Vassar College Admission
Vassar College Undergraduate Program
Vassar College Application

The Facts

Vassar College is a small, private liberal arts college located in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The school is home to approximately 2,400 undergraduate students, many of whom are women. (60% of the school is female, while only 40% is male) The school is very diverse, and has a self-driven academic structure (or lack of...) that required its free-thinking students to create their own academic experience. The college has many fantastic programs, but its English and liberal arts programs are particularly strong. Most students choose to create interdisciplinary majors, however, some of the most popular with students include majors in political science, psychology, English, economics, and sociology. There is no set core curriculum, but students are required to take at least one class in a foreign language, quantitative reasoning, writing, and a lab science course. There is, however, a lot of flexibility within these requirements, and most students thoroughly enjoy the required courses they end up choosing.

Admission to Vassar is quite competitive, and their admissions standards continue to increase. Last year, over 7,000 students applied for admission, and approximately 1,800 students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 636 of those admitted enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1300 to an impressive 1450, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 28 to 32. Additionally, over 69% of those admitted were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of 3.98.

Vassar has a fantastic student to faculty ratio of 9:1, so students get a ton of individualized attention from their professors. Teachers tend to have long office hours so even students with the most packed schedule can have a chance to come for a chat and some assistance. Many professors are tenured, and take their jobs quite seriously, so they aren’t distracted by other research projects in their professional lives.

The Social Scene

The Vassar campus is gorgeous, and is filled with large, old trees and plenty of green spaces. Students love the fact that housing is guaranteed for all four years, and the dorms are quite spacious and quiet. Many students have cars, as parking is actually free on campus. New York City is only about an hour away by car, and many students head down to Manhattan for some weekend excitement.

There are no fraternities or sororities at Vassar, but this doesn’t really bother students. They find way to have their own fun, whether it be hanging out in small groups or throwing rowdy dorm parties. The town of Poughkeepsie doesn’t really offer much in the way of entertainment, so it’s often up to students to create their own modes of fun.

The dating scene is filled with artsy bohemian types with long flowing hair and/or mohawks. Hmmm.... eeeenteresting....

What's Good

“The school is gorgeous, and walking from class to class is made less stressful by the beautiful surroundings.”

“The dorms are incredible. I got to live in an actual townhouse my sophomore year, which was awesome.”

“People are really laid back here. Even though the classes are hard, people don’t feel the need to compete with each other.”

What's Bad

“When you actually get here, you realize that teachers are all really easy graders and don’t care to challenge you a whole lot.”

“There are a lot of rich kids who think they known everything about life, when in fact, they’ve barely been outside their suburb.”

“The town is pretty boring. It hasn’t realized that it’s a college town and could profit from that status.”

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