I’ve narrowed my choices down to Dickinson and Skidmore, and honestly have no idea which way to go. The most important thing to me is academics (I want to study biology), and when I visited I got the impression that Dickinson might have slightly better academics and more passionate student. It seemed like Skidmore students might be less serious, and Skidmore seemed like a bit more of a party school? However, I’m also very liberal, artsy person from New York City and I’m worried that Dickinson might be a bit too conservative, preppy, and more homogenous. It also has a greek life, which I didn’t really like. Were my impressions correct? What are these schools reputations in comparison to each other? Do you think that one has a better bio program? Any information that anyone could offer would be helpful, I just don’t know what to do. Both schools gave me the same amount of money, so that’s not an issue.
For what it’s worth, we visited Dickinson over spring break with our junior, and had thought about a visit to Skidmore but decided it wasn’t a great fit for him (we were focusing on test optional schools).
The student population at Dickinson seems diverse enough to support all kinds of interests, and Greek life does not seem to be a huge influence. As I recall, students cannot rush until spring of freshman year, and I did not think there were frat/sorority houses, though maybe it has all blurred together. What we saw, primarily, at Dickinson was kids who love to do “their” thing, whether it was ultimate frisbee, international studies, sculpture, or something else. We were very impressed with Dickinson.
Congrats on two wonderful choices, and you can always go with the old “coin toss” approach, not to actually decide, but to gauge your reaction when it comes down “Dickinson” or “Skidmore” – are you happy, disappointed, relieved?
I know a girl who was a biology and art double major at Skidmore and loved it. She even studied abroad in Australia. She said like anywhere there were parties but she stayed away with no issues.
Biology programs are generally the same at all schools but to look at quality, I recommend searching the departments and scanning the page. What research is being conducted? How are the faculty and what research are they involved with? Any awards or internships mentioned? Does it mention a high placement of alumni in grad school? Those are the types of things you want to search out. Either way, both schools are very good.
I can’t imagine that you will run into much of a problem with Greek life or partying; you don’t have to get involved. Those types of lifestyles will be on all college campuses; there are bound to be people you can interact with who don’t involve themselves with all that. Dickinson shouldn’t be too homogeneous; you’d fit in fine with their diverse student body.