<p>I was browsing Vassar’s website today and I realized that they don’t offer a Middle Eastern Studies major or minor. I was happy to find that there is an International Studies major. Could I design one or do they offer something similar to what I’m looking for and I haven’t found it yet?</p>
<p>I’m also looking into Bowdoin. I posted on their board, but no one replied. They don’t have an IS major either. Government and Legal Studies is the closest thing I could find. It’s not quite what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>If you guys have any thoughts, I would love to read them! Thanks!</p>
<p>My friend who’s going into sophomore year like me had the exact same question and discovered late into the year that through the IS program she could tailor her studies perfectly to be like a Middle Eastern Studies major elsewhere, but with extra freedom. Our Arabic courses are awesome and everybody loves them who’s tried them. They’re quickly expanding and growing to be among the most popular languages on campus, if not already at that level.</p>
<p>KGB1337: Thanks! I’m happy to hear that because I really like Vassar and I was going to be so upset if there was no way I could major in Middle Eastern Studies. </p>
<p>By the way, how great is the food in the dining halls? I’ve heard mixed things. Quality is important (obviously), but are there lots of options?</p>
<p>It’s college food, and it’s unusually healthy for college food. But nonetheless, it’s not great and you might get a bit sick of it by the end of the year. They amaze me with the variety they offer, however, and only a few times the whole year did they repeat a main meal. If you’re a vegetarian, vegan, or eat gluten-free, you’ll no doubt be satisfied with the stations dedicated to each of those eating habits. There’s always the Retreat, which is more like a Panera Bread than anything and half your food money is allocated to eating there.</p>
<p>KGB1337: Yay! I’m glad that there are healthy options! I love junk food, but I’ve gotta have fresh fruit and veggies to balance it out. I love fish and chicken, as well. Just as long as I don’t have to eat the same thing every day, I’ll be happy.</p>
<p>I’m sorry that I have all these questions, but how is Poughkeepsie? Do students leave campus often?</p>
<p>As a fresh Vassar grad going into grad school for Mid East Studies, I have to say that you will find very slim pickings for courses at Vassar. Believe me, I think I took all of them except like one history class. I didn’t create my own major, but all those courses fit into one or both of my majors. We only really have one Islamic studies prof who isn’t tenured, one Hebrew studies, one art historian who teaches one or two classes, and a couple of profs in History who teach one or two classes on it. Throw in an extra class here an there in poli sci or film. For languages, there’s Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish. The Turkish class btw is self-instructional, though I loved the tutor! All that said, you could scrounge together a major, and I know people who have done it, but you will not go as deep in your area of focus as you would at a school more known for their ME departments (or at least have one!).</p>
<p>As for food…ooooh ACDC. I really disagree with KGB about the variety and options. While it’s not awful, it’s not exactly your money’s worth either considering the price per meal. And this is just my opinion, but the food usually seemed too salty or too cheesy. But the stir fry station will save your life if you are determined to eat healthy. The Retreat was good for a quick fix sandwich or breakfast. Express lunches were actually really useful and pretty nice too.Honestly, I always got the smallest meal plan and ate out as often as I could afford. Can you tell where my work study money went? Ironically the price of a ACDC meal will get you a much better dinner on Raymond Ave than in the DC itself. Bacio’s was my savior. Cheap delish pizza and pasta. Oh goodness, I miss it so!</p>
<p>Chii C: Thanks for telling me! Would you say that you still got a pretty good education? I don’t want to end up there and not be happy with how things are going. I was considering applying to Mount Holyoke too. They’re part of this 5-College thing, so hopefully the program will be a bit stronger. </p>
<p>I don’t want to starve while I’m there! Hopefully I can survive. Are there many places to eat in Poughkeepsie? It seems like a pretty small town. I love pizza and pasta! Too cheesy or too salty? Great… </p>
<p>I would say that I got an amazing education there. My writing improved so much, but not just in one way, because I learned to write for a lot of different disciplines. And I loved that I didn’t have a core curriculum, so I could take pretty much what I wanted. Both my majors were pretty close knit communities and I got to know my professors very well–like having dinner at their houses or babysitting their kids well! They really do become your friends and support you in any way they can, which I definitely needed while doing grad school apps. That’s not to say they’re easy graders…haha. Well, that entirely depends on the department really. History and Classics expected a lot, but each professor I had always gave a ton of feedback and expected your best. And office hour visits are a usual and helpful thing and never overly awkward. You always feel like you can talk to your prof one-on-one.</p>
