Chance me for Skidmore?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Skidmore College
1

I am a white male homeschooled student from Florida.

GPA: 3.8 UW

ACT: 29 (average for some of these schools, low for others)

I have taken many courses through dual enrollment, getting A’s in all except one (B+).

I took higher level math courses (Calc in sophomore year).

I’ve taken interesting classes, taking advantage of my homeschooled status(e.g. Python programming, Astronomy, Philosophy, Ethics).

My ECs:

Volunteer at local animal shelter with 100+ hours.

Accepted to two different competitive internships at a sea turtle hospital, spent over 115+ hours over the summer.

Tae Kwon Do for 13 years, currently have my 2nd degree black belt. I have been an assistant teacher to the younger classes for the past year.

Hapkido for 2 years.

Part of my local highschool’s varsity bowling team for the past two seasons. Team captain the most recent season. (I was allowed to participate since I’m in the zone for the school). (I submitted a video of me bowling)

I have won mutiple tournaments and qualified for state tournaments in bowling.

I just recently qualified for Junior Gold, which is a national tournament.

I have a job at a local ice cream shop that I’ve held for the past 4 months or so.

I’ve built computers since around freshman year. I listed this as a hobby.

My letter of recommendations are pretty good, two from my dual enrollment professors (english, philosphy). One from my past physics teacher. A couple others from my bowling coach and Tae Kwon Do teacher. 7.5-8/10 probably.

My Essay is good in my opinion. Since I’ve homeschooled I’ve traveled the world with my dad. I tried to steer clear of the cliche “Seeing different cultures changed who I am as a person,” and made it more personal. 8/10.

2

What’s your weighted? Because right now Skidmore would be a reach unless it’s really good. For the 18-19 year, they only admitted 0.4% of their class as homeschooled (only 3 applicants). Your ECs are fine, but I don’t see any academic awards. Classes like Astronomy, and Philosophy won’t make you stand out, they’re commonly offered (Philosophy is an IB class at most schools, Astronomy is normally offered as a lower-level science elective). Do you have any AP exams? I’m not going to lie to you, the strongest parts of your application are your math classes and your volunteering.

3

To be fair, just because they didn’t admit alot of homeschoolers doesn’t mean that they don’t admit homeschoolers, it probably means not alot apply. And my act is above their average (a 28 in 2023) and my GPA is above their average. Academic awards are harder for homeschoolers, if not impossible. Awards are given in a school setting. Of course skidmores acceptance rate is low so that would make it a reach.

4

Don’t ask for people to chance you and then complain. I’m giving you an honest opinion, which you asked for. First, I was merely pointing out a statistic. Second, their middle 50% is a 26-30, so yes, while you’re on the higher end of that, it’s still not a great place to be when you don’t have any APs (that you’ve stated) or a ton of amazing ECs and GPA. Academic awards are not impossible for homeschool students, there are hundreds of competitions out there for students of all backgrounds. Awards are actually normally not given in a school setting if you look around the forums (most students on here only have one or two school awards which are typically trivial). Some outside ones include service awards (Governor’s Volunteer Award, National Student Volunteer Award, President’s National Service Award), national academics (President’s Award for Educational Achievement, President’s Award for Educational Excellence), Test-Based (AP Scholar, National Merit), and competitions (AAN Neuroscience Prize, ARML, Robotics Design contests, Conrad Spirit of Innovation, Doodle 4 Google, Google Science Fair, ISEF, BioGENEius, MIT INSPIRE, MIT THINK Scholars Program, STS, Youngarts). Also, just because an acceptance rate is low doesn’t mean it’s a reach. Most of the people on this site would find Skidmore as a safety. All a low acceptance rate means for a school like Skidmore is that they have more applicants than they have space for. Don’t snap back if you don’t have the correct info, and don’t ask for advice when you won’t accept what’s given to you.

5

Have you visited and/or interviewed? Demonstrated interest is important.

For the most part I agree with @izrk02 , however, I thinks it’s a stretch to state Skidmore is a safety for most on CC. While Skidmore can frequently be a safety for HYP and top tier LACs, it is not a safety for the majority of students.

Skidmore is not need blind, and I’ve seen many students with stats at or above their mid range denied in RD.

The tenor of your responses to critical feedback is likely a function of your youth, inexperience and hopefulness. Technically students with your stats are admitted RD but statistically it seems unlikely you will be among them.

Those who take the time to respond to your post do so to provide you with the benefit of their experience – at YOUR request. However disappointing that feedback may be, you would better served accepting it rather than disputing it. I recommend making peace and embracing the safeties and matches on your list. I’m certain you will have some very good options once you complete the process