Vassar College Early Decision for Fall 2025 Admission

This is the official thread for those applying ED to Vassar College.

List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into? Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!

Hi all,

My daughter is thinking of applying to Vassar ED 1

Her GPA is 3.6 combined weighted and she started freshman year with zero honors/AP classes and has progressed every year wherein now she is in all AP (five classes and one on level) and has. 3.9 last year
No test scores submitted
Her EC’s are what makes her stand out:

Has been involved with community service in Nicaragua since 6th grade - has traveled and done service in Nica 2-3 times a year since that time
Has organized school service trips to Nicaragua last two years
Has worked through several non-NGO’s doing everything from teaching English to delivering food baskets to remote villages to teaching f kids how to brush their teeth
Has coached the special Olympics swim team since 7th grade
Clubs:
Creator leader CREA club (Nicaraguan service club)
Leader HOLA club
Model UN
Special Olympics
Theater tech
Varsity swimming and track
Literary magazine contributor
Has worked in a Spanish restaurant since 10th grade
Has volunteered for Make a Wish, Our Daily Bread and the Assisi House
Student art show
Internship last summer office of general inspector Baltimore city
Planning to major in Latin American studies and Spanish and minor in biology to prepare for nursing school then start an org providing healthcare and mental health care to women and children in Spanish speaking third world countries
Is Hispanic and LGBTQ

Just want a sense if she is setting up for failure applying ED.

Thanks so much!

What an amazing list of extra-curricular activities!

As you know, applying to Vassar is a long-shot for ANYBODY, and especially so for women. I assume that she is not being recruited athletically? If not, I would prepare your daughter for a likely rejection - not because she is not worthy of the school, but simply because that is what happens to most people who apply to the highly rejective schools.

I would think about reframing the act of applying to Vassar: it is not setting yourself up for failure, it is buying a lottery ticket (that was my choice, others might have other preferred reframings). If your lottery ticket doesn’t come in, well, that’s the expected result. Bummer. But not crushing. It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t have done great there, and it doesn’t mean that a friend with similar background might not have got in.

And it is extremely important to find backup schools for regular admission to get your daughter excited about, with a range of acceptance rates. And pump those up; try your best to keep your daughter from falling into the trap of “there’s one perfect school for me.”

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Hi, last year ED decisions came out on December 8th, based on last year’s threads. Does anyone know this year’s date? Thanks!

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I would love to find this out as well

I’d have to assume it is, considering it was the same date for last year and the year prior, although I can’t be for certain. Wishing everyone low stress :grin:

Hi! Did anyone’s checklist get removed in the last day or two?

School doc checklist yeah (application, letter of recs, ed form), but the financial aid checklist seems to have reappeared. A couple of days ago, I had no checklists being displayed.

Literally going crazy because of the application, the suspense is killing me!

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My son’s checklist disappeared last week once his q1 grades were received (I assume). I’m
still hoping they hear soon!!!

But he doesn’t have a financial aid form so I can’t speak to that form.

Ohhh OK. We’re not sure when ours disappeared bc she hadn’t been checking - possible it’s been gone a while then. The wait is killing us!

Mine disappeared last week!

I’m trying to work out whether they stay committed to the 8th/9th-ish, or if it’s more a matter of “second friday of december” – seriously overthinking this!

Oh my gosh me too. My predictions are tomorrow, Sunday, or Monday!

I’m super excited as well, although we are struggling with the FAFSA (international applicant with one US parent) DO you think they will automatically defer my son if his FAFSA is not complete?

I wouldn’t think so… but I don’t know a ton about how it works!

from what I remember reading/know about most colleges is that financial aid and admissions work independently, so whether your son gets admitted would be independent from the FAFSA being complete. I’m still completing my FAFSA as an ED applicant, so hoping they’re unaffected by one another!

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Second Friday in December would be Friday the 13th. oh boy.

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We were told by financial aid counselors at another university to wait until Dec. 5th to fill it out because of certain hangups in the system in the first week. And then we found out that the FAFSA must actually be processed, which takes several days, before it’s sent out, so I can’t imagine schools will expect it any sooner than Dec. 15th.