Located in Poughkeepsie, NY; Vassar College is one of the original Seven Sisters, or the seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women’s colleges. Together with Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, and Wellesley College, all were founded between 1837 and 1889. Radcliffe has since merged with Harvard University and Vassar College has turned coeducational since 1969. Founded in 1861, by Matthew Vassar, the original mission of Vassar College was to give young women a liberal arts education equal to that of the best men’s colleges of the day. Vassar offered women the full range of courses from art history to zoology, taught by the leading scholars of the day. We followed our student tour guide into the Thompson Memorial Library, where the famous larger than life stain glass window resides, depicting Lady Elena Lucretia Cornaro-Piscopia in 1678, the first woman to be conferred her PhD (in Theology), trimmed in pink, amongst a sea of men. The scene depicts the school’s colors (pink and grey) representing the rose dawn of women’s education rising out of the sea of grey, what higher education was previously.
The buildings and grounds are meticulously maintained, funded by the endowments established by nearly 150 years of alumnae/i. Having gone coeducational only a little over 40 years ago, Vassar College is keenly aware of both genders in all their internal and external communication. Vassar College relies heavily on the generosity of the students who have gone before. That's not to say that legacies are a shoe in when it comes to admission. The school may be liberal, but is still highly selective. One of the requirements of admission is proficiency in a second language other than English. Last year, Vassar received nearly 8,000 freshmen applications for 670 seats. Given the fact that Vassar only confer Bachelor degrees, that speaks volumes.
The student embassadors who shepherded us on our visit day emphasized two specific qualities possessed by the Vassar undergrad. "Vassar is very 'chill' and very 'liberal'." One can only imagine the myriad of definitions for their chosen adjectives. I thought Vassar was a east coast school.
Students who applied to Vassar College, also looked at Brown University, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. For more information on Vassar College, visit http://www.vassar.edu/
Vassar College is located at 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York, NY 12604 (845) 437-7000
The buildings and grounds are meticulously maintained, funded by the endowments established by nearly 150 years of alumnae/i. Having gone coeducational only a little over 40 years ago, Vassar College is keenly aware of both genders in all their internal and external communication. Vassar College relies heavily on the generosity of the students who have gone before. That's not to say that legacies are a shoe in when it comes to admission. The school may be liberal, but is still highly selective. One of the requirements of admission is proficiency in a second language other than English. Last year, Vassar received nearly 8,000 freshmen applications for 670 seats. Given the fact that Vassar only confer Bachelor degrees, that speaks volumes.
The student embassadors who shepherded us on our visit day emphasized two specific qualities possessed by the Vassar undergrad. "Vassar is very 'chill' and very 'liberal'." One can only imagine the myriad of definitions for their chosen adjectives. I thought Vassar was a east coast school.
Students who applied to Vassar College, also looked at Brown University, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. For more information on Vassar College, visit http://www.vassar.edu/
Vassar College is located at 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York, NY 12604 (845) 437-7000
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