<p>We don't know yet whether DS will be accepted at Middlebury and/or Skidmore, but if it comes down to a decision between the two, does anyone have any light to shed on a comparison? I'm thinking Middlebury may a bit more isolated, but in terms of the kinds of students, academic programs, alumni network, social life, school "character", etc., what do you think are the major differences? At this point, DS is primarily interested in creative writing and technology innovation (but doesn't want to be an engineer). I'm posting a similar question on the Skidmore forum -- I expect I may hear a different point of view there!</p>
<p>If I had to choose between Midd and Skidmore, I would definitely choose Midd…</p>
<p>In terms of academics, alumni network, facilities, quality of life ect. Midd is way better… the only drawback - if you can call it so - is that it is a bit isolated. Personally, I think that the location of Middlebury is ideal. The picturesque view, magical wilderness and the enchanting peacefulness set the perfect learning environment. + the community is really intellectual and you can do so many things there…</p>
<p>You can look at the admission rates, the rankings or the reviews and you’ll see what I mean…or even better visit both campuses… + Midd is more selective (Higher SATs, GPA and so on)</p>
<p>I even find hard to compare Midd with even the Ivies and with the other top unis -Stanford Rice, Duke ect - ( for Undergraduate of course )…</p>
<p>Best Wishes!!!</p>
<p>i know both schools really well and from an academic standpoint middlebury is your option.
skidmore is for a buncha rich white kids that couldnt really get in anywhere else… (no offense)
it is a really great school but i think middlebury is better rigor wise.
as for the environments… saratoga is a really great college town and i think theres a little more to do than in middlebury.</p>
<p>If my kid were interested in anything related to the creative arts I think the playing field is much more level than rankings might suggest. Skidmore holds it’s own quite well.</p>
<p>2 sons at Midd-gf of ones roommate at Skidmore-Midd much more selective, as we all know, harder academically.
Bread Loaf writing school hard to beat-plus the long tradition of writers-add the information science and environmental studies, Bill McKibben etc, and really most people would choose Midd.
Saratoga really isn’t a hell of a lot more “happening” than Midd. The downtown is cute, but small, and Burlington isn’t so far if you need a city sometimes.
I don’t think Skidmore is “a bunch of rich white kids who couldn’t get in anywhere else” but certainly a bit less selective and diverse.</p>
<p>And of course the food and facilities are better at Midd.</p>
<p>I already wrote this in the Skidmore section but people seem to be actually talking here but this is what I wrote: "While Middlebury and Skidmore may sound similar on a paper comparison, they are on completely different levels. As a student who has applied to both (and visited both overnight with a cousin at Middlebury and a friend at Skidmore) I understand the appeal that they both have: A liberal atmosphere, lots of greenery on and around the campus, a small lac intimate learning environment. But Skidmore is a school much more focused on the arts and therefore has a larger and more visible gay population. Skidmore also has many more students from the city and it shows by the way students dress and act. </p>
<p>Middlebury on the other hand has much stronger academics and less of a focus on the arts. Middlebury is also much preppier (think J. Crew) as opposed to the urban style of the Skidmore students (more American Apparel/Urban Outfitters). My top choice is Middlebury due to the rigorous academics."</p>
<p>‘I don’t think Skidmore is “a bunch of rich white kids who couldn’t get in anywhere else” but certainly a bit less selective and diverse.’</p>
<p>Again, one might be surprised if looking in the creative related fields. It’s entirely possible that Skidmore could be more selective and diverse in some specific areas. Clearly, on the whole, Middlebury offers wonderful facilities, faculty, and hand picks a nice variety of bright and friendly students, but it’s connection to NYC, Yaddo, and other creative outlets may be less than Skidmore’s… . dunno. . It’s worth checking out to find the fit that’s best for you.</p>
<p>I have a daughter that went to Skidmore and my son will be attending Midd as a Feb next year. I can not really speak to Midd as a parent so I leave that to other parents and students who have first hand experience. I will say that my daughter went on a tour of Skdimore and knew right away that was her first choice school. Could she have gotten into a more “selective” school? Probably… at least statistically she could have… but the reality was that Skidmore’s concentration in fine arts was obvious (and that appealed to her) from the minute you stepped on campus. She enjoyed the social aspects of the campus and felt challenged enough in her regular academic classes as well. After 3 times of going through this process, I have come to trust that “feeling in their gut” that kids seem to get when they visit schools and spend time there. One of the hardest things for me as a parent was to let my children find their own path. Even with my S who will be going as a Feb to Midd, I remained skeptical until he showed me his plans for his “febmester.” He has already begun his planning for his Appalachian Trail through hike and looks forward to arriving on the Midd campus when the party is well under way! It was hard for me not to get too over identified in this process and as I said, I have done it 3X already. Part of me wanted him to go to the easily recognizable big name Ivy school for bragging rights at neighborhood parites etc., but in reality, I know that he has made the right choice for him and he will have a wonderful college experience. Trust your kid supportivemom… he/she has done a great job so far to be in a position to make such a tough choice.</p>
<p>Middlebury is ranked 4th in the US News rankings, one spot behind Swarthmore and one ahead of Wellesley.</p>
<p>Skidmore is in a five way tie for 41st with Connecticut College, Franklin and Marshall, Furman, and Union.</p>
<p>BUt I cant support how the US News and world report ranks schools based on a seemingly arbitrary set of criteria in an effort to assess in uniform terms what at its core a highly individualized experience. A great many kids would fare better both during and after their time in college by attending a Skidmore versus a Middlebury, based on their own plans, preferences, and feelings. Midd does not shine in the arts, both in course offerings and in campus culture</p>
