Great choices! I think your daughter can’t go wrong with either school; both are wonderful and both will offer opportunities and open doors (Vassar just today had a hedge-funding graduate named in Forbes 30 Under 30 and they have a Senior who recently won a Marshall Scholarship). I think your daughter should go Early for the one she felt/ feels more at home at. I would use that ED2- it can be very tough to get into selective LACs these days.
I can’t speak for Hamilton as I do not have any children there. But of Vassar I will say that my (straight) son who just finished his first semester at Vassar did not experience any protest/anger. There was one outside speaker invited to campus who was looking to stir things up (something about Charlottesville and hate speech being free speech), but I don’t think it really went anywhere. Some signs and backs turned? Vassar is not nearly as SJwarrior-y as people make it out to be. Vassar kids are really happy. Of course, they want the world to be a better place, but one can want that and be simultaneously happy. Also, our son has generous aid (we have 6 kids) and his roommate pays no tuition at all and neither feels like a “have not”. They both have friends from all socioeconomic backgrounds and from almost every state and country; I really don’t think money is the sort of thing Vassar kids focus on. Son loved going to hear Jason Blum speak about his film Get Out! after a screening. The fact that both Jason Blum and Lisa Kudrow are both on the Vassar board and the fact that Meryl Streep sent two of her own children to Vassar shows you how loyal alum are and how much they love their alma mater.
Vassar IS a bubble, but with easy access to one of the greatest cities in the world. My son’s biggest class this semester was 18 kids. He had lunch with his freshman advisor on more than one occasion and team dinners every week. The new dining center is great - son grew two inches this fall and, sadly, he won’t get fed that well here at home(?!) - and I cannot say enough good things about the new president, Elizabeth Bradley. If you get the chance, check out her Twitter. She is going to be great for the school. Vassar’s endowment is now over a million and growing. I fear I could go on and on!
I did not mean for this to turn into a Vassar advert; I am just so grateful for the opportunities my son is having and will continue to have in the future (check out Vassar’s Career Development webpage) and I don’t think there are a lot of Vassar voices on CC. I am sure that any Hamilton/ Colgate/ Davidson/ Colby/ Haverford etc. parent could shout out the same praise for their chosen schools.
I would tell your daughter to go with her gut! Fingers crossed for her!