Vassar College

Vassar College Introduction

Like many a good college story, this one begins with beer.

In 1861 a philanthropist brewer created a college for women in the Hudson Valley, bestowing upon it both his name and his broad-minded, forward-thinking spirit. The founder? Matthew Vassar.

On welcoming its first students on September 26, 1865, Vassar College stood out immediately as an institution where a woman could receive an education as diverse and full as that of any man. For the first time, women could take courses in art history, astronomy, chemistry, geology, mathematics, music, and physical education with some of the most prominent scholars of the era, such as astronomer Maria Mitchell and music historian Frederick Louis Ritter. Significantly, it chose rose and gray as its school colors, an eloquent visual representation of the dawning of women’s education through the gray of their previous intellectual life. Throughout the years, first as a women’s college and since 1969 a coed institution, Vassar has upheld and sustained this tradition of academic rigor, fierce independence, and zeal for experimentation.

Yet Vassar has never feared change, often embracing it in radical ways. In 1966, brother university Yale invited Vassar to merge campuses. After much debate among students and administration, Vassar refused the offer. Instead, it made the revolutionary decision to accept men in 1969, thus becoming, rather appropriately, the first of the Seven Sisters colleges to move to coeducation. Yet such is the power of the “Vassar girl” image that many people even now believe the school is all women. It couldn’t be farther from the truth; men comprise approximately forty percent of the varied student body. Having established the standard for higher education for women, Vassar now serves as the paradigm for true coeducation.

The Campus and Traditions

Located seventy miles north of (and an easy train ride from) New York City in the middle of the Hudson Valley, Vassar retains an intriguing mix of custom and advance. Its famously breathtaking 1,000-acre campus, set in suburban Poughkeepsie, juxtaposes nineteenth-century architecture and gorgeous New England foliage with modern edifices and cutting-edge technology. Students still enjoy some of the rituals of their predecessors – afternoon tea in the Main Parlor, the decadent chocolate dessert known as the Vassar Devil – while participating in newer additions – underclassmen serenading the seniors, the pre-exam week Primal Scream. They still major in English, political science, biology, and psychology, and participate in student government, intramural sports, and the newspaper, but vary their schedules with courses in American studies, Gaelic, music performance, and urban studies, and meetings with their ethnic students’ clubs, film societies, and improv groups. And that’s not counting their fieldwork, independent projects, and study abroad. Or their work-study programs, meals with friends at the dining center, a famous Nilda’s Cookie (don’t stick them in the toaster!) with a professor, a visit to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, a walk around Sunset Lake, or nights at campus pub Matthew’s Mug. A challenge, perhaps, but the motivated students of Vassar embrace it wholeheartedly, maintaining a well-rounded life of high academic performance and lively extracurricular activities.

Study Body

Highly selective, this liberal arts college attracts a refreshingly diverse student body, where individualism and tolerance are bywords. The small population allows everyone to, if not know, at least recognize everyone else, from “the guy on the unicycle” to “the girl who bought my cube fridge last spring.” With its ratio of nine students for every one professor, class sizes reflect this, allowing for friendly working relationships that often continue beyond the course and even graduation. It also permits the exploration of a variety of academic interests via student-designed majors, independent study, and research partnerships.

From 1865 until the present day, Vassar has remained at the forefront of liberal arts institutions with its boldness, innovation, and strength, positioning itself as a leading force in higher education.

Who knew that beer could do a college good?

What you can take away from Vassar is a taste for excellence that needn’t diminish. — Meryl Streep, ’71, commencement speech to the Class of 1983

When I think of my time in college, it reminds me of a photo montage where tiny images take shape into a larger one -thousands of memories forming a unique Vassar experience. Of course, some stand out more than others: certain classes and professors, thesis, friends. Probably most people say the same of their college years. Maybe they’ve had similar experiences – sneaking into the faculty lounge at midnight and cleaning out the fridge, films at professors’ homes, potato peeling on our front stoop, tossing texts out a window postexam – but mine have that goofy nostalgia that hits all Vassar alums. Having expected to miss the old alma mater in a jaded, ironic sort of way, we find ourselves looking back with this golden, idyllic Brideshead Revisited – This Side of Paradise feeling.

Academically and culturally, Vassar’s fearlessness, integrity, and strength contribute to its deserved standing as one of the finest colleges in the world. Yet its ability to forge such loyalty and respect in all its students can’t be dismissed out of hand. As early as the application process, Vassar sees us not only as students, but also as individuals; in return, we regard it not only as a school, but also as a home.

