<p>My son visited Vassar in the summer and really liked the feel of it. School was not in session then. How would you describe Vassar especially compared to other LACs. Thanks.</p>
<p>It would be helpful if you had some more specific questions we could answer. “What’s it like at Vassar,” if answered with any sort of completeness, will not only yield an incredibly complex and lengthy answer, but will vary greatly from student-to-student depending on their major and interests. </p>
<p>That said, if I had to answer with one word, I’d say “personal.” </p>
<p>Let us know if you have any specific questions!</p>
<p>I actually don’t know enough about Vassar to get specific yet, but I know such a general question is hard to answer. I would most welcome people’s individual experiences especially if they are complex and lengthly. To give you some info about my son, he is interested in majoring in Classics and math and would like to participate in the band and/or orchestra or string ensemble. One addition specific question that I believe he misunderstood is what are the distribution requirements at Vassar. He was under the impression it was just a writing class, but heard there were more at his interview.</p>
<p>What are their strengths?</p>
<p>Son’s Gf at Vassar, very strong in Arts and Soc Sciences, loves her classes, he loves the beautiful library. A bit of culture shock with the LGT people and their very flamboyant outfits,but he find it adds a certain “je ne sais quoi”. Food “not good”, WAY TOO MUCH smoking, both legal and illegal substances…</p>
<p>Hi. I am a current freshman at Vassar and based on the last post, which has quite a few factual errors written by a non student, i feel that i should post to give you a better sense of Vassar.</p>
<p>Let me see what was last written.
Yes, Vassar is very strong in arts and social sciences. Our most popular majors are english, bio, psych, drama (in no particular order although I think you could find out the actual list somewhere on the vassar site.) Vassar isn’t “known” per se for its natual science prowess, but my boyfriend and roommate take almost exclusively natural science/math classes and have been very very pleased with these departments at vassar. because departments like chem physics and math aren’t as big as more “sciency” schools, you can have a lot of student/professor interaction starting at day one. it is also really easy to work in the labs with professors on research. many students come into vassar wanting to be premed too.</p>
<p>classes are amazing. so is the library.</p>
<p>“A bit of culture shock with the LGT people and their very flamboyant outfits”. I find this statement outrageously off base and offensive. first off, it shouldnt be a culture shock that there are LGBT students at vassar, for as there are LGBT people our real world. yes, vassar has a higher % of LGBT students than some other schools, but it is really not as high as one may assume. and saying that the LGBT students have very flamboyant outfits is just stupid and ignorant. vassar students of all sexualities dress slightly quirky but the large majority of us are completely “normal”.</p>
<p>food is alright. its not as good as schools like WashU and Tufts but it is definitely alright for a college. everyone figures out what they like and how to get the best food on campus.</p>
<p>WAY TOO MUCH SMOKING…sure people at vassar smoke, so do people at every other college in America. 30% of vassar students smoke cigarettes, yes this is a huge number and as a nonsmoker i take issue with this. but if one is going to choose a school or form an opinion on one based on how many people smoke, you have some serious issues.</p>
<p>the original question was “what’s it really like at Vassar.” My answer is that vassar is a college that highly values community, learning, and creativity. students take academics very seriously and are all so so smart, but also have amazing extracurricular talents and know how to have a lot of fun. vassar is an amazing place and i think a lot of people would really flourish here</p>
<p>I don’t disagree with anything you say, and of course you know way more about Vassar than I do, but if you don’t like seeing boys in corsets with ballet shoes, and smelling cigarette smoke, it might not be the right school for you…My S likes visiting, and his gf LOVES it. As someone who can’t stand cigarette smoke, I would chose a school based at least partially on that issue.</p>
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<p>I hope you’re taking notice of what you’re saying. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yes, every school does have its smokers but to varying degrees and when that number becomes large enough for one to be able to claim that a sizable proportion of the population smokes that becomes a different issue altogether. It’s a little like deciding whether to attend a party school with a huge drinking culture. People drink everywhere but when those activities take place at a scale that starts disrupting the norms of social life at a school, you cannot argue that it’s the same as every other colleges. </p></li>
<li><p>You say you take issue as a nonsmoker with the number of people who smoke on campus and yet you say that it’s somehow inappropriate to be conscious of this fact when making a choice about where to attend college. Again, it’s a matter of how polarized you are against smoking. For example, you might see it only as the inconvenience of cigarette smoke and as a result feel only slightly annoyed. Smoking has killed a grandparent of mine and left another relative mute; if 30% of the friends I make at Vassar are smokers (fallacious, but it doesn’t change my point) can you imagine how it’s a much larger issue (both on the level of principles and practicality) that will impact my day-to-day life?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you for the replies to my questions, especially from cre90 who is a student there. I have to admit not I am concerned about 30% of the student population smoking cigarettes. That is probably more than at the average college by a lot, don’t you think? I’m not sure it’s a reason to not attend, I just had not realized it. I like the idea of personal faculty interaction. Cre90, is the math department pretty strong according to your friends? Do you know anything about the Classics department?</p>
<p>When D1 and I visited while school was in session last spring we didn’t notice any students smoking, so I am surprised to see the 30% smoking statistic. Is this a true statistic or just an estimate. I find it surprising!</p>
<p>let me just tell you…</p>
<p>the only time you will see guys wearing corsets and ballet shoes are if they are in a show/play/musical/dance recital. vassar has a plethora of student theater groups and one of the most respected college dance programs in the country. it would make sense that men at vassar may wear a corset or ballet shoes if they are in one of our many amazing shoes.</p>
<p>i have never seen a guy wearing ballet shoes or a corset out on the quad or the dining hall. and if they did it wouldn’t really matter.</p>
<p>in response</p>
<p>1) the smoking at vassar does not disrupt the norms of social life here. i am sorry if that is what you got from my post.</p>
<p>2) i completely agree that it matters how polarized you are about smoking as to whether this statistic matters to you. i am completely against smoking but the love I have for vassar and the people here outweighs this completely.</p>
<p>cre90-</p>
<p>Thanks for your response about the smoking. My D is a non-smoker, and we didn’t even see any smoking on campus when we visited, but the trees were wearing clothes when we visited, and she decided right then and there it was the place for her! Deferred ED1. We will see…</p>
<p>To continue with the smoking issue…as a non-smoker Vassar sophomore, the amount of cigarette smoking on campus is a little obnoxious, but not disruptive or particularly problematic. I would venture to say that Vassar has a much smaller portion of smokers than other similar liberal arts schools (my campus visits to Bard and Sarah Lawrence come to mind). Maybe coming from high schools with large numbers of smokers my perspective is viewed, but if you’re looking at alternative-style liberal arts colleges, Vassar’s numbers really aren’t very different from the average.</p>
<p>What does alternative-style liberal arts colleges mean? Thanks.</p>