<p>So after experiencing the highest percentage increase in admissions applications among the most competitive national liberal arts colleges this year--an eye-popping 45% increase in apps from last year--Skidmore chose to admit 35%. With 8,300 total applications, 35% amounts to 2,905 acceptances for an entering class of 650. That would amount to a yield rate of about 22%, which I find hard to believe. Skidmore's AdCom must be thinking that the vast majority of applications were "Why Not?" applicants who were drawn to apply mostly because there was not a lengthy supplemental essay required.</p>
<p>We'll see how this pans out, but my intuition tells me that Skidmore may very well wind up with closer to 700 or 750 students saying "yes" to their "yes". If that occurs, will they have enough housing to accomodate such an influx of new students? Two years ago, Wesleyan made a similar miscalculation, and it was "triples city" for so many first year students that I thought their furious parents would march on the President's office themselves.</p>
<p>If they are targeting a class of 650, they are assuming a 22.5% yield. </p>
<p>Skidmore is in my kid’s final 2. When we toured, they mentioned that the size of the college had varied over the last few years because they had a much larger class a few years back, but now they were getting “back to normal”. It is not just the dorm conditions, but all of the hicups that occur with variation in class size (e.g., academic staffing, etc.)</p>
<p>Skidmore seems to be heavy on the PR/advertising (what other college has a slogan?) so maybe they an institution in flux?</p>
<p>So, I agree. It seems like they have a lot of uncertainty on their incoming class size this year – they are definitely assuming something different than in 2008.</p>
<p>A parent of a current Skidmore student called the other night, and I asked if she knew anything about the tripling - whether or not it was still occurring and if so, to what extent. Her daughter is a junior now and was tripled her freshman year. The mom said a new residence hall opened this past fall and that another one is slated to open this upcoming fall. Unfortunately, none of the accepted student days work for us, but we’re planning to go up for one of their regular ol’ prospective student visits this Thursday. The housing situation is definitely something I’m going to ask about.</p>
<p>Their marketing is working. It definitely made us take a very serious closer look after S got accepted, and now I believe it is one of his final two schools as well. (And I’m finding myself hoping he chooses Skidmore.) I’ve even told several people about their “Creative Thought Matters” materials and how well-done they are.</p>
<p>I agree that a yield rate this year of only 22% would be a surprise. For goodness sake, let’s hope it’s not another 27% yield - that would be a class of 784! Perhaps, though, they internally plan for separate yield rates for US citizens and internationals. The increase in apps from international students was crazy, and maybe that population has a lower yield rate than Americans.</p>
<p>It is noteworthy that of this year’s admitted students, 10% are internationals. I was not aware of the wild variation that is going on among the last few classes, but it seems counter-intuitive that yield would descend to a level associated with much less selective colleges. I have a feeling that they did not expect their marketing efforts would produce such a bounty of highly qualfied applicants and they found it hard to turn many of them down. With the 45% uptick in applications, I predicted a 27% acceptance rate and a 29% yield. That would have resulted in a class size of 649. Just to compare these numbers with a nearby liberal arts college that seems to be accepting many of the same students Skidmore does, Bard last year had a 35% acceptance rate and a 28% yield. I don’t understand why Skidmore would be so comparatively unattractive as to have a 22% yield. We’ll find out next fall, but I would expect a pretty large incoming class.</p>
<p>Their marketing materials seem superficial to me, so not a plus. On the other hand, my daughter seems to like them. The variation in class size is not a positive either. Oh well, her choice, so we’re just waiting. I’m sure Skid is a great place – the students there seem to love it…</p>
<p>That’s funny about the materials and our difference in perception. I see them as perfect for a school considered to be full of artistic students and that has a very strong art program. </p>
<p>I agree that the variation in class size is not a positive at all. I also had predicted that the acceptance rate was going to end up being in the high 20 percents this year. They could have put more people on the waitlist and then called upon them as needed. I’m not feeling very good about this potentially huge freshmen class. I really wonder what they are thinking. Hmmm.</p>
<p>Funny, morganhil, that you picked Bard as the college to use for the comparison. As I mentioned on the other current thread, that’s the other one at the top of S’s list!</p>