Vassar College Academics

I don’t think you fully realize the extent of what Scotty has done at Vassar…. [S]he has raised herself from a poor scholar to a very passable one…. We have every reason to cheer for our baby. — F. Scott Fitzgerald to Zelda Fitzgerald, on their daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald ’42

Vassar students love their work. “The history department,” declared a student proudly, “is filled with geniuses.” Though he was describing his concentration, it’s a sentiment echoed across the student body about their respective disciplines. Nominal requirements, abundant course offerings, engaging faculty, small class sizes, cutting-edge resources, and intellectual freedom blend to create the ideal academic setting for eager students.

Requirements

In keeping with its belief in independence and flexibility, Vassar minimizes academic requirements: thirty-four credits to graduate, as well as fulfillment of the freshman course (a writing-intensive introduction to a particular discipline), foreign language, and quantitative skill requirements. Each major also comes with its own structure, usually a range of ten to seventeen courses. Students must declare a major by the end of sophomore year, taking one of four paths: concentration in a department such as history or French, an interdepartmental program such as biochemistry or Victorian studies, a multidisciplinary program such as urban studies or cognitive science, or an individually developed course of study in the independent program. The most popular majors are English, psychology, and political science. In addition, students can opt to take a correlate sequence (similar to a minor) of six courses in a variety of areas. Credits can also be earned by other academic means. Most departments offer fieldwork internships, which enable students to apply the theories of their discipline in a practical setting. Students have accepted internships locally or in Albany or New York City during the school year or across the United States during the summer. It’s possible to study elsewhere for a semester or a year, either through Vassar’s exchange or Junior Year Abroad programs. Students have gone to colleges such as Amherst, Dartmouth, Howard, Morehouse, Smith, Wellesley, and Wesleyan or to countries in nearly every continent.

Vassar College Admissions

So you’ve read all the glossy brochures, checked out the Web site, had Coke and hors d’oeuvres at an informational function, talked with a representative, and maybe even visited the school. And you’ve decided that, yes, Vassar is for you. Now for the important part – applying.

Although Vassar students form a diverse community, they all share a background of high academic achievement. For the class of 2010, the admissions committee accepted a record low of 30 percent of the 6,075 applications submitted, the third-largest pool in college history. Of those accepted, 670 students (36.6 percent) enrolled.

The class of 2010 had a particularly strong academic profile. Nearly ninety percent of them came from the top twenty percent of their graduating class, while forty-four percent were in the top five percent. Their average SAT score was 1380 and their average grade point average was an unweighted A­.

Naturally, Vassar does not require every candidate to present the same credentials, but they do expect applicants to have taken the most rigorous course load available to them. A qualified student ideally will have elected to take four years of English, mathematics, laboratory science, history or social science, and foreign language. If available, most of those courses will be at the accelerated, honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate level.

The Application

To apply for fall admission to the freshman class, candidates may apply via Vassar’s own on-line application, through the Common Application, or by traditional paper means. Students must take either the SAT, as well as two SAT subject tests, or the ACT. All tests should be taken no later than December of senior year. In addition to the $60 fee and usual information forms, the application requires a personal essay and an analytical writing sample of two to five pages. Optional is “Your Space,” a section so legendary that it once boasted its own T-shirt at the campus bookstore. As promised, the blank space presents an opportunity for students to express themselves outside of an academic context, as actual personalities rather than just grades and numbers.

For students who know that Vassar is their first choice, there are two Early Decision deadlines: November 15, with notification in mid-December, and January 1, with notification by February 1. The application for regular admission is due by January 1, with notification about April 1st.

Vassar’s Office of Admission Web site, located at http://admissions.vassar.edu/, includes further information about the school, admission policies, campus tours, inquiry forms, and more.

Transfer Students

As Vassar accepts only a fairly small number of transfer students each year, the transfer application process is very competitive. Applicants from two- or four-year institutions must have at least one year of liberal arts coursework that reflects a high level of achievement. Vassar’s Transfer Application is available through the Admission Office and on-line on their Web site. The application deadline for the spring semester is November 1, for the fall semester, it is March 15.

International Students

Vassar actively recruits international students. Nine percent of the student body has either foreign or dual citizenship, representing nearly fifty different countries. Answers to a list of questions of special interest to international students is available on the Vassar admission Web site. To apply for admission to the freshman class, international candidates use the same application forms as American students.

Vassar College Financial Aid

Though many stereotype Vassar as a rich kid’s domain, fifty-five percent of its students receive financial aid and fifty percent are awarded need-based scholarships. Committed to providing education to qualified students regardless of financial circumstance, Vassar awards more than $25 million annually in scholarships in addition to federal and state aid. Vassar meets one hundred percent of the demonstrated need of all admitted students.

