My son and I visited Skidmore this week. I though I would share what we learned.
GENERAL INFO
• All freshmen live in triples
• Lots of upperclassmen live in apartment-style configurations
• 90% of students live on campus all four years
• Admissions rep said that “clubs are the crux of social life” – this was reinforced on the tour
• No Greek organizations
• Very active Outing Club
• 15-20 minute walk to town
• 3,500 on campus events per year
CURRICULUM
• Beyond your major, you are required to take courses in eight areas, although some courses can cover two of the areas
o Writing heavy course
o Quantitative reasoning
o Art
o Natural science
o Humanities
o Social science
o Foreign language
o Justice and power
• Freshmen take a first-year seminar taught by the person who is their pre-major academic advisor
• Freshmen are also assigned an upperclassman peer advisor
• Freshmen have the option of doing their first semester in London – up to 36 slots available for that – they take part in the same first-year seminar with a Skidmore professor/advisor
APPLYING
• Admissions rep mentioned four areas that are most important to them 1) course rigor, 2) grades, 3) demonstrated interest and 4) recommendation letters
• Roughly 45% of the class is filled through Early Decision
• Regular decision acceptance rate was 37%; dodged the question of what the ED acceptance rate was
• Skidmore does not require a supplemental essay in the Common App
FINANCIAL AID
• Meets full need, mostly in grants, but students should expect to have a $2,500 loan per year
• They offer some merit scholarships, but only for for science, math and music majors
• Admission is not need blind, but while they said they consider need throughout the application review process, it sounded like it really comes into play when they are looking at the bottom of the acceptances. Said that more money was available up front.
Hi! Some quick corrections-- regular decision admission rate is around 20%, and the early decision rate is above 50. Many first years are assigned to live in triples (not forced triples, rooms that were built to accommodate three), but most wind up in doubles by the end of the year. Male students are typically initially assigned to doubles, it’s rare to have male students ever living in triples.
The two merit scholarships, both offered for $15,000/year to multiple students don’t require students to have any particular major, but expect students to participate in the academic area for which the scholarship is awarded (music or STEM).
@nehiker - Some of the information you cite is incorrect. My son is a freshman. He lives in a double (which is large). The college’s own website lists this past year’s admissions stats - 47% admitted through the Early Decision process. Overall admission rate is around 30%. Last year saw the largest applicant pool at more than 11,000 applicants. And just to throw it out there to those reading this thread, my son LOVES Skidmore so far.
Interest can be demonstrated in the following ways: Visiting the campus for an “open house”, interviewing, and applying early decision. Some schools monitor whether a student opens the emails they send (digital tracking). Since one will never know which schools do this, it is imperative to open all emails from colleges. We visited Skidmore in the summer of 2017 for an “open house”, then returned to interview in August 2018 (and did an “arts tour”) that day, applied ED Round 1, and opened every email. Since Skidmore did not visit my son’s school, attending that session was not an option, but if they had visited he would have attended that as well.
I’ve read other threads that talk about the different “types” of students at Skidmore. Some have noted that the school is rather clique-y and that the artsy and sporty students don’t mix, that students do not move freely between the various groups. Can anyone speak to that?
I will also add my two cents that not all freshmen have triples. Not even close. @nehiker should amend their post.
My daughter is currently a Skidmore junior, and had a beautiful, large double as a freshman, before moving to a single as a sophomore, and is now in the on campus apartments as a junior. The real fact is that living arrangements are one of Skidmore’s many strengths. I mean… what other college can offer a sophomore a single? Even the freshmen who are assigned triples during their fall semester, often are moved to doubles during spring semester, if they so choose. Exact percentage of freshmen who may start out in triples will obviously vary, depending on incoming class size, but during my daughters freshmen year, it was less than 50%.
@tbb123, Regarding inter-mingling of different types of students, my daughter plays a sport, but is also involved in what might be considered ‘artsy’ activities. She says that one of the best things about Skidmore is how well ALL students get along, and support eachother. It’s a very open minded, “do your own thing” type of school community, with little, if any judgemental attitude between groups.
Finally, @astonmartin18 gives great advise as to the many ways that a prospective student can show interest, and he/she is correct as to how important that is. I will add to those excellent sugestions, that while visiting campus consider setting up an interview with a Professor within the students expected area of study. My daughter did this, and not only are we sure that it helped her application stand out with the admissions team, it also helped her decide that Skidmore was definitely the right school for her. As a result, she happily applied ED, with it’s substantially higher acceptance rates.
A month into my daughters third year at Skidmore, my daughter, and my wife and I could not be happier about our daughters choice.
My D is currently a Jr, but she was in a double as a freshman and had a single last year. I’d give admissions a call before crossing them off the list over a possible non-issue.
All Freshmen do NOT live in Triples. I just visited a friend who is a Freshman and he lives in a double in a Freshman Tower Dorm. two roomates on each side of close dores, connected in the middle via a shared bath for the 4 of them.
If you review Skidmore College’s Common Data Set 2018-2019 (a 35 page document with tons of data) which can be found on their website, last year Skidmore had a Regular Decision Admit Rate of 27%. The Early Decision Admit Rate was 63%
May I chime in about the triple? For what it’s worth, remain open about the option. One of my greatest concerns about my son’s freshman dorm experience at a different school was that he would end up in a triple. It came true - a built up triple which is a room meant for two. It was tight but his two random roommates were great guys! The three got along well and although my son is not living with them this year, he is still friends with them. He also learned to be more flexible living in a triple.