<p>My son is a junior, a member of the “big” class. Yes, there were many triples in his freshman year (although he was in a huge double, the housing shortage didn’t seem to affect incoming boys as badly as incoming girls). Apart from the housing issues, I can’t say that the bumped size of the class has had any negative affect on him. First of all, he wouldn’t know any better, as it’s always been that way. But more importantly I have never heard him complain that he couldn’t get a spot in any classes he needed to take, or that there were any overcrowding issues in the library or the dining hall. They seem to have adjusted the resources required to handle the bumped sized class pretty seamlessly.</p>
<p>Great post. Carmen, that is quite an anxiety-reliever. I think kids can more easily cope with a triple as a freshman because it’s all new anyway. But not being able to get into your intended classes is a problem that plagues almost all the elite northeast schools, including some Ivies, as posts in CC previously have suggested.</p>
<p>My son is currently a freshman at Skidmore, not sure what size this year’s class is, but I believe somewhere close to 650. A large percentage of freshman were tripled this year as well. He was just “untripled” just 3 weeks ago, the housing office was hoping to have it under 50 kids by the end if the year. I think this is now the norm at this school. The rooms are pretty big, but not for three people. On the plus side, they get $500 back for each semester they are in a triple. Still absolutely loves the school!</p>
<p>The funny thing is there seems to be no housing shortage once they get past freshman year. My son went straight from his double to a single in the same building. This year he’s in one of the apartments, which again is a single for him, 6 bedrooms sharing a kitchen, dining area, living room and 2 baths. They even have an empty room this semester with other juniors abroad. </p>
<p>There’s a ton of housing being built on campus, so the tripling that has become the freshman norm is not expected to be the norm forever. However that doesn’t really help the next incoming freshman class . . .</p>
<p>My dd, who is a freshman, is still in a triple at the end of the year. I was very concerned about her being in a triple to begin with, but as it turns out there was plenty of room. We bought her two of those plastic drawer sets and put stuff under her bed. It worked out, and she really gets along with her roommates.</p>
<p>The administration is building new apartments, but not for freshman nor sophomores (I think). They are for juniors and seniors. At the same time that they are building the new apartments, they are knocking down the older ones. I don’t know what this means as far as an increase in total number of units available. I haven’t heard that any residence halls/dorm style buildings are being built. Some of the daughter’s friends were in doubles this year. Perhaps, some of the sophomores will be put in doubles next year to accommodate the larger freshman class.</p>
<p>Yes, I was going to mention those apartments, which are slated to be sophomore housing nearer to the main part of campus, with kitchenettes instead of full kitchens like the other apartments, reflecting the fact that sophomores are usually still on full meal plans.</p>
<p>From what I have seen, the standard housing progression goes from freshman doubles (often triples) in a traditional dorm, to sophomores in singles in those same dorms, to juniors in on-campus apartments and seniors either upgrading to newer on-campus apartments or moving off campus to local rentals. The school really wants to keep all students housed on campus, thus the upgrading of the apartment units for upperclassmen. The reason the older units are being torn down is that they have outlived their original useful life by over a decade - my son is (by choice) in one the last of the apartments to be torn down, right next to the construction zone. They are clearly very tired, and seem much like cheap ski condos that have been used and abused for too many years.</p>
<p>Interestingly there is no “freshman housing” per se - the segregation begins with the apartments for upperclassman, and juniors or seniors can continue to live in the traditional dorm spaces if they care to, or if they lose the housing lottery.</p>
<p>Good luck Morgan, for you and your son. I hope that he has as rewarding an experience at Skidmore as my son has had - it was love at first sight that never waned!</p>
<p>Thanks, Carmen! We just got back from a cross-country trip, helping our son move into his dorm at Skidmore. It’s a triple, but it’s definitely big enough for the three young men who will live there. So far, he is having a blast and is excited about his classes that will start soon. By the way, to get back to the original intent of my post, the final class size for the Class of 2017 at Skidmore is 665 students. With 2,905 applicants getting acceptance letters, the yield is thus 22.8%. Also, as I recall from the Director of Admissions presentation, 30% of this year’s class are American students of color and an additional 8% are international. </p>
<p>This was my first visit to Skidmore and I was very impressed by the beauty of the campus, the friendliness of everyone I met there and the energy and vision of President Glotzbach and his team of Deans and Directors. Glotzbach clearly understands the unique mission of Skidmore as a high quality liberal arts college and he strikes me as a very authentic and visionary leader. I am very pleased that my son wound up at Skidmore.</p>