Vassar Welcomes Students From Around the Globe

POUGHKEEPSIE – Six hundred sixty freshmen begin classes recently from an initial pool of 7,306 applicants. Of these, only 26.9 percent were offered admission into Vassar’s class of 2020.

This new class’s strong academic background is marked by 68 percent who were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class. The class is also diverse in numerous ways: 33.5 percent are students of color, 88 are first-generation college students, and nearly 16 percent are international students with either foreign or dual citizenship. One hundred seventy-one students are fully bilingual or speak English as a second language. Sixty-two percent are receiving need-based financial aid from Vassar.

The class also boasts an impressive numbers of leaders with 12 class or student council presidents, 180 high school club presidents, 74 who founded a high school club, 134 varsity sports captains, and 33 who served as editor-in-chief of a major high school publication.

This class comes to Vassar from 44 states and 30 foreign countries, with international students hailing from: Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Members of this class already have a varied array of accomplishments to their credit. Several have performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. One student researched DNA extraction of bog turtle eggshells for the American Museum of Natural History. Another was the former junior fishing world record holder for striped bass. One class member represented Team USA at the Pan-American and European Maccabi Games in tennis. One is a published novelist, while another is a town spelling bee champion. The class also includes a cartoonist for Korean Quarterly, a member of the Pakistan National Debate Team, a licensed airplane pilot, a nationally ranked figure skater, a rabbit breeder, a blacksmith apprentice, and a beekeeper.

Eight members of the class are veterans of the United States armed services, the fourth group of vets to enroll as freshmen as part of the college’s partnership with the Posse Foundation that began in 2013.
In descending order, the top U.S. feeder states for the class of 2020 are New York (137), California (75), New Jersey (55), Massachusetts (48), Connecticut (27), Florida (22), Pennsylvania (18), Texas (17), Maryland (16), Illinois (15), and Virginia (15).