Congratulations on having two great choices! You can’t go wrong.
Both have all the advantages of excellent small liberal arts colleges. You’ll be part of a close knit community with small classes where you’ll get to know your professors well.
Hopefully some current or former students or parents associated with the colleges will weigh in, but here are impressions from someone who visited both colleges with my kid during the college search. The very differences that might lead one student to pick F&M would lead another to pick Skidmore!
Here was my impression of each, from my reviews of each at the time (with my former discussion of personally relevant factors now removed):
- August 2017:
Franklin and Marshall:
We ate two meals there, so we got to know the dining hall! The food was good.
It was a very pretty, compact campus. Lancaster was a bustling town, with a minor-league baseball stadium, a surrounding community that includes some Amish people, and lots of stores and restaurants.
During freshman year, you live with people with whom you are taking a course. That is a big plus for making friends right away.
We spoke with four students working in admissions, three of whom were part of fraternities or sororities, which seem really, really big here— which was a considerable minus (in our opinion).
It was a pre-orientation week, so in the dining hall, we saw international students, the football team, and also the girls’ soccer team, which might have been comprised entirely of clones with blond ponytails.
There was a dog park adjacent to the campus, so that was exciting!
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- August 2017:
Skidmore: This was the most unexpected “hit” of our college tours. Loved it!
We had a really bubbly tour guide who was extremely enthusiastic about her classes and experiences.
The surrounding town was charming, with a block of mansions right next to the campus, and a wonderful, active town in Saratoga Springs. The campus was very pretty with lawns and trees and the “North Woods” (a forest on campus). The buildings are modern, so not your classic college look, but they were attractive buildings with a nice, unified look.
The dorm experience may begin with a double or even a triple, but then often a single for each of the other years, and the dorm rooms are nice-looking with window seats. Upperclassmen can live in on-campus apartments. The male-female ratio skews female.
Skidmore is great for studying the arts but strong across the board.
No discussion about Skidmore could be complete without mentioning the annual Beatlemore Skidmania, during which students and faculty perform their interpretations of Beatles songs!
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Personally, I preferred Skidmore, because of the frat factor at F&M and the fun quirkiness of Skidmore. But I can see why someone would pick the other, too.
I am sure there are both “cool” people and “quirky” people at both colleges, and most people will find their social fit at either. But if you are at all socially awkward or shy or quirky, Skidmore might be a slightly better fit.
In terms of academics and reputations, I think you will be happy with either.
At a $2000 difference, you might be able to get Skidmore to match F&M if you prefer it. It’s worth a try, anyway.
Best of luck with your choice. Both are great!