Financial aid packages can include government and other non-Vassar grants or scholarships, loans, campus jobs, and Vassar scholarships. The standard package for freshmen who demonstrate need after outside grants and scholarships includes a Stafford Loan and a campus job allocation. Students with need that exceeds these resources receive a Vassar scholarship to cover the full extent of their calculated financial need. The average total financial aid award to first-year students in 2006 was $28,891. The Office of Student Employment gives financial aid students first priority for job placements, which range from academic or administrative office work to campus security.

Deadlines for financial aid play a significant role in receiving a package, as Vassar must review a large number of aid applications every year. Apply as early as possible, regardless of acceptance notification. The deadline for freshman financial aid applications, complete with the PROFILE and FAFSA, is February 1, with notification of aid decisions in early April.

Vassar College Students

This might not be the stuff that college descriptions are made of, but I still think it’s important to recognize how sweet it is to live in an arboretum. Walking through Japanese maples after the rain doesn’t feel nearly as trite as it sounds.

With just 2,400 or so students, Vassar projects a strong sense of community, an intimate unity rarely found at other institutions. Everyone knows each other by face, if not by name, making a simple walk around campus resemble a Three, no, a Two Degrees of Separation map. Despite diversity in background or character, students are open enough to find common ground and to accept differences, leading to a welcoming and varied social scene. One graduate remarked, “As cheesy as it sounds, the best thing about Vassar is the people. The students are smart, interesting, quirky, and generally don’t take themselves too seriously.”

As soon as new students walk onto campus, the dorms receive them with open arms into the Vassar community. In the first tentative weeks and beyond, it becomes a familiar, welcoming space; often the friends made in the dorms remain friends for life.

Nearly the entire student body lives on campus; nine traditional residence halls, a co-op, and three sets of apartment-style housing accommodate them. Populated with mostly freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, each residence hall comes with its own broad characterization: posh Cushing, homey Davison, party dorm Josselyn, central Main, all-women Strong. Each comes with its own activities, faculty resident House Fellow (often with their families), and student leaders. Particularly important is the Student Fellow, an upperclassman mentor assigned to a group of incoming freshmen, who can provide assistance, comfort, and answers when necessary.

Residences

Most seniors opt to live with four or five friends in the partly furnished, campusowned complexes known as the Terrace Apartments (TAs), Town Houses (THs), and South Commons. Providing an alternative to the traditional residence halls, the experience gives upperclassmen a real-world taste of apartment living and, even more importantly, a last chance to be together before graduating.

If I could go back to any time in my life, it would be to senior year when I lived in D-block [of the THs] with all my friends.

Activities

At about 100 and counting, the myriad clubs and organizations available to students provide a gateway to an even larger section of the Vassar community. Always changing and expanding, the groups cover areas from the literary (Helicon, Miscellany News, Spectator) and performing arts (a cappella, drama, film, photography, radio) to ethnic (Asian Student Alliance, Black Student Union, Poder Latino) and cultural groups (Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Queer Coalition) and from politics (Student Activist Union, Students for a Free Tibet) and traditional student government (Vassar Student Association [VSA]) to activities (hiking, juggling, snowboarding) and service (EMS, Listening Center). If nothing appeals to you, ask around before submitting a proposal to the VSA; chances are, someone else shares your interest.

On-campus Entertainment

Vassar has given over more space than ever to students, providing them with further choices for their leisure hours. The restored second floor of the Students’ Building has become a place for students to lounge around on couches and to congregate for special campus-wide events and activities. Another recent addition, the Atrium Juice Bar, serves gourmet food and drinks at the Athletics and Fitness Center. These new recreational centers join an old favorite, the College Center, in entertaining students.

Located in Main Building, the College Center is, as the name suggests, fundamental to Vassar life. Nearly everyone passes through at least once a day to look in their mailbox, buy a textbook or a burgundy-and-gray T-shirt from the bookstore, check e-mail at a computer terminal, grab a quick Starbucks coffee from the Kiosk and a snack from the Retreat before running off to class, get $20 from the ATM to pay for that beer (if you’re—ahem— legal) at the campus pub, Matthew’s Mug, or enjoy a laugh with friends while people watching outside.

The various campus groups and organizations are always good for entertainment as well. Any day or night of the week, a student can go to a play or a film, attend a Wyclef Jean or a Dar Williams concert, listen to a guest lecture by Tom Hanks or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., check out an exhibit at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, take a walk around Sunset Lake, cheer for the Brewers at a soccer game or tennis match, and much more.

