Vassar vs Amherst

peebster
Sat, 24 Apr 2021 16:32:02 +0000

FWIW, I went to Amherst and now my D will be attending next year in the Class of 2025. I thought it was an amazing experience - I didn’t experience any intensity or competition, but just support, even through very rigorous premed coursework. My best friends now are still those I met at Amherst - we have had pandemic book clubs and game nights, even 30 years after graduation! I have been so impressed by the future classmates my daughter is telling me about - it sounds like it’s going to be a wonderful community. I sang at Amherst and definitely think it lives up to its reputation as the Singing College. I did take one course at Smith and enjoyed it, but honestly I was so happy at Amherst that I didn’t find it necessary to go off campus often. I disagree completely with the prep/jock culture someone referenced above - that was not my experience, anyway. You can always find more or less intense or preppy people in any environment full of intelligent people, of course - but I think Amherst works hard to choose its students well and seems to come up with a class that is not only intelligent but values kindness as well. If you are interested in teaching, please know that so many of my former classmates have dedicated their lives to education - of youth, college students, grad students, and more. I am also so impressed by its diversity in recent years - that’s a positive change from back in my time, for sure. I love that frats were fully abolished before I attended and have not crept back into the culture. It seems like there are a lot of artists this year, so I think you’ll be in good company!

Obviously Vassar is great too; my D was also making this choice. I think one thing that swayed her was hearing that many Vassar students spend a lot of time off campus in NYC, which is great if that’s what you want, but less awesome if you just want a tight knit community that comes together every weekend. That’s not to say that Vassar is not close knit; again, you can’t make a wrong choice here. Good luck with whatever you decide - P