Vassar College | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Asia

Class: Junior
Major: English
Gender: F

High School:
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The big picture: Vassar is in a time of transition right now. Ten years ago Vassar was considered a very politically active, progressively minded school. I would say that is changing. The study body is getting much more culturally heterogeneous. More much moderate, like-minded, politically apathetic, and socially straight-edge kids are being admitted. The older Vassar generation tries continuously to "Keep Vassar Weird" but that truth is, Vassar is getting more and more "normal" every year. I still love this place. The education I've received and the Professors I've had the honor of coming in contact with have changed by life but, with every new year I feel more and more distance from the Vassar student body. Here is a quick example. Every year the sophomore class gives a "gift" to the student body. This gift is supposed to be community orientated. It is supposed to help improve life for Vassar students and, historically, has been very socially and environmentally minded. Gifts in the past include: starting up a shared bike program, donating the money to help fund Vassar's transition to solar and wind power, and creating an internship fund for those students who cannot afford to take an unpaid internship over the summer. This years sophomore class gift, however, is Vassar card swipers for every vending machine. Once the class gift was announced there was a great outcry from both students and professors. There was a long article in our school newspaper that admonished the gift as being environmentally unconscious (because of the waste that results from all those prepackaged foods), socially irresponsible (because of the big companies that would benefit from increased vending machine sales), unhealthy and irresponsible (after all, isn't this just another way for Vassar kids to spend their parents money?) And, on top of it all, how does increased access to Vending machines really help the community? In the end the sophomore class refused to change their gift and next year, yes, we will all be able to use our Vassar Cards to buy Doritos.

Academic Life

Academics at Vassar are great. I feel like my mind has really been exploded here. I've been exposed to whole new worlds through a plethora of really amazing classes. Professors are, on the whole, extremely accessible and personal. I feel more than supported in all my endeavors. Most Vassar professors really care about their classes and their students. The other wonderful thing about Vassar academics is that, on the whole, students are not competitive with one another at all. I've had some of the best discussions of my life in these classes and made some of the best of friends. Learning for its own sake is almost revered at Vassar and I appreciate that incredibly. Vassar is all about interdisciplinary subjects and they really strive to creatively expand their Academic repertoire. For example, as of next year, students will now be able to get a minor in Native American Studies.

Student Body

As I said before, the Vassar student body is changing very rapidly.Ten years ago Vassar was considered a very politically active, progressively minded school. I would say that is changing. The study body is getting much more culturally heterogeneous. More much moderate, like-minded, politically apathetic, and socially straight-edge kids are being admitted. The older Vassar generation tries continuously to "Keep Vassar Weird" but that truth is, Vassar is getting more and more "normal" every year. Vassar is defined by its cliques. People establish these small groups early on in their freshman year and then never stray too far. People are always nice and accepting (especially when it comes to the LGBT community) but it is difficult to make good friends with people once you move on past your freshman year. Vassar students are very conscious about trying to be P.C. but I often feel like that leads to a whole lot of boring and dishonest conversations. What I find most disturbing about Vassar, however, is this new "popular" group of hipsters that seems to be emerging. Vassar never had a "popular" group until very recently but it is starting to develop one and, frankly, I've never met a more self-obsessed group of kids.