries the campus as well as the surrounding town could get old.
GW - liked the energy there. Loves the idea of the honors program, living together on the Vern, creating community within a bigger school. Likes the city options for exploring. Feels that internships will be more plentiful and easier to find. Worries there will be less opportunity for close relationship/work with profs. Fiske guide describes profs as “hit or miss,” which is a huge concern to her. Also worries it is possibly a more competitive environment?
Money comes out about the same so that’s not a deciding factor.
Any thoughts from anyone with experience at either one are really appreciated!
S21 is finishing up his freshman year.
He’s in honors program, lives on the Vern, and is in Elliott School of IA. He loves GW.
We are from FL. He wanted OUT. He loves DC. The food (so many restaurants), energy, metro, bookstores, museums, events, proximity to the National Mall and WH, etc.
Kids he has become friends with (which was easy thanks to being on Vern and in clubs, and in honors) are supportive not competitive. They are all busy (extremely so) and smart. Hard workers but not extreme or in unhealthy ways.
S meets regularly with some professors during their office hours (eg honors professor whom S adored last fall and is in a research group with this semester; as well as his Russian professor bc he is really wants to learn the language well. Conversant not just proficient.)
I honestly couldn’t be happier for how much S has appreciated being a student at GW this year. (He chose from Wake, Davidson, UF and FSU.) Wake has a great DC semester but that’s how he realized that he would prefer to be in DC year round. Hence GW decision.
I hope I didn’t give that impression. As I said above “she loves both and and sees the pros and cons to both.” However you bring up a good point… maybe that is playing a role somewhere in the back of her mind. I’ll explore that more.
I am partial to both schools & have some direct experience with both. As you say they are chalk and cheese, and I am a little surprised that one didn’t ‘click’ more dramatically than the other.
For IR, GW is (imo, obviously) the school to beat - if your student can and will hustle. It is possible to have internships during term, every term, but it doesn’t just happen. Making course scheduling work can happen- but you have to be prepared to get to know the people in the admin office who have their hands on the levers, to follow up persistently with both the admin office & the places where you have applications in, etc. B/c the coin of the realm in IR/IA is internships, the sooner you start the better. And, there are a lot of students who are also hustling, so it takes a bit of a thick hide when somebody else gets the one you were hoping for, or when you get 4 rejections in a day. But, if you are temperamentally able for it, it is the *ne plus ultra * for opportunities.
If, on the other hand, she is not ready for that kind of assertive hustling on her own behalf, Vassar might be a better transition for her: I have seen the kind of confidence and resilience that can develop there. The potential for study away may relieve some of the anxiety about the school feeling small after a time.
B/c your daughter has already lived internationally , and has clearly moved a bit sound her out about her views on study abroad. Ours moved internationally multiple times growing up, and had strong language skills from that, so had absolutely no interest in study abroad, but if your daughter has an area she would like to experience, or a language she would like to nail down, she might want to keep that path open.
A final note on the profs- there are hit and miss profs at every.single.school. She will find at least a handful of hits at GW- and that’s really all you need. The internships that she gets will range from awful to amazing, and she will find good mentors at some of them as well.
I probably don’t have much helpful info to add, especially comparing the two schools. My D is a recent Vassar grad who loved her experience there (except for all that was lost due to Covid). She is not a partier, but may have less of a need for an exciting town than your D. The campus has so many activities, concerts, plays, speakers that there is always something to do. It is a special place to be, but certainly quite different from the GW experience.
I have no experience with GW but graduated 30+ years ago from Vassar.
I remained in touch with several of my professors for decades after graduation. They were great mentors, accessible and valued friends who positively influenced me.
The atmosphere on campus was extremely collaborative and social groups were diverse and open. Given your daughters interests I would point to Jon Karl and Marc Thiessen who were both friends of mine and writers for the Vassar Spectator. Political opinions were often at odds with one another which led to healthy debate. Three decades later they represent part of a very loyal VC alumni network with DC roots.
The open curriculum will also allow a student with diverse interests such as your daughter explore a variety of subjects early in her academic career and dig in deep later as her interests become more definitive.
The campus is large but given the relatively small size of the student body the school can feel a bit small particularly during the winters. We used to go into NYC a few times a month as upperclassman during those winter months. Whether it was late night Chinese food on Mott street or a group trip to museums and a stay over at one of the numerous NYC kids it served to make the school feel less insular. During the fall and spring the campus is so pretty with so much going on I had no desire to stray.
Hope this helps.
It sounds like she has great options and I wish her well wherever she lands.
I grew up in Poughkeepsie for a few years in the 80’s so pretty familiar with Vassar and do know a few people at GW, but you have posts from people that actually went there (catcherinthetoast) or have kids there (123mom123, elena13), that you should have a pretty good idea of the two colleges from them.
This means GWU. While your daughter will get an excellent education at either, GWU is one of the top schools for international relationships in the USA, and generally put in the top ten in the field.
The advantages of being in a top rated program, in the Capitol cannot be beat.
The only reason to prefer Vassar is if your daughter is not sure that International Relationships is what she wants, and would rather explore other options as well. As a top-notch LAC, Vassar is a great place for people exploring their interests and options.
I’m not in upstate NY any longer, I would go with GW because of the IR major, also not a big fan of Poughkeepsie, but Vassar does a good job of isolating (if I recall) its campus from the town. A little different than GW
