@TheGreyKing - my D also did not want a Greek life or a huge party school and purposely avoided colleges with that rep. She is very intelligent and when she likes/respects a teacher, she absolutely loves to learn for learning’s sake. She also tends to enjoy a smaller circle of very close friends and is not a big social butterfly sort. She is a tiny bit concerned that a LAC might be too small of a community for 4 years, but personally I think she will thrive in that environment. I’m happy that she will be in a college where her professors will know her on site and will know if she misses a class, etc. (I attended a large university and made some stupid mistakes and in hindsight realize I wasted some great opportunities due to immarturity and lazy choices.)
My D applied to and was accepted to three schools on your list - Skidmore, Bard and Conn. We visited Skidmore twice (first time during a prettily-snowy 18 degree day in Feb. 2016 and she still liked it!). We visited Conn the Monday before Thanksgiving this past Nov. and the campus was pretty dead, and I’m sure that did nothing to help her with the “vibe.” She liked Conn when we visited, but she was not very excited the day she learned she was accepted. She never visited Bard, although friends have a daughter who goes there and absolutely loves it (she greatly enjoyed a semester in Germany this spring!). Her dad says Bard is the prettiest campus he has ever seen. However, we were scheduled to visit the day after accpeted students day at Skidmore where my D fell hard for the vibe and meeting so many of what she called her people. Instead of going to Bard’s acceptance day the following day, we stayed another night at Skidmore so she could stay in one of the amazing townhouse apartments on campus (the student she shadowed that day was a senior) and attend a party. That experience sealed the deal for her and she’s going to Skidmore.
She is extremely interested in acting and really likes that she can earn a BS in Theater (60 credit hours of theater concentration) while also having the flexibility to double major in something else. (She also used to ride horses in middle school (no time in HS bc of field hockey and acting), and looks forward to starting again as her PE class while at Skidmore.) She also likes to hike & backpack and was very pleased to hear about the Outdoor Club at Skidmore during accepted students day. The area around Skidmore is really beautiful, and it wouldn’t surprise me if our D didn’t want to come home during the summers since there would be so much to keep her near Saratoga Springs.
From a practical perspective, we have been very impressed with the process for newly accepted students. They already sent new students a book for the community summer read (“The Book That Changed America - How Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation.”) I like that they require freshman to take a Scribner Seminar - students had to submit their 10 choices for a seminar by today and their housing will be determined by whichever seminar they end up with (and their academic advisor will be the teacher of that seminar until they declare a major.) I also really like that they offer the opportunity for a Pre-Orientation experience for a few days before the officlal orientation, which gives the new students the option of meeting another group of like-minded students and also to move into their dorm rooms a few days early. Smart on Skidmore’s part for a variety of reasons.
I’m happy to answer any questions you may have, particularly regarding Skidmore specifics, but every kid is different and the kids who are my D’s people may not at all be your kid’s people.