<p>What are the main differences? And don't just say one is coed and the other is all girls...</p>
<p>Vassar College is more of an artsy school. It has a fantastic theater department and alums such as Meryl Streep and Justin Long attended there. But don’t get me wrong, I heard some nice things about their science program, but it’s not famous for that. Vassar’s in Poughkeepsie, so it’s sort of isolated and boring. But then, students can go to NYC whenever they want. The students at Vassar are not nearly as diverse as Wellesley. There are small numbers of minorities. </p>
<p>Wellesley College is a little more well rounded. It has fantastic political science, economics, biology, and psychology programs. Alums such as Hilary Clinton and Nora Ephron graduated from there. It doesn’t have an engineering school, but it’s really close to both MIT and Olin, so students can take classes from other schools. Wellesley and MIT has a cross registration program, which is really nice because it gives students the opportunity to study in a different environment. Wellesley, MA is not so exciting, but it’s really close to Boston. And in my opinion (this is a little biased), Wellesley’s campus is so much prettier than Vassar’s :p</p>
<p>Both of them are fantastic schools (in fact, Vassar was actually my second choice), it just depends on which you prefer. I hope this is hopeful. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>I competed at Vassar last year for an athletic event, they were our big competition (but we got them ;)). I was able to talk to some girls from Vassar, and they seemed content with their school. One comment I clearly remember is “1/5th of the guys here are gay”, which makes it different than other schools. From this I would assume that the school is pretty open minded.</p>
<p>I thought Vassar had a pretty campus, but of course my heart shall always belong to Wellesley’s gorgeous landscapes.</p>
<p>Last time this came topic up, I decided to link to a search that had my name and Vassar, but it didn’t work. I spent a summer at Vassar, so it’s one of the few Wellesley vs. XX questions I am actually qualified to comment on. I wrote several essays on this and have linked to the relevant stuff below.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/682648-wellesley-vassar.html?highlight=Vassar[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/682648-wellesley-vassar.html?highlight=Vassar</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vassar-college/341864-sent-deposit-vassar-but-want-go-another-college.html?highlight=Vassar[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vassar-college/341864-sent-deposit-vassar-but-want-go-another-college.html?highlight=Vassar</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vassar-college/259107-science-department.html?highlight=Vassar[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vassar-college/259107-science-department.html?highlight=Vassar</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/576605-wellesleys-campus-life.html?highlight=Vassar[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/576605-wellesleys-campus-life.html?highlight=Vassar</a></p>
<p>My daughter chose Vassar over Wellesley, after Vassar took her off the waiting list. For her, a no-brainer. ***** describes Wellesley as a “very competitive college where students attack mountainous workloads with fierce intensity”, while Vassar is on the top-ten list of colleges with the happiest students. Wellesley is a wonderful place, but Vassar, for my D, a better fit.</p>
<p>@braveone, Vassar is a great college and congratulations to your D for finding the right fit for her. But that does not make Wellesley any less wonderful.</p>
<p>In Sept 2011, Newsweek rated Wellesley the #17 happiest school and Vassar was not on the list. [College</a> Rankings 2011: Happiest Schools - Newsweek and The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/happiest.all.html]College”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/happiest.all.html) In 2012, neither school was on the happiest list. </p>
<p>My point is we should not encourage future applicants to give much credence to “happy” rankings. There are lots of happy students at both schools.</p>
<p>The best way to determine fit is to visit. In my D’s process, initially she did not even want to apply to Wellesley. (She had little expectation of finding her best fit at a women’s college, but her mom and I encouraged her to apply.) After acceptances and visiting, D concluded she would be happier at Wellesley–with its intellectual, quirky, and cooperative approach–than at several of the “happier” schools to which she was admitted.</p>
<p>That said, best wishes to your D at Vassar!</p>
<p>p.s. Sorry for adding to this necrothread.</p>
<p>@stbentia–well said! And “necrothread”, indeed–over three years dead and gone! (I was unfamiliar with that term until today, but it is perfect–so thank you for enlightening me :-))</p>
<p>Yes, to all future applicants, my D was recruited by the coach at W and initally had told her, “no thanks” but after her official visit, she decided Boston was a town she loved and Wellesley was an amazing school. After her first year, she is happy as a clam.</p>
<p>I am wondering about the recruiting process at Wellesley. I am a Wellesley alum and my daughter is a basketball player (strong high school program with 3 D1 seniors this year and she also plays AAU ball on a team that gets scouted on the West Coast but I’ve never seen a Wellesley scout at any of their viewing tourneys.) Could you give me more insight about how Wellesley evaluates potential players? My daughter is at a top magnet school in California and has indicated she’d like to play at Wellesley. She has high honors grades (but not the 4.5 average Wellesley says it takes from our top magnet school in California.) Any thoughts? Is her legacy status helpful?</p>
<p>Annebeau, I would have her contact the coach directly and be prepared to send her a highlights video. My daughter was seen by the W coach at national tournaments so I guess the basketball coach probably also recruits at some too - she can discuss with the coach (email) or fill this form out and they can email her back. Coach of my D’s sport attended a national tourney in Palm Springs so you never know!!!</p>
<p>[Wellesley</a> : Wellesley College Basketball Recruiting Form](<a href=“http://www.wellesleyblue.com/sports/wbkb/bbrecruit.html]Wellesley”>Wellesley Basketball Recruiting Form - Wellesley)</p>
<p>My D was well in range for admissions and didn’t need the coach to “support” her with admissions, but I do know the coaches can and often do. D was able to find out well before applying that she would be admitted if she applied. But maybe that is not usual - D had actually sent the coach a “no thanks” email after meeting with her and visiting the campus over the summer - Coach urged her to please come for an official visit in the fall and also told her she ran her stats by adcoms and she would be admitted.</p>
<p>I think she will be fine - get the lines of communication going and good luck!!!</p>
<p>I know nothing about legacy at W.</p>
<p>Excellent advice. Thank you for starting her on the right track. So glad your daughter loves Wellesley. My closest friends are from my Wellesley years and I count those years as golden!</p>
<p>“My D was well in range for admissions and didn’t need the coach to “support” her with admissions, but I do know the coaches can and often do.”</p>
<p>Coach ‘supported’ all of us in admissions. I bet I needed it. I hear she actually ranked us by how much she wanted each of us. It’s crazy how all 5+ made it, though.</p>
<p>Chesley7: how did your coach support your admission? Did he/she write a formal recommendation letter or just an email or call to the admissions?
Thanks very much.</p>