<p>Oh, and who needs five month vermont winter and New England mud season for the sake of a relatively strong academic reputation when LAC’s hardly have name recognition to begin with? </p>
<p>its picking Midd for its prestige when its prestige isnt a strength in the first place. but if you happen interested in applying to grad school or working in finance or whatever, Midd is an unequivocally stronger platform assuming equal academic success at skidmore. (of course midd also has a uniquely active, outdoorsy student body with access to vermont nature, not to mention superb academic programs in environmental studies, among others, so it certainly has its own specific strengths that attract students on the basis of fit.) </p>
<p>so the point here is: figure out what you want and find the school that offers it best!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say the winter is a huge difference between the two… Saratoga isn’t exactly Sarasota. </p>
<p>I think that Saratoga is a bigger town and love the racetrack. Know nothing about the school except that’s its in a beautiful spot and I drive thru there when taking S to and from Middlebury. And while I won’t say the Art department is huge at Midd, I will say that my non-art major of a son has found a lot of opportunities at Midd that has given him some opportunities he might not have experienced otherwise. Midd’s J-term first year was spent with a visiting artist from Germany learning and doing installation art. Second semester was another visiting artist who combined science and the Arts and he did all kinds of glass fusing. Third semester was a drawing class where I was blown away by how much his talent developed. Fourth semester he’s found himself a space in the Old Stone Mill when he put forth a non-academic proposal to work on his art. Seems to me that Midd has gone way above and beyond what would be expected in order to encourage art and innovation - ESPECIALLY for a kid who is not an Art major or minor.</p>
<p>This said… Midd is a small school, can be rather cliquey in general and between athletes and non-athletes (even when you used to be an athlete) and yes, the winter can be extremely long. Academically, Midd is a bear of a school and one should heed the warning from Princeton Review that says, kids study the most. </p>
<p>I would worry less about Prestige (although Midd is recognized more than Fisherman might realize) and concentrate on an overall fit - Academic and social - for the particular student.</p>
<p>I see that you’ve posted a couple of these comparison threads (Mac vs. Wesleyan, Midd vs. Skidmore). Looks like your son applied to some great schools. Since the applications already are in, and considering that these are some of the most competitive schools in the nation, I’d wait until he receives his decisions before worrying too much about how one school compares to another. There will be plenty of time for that sort of research in April. He may find that he has many difficult decisions to make, or some of the choices may be eliminated for him.</p>
<p>Arcadia, you are quite right that it is early on to be thinking about these comparisons – although he has received some “early writes”, he may well not get into any of the colleges I’ve posted about, or he may get into some but without the financial support we need. So all of this is theoretical, but very interesting nonetheless. I sincerely appreciate everyone chiming in on this discussion, as we live on the west coast and know very little about most of the colleges DS has applied to. It’s all a fun and exciting puzzle to think about. Thanks to everyone for your input!</p>
<p>This would be a great choice for any student who got to pick among these two.</p>
<p>Middlebury has more selective student population.</p>
<p>Middlebury is in a tiny town while Skidmore is a tourist town (which might be pricey for college students) … Middlebury students can get to Burlington fairly easily but that is not the same as walking 10-15 minutes to a burger, ice cream, or pizza.</p>
<p>Middlebury is a classic LAC while Skidmore has a more ecclectic offering with more arts, education, and business.</p>
<p>Both campuses are very beautiful … Middlebury is very large, spead out and out in the open … Skidmore’s is nesteled in the woods and more cozy. Both are great but I’d guess most students would prefer one setting over the other. </p>
<p>I agree with comment that Middlebury students tend to be on the prep end while the Skidmore students tend to be more urban/artsie.</p>
<p>I graduated from Middlebury and now live within half an hour of Skidmore. I have a good friend (also a Midd Grad) who now coaches at Skidmore. Saratoga is a great town and I often enjoy going there. I’ve always felt Skidmore was an underrated school that was slowly moving up in the rankings (I’ve hypothesized that this was largely the result of the great improvements to the town of Saratoga - not to mention some construction of better facilities on the campus itself). Middlebury, however, is also on the move up the rankings. It’s significantly better respected than Skidmore. In fact, I was surprised even to see someone asking for a comparison of the two schools. To put it into perspective, based on the rankings, it’s like comparing Stanford to UC Irvine. They’re really just not in the same class academically. No offense to Skidmore. I think it’s a fine school, but they’re not drawing from the same pool.</p>
<p>well i’ve lived in middlebury and saratoga and been a huge part of both schools and i definitely stand by my ground that saratoga is a better college town. they offer discounts for skid kids and everybodyreally accepts them. it is a really good school for art but middlebury can’t be beat by skidmore when it comes to academics.</p>
<p>“skidmore is a bunch of rich white kids”</p>
<p>don’t agree with that at all</p>
<p>skidmore is pretty underrated though. </p>
<p>and rankings aren’t everything… middlebury hasn’t been in the top 10 rankings for nearly as long as older schools like williams, amherst, and bowdoin</p>
That’s a ridiculous comment. My son’s navience says he can get into much “better” schools than Skidmore, but Skidmore is his first choice. To make a blanket statement that Skidmore kids couldn’t get into anywhere else is factually wrong and obnoxiously elitist.
There are plenty of kids at Skidmore who had the grades and stats to get into more “selective” colleges, but they chose Skidmore for very solid reasons. My D is a freshman there and certainly has been challenged academically. She loves it there and so do most of her friends.
Just FYI this thread is 5 years old…