Vassar College is a small liberal arts school in Poughkeepsie, NY. Vassar is nestled in the Hudson Valley region about a two hour train ride from NYC, think wineries, skiing, hikes, it's all very picturesque, but still very accessible from a major metropolitan center (Vassar itself has a nature preserve, golf course, and farm on campus). Academically, Vassar is very flexible. They are proud of having an open curriculum with no general education requirements.
While many colleges have been extending their test-optional policies, Vassar has made theirs permanent. Last year, only around 39% of students submitted scores. Vassar is also a little cagey about their acceptance rates. They didn’t publish it as part of their class profile last year, but we ran the numbers and it was about 18%.
Vassar’s supplement asks for one essay and gives you two choices of prompts to respond to. However, they aren’t as distinct as prompt choices at some other colleges (read: they are very similar). There’s also a bit of a preamble, but don’t worry about it too much.
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.
Please select one of the following prompts and respond in 300 words or less.*
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.
Vassar’s prompts are long, but don’t let that confuse you. What this question is really asking is how has part of your identity shaped your life? The trick here is not getting too big. This essay can only be 300 words max, you aren’t going to capture every little thing that makes you, you. Instead, you need to focus on one aspect of your background or identity that feels important to you.
Sometimes the word “background” or “identity” makes students think that they need to write about something like ethnicity, sexuality, minority status, etc. You certainly can write about these types of identities, but you don’t have to. You could write about being a home-chef, older sister, voracious reader, or community theater member. This question is far more broad than you might think.
The important thing is to choose a good story that will bring us into your world and show us why this part of your identity is essential to understanding you.
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.
Much like the first question, this prompt is long, but boils down to “tell a story about a community that has shaped you in some way.” (See what we mean about the prompts being similar?) For this prompt, community just means any group of people with a common interest or goal. You could write about your debate team, neighborhood, synagogue congregation, Chinese orchestra, book club, beach clean up crew, zine editors, etc. The important thing is to choose a community that is important to you and that has made a mark on how you see the world.
Once you have chosen a community to write about, you need to tell a story about how they have shaped you. More often than not, this will take the form of a story about you learning a lesson or gaining a skill while participating in that community. This is another very broad question. You can write about almost any community and almost any lesson. However, you should choose one that feels essential to understanding you.
Vassar’s supplement also has an optional section called “Your Space.”
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!
Here’s the important thing to remember with Your Space: this addition works best if you are already good at the medium you are submitting. For example, this shouldn’t be where you add your first poem ever. Trust us, you want to showcase your best work and not something you threw together to try to fill this space. If you are racking your brain on what to put here, it's ok to skip. On the other hand, if you have something that you really want to share and feel like it adds a lot about you, it will likely work. Just be mindful of length. You don’t want to submit a laundry list of things. One or two assets will likely be best here (you can do slightly more for things like photography or images since they are by nature not a lot of reading/watching.) If you are on the fence, reach out, we would love to help!
Vassar’s supplement isn’t long, but it requires some introspection and brainstorming to do right. You should take your time to craft something that you can be proud of. Take your time to tell a good story and make sure the reader gets to know the real you! If that sounds daunting, we can help!
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