Or you could even venture off-campus…

Off-campus Entertainment

Although possible to keep a car on campus, many students don’t. Fortunately, the immediate area around Vassar has become increasingly college-friendly in the last few years, especially as many merchants now accept Vassar debit accounts. Cafés and ethnic restaurants have sprung up within walking distance, complementing student favorites: Baby Cakes bakery, Juliet Café and Billiards restaurant, and Three Arts bookstore. Standbys such as the Acropolis Diner and The Dutch Cabin remain almost extensions of the school. In addition, hourly shuttles on the weekends go to the Galleria Mall.

For those lucky enough to have a car (or know someone who does), any of the towns around the Hudson Valley make for a good day trip. Hyde Park has the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, but the town’s constant stream of visitors has as much to do with the Culinary Institute of America, the perfect place for a celebratory meal. (Around Commencement, see how many of your fellow diners you know.) Small and artsy, Rhinebeck has eclectic shops, good food, and a tiny yet great independent cinema. And, just across the Hudson River are the Catskill Mountains, the Shawangunks (best climbing on the East Coast), and the infamous village of Woodstock.

Want to inject a little more urban energy into upstate living? Farther afield but no less exciting lies New York City, a mere hour and 3/4 away by train. The Hudson line of the Metro North Railroad begins in Poughkeepsie and ends in Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, so there’s no fear of sleeping through a connection. Not that you’d want to: for an average of $25, the round-trip journey provides an amazing scenic glimpse of the Hudson Valley. Once in Manhattan, take advantage of the cultural scene: museums, Broadway plays, bars, restaurants, and shopping.

Vassar College Athletics

Over the past decade, Vassar’s athletic program has grown and flourished. A Division III school, the college has twenty-five varsity teams (thirteen for women and twelve for men), as well as a variety of club sports and intramural leagues.

Recently renovated and expanded, Walker Field House encompasses a 42,250-squarefoot floor space with a new tennis/multipurpose playing surface, six-lane Olympic-size swimming pool and diving well, and a sports medicine area. An adjoining 53,000-square-foot athletic facility has a wood-floor gymnasium, elevated running track, and 5,000-square-foot fitness space. In addition, a new dance studio and dance theater, golf course, outdoor tennis courts, and a multitude of fields are available for sporting and recreational play.

Vassar College Traditions

• Afternoon tea: A simple spread of tea and cookies in Main’s Rose Parlor.
• Convocation: Incoming seniors ascend to the top of Main to announce themselves with a ritual ringing of the bell. Your camera is a must for the stunning view.
• Daisy Chain: Group of sophomore women and men who bear a chain of daisies during Commencement.
• Founder’s Day: All-day annual celebration in late April celebrating Matthew Vassar’s birthday. Must be seen to be believed.
• Nilda’s Cookies: Favorite Retreat snack from a local baker, the famed Nilda. A sign reminds you not to stick them in the toaster.
• Primal Scream: At midnight before exam week, students congregate in the residential quad to scream. Cathartic.
• Serenading: Honoring/roast of the seniors at the beginning of the year with songs from each dorm and class. Water guns and silly string are de rigueur.
• Vassar Devil: Devil’s food cake with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and marshmallow sauce. Its lesser-known angel-food cousin is, naturally, the Vassar Angel.

Vassar College Alumni

You’re so overqualified, it’s ridiculous. For God’s sake, you’re a Vassar gal! — Movie, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead

It’s a (hopefully) sunny day in late May. You’ve moved the tassel to the other side, accepted the diploma, tossed the mortarboard in the air, and completed the final walk out of the Amphitheater. Now what?

In a typical Vassar graduating class, seventyone percent of graduates will have employment, while another twenty percent will enter graduate school within six months of commencement. How do you figure out which one you will be? Vassar is there to help.

Within five years of graduation, approximately eighty percent of Vassar graduates opt for graduate or professional school. The Office for Fellowship and Preprofessional Advising assists current students and alumnae/i as they apply to graduate, medical, law, and business schools. They also help students compete for fellowships, grants, prizes, and scholarships awarded by foundations, organizations, and schools, as well as for the $150,000 in graduate fellowships awarded annually by Vassar itself. Graduates consistently win Fulbrights, Mellons, National Science Foundation grants, Rhodes, Watsons, and more.

A leader in producing doctoral candidates, Vassar also has graduates accepted regularly at topranked schools of medicine, law, business, and education at rates significantly higher than the national average. In 2003, medical schools accepted seventyeight percent of Vassar seniors who applied, as opposed to the national average of fifty percent; graduates have gone on to Columbia, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and Yale. Law schools took ninety percent of Vassar applicants in 2003; among these schools were Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, Stanford, and UCLA.

