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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In all seriousness, there are a lot of gay/bi men there. It’s a former woman’s college. I would investigate with actual students. Nothing wrong with this but it’s going to be different. I get avoiding frat bro scene but this is maximum other direction. Hard pressed to imagine a gayer college (other than perhaps an art school) [/quote]

It hasn't been a women's college for over 50 years at this point, time to get past that. And we don't think that way about most former men's colleges.[/quote]

A former woman’s college is always going to have a dominantly feminine culture. Schools like Vassar and Sarah Lawrence remain predominantly female, more so than peers. Former men’s colleges embody masculine values and virtues. One of the reasons Vassar is so progressive, in the sense of free speech and robust dialogue being restricted, is that women are often more concerned about inclusivity than the rugged pursuit of truth. This isn’t me acting like Archie Bunker but rather the result of survey work: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-antisocial-psychologist/202104/the-gender-gap-in-censorship-support?amp

If my child wanted to apply to Vassar, I would refuse to pay for it. Plenty of better choices out there. The drug culture also bothers me- I was peripherally aware of the alternative/LGBT drug scene back in the 90s. Lots of synthetics which is scary in the context of fentanyl contamination. We aren’t talking about dead heads smoking joints here.  A friend of a friend who was part of that scene at another NY state school ended up dying in the streets of Manhattan. If it makes Vassar folks feel any better I also know a Wes grad who died of a few years ago of drug related issues in his 50s

So caveat emptor with that Vassar transfer app. [/quote]

How true is that though vs rumor? I’m trying to get my shy, heterosexual rather mainstream DS, who is not in any way a partier, to look at Vassar. I liked that it sounds kind of low key and nerdy in terms if they social scene and it’s strong in the academic areas of interest. I’ve known people that went there, but years ago, and they were more quiet and nerdy and not into drugs or even drinking. [/quote]

I would investigate with current students and recent grads. [/quote]

I graduated from Vassar nearly 20 years ago. Obviously it is different there now than it was back then, but it had the same reputation then. I am a hetereosexual woman who was not a partier in the least, and I found my people there. I had a boyfriend most of the time I was there who was pretty far from the stereotypes (e.g., into sports, not into partying). I would not be worried about a shy hetereosexual boy fitting in. There will be enough people like him.[/quote]

But was the LGBT/drug subculture very prominent? Were half the men gay?[/quote]

I'm the PP you were responding to who went to Vassar 20 years ago. Yes, the LGBT subculture was very prominent then, and yes, it seemed like half the men were gay. Despite not aligning with that subculture I made some of my best friends to this day at Vassar. Some of these close friends (male and female) are gay and some are not.

I have no idea what the drug subculture was like back then. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was there and I was naïve to it because it wasn’t my scene.  I most definitely did not feel the need to partake in drugs in order to fit in. 
[/quote]

I am the other alum (15-year alum as opposed to 20-year alum...) and yes agreed. To the poster of asking why folks need to ask if straight men would fit in is because precisely of the stereotyping you are perpetuating. Vassar isn't an LGBT school. Howard is a HBCU. The parallel is not there.

Plus I think the ratio at Sarah Lawrence is much worse than Vassar.... [/quote]

There's a lot of stereotyping going on in this thread — seemingly by posters with little direct experience with Vassar who are just repeating rumors, even as they're contradicted by actual alums and actual parents. 
[/quote]

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