Vassar:
1. What did you like and not like about it? Liked everything. Disliked nothing. But my idea of heaven is being anywhere other than a big city, and I can’t imagine attending a university the size of UCLA - I loved the intimacy of a small campus, and seeing the same people every morning on the way to breakfast.
2. Is the cold really that bad? Raised in California, never experienced winter before arriving at Vassar, and never even noticed the cold. When it’s snowing, wear a coat - problem solved!
3. What’s the social scene like? No clue. Guessing it’s changed since I was a student.
4. I’ve heard that Poughkeepsie is quite dead but is this true? Do people go into NYC often? When I was there, the only thing in Poughkeepsie was the train station - it may be different now, but I wouldn’t expect much. Don’t know if people go into the city often. I never did - I’d much rather hang out on campus with friends. But that’s me - like I said, not a city person. I’m sure there are people who go into the city more often.
And not that it makes any difference anymore, since this is ancient history, but when I was a student, we were allowed to have pets on campus. Not everywhere, just in the dorm I lived in, and in the student apartments. I didn’t have a dog, but lots of the kids on my hall did. Made it really feel like home. 
Oh yeah, that’s one other thing, getting to have the independence of living in an apartment while still living on campus - no landlords, no hassle, but still your own (shared) place.