Before the holidays, I had a wonderful trip to see some colleges north of New York City with 2 wonderful friends and colleagues. Our first stop was Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. Originally one of the 7 sisters, where women studied while their male peers went to ivy league colleges, it is now coed and 61% women. An hour and 15 minutes from NYC, Vassar provides a free 10-minute shuttle to the train station where students can take Metro North into Grand Central Station or Amtrak to points further. Vassar has a reputation of being artsy and I think that's fair - the art, film and dance departments are outstanding - but make no mistake, Vassar is also an academic powerhouse. Regarding the arts, Steinway's daughter went to Vassar and he donated many pianos. All residential houses have a Steinway, and music lessons of any kind are free to all students on financial aid. There's a Shakespeare garden on campus where all botanical species mentioned In Shakespeare's works thrive except for those that are poisonous or fictitious! There is also an art museum on campus including works by O'Keefe, Pollard, Rembrandt and Picasso. On the academic front, Vassar College is known for its open curriculum - there are very few academic requirements. One of those is a year of foreign language, which one cannot test out of. However, students can choose any language in the world they wish to learn and if Vassar does not offer it they will find a tutor for you. How cool is that? Vassar is also the first college ever to have a cognitive science major. The library has some original works by Dante and Dickens and students are welcome to view them on request. Speaking of the library, it includes a meditation room, where no books or phones are allowed. While I didn't have a chance to taste the food in the dining hall, I love that there is a section where students can cook for themselves with ingredients provided by the college, and they serve ice cream all day! In speaking with admissions, it's clear to me that Vassar is looking for motivated, driven students who are deeply invested in their communities and will take advantage of their open curriculum. And I think that the students who would be happy here are open minded, deeply intellectually curious young people.