<p>Moreover the opportunities available are incredible and the thing is that most people don’t even seem to know they exist. You can get a ton of experience through independent studies and internships while in school and even during the summer Vassar supports a lot of student activities. For instance, I went abroad every single summer while at Vassar and each time I had some sort of scholarship or fellowship from school to pay for it. What really helped me with Mid East studies was that I could go abroad to make up for what I couldn’t get at Vassar. And I used that argument in a lot of fellowship applications with a good amount of success :). Basically, if you look for opportunities, you will find them there.</p>
<p>There are a decent number of places on Raymond Ave or within walking distance. Besides Bacio’s, there’s sushi, vietnamese, tai, indian, a fusion place with the best empanadas ever, mediterranean, skeezy diner (save for 3am drunk food runs), american, a couple of cute coffeehouses, adorable overpriced bakery, chinese, chinese-mexican (?), and a slightly more mexican food place and an irish pub. And if you have a car, the options are limitless! So you won’t be without places to eat. The price ranges are usually pretty close, although tai and sushi are a little more expensive.</p>
<p>Oh and every tuesday (Tasty Tuesdays!) a lot of these restaurants come onto campus and vend in the college center. Best day of the week in my opinion! The empanada line gets quite long.</p>
<p>Chii C: Thank you so much! This is a huge help!</p>
<p>I didn’t know that Vassar had an open curriculum! That’s awesome! It sounds like you really enjoyed your 4 years there. Where all did you study abroad? I’d love to go to Israel. Hopefully, the region will become more stable in a few years. </p>
<p>I think it’s cool that people can do an independent study if they choose. I’m trying to take Spanish II as an independent study for next year, but my school won’t allow it and I’m not really sure why. I need at least another year of a foreign language and I can’t fit it into my schedule. :(</p>
<p>It’s very nice that you got scholarships to pay for your summers abroad! Were they generous with financial aid? I don’t want to have to take out a huge loan. </p>
<p>I really like how cozy the environment seems. It’d be great to develop good relationships with the professors. As you mentioned, that comes in handy. </p>
<p>It seems like I won’t go hungry! Since I’ll probably have a meal plan, will I be able to use the money in my account (or however they do it) to pay for food off-campus or will I have to use my own money?</p>
<p>I did a summer in Spain at an archaeological dig near Valladolid, a summer in Münster, Germany learning German, and one in Istanbul learning Turkish. This summer I’m going back to Turkey with another fellowship for travel and research…And several people I know have done semesters in Israel. </p>
<p>And Vassar was absurdly generous with financial aid. They covered almost everything for me except travel and books. If your family makes under a certain amount they also cover student loans, so I came out debt free. I really can’t complain. :)</p>
<p>If you live on campus, you must have a meal plan, unless you’re in an Terrace Apartment or Town House. For food off campus, you can use your own money. Another option is for you or your parents to load money onto your VCash account. With this, you can just swipe your student ID at approved stores and restaurants (many on Raymond Ave), kinda like a debit account.</p>
<p>Chii C: My parents really want for me to graduate debt-free, so that’s awesome! Going to Turkey would be great too. I hope you have fun! It sounds like I’m not going to starve, which is good. I’m a pretty picky eater. </p>
<p>Is there anything you dislike about Vassar?</p>
<p>Oh my, what a dangerous question! First, just note that this only represents my experience there and you might find it different if you visit. Well let’s see here… the very prominent hipster culture on campus is annoying as all hell. Gross facial hair and badly designed clothing just do not jive with me, I guess. lol. But really it’s more of the attitude that went with it, one of apathy and cooler-than-thou-ness. Please don’t get me wrong, this is NOT all of the campus, and certainly not a majority, but it’s a presence that you deal with a lot both in and out of class. </p>
