<p>My son is down to the last day and can't decide between Vassar and Wesleyan. He has been reserved in his past, has a great sense of humor, is artistic, into science and plays basketball. He likes environments where there is a lot to do other than just hanging out, and where people are "cheerful and friendly." Thanks</p>
<p>They are both great. Flip a coin. Then, if he likes the outcome, go there, and if he doesn’t go the other place.</p>
<p>Seriously, they are both good. Wesleyan’s baseball team is pretty good and competes in NESCAC; I think it is all-recruited, so he may not have much chance of playing there if he would be a walk-on. I think Vassar is somewhat less competitive, and maybe he could walk on there.</p>
<p>Vassar is a tad smaller, and has lots more women than men. (The two colleges enroll about the same number of women, but Vassar has 100 fewer men per class.) Which could be a plus or a minus, depending.</p>
<p>Both colleges are full of stuff going on at the college, and both have a somewhat challenged immediate surrounding community, with wonderful things not so far away if you can get there. Wesleyan students get to Hartford, Providence, New Haven, and with a little more trouble New York and Boston. Vassar is pretty much New York-oriented, but the Hudson Valley between Poughkeepsie and NYC has some real marvels. </p>
<p>I can’t tell the difference between the kids who go to one or the other, with the exception that Wesleyan does attract a few extra hard-core politically correct students, who give the college a unique personality and provide entertainment and a source of ironic pride for everyone else.</p>
<p>Do you know if there is less of a sense of community at either one? Or if Vassar senior students get bored with the social life because it might be insular?</p>
<p>Our D got into both as well. Her feeling was that Vassar had a “prettier” campus. Wesleyan’s campus didn’t give her that “idyllic feeling.” Otherwise, both schools were very similiar to her.</p>
<p>We have friend alums from both schools. Our Vassar friend said it was great being a heterosexual guy there since the women outnumber the men. He played soccer and said the school “Changed his life.”</p>
<p>Our Wesleyan alum friends also love their alma mater. They both raved about the film program there. Wes has many famous alums, Hollywood types like Josh Whedon.</p>
<p>My son chose between both too and picked Vassar a few years ago. Most juniors go abroad; the school does start getting a bit insular. I don’t know if Wes would be any different. Academics at Vassar = amazing.</p>
<p>Has he visited? Is he comfortable at both? Vassar might be a bit more difficult a fit for some guys than for others. If he has visited & is comfortable with the environments at both, I suppose he could flip a coin. 
If he has not visited, though, and does not have a strong preference, Wesleyan might be a better choice if only because it is more balanced numbers-wise between male & female.</p>
<p>Compared to each other, I’d say that Wes is more politically active, more liberal (socially as well as politically; in particular, I’ve heard over and over again that it has a fairly large drug culture), and has stronger programs in film and the sciences. Vassar is more artsy/theatre-oriented, and while both are in relatively boring locations it’s easier to get to a big city from Vassar. From my own personal experience, Vassar kids seem less extreme and more well-rounded.</p>
<p>the sense of community is comparable; the biggest difference is that social life is very dorm-oriented at Vassar whereas Wesleyan social life very quickly shifts to small, bungalow-sized, houses after sophomore year, (sooner, depending on how many upper-classmen you know.) Vassar tends to keep Poughkeepsie at arms-length while Wesleyan tends to blend into Middletown more.</p>
<p>So what did he choose?</p>