<p>Aradne, when Wesleyan announced that they were going co-ed in 1967, one of the first things the Board of Trustees did was announce the construction of a massive arts complex. Not everyone thought it was a wise expenditure of money. After all, what practical use are the arts? But, they built it anyway and one of the arguments put forward was that it would make the rather spartan college more attractive to women. Putting aside for the moment the question whether women are indeed more drawn to the arts than other disciplines, I don’t think it’s immoral for a college or university to desire a diverse student body, and to expand in areas it deems will make itself more attractive to a group that presents special challenges in recruiting. It seems to me that is especially true where the group in question composes half the population of the planet.</p>
<p>Sports tend to bring in revenue, so that they can dole money out. U Texas football brought in over $71,000,000 in revenue - good athletes help that revenue stream</p>
<p>^^I don’t think Vassar makes money on its sports program. It probably doesn’t break even.</p>
<p>Araidne2014 - I want you to know that I do support your opinions. You sound like a great young woman (or young man) and I think your parents should be very proud of you, I know I would be if you were my daughter (or son). As I read these posts - I am impressed that you have presented compelling arguments and displayed passion and resolve in responding. This is a forum for opinions and discussion. It seems to digress and become personal, which is unfortunate. I want to state here that my son, who is not an athlete is at Vassar - because the sports program is not overly competitive. My daughter has played 2 Varsity sports since 9th grade. I have 2 very different children and understand both sides of this argument. Continue to speak out on what you believe in and focus on finding the school that is right for you…it’s out there.</p>
<p>^^Perhaps, we’re too close to the situation to fully appreciate the pros and cons of his or her argument. Here’s an idea: go on the one of the bigger forums, like “College Search and Selection” and post the following thread: “Resolved: Vassar Is A Jock School”, and see what sort of responses you get.</p>
<p>Ha! - here is what is old and tired: a petulant supplicant who believes coming on these boards to decry the unfairness of the admissions process is an effective use of her time. Let me say it again, because it apparently bears repeating: Vassar and other elite colleges ARE meritocracies. Except that they (and not the applicant pool) define merit. They value certain qualities and achievements, including (horrors!) athletic accomplishment, and select their class accordingly. Accept this reality and move on.</p>
<p>Ariadne2014: To answer your question directly, the prospective student is fine with what has been written. She will get to see the campus first hand as she’ll be visiting prior to the Christmas break.</p>
<p>Again best of luck to you in your college search.</p>
<p>Wow, so much misinformation, which I attribute to enormous and understandable college admissions anxiety!!</p>
<p>My son is at Vassar and loves it. He is not an athlete. Some might disagree with me, but sports at Vassar is, well, sort of a joke. The joke is that nobody attends games. It is ludicrous to think that sports at Vassar brings in money the way that they do at the U of Texas or whatever school was cited above.</p>
<p>As far as athletes getting in with lower grades etc than other applicants. I don’t believe it, because getting in is just the beginning. There are no easy courses or majors at Vassar! Whether you play a sport or not, you have to be able to do the work! </p>
<p>As far as recruiting athletes, that’s a joke too. I do know that Vassar wants some athletes. They might recruit because if they didn’t they wouldn’t get any athletes! it’s just not that kind of school. The fact is that even 42-ish years after going coed, Vassar has a bit of a “girly”/(translate to “gay”) reputation (which is absurd. But there it is.) So yes they are recruiting some athletes. They also want good (great) musicians, actors, math and science kids. My son submitted a music CD of original material as part of his package. Maybe this isn’t called “recruiting”, but he wanted them to see his special talent. Virtually every student I’ve met there has something interesting going on for themselves other than the ability to do homework. </p>
<p>To the young woman who is sick of athletes’ superiority (I’m sorry, not able to scroll up to see the handle), as I say, an athlete at Vassar might have the <em>opposite</em> problem. Playing to no audience!</p>
<p>The athletes my son knows are also musicians, future economists, actors, etc. Vassar is a liberal arts college. The idea of an actual “jock” there is absurd. </p>
<p>I would also say that my knowledge isn’t just from the 2 1/2 years my son has been attending: I graduated from Vassar, um, around 40 years ago (sigh) and I’ve been keeping up with the news since then, know a number of people who are directly involved with the school, etc.</p>
