<p>For a girl, 3.5 UW, 3.9-4.0 W, good but not outstanding EC's, not sure what wants to major in (potentially psychology).</p>
<p>Hmm, three former women's colleges with equestrian capabilities --- that's all I see in common, other than the likelihood that someone with a 3.5 UW GPA should breeze in. What else is this girl looking for in her college?</p>
<p>Supportive community feel, kind of place where people aren't overly competitive with one another, good reputation for work world, reputation beyond the immediate area. Just trying to get a feel for each of these schools relative to one another, strengths / weaknesses / reasons to go / reasons to avoid. Thanks!</p>
<p>Are they <em>too</em> easy for a 3.5 student?</p>
<p>PG - I visited all three with D2. IMHO each is very different from the other two. SB is an all women's college on thousands of beautiful acres, but feels very isolated. The other two colleges are co-ed and located in rather suburban environments. D2 didn't feel "right" at any of these three, but felt especially out-of-place at SBC because of the isolation. (She loved James Madison, which is also in the western part of Virginia.) Too easy for a 3.5 student? No, but you would probably have stronger students at Oberlin. (Profs tend to teach at the level of their students.)</p>
<p>Completely based on image rather than facts, Sweet Briar still suffers from the rich girl with a horse/finishing school image. (The only person <em>I</em> ever knew who actually graduated from SBC was in fact very bright and did not have a horse. She was from VA and very high maintenance, though. Not many grad students <em>had</em> to have designer wardrobes...) Skidmore was by former reputation the artsy version of the above, but brighter. This has abated since going coed (not the artsy and brighter part, but the other). Goucher was always viewed as more of a place for the serious student than SBC. (BTW, a very talented artist/writer girl from S's class is going there next year. She told S that no one seems to have heard of it, which surprised me. He was surprised that <em>I</em> had heard of it.)</p>
<p>I would not assume that a 3.5 GPA student would breeze into either Skidmore or Goucher -- especially Skidmore, which has gotten much more competitive in the last few years. When we visited a few years ago, the sense we got is that it is sensitive about being a safety school for a lot of students, so I think applicants need to show it some love.</p>
<p>According to the Skidmore student paper: "Out of the 7,420 students who applied, 1,690 were accepted for regular decision, and only 640 will attend Skidmore in the fall. Overall, 24 percent of applicants were accepted. Last year, 32 percent were admitted; three years ago, 42 percent got in. The acceptance rate is falling as the number of applicants rises."</p>
<p>Thanks. Being from the midwest it is hard for me to get the qualitative feel for those schools. Oh, other than I once had a teacher from Goucher who I adored, and I read about Sweet Briar in the Preppy Handbook :-)</p>
<p>"... reasons to go / reasons to avoid."</p>
<p>PG - IMO you would want a solid "reason to go" for each of these schools. "It's a good school" suffices for WashU or UMich. But SB, Goucher and Skidmore are colleges after all, and not uniformly strong in all areas. There are reasons to choose a college over a university of course. Consider how you might complete the sentence: "I turned down UMich to attend XXX College because ________ ." Good luck with the search!</p>
<p>Any college with pink and green as the school website colors will be a star in the preppie world. That's SBC. And proud of it.</p>
<p>Sweet</a> Briar College</p>
<p>My daughter just got the cutest mailing from Sweet Briar. I don't think we're wealthy or upper-class enough for the school, but it looks nice and she is particularly interested in a women's college.</p>
<p>Skidmore has managed to obtain some semblence of gender parity (40% male - - the same as Vassar); Goucher is still 68-70% female. Also, Skidmore is a bit more competitive academically.</p>
<p>Would being Jewish (reform) be problematic at any of these schools? I am guessing not for Goucher and Skidmore, but possibly SBC?</p>
<p>What would be the stereotype (and I fully admit stereotype) of the kind of student who would go to each school, in terms of backgrond, academic interests, personality, etc.?</p>
<p>barrons - Pink and green are the real colors? I thought my computer screen was going bad! jk The pink really jumps out at you doesn't it.</p>
<p>OP- Have you checked the thread "Anyone familiar with Skidmore?" I'm not sure there's an answer to your Jewish question, but you could certainly cross-post to increase the number of responses.</p>
<p>Yup, and the official nickname for sports teams is the Vixens, I kid you not.</p>
<p>Can't speak to SB, but I can guarantee you that being Jewish will not be an issue of any kind at Skidmore. I would also like to echo a previous poster who noted the increasing selectivity of Skidmore. It is a school that wants to be loved, and I've seen them waitlist and reject students they believed were using it as a safety school. One in particular had a 3.6+ UW gpa and SATs over 1400.</p>
<p>I would concur that Skidmore seems to have a rising reputation. Goucher has been on the list of schools that have not filled their freshman class. There are other schools on that list, such as The College of Wooster, whose presence continues to surprise me, but Skidmore doesn't seem to have a problem in that regard. Alhough someone described much of the architecture at Skidmore to me as "Brutalist"--I hasten to add that I have not been there so I don't know if this is accurate--Saratoga Springs is by reputation a gorgeous town, with the classic race course, 19th century spa hotels, and the summer quarters of the New York City Ballet.</p>
<p>Don't assume an admit at Skidmore. I know of students rejected with higher stats. (Not even waitlisted) And these students were admitted to other LAC's with significant merit scholarship money.</p>
<p>"Goucher has been on the list of schools that have not filled their freshman class."</p>
<p>Should I read into that, that that is a sign of trouble?</p>
<p>I was wondering about that too. Should it/could it be considered a safety for a kid with good stats, especially interested in their international programs?</p>