Forced Triple

On our first visit (Spring 2016) we were told on the tour that most freshman were in forced triples, but on our second visit (2 weeks ago) we were told on the tour that most freshman are in doubles (some in triples). Can a freshman or parent of a freshman confirm? Not sure what would have changed. My daughter is thinking of applying ED and while not a deal breaker, it’s something to consider.
Thanks for any info.

Hey I am a freshman at Skidmore, and I’m in a triple. I think why you were told different things on those two visits was because Skidmore has been trying to reduce the number of freshman in triples by adding more rooms, and has been successful in those efforts. So between those two visits the number of freshman in triples has gone down.

Here’s an article from the fall of 2016 detailing the decrease in freshman in triples: http://skidmorenews.com/new-blog/2016/10/2/new-rooms-lowers-percentage-of-freshmen-in-triples . So the 2015-16 school year was a high point 91% of triples, for 2016-17 it was 70%, and I expect it has gone down even further this year, which is why they told you something else.

Also this is just my 2c, but I love living in a triple! My room is very large and comfortable and I love my roommates. I do have one of the larger triples–it’s one of the ones they show on tours actually–but other triples are not much smaller. My roommates and I have an especially good relationship, but most people I know also get along with their roommates fine. Also, it is very easy to get a room change, and things start to shift around a lot in October and November. Many people have moved out of triples into doubles, sometimes because of roommate problems, but also just because they wanted more space.

If you are a girl you are much more likely to get a triple than a guy, just because of the gender ratio of the student body, but I still know many girls who got doubles.

Thanks so much for your response - very helpful. I’m glad it’s working out for you. My daughter is a little aprehensive about it, but loves the school otherwise so hopefully she gets in and lucks out with either a double or great roommates!

Our daughter is a Skidmore Freshman, class of 2021. She’s in a huge double. (loves everything about the school, BTW)

I second Andover2016’s comments. Skidmore is trying to reduce triples, but triples generally aren’t a problem, as the dorm rooms are much larger than average.

Skidmore stubbed their toe a little in 2016-2017 only because that incoming class yield was so much higher than anticipated. That class of 2020 had 721 students in it, while the ‘average’ incoming class size is around 680. Those unexpected 41 extra students meant that 41 more people had triples, then planned.

This years class of 2021 has 665 in it, so right away you can see that with 56 fewer students then last year, and a few more dorm rooms, the percentage of freshmen in triples is falling fast. I believe that it’s right around 50% this year.

Glad to hear that your daughter is thinking of applying ED. That’s definitely the way to go. Check out the below link to the Skidmore admissions office, and note that Skidmore lists ED numbers in bold. That’s a big hint from the school. They really encourage ED applications. Class of 2021 had an overall acceptance rate of 24.5%, which breaks out as 52% ED acceptance, and 23% RD acceptance.

http://skidmore.edu/admissions/facts/class-profile.php

@JaxBlueman - thanks for the helpful info and glad to hear that your daughter is happy at Skidmore. My daughter just applied ED last night. She’s excited but also nervous! Had quite a few schools on her list but Skidmore was her top choice after spending a day there and she decided she’d be more dissapointed if she didn’t get in vs. regret missing out on any of the others by applying ED. She also liked the fact that so far, no one from her high school is applying (she actually checked with her GC on that) I will be glad to have the whole search process over TBH. Best of luck to your daughter.