Careers

Not interested in more school? Try the Office of Career Development. Beginning in freshman year and continuing beyond graduation, Career Development offers a number of services, programs, and resources to help students navigate the job market. There’s no need to have a career plan in mind; the office welcomes anyone who needs assistance. It provides help with anything from deciding on a major to working on résumés and interview skills. They can arrange for an internship for credit through the Office of Field Work or a “shadowing” opportunity through the Previews Program or facilitate a connection between students and employers through on- and offcampus job recruitment. Perhaps its most valuable resource is the Career Advisory Program (CAP), a database of more than 8,000 alumnae/i who have volunteered to give advice on finding jobs and internships in specific fields to current students and graduates.

Just as the smallness of the student body creates a sense of community, Vassar’s alumnae/i association, the AAVC, maintains this feeling after graduation through class reunions, regional clubs, and groups. However, even without the 34,000-member-strong organization, you can go anywhere in the world knowing that, inevitably, there will be a fellow Vassar alum not far away.

A couple of years ago, I went to England for a vacation. I’d been in the country for all of five minutes, when I spotted a guy I’d known from a bunch of my classes at the other end of the customs line!

Prominent Grads

• Richard W. Roberts, ’74, U.S. Federal District Judge, District of Columbia
• Geraldine Laybourne, `69, President and CEO, Oxygen Media
• Eben Ostby, ‘77, Technical Academy Award-winner for _A Bug’s Life_
• Lloyd Braun, ’80, Concept Developer of The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives, now Head of Media and Entertainment at Yahoo
• John Carlstrom, ’81, MacArthur Fellow and Astrophysicist, Codesigner of D.A.S.I. (Degree Angular Scale Interferometer) at the South Pole
• Lisa Kudrow, ’85, Costar of Friends and star of “The Comeback”
• John Gatins, ’90, Screenwriter and Director of Dreamer
• Stacy London, ’91, Fashion Guru, Costar of What Not To Wear
• Noah Baumbach, ’91, Director and Screenwriter, The Squid and the Whale
• Adam Green, ’95, Founder of Rocking the Boat
• Ethan Zohn, ’96, Survivor: Africa Winner and Cofounder of Grassroot Soccer
• Jessi Klein, ’97, named “Best Female Stand Up in 2003” by “Emerging Comics of New York”

Vassar College Faculty

At some institutions, professors are distinguished but unapproachable. Not so at Vassar.

Class sizes run small; average enrollment is twenty-one for an introductory course, sixteen for intermediate courses, and ten for advanced courses. This allows professors and students to develop rapport in and out of the classroom, reducing the teacher-pupil structure to colleague status. Professors maintain regular office hours for anyone who needs to work out the knots in a paper or project or just wants to chat; as a student noted: “The professors are readily available to talk about anything from that day’s lecture to future career paths.” Further, students often work one-on-one with professors on research projects, and professors typically regard students as junior colleagues and collaborators. In fact, it’s not uncommon for Vassar faculty to know all their students personally or to enjoy lunch with them in the Retreat. One graduate recalled his thesis advisor taking him out for a celebratory drink after he submitted the manuscript. But don’t let this casualness fool you; the academics are as demanding as the professors are accessible. Many Vassar students who have gone on to advanced study have remarked on how well their upper-division courses prepared them for graduate-level work.

Advisors

Vassar’s advising system benefits from these small class sizes. Based on their academic interests, entering students are assigned faculty pre-major advisors until they decide on a major. Once they do so, they select a departmental or program advisor, who assists students in registering for courses every semester, ensures that requirements are being met, and provides help with any academic questions or issues. Students often choose the major advisor, as well as advisors for senior or independent work, based on personal experience with the professors or on common intellectual interests. The classroom ratio gives students a chance to see a professor’s teaching style and personality and gauge whether it will mesh with a dream project.

I took classes with Professors Joyce and Zlotnick as a junior and loved the experience so much that I had them advise me on some independent and senior work. From proposal level to completion, they were super, just great choices. I used to joke that they were my English Department parents. To this day, I consider them mentors.

Carnegie Foundation Classification

Baccalaureate Colleges — Arts & Sciences

General Characteristics

Highest offering	Master's degree
Calendar System	Semester
Years of college work required	N/A
Variable Tuition

Special Learning Opportunities

Distance Learning
ROTC — Army / Navy / Air Force	— / /
Study Abroad
Weekend College
Teacher Certification