<p>It really IS a great place where you can do you own thing with a great deal of tolerance from others. </p>
<p>HANG IN THERE applicants! I know this is a very difficult time for you.</p>
<p>I drove our D & a team mate up to campus this morning (before it began snowing) for a sport camp day on campus. After dropping the girls I took the opportunity to walk around the campuses. I aKed across the lake from the field house to the campus. interested thT a golf course weaves its way through one side of the campus. Lots of building construction occurring which means lots of money raised for capital projects - which is a good thing.</p>
<p>The campus was lovely ( though a bit chilly this morning). The girls were picked up by the other girls dad this evening so D isn’t home yet for me to ask her impression of the school. </p>
<p>I personally saw the chem building & the theater arts/ film building - very nice.</p>
<p>I think athletes clearly have the advantage in the admissions game. The schools have to field the teams which means hundreds of students per year have to be recruited. Schools like Vassar often have upwards of 20-30 varsity teams to field and only one or two orchestras. The numbers just don’t add up. Athletes have the advantage. Beyond that, parents know that, and its almost formulaic how parents in well to do communities get their kids involved in a sport, any sport, invest time, money, and energy, with the hope that their child will excel and get that extra edge in college admissions. I know this may seem cynical, and I am not bashing athletics or athletes. They are wonderful endeavors. I know, I ran track and field and cross country in college and still run to this day. But so are artistic endeavors such as music, theatre, writing, etc. And the truth is they are not given the same weight in admissions, simply because of the number of students needed and the alumni interest in having winning teams. Last year of the 18 students admitted to Ivy League Institutions from my daughter’s school, 85% were recruited athletes.</p>
<p>i can tell you from being a freshman at vassar i’ve met one recruited athlete. everyone else just tries out and joins the teams. almost everyone gets a spot. our rugby team in particular is well known for turning random freshman into great players.</p>
<p>plus, i think most athletes who are able to be recruited aren’t looking to go to a school like vassar for sports.</p>
<p>I think student athletes that are not at the level of a D1 recruit, but still want to play, definitely contact the coaches at schools like Vassar and use their athletic ability to try to get into the best school that they can. I have no affiliation to Vassar, but I do at other similar LACs, as an alumni and parent, and I can say with assurance that this happens all the time. In fact it is expected.</p>
<p>Recruitment certainly happens at the D3 level, but Vassar is not known for sports. There are other D3 LACs (Williams, for example) that recruit a ton of athletes. Trust me, it’s not a big thing here.</p>
<p>My son is a D1 level athlete who likes Vassar, because sports aren’t the be-all-and-end all of life there and he wants time to explore ALL of his many interests–while still enjoying keeping fit and competing. The coach was clear. Vassar athletes have to get the grades and the scores to get into Vassar.</p>
<p>@atidrep. Yes, that is a given, but it does not address the thousands of applicants that also have the grades and scores but not the athletic ability that are denied admission. All I am saying is that being an athlete improves your chances.</p>
<p>From Post #6:
</p>
<p>Believe it or not, that was the last time Ariadne asked a legitimate question. By Post#8, she had already collapsed two different issues into one and the challenge has been in trying to answer one without confusing it with the other. Issue #1 is whether there are jocks at Vassar? The answer is clearly yes, but only someone with a rabid dislike of athletes, athletics, and getting up on a Saturday morning to support your friends, would call Vassar a jock school in any sense of the word:
</p>
<p>The second issue is whether jocks enjoy an advantage in the admission process? Well, it seems to me there is certainly room here for a few more shades of gray. There may in fact be some advantage, depending on the sport. It has always been my understanding that track and field “recruits” along with swimming and diving have among the highest GPAs and therefore may have only one or two “tips” available to a coach for the whole team in a typical DIII entering class. They’re not in the same category as football, wrestling, ice hockey or some other sport where there are many more coaches"tips" available.</p>
<p>My son is a fencer who may apply to Vassar in part because of their DIV III fencing program. He is not a
“jock”; he’s a “nerd” or a “geek” who happens to be a mighty fine athlete. </p>
<p>Dmelanogaster – Vassar is doing something right. Forbes provides an outputs-based ranking system (my fave) and ranked Vassar #26. It would be intersting get everyone’s feedback on why Vassar ranked so high. Navy is #27. Now there’s some juxtapostion for ya. </p>