Vassar College is a small liberal arts school in the Hudson Valley region of New York a two-hour train ride north of New York City. Located in the city of Poughkeepsie, Vassar students have everything they need (and more) within arms’ reach with the added bonus of being able to access everything New York has to offer. It’s a country school for city people, and a (small) city school for country people — or the best of both worlds. In the classroom, the Vassar experience is bold and flexible. Students have access to an open curriculum with no general education requirements. This prioritizes student choice and self-directed learning experiences, and you know that every student in every class you take actually wants to be there instead of being forced by a core curriculum or general education requirements. The average class size is 17 students, and the acceptance rate is around 20%.
The Vassar campus includes a nine-hole golf course, observatory, nature preserve, and a farm, but they do without Greek life. This doesn’t hamper community, though. Housing is guaranteed for students for all four years and the vast majority take the college up on the offer, cultivating the vibrant on-campus residential communities that are a Vassar hallmark. As you prepare to apply, focus heavily on your essays. Vassar is test optional and the college doesn’t put a huge amount of value in standardized testing, so don’t worry about sending them unless you feel your scores are representative of your academic excellence.
If you’re shooting for Vassar, send us an email. We help outstanding students write essays that stand out.
The Vassar supplement is both compact and vast. It isn’t very long — only two supplements — but it invites students to share multitudes. This makes the supplement very fun for people like us and very intimidating for many students who don’t know where to start when they can go just about anywhere. Luckily, you have us to help. And, as you work, remember that Vassar likes quirks and values individuality. They don’t want cookie-cutter; they want you.
We would like to get to know you better, especially on a more individual level. In replying to either prompt below, you are welcome to touch on any unique ability or aspect of your background – be it your race/ethnicity, socio-economic background, religious tradition, gender, geographic area that you have been raised in, personal interests, etc. – that demonstrates how you may contribute to Vassar.
The first supplement has two prompts to choose from, and you only need to pick one. You’ll have 300 words to respond, and this is their way of giving you a space to write about aspects of your background that they may not be able to see elsewhere in your application. As they said, though, what you choose to write may be focused on something that is intrinsic to who you are that you had no say over, like your socio-economic background, or could be something that you’ve chosen for yourself, such as a faith tradition, a passion, or a community. What is key is that they want you to write about something that connects to how you will contribute to the Vassar community, so no matter what you write about keep in mind how it reflects on you as a beneficial addition to campus.
Option One: At Vassar, we aim to foster an inclusive community through our philosophy of engaged pluralism. Engaged pluralism is rooted in “the conviction that collaborating across differences is necessary for social transformation and critical for the well-being of any community and its members.” In short, we believe it’s our differences that make us stronger. Tell us a little bit about an important part of your identity and how it has shaped your life and/or interactions with others.
When you read this prompt, don’t get too caught up in the lingo What they are talking about is collaboration, multi-disciplinary learning, and the celebration of diversity as not just an asset, but also a tool. Focus most on the last sentence, as that’s really where the prompt is. How has your identity shaped your life?
But what do they mean by “identity”? Really, anything. Anything that you see as part of your definition of and conception of self. It could be something you were born with or into, or something you’ve chosen for yourself. Whatever you pick, you’ll need to share it as a story. You could write about cooking Ukrainian food with your grandmother, caring for a sibling, working weekends to save up to get a car, doing morning chores before school, or the experience of getting a particular haircut. The door is wide open with this prompt, you just have to walk through it as your most authentic and honest self.
Option Two: Vassar is a diverse community that inspires positive change through open inquiry, deep dives into society’s most difficult challenges, and collaborative problem solving. We care deeply about one another, the communities that have forged us, and the community we build together on campus. Tell us about the community (or communities) you come from, and how it has shaped your lived experiences and identity.
This prompt actually isn’t much different than the one above except that it’s focused in particular on communities. If you choose this prompt, the community you focus on could be educational, familial, neighborhood, religious, cultural, or really anything else, but we do encourage students to focus only on one so that they can go deep and include detail that brings your community to life. Don’t forget to specifically address the last piece of the prompt, though. They want to know how this has shaped your experiences and identity. You don’t need to make your response to that part of the prompt clunky or cheesy with something like “and this shaped me because…” instead, weave it into the story.
YOUR SPACE
The second prompt in the Vassar supplement is a weird one when it comes to college applications. The “Your Space” section is a Vassar signature, and it is an optional (but not really, so you’ll need to do it) place to upload anything you want. This is potentially awesome for you, but also potentially anxiety-inducing. So, let’s dive into what the Your Space section really is and how to make the most of it
Your Space is your opportunity to allow the Committee on Admission to learn something about you that you have not addressed in another section of the application. For example, in the past, applicants have shared poetry, short stories, cartoons, digital images of art projects, photography, and collages, and/or links to videos, and short films. It is your space, so if you choose to complete it, send something that is a reflection of you!
Again, while this section of the supplement is optional, we don’t consider it optional. They are asking for this because they want it, and to not give them something is annoying at best and defiant at worst. So, if you are applying to Vassar and want to get in, you need to complete the Your Space section. How daring you choose to go, though, is entirely based on your comfort zone.
First, identify your areas of strength. If you aren’t a painter, we don’t encourage doing a painting. If you don’t write short stories already, this is not the place to debut your first one.
Then, to choose what within that area to submit. We should also talk length at this point, as length may determine what type of work you submit. This cannot be a tome. They do not want you to submit a draft of your first novel. Remember, the average application is looked at for less than 8 minutes. Any minute they spend on this is taking away from the rest of your application, so it benefits you to be concise and to make your submission compact. We have worked with students on successful applications that included:
1-3 pieces of art
1 short story of less than 5 pages
Poems adding up to less than 2 pages single-spaced
Videos should be less than 5 minutes in length
Note that the application included one item off of that list, not all of them. Bombarding the admissions office with gratuitous content is not appreciated.
Finally, you’ll have to decide whether you have something in your pocket that already fits the bill perfectly, or if you need to make something. Either is a perfectly good option as long as the work is representative of you.
Vassar offers a small liberal arts experience that is intimate, flexible, exploratory, and adventurous. Students who small classes and lots of access to support without sacrificing freedom tend to thrive as soon as they get on campus.
If you’re considering Vassar but aren’t sure if an open curriculum is right for you, send us an email. We help students craft their perfect college list.