<p>And while I came out of Vassar with some wonderful friends, people that I truly love and respect, I really wasn’t a fan the clique-iness throughout campus. It seems that everyone is in that great get-to-know-you-phase during the first few months of school, but once people fall into their little circles it’s very hard to break those and meet new people. That’s not to say that you don’t meet new people, it just means you have to put forth a little more effort and proactive about it. Talk to that person next to you in class and ask to grab coffee with you afterward or something. Join a new club. Just get out there. But don’t expect someone to just randomly strike up a conversation out of the blue. I feel like people are very distanced with each other, even if you have class together, until a certain indeterminate point. Perhaps I should just say that people didn’t have the open type of friendliness I was used to in my hometown and it’s more of something that you have to prove. Maybe this could work for you, but it kinda bugged me. But what can I say? I’m a pretty upfront person and I don’t like having to guess if someone considers me friend or not.</p>
<p>I will say that, at least for me, the cliques subsided in senior year and I think the change to senior housing and the lack of a dining plan had a lot to do with this, since people were less inclined to have their separate tables of friends for each meal at the DC. And by the end, I loved the what I had going on socially. So this really is more of a criticism of dorm life to me. </p>
<p>I will say that overall, I really did have a great time there. And while I do have my criticisms, like anyone else, I do not regret going there at all, both for my education and the friends I left with.</p>
<p>Chii C: Frankly, I wasn’t expecting you to dislike parts of the social atmosphere. I’m really hoping to find a close-knit community. My school is all about cliques, so I’m used to that. I’m pretty shy, so I’ve probably have a few friends and lots of acquaintances.</p>
<p>Did you feel isolated being in a small town or did you notice? Also, is it necessary to bring a car? If I remember right, did you say that Vassar has an open curriculum or do they have some general education requirements?</p>
<p>Well, I should clarify that my experience was probably very different from most people’s because I went to a performing arts high school in a city, where there were tons of outgoing personalities. After that, Vassar took some getting used to. Also, I have to mention that the cliques at Vassar are not the same as high school cliques…they are just groups of friends and not so much types of people you can really label (jocks are the exception). In some ways you do get that sense of a close-knit community, but I found that that occurred within social pockets like majors, clubs or groups rather than the college as a whole. </p>
<p>If you’re shy, you really don’t have to worry. You will find other people there just as shy if not more so than you. Just find people you can be yourself around. Easier said than done, I know, but it might be a great opportunity for you to challenge or overcome some anxieties. And also, for almost any interest you might have you can find another person who shares it there. But you gotta find them! </p>
<p>I never felt too isolated in Poughkeepsie, though I definitely wish Vassar were closer to the more interesting parts of town. A car is certainly helpful with this, although I never had one. The trick is to finding friends who do! And if you get restless, just take a day and go into the city…the train station is literally like 10 min away. </p>
<p>Yes, it’s an open curriculum but there are 2 general requirements for Vassar: a quantitative course and a freshman writing seminar. And the quantitative course does not have to be math…psych and astronomy also fulfill this. And freshman writing courses are so much fun! No really. Depending on which you take, they usually are a great way to adjust your writing to college standards and most of them have some killer topics. Mine was a German course in translation called Vampires, Lunatics and Cyborgs. I miss it!</p>
<p>Chii C: That’s cool! Did you do theatre work? </p>
<p>The cliques make sense now. I figured that were people who had similar interests, like goths or the people who had a certain name. </p>
<p>The requirements are awesome! I’m going to take AP Psychology my senior year, so hopefully, if I do well enough on the test, they’ll take the AP credit and I have will have that out of the way. The writing course will be my favorite part! Vampires, Lunatics and Cyborgs… There’s the next big movie! :)</p>
<p>I’m glad that to attend most schools, I won’t need to a car. That’s a huge relief. I have a feeling I would go to NYC pretty regularly.</p>
<p>AP Psych won’t get you out of the general requirement; it has to be a course taken on campus. There is also a foreign language requirement. A four or five on an AP language test will get you out of that requirement, though.</p>
Where all did you study abroad? I’d love to go to Israel. Hopefully, the region will become more stable in a few years. </p>