Student Profile
Liz
- Class: Freshman
- Major: Psychology
- Gender: F
- High School: West Morris Mendham High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
The best thing about Vassar is definitely the feeling of community. The fact that the professors live with us and their kids park their tricycles next to student's bikes makes for a very unique college experience. It's a good size for making sure you feel like you know people but very difficult to remain anonymous. The town-college relationship sucks, not because Poughkeepsie is so awful but because Vassar tries very hard to keep the students on campus all the time, which gets very smothering. The reaction I get when I tell people I go to Vassar is either "where?", "ooh, a smarty", or "good luck finding a husband", which is kind of representative of the experience here, strangely enough.
Academic Life
Professors 100% know your name. They may not be the best professors in the world but they will definitely take the time to get to know you. My favorite teacher of my life is Abigail Baird of the psych department... check her out. Class participation is a big deal here, there aren't very many big lecture classes. Intellectual conversations outside the classrooms are quite common. I'd say students are competitive but only because everyone wants to do well, but most people don't discuss grades. I love that Vassar has such a teeny required course load, sitting in a class you don't enjoy is a useless practice.
Student Body
The student body is diverse, but at the same time it's not... I don't feel like people bring their cultures and perspectives to the table but rather they become Vassar-ized. I feel no hate or prejudice but I could be blind, I don't think I'm really the best judge. Straight-edge conservative people would probably feel out of place but it would be great to get some different points of view on this campus. Different types of students interact with the exception of ESL students... people stick with those who speak their first language generally. Students wear anything from pajamas to dresses to class... there is a weird fashion scene here. Jeans generally look like they've been painted on.
The Best Things
The feeling of community
The Worst Things
People can be surprisingly one-dimensional... sometimes you find caricatures
