why the bad rep... is it true

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vassar College
1

<p>from studentsreview.com</p>

<p>"The best way to sum it up was that it was a complete 180 to the real world. The majority of people are gay or BUGS(bisexual until graduated), everyone seems to be a hippie, punk rocker, or gothic etc etc. This strange environment definitely took its toll on me. It was isolating and depressing. Additionally, I found that the students have a very NY city type of attitude, very cold, and self-absorbed. "</p>

<p>"In a place where its "hot" to wear striped tube socks and your hair in pigtails, your fashion sense and your perception of the world can become confused. Additionally, if you arn't an underweight prepubescent male, finding love on campus is non-existent."</p>

<p>"ACADEMICS: Rather disappointing. If you've taken any AP classes in high school, you will be more than well prepared. Reading is heavy, but that's true at any college, particularly liberal arts colleges; if you're looking for breath taking intellectual stimulation, you probably won't find it"</p>

<p>"SOCIAL SCENE (GET READY): Disappointing beyond description, really. People are cliquey, not particularly friendly. Mostly they hang out with people in their dorms, even just on their floor. Though no Greek life is a relief to the less-than-alcoholics, it sucks that parties are predictable, boring, etc. "</p>

<p>" Too much estrogen can be allot of fun, (and it was), but it is also and always very poisoning. My Vassar education offered me absolutely no real world relevance to a world that is populated by human beings of both genders. In retrospect, Vassar to me was nothing more than an exceedingly expensive exposure to what has since become known as Political Correctness. And from what I hear nothing has changed."</p>

<p>this makes me sad.</p>

2

<p>This makes me sad too. I won't arrive on campus for another 2 weeks or so, so I can't have a definite opinion yet. My hunch, though, is that this person is definitely the exception to the rule.
I think that Vassar is certainly not for everybody. Obviously it's small. There's no greek life or football team. It's very liberal. This does not make for a typical college experience. If you choose Vassar for it's prestige or whatever and not because it fits you, you will be disappointed. This girl sounds like she didn't know what she was getting into.
As for the "no real world relevance to a world that is populated by human beings of both genders" part, I find this a bit extreme. Aside from the fact that there are many excellent all-female institutions that have produced fine alumni, Vassar has a 60:40 ratio. That is not all girls. I've visited campus several times and I did not notice an imbalance at all.</p>

3

<p>The description from Student Review is just ridiculous. It is one sad person's sad experience. I bet that student would not have been happy anywhere. Vassar rocks, always has, always will.</p>

4

<p>this was taken from like 4 different reviews. :X</p>

5

<p>Doesn't matter if it came from 100 reviews. There are over 2400 students at Vassar and I know a few of them well. It is a great place and the opinion in the review you posted is not accurate in my experience AT ALL. People will think what they want to think but I loved Vassar while I was there, immediately after and a lifetime after. I met my best friends at Vassar, made my best contacts and got the best education. I still communicate with two of my professors and it has been years. The current students I know are all unique individuals with interests in many areas and they are all finding Vassar to be a stimulating and wonderful experience. The new President is awesome and even greater things are to come.</p>

6

<p>I think a successful student is one who can find interest and opportunities even in a somehow strange environment. I do believe everybody can find his/her role in Vassar and that I can, too. Vassar rocks for me!</p>

7

<p>Personally, I love Vassar and disagree with all of that.
That being said, you have to remember that the people posting on those sites have to have strong enough feelings about the school to spend the hour making an account and writing up a review.
And you have to be careful of overgeneralizations. Everyone is a hippie BUG? Does that even make sense? Where in this world is everyone the same thing, except maybe a cult?
And the cliqueyness is absolutely not true. Yes, people do hang out and form close bonds with people in their dorm and on their floor, but that is different from being a clique and being exclusive. If you want to make sweeping generalizations, when I visited Princeton and went to their dining hall, I could feel the cliques and I felt excluded from every group in the room. At Vassar, we've had people who don't even know us sit down at ACDC and have a great meal together. </p>

<p>I don't want to go on and on and be on the defensive, but you do have to take everything you read on rating sites with a grain of salt.</p>

8

<p>Grain of salt, yes, but impressions can be hard to overcome. I had the same impression of Vassar until I looked a little further. Still, the impression lingers...</p>

9

<p>Oh man, thank you for my hilarious reading assignment of the day!</p>

<p>Listen, as it clearly evident, Vassar ain't for everyone. If the reason you are going to college is to get married to a stock broker . . . there are probably better options for you. If you don't like gay folk or think silly things like people who don't wear J.Crew are crazy non-conforming ultra-liberals, then Vassar is probably not your cup of tea. </p>

<p>I suppose that someone who grew up close-minded and sheltered and is happy to remain that way would also have difficulty. But, crazy me, I always thought college was about maturing and pushing yourself to experience new ways of thinking and being in the world. </p>

<p>If you are a straight girl and you are a) not a B**** and b) even the slightest bit interesting, you'll be just fine. If you are a straight boy, you've got the standard good odds of any liberal arts school. And as observed, what I guess gives Vassar the the "gay" label is that it has successfully chosen a student body where all the students (95% of whom ARE STRAIGHT) don't feel the need to stigmatize thier classmates who aren't.</p>

10

<p>And to tag on to what JVssrGrl05 said... I have seen no "gothic" people on campus, thus far. A handful of "hippies" and a few "punk rockers." But in all seriousness, most kids wear what I'd consider "normal" stuff: polos, t-shirts, sweatpants, jeans, skirts, tank tops, etc.</p>

<p>There are of course, kids who enjoy defying the styles of the day and dressing "their own way" (so if you're into that, there's a niche for you), but frankly, the Vassar population looks pretty, well, normal as a whole.</p>