Wellesley vs. Vassar vs. Smith (and Harvard)

mawmer
Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:59:58 +0000

As someone who attended both Vassar and Wellesley, I would cast my vote in favor of Vassar. Look, Vassar is coed, Wellesley is not. That makes a huge difference, not saying for better or for worse, just different. Also, while Wellesley “has Boston,” that is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Boston is a great town, a curse because everyone splits from Wellesley on weekends to spend their time in the city, or at other, larger colleges (MIT, Harvard, BU, BC, Tufts, you name it). It really eviscerates the sense of community and self-sufficiency that a small college would ordinarily benefit from (and that Vassar has). Academically, the schools you mention are all essentially on a par, so that shouldn’t influence you (unless you have a strong lean toward a certain major, in which case one of the schools might have an edge, depending on the major. All the schools are beautiful. Vassar had a much more laid back, fun atmosphere than Wellesley, which was a little too prim for me. Can’t speak with first hand knowledge about the other schools you mention, but you are fortunate to have such solid choices available to you.