Has anyone ever had to choose between Vassar and Macalester? Any helpful advice?
These are my D’s top two choices! Vassar gets a slight edge because Mac has a lot of distribution requirements and the Vassar campus is hard to beat in the beauty department. But both fantastic schools.
My D really liked both. Vassar campus is stunning but Poughkeepsie is a bit run down and NYC is two hours away. Mac campus is less impressive and smaller (while still very nice) but IMO the surrounding area was nicer than Vassar with both the Twin Cities and nature along the Mississippi within walking/biking/easy public transport distance. Vassar is a bit more competitive academically but Mac is still quite strong. Both, to me, had a socially engaged, slightly nerdy vibe. I don’t think that either has Greek life. Winters will be longer and colder in Minnesota.
If you get into both, compare costs and visit on campus when classes are in session, if you haven’t already done so.
I have visited both and they are both on my list. They have a lot in common, but I think of them as distinctly different. Vassar is a bit of a bubble and is probably more campus-oriented, whereas Macalester is very connected to the Twin Cities and just has a very globally-minded vibe. Vassar definitely wins in the campus beauty/size department, and is also a little artsier if that matters to you. Both student bodies are quite intellectual, but I think there are subtle differences: Macalester students seem more practical in the sense that they are interested in how knowledge can be applied to changing/saving the world, whereas Vassar students seem a little more into knowledge for knowledge’s sake.
2 years ago, my sister was accepted to both Vassar and Macalester. She was accepted off of Vassar’s waitlist and by that time she had chosen Mac as her possible school. It was very stressful for her to chose as she only had a few weeks left before the May deadline, but in the end she chose Macalester. She chose Mac because at that time Vassar’s physics program wasn’t as strong as Mac’s and she liked being in a large city like St. Paul. She loves Mac and is very happy with her choice, cureently studying in Scotland and plans to double major in Physics and Math and a minor in Astronomy. She is more focused on science but she also would have fit Vassar really well, I think it depends on what area you want to study and what kind of campus you want because that’s where the two schools differ. Mac is a science campus with a global urban feel while Vassar is more of a “bubble” with a strong artsy hipster vibe (although Vassar is strong in the life sciences).
Good luck to you! I’m currently applying to Vassar ED1 and Mac RD, I love both schools and my sister did as well but unlike her I like Vassar more.