Wow. My daughter got denied from a few of the schools u mentioned @sca1999. She worked very hard, had strong ECs and is crushed. Maybe its harder for females to get into these schools because there is too much female competition? I guess if she was male she would be rewarded for her hard work?? Really disheartening to hear of more male priveledge. I think schools should start to have gender-blind admissions…
Congrats to all admitted students and for the rejected ones I am truly sorry. I was rejected as ED2 and I know how it feels but after all I will attend a lovely college that i like very much. everything happens for a reason - cliche but true- you will be amazed how things end up in a beautiful way I promise.
In this case it’s not male privilege, but like all schools, trying to have a balanced set of students. Schools that were once all female can struggle to get to 50/50 when they are coed. Skidmore’s ratio hovers in the 60/40 range depending on the year. At another school, like Clarkson, who’s ratio swings the other way, a female with the same stats as a male would have an easier time being admitted.
"@cavs4lf @Akqj10 @mamabe Skidmore’s policy: “Skidmore College provides need-based financial aid to most admitted students who demonstrate need, but the admission process is not need-blind for a small percentage of applicants.” What does that mean? To me, it’s like pregnancy: you’re either pregnant or you’re not. You are not need-blind if you are considering need for some and not for others. And the phrase “need-aware” sounds Orwellian – as my husband says, it means they’re aware of your need and don’t give a damn. "
@mnemom , @Akqj10 described it in #261. Need aware schools like Skidmore still base the vast majority of its admissions decisions w/o reference to need. That’s what it means. When Wesleyan went “need aware” a couple years ago, it didn’t get any easier to get into for those with the means to pay. Same will hold true for Haverford, which went need aware this year. It means they fill the vast majority of the class (percentage will vary by school) without reference to need.
What it typically comes down to is this: I wouldn’t want to be on the bubble from an admissions standpoint if I needed aid, because by the time they get to me, that may tip the decision otherwise than in my favor.
Also, based on a lot of experience with the three kids, just know that we seldom really and truly know the stats of others, so I wouldn’t get myself too amped up about the idea that there is this whole cohort of underachievers who stole your kid’s place at Skidmore or anyplace else. That is a black hole line of thinking, and you can drive yourself, and your kid, crazy with supposition.
Admissions is about a lot of things - grades, what they’re made of (i.e., relative rigor), test scores, athletic recruitment, geographical diversity ( I know for a fact that Bryn Mawr has been trying very hard to increase their presence in Seattle, so being from Seattle and other places they’re interested in helps), socio-economic and racial diversity, etc. etc.
But, no, the admissions process is no not like pregnancy at all. It’s not a toggle.
^ @LookAtMe , what do you mean by “outrageous”? It is what it is. If it is below 20%, which I don’t know, then it is. There’s nothing outrageous about it.
“His friend who has similar stats and same small private school but much less in way of extracurriculars and less interesting person overall, nothing special, …”
Worth noting that’s just your view as perceived by comparing to your own son, who you’ll always think is special. I suspect that his parents may have a drastically different view … about both their own kid and yours.
Skidmore is a fantastic school. Bates is a fantastic school that has historically been a bit more selective, but that may have changed. I don’t know.
I would encourage your son to be secure in his own decisions and to quit hanging around obnoxious people and caring about what they say. If he reads you being neurotic about it, it’s not going to do him any favors. I would also remind him that you didn’t put a gun to his head to apply ED.
Any differences between these schools is of no relevance. If you do well at Skidmore, you will have the same opportunities in life as a kid who does well at Bates.
If you absolutely must play this game with your son’s friend, I suppose you can tell him that Skidmore’s endowment per student is $144,000 per, while Bates’ is $139,000 per, and that Skidmore is building a new science center that will blow away Bates’ STEM facilities. You can also tell him that Lewiston absolutely sucks, while Saratoga is a place people travel to see on purpose.
appfast, Prayers? Really?
@WesmoreDad It just seems a little strange that in 2 years their acceptance has dropped around 20% and i don’t understand their logic but thats just me
jamiecl, a quick numbers crunch, and a few reasonable assumptions indicate that you’re probably right on about the less than 20% acceptance rate for the class of 2021.
We know that Skidmore received more than 10,000 applications, for a projected class size of 660.
Previous communication from Skidmore has stated that they received 622 ED applications this year.
Last years ED acceptance rate was 49%
The schools historic yield is 22%, but we know that last year’s yield substantially exceeded expectation.
*So using last years ED acceptance rate, 622 ED apps x 49% = 305 accepted ED students
*660 class size - 305 ED students = 355 RD spots open in class.
*Because of what happened last year, Skidmore will surely estimate that their yield will be north of 22%. Let’s use 25%, which may actually be a little conservative.
*A 25% yield rate means that in order to generate 355 RD enrolled students, Skidmore would have to accept 1420 RD applicants. So, 1420/(10,000-622) = 15.1% RD applicant acceptance rate.
*1420 RD apps accepted + 305 ED apps accepted = 1725 total accepted applicants.
*1725/10,000 = 17.25% overall acceptance rate.
In addition, the new Skidmore test optional policy will surely result in the average accepted test range jumping way up. Last year’s class had an ACT mid 50% range of 26-30. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that jump to 28-32 this year.
A 17.25% acceptance rate, coupled with an ACT range of 28-32 would move Skidmore up to, or very near the top of the class even for NESCAC schools.
How come all the college sites, including the College Board, say that Skidmore’s 2016 acceptance rate was still 37% when it was 28%? How many years does it take them to change it? It is misinformation for the students applying.
We thought Skidmore’s acceptance rate was 37% too. I don’t think we would have applied if we’d know Skidmore had become that selective.
JaxBlueman, “would move Skidmore up to, or very near the top of the class even for NESCAC schools”, really! To remind you the NESCAC schools are:
Williams
Amherst
Middlebury
Bowdoin
Tufts
Colby
Hamilton
Wesleyan
Bates
Trinity
Connecticut College.
I made it easy for you, you can plug Skidmore into the open slot, and Trinity would argue they are ranked the same in US news. My beef is that some colleges, such as Kenyon, Colby, and now Skidmore are either charging no application fee, no essay and or no standardized test just to get tons of applicants so their acceptance rate goes down. This is creating a vicious cycle in which high school students will start to apply to 20 or more colleges in the near future. There are only so many high stats kids, and pretending every college is becoming more difficult only adds to the hype. Unfortunately, my daughter happen to pick 3 of the colleges playing that game. Fortunately, I did tons of research on this site, and others, so she had enough of a balanced list that even with one rejection and two waiting list form these colleges she has some great options.
@trekslxchick I know that admission is not based on only test scores, but after a careful evaluation of my Ecs and etc my mentors said the pretty much everything above 30% rate would be a safety. I can post the details later if you wish. Also, I can’t go for anything that isn’t as good as Babson, Reed, Skidmore (please don’t understand that as downgrading these universities! I would be very happy in any of them), since I am an international student who requires financial aid, and of course, there is no real meaning to go to a university in the U.S if I can get a better education in my home country, so I am indeed striving for these elite universities.
Sorry if this somehow sounds cocky.
Well, that math explains a lot. My D thought this was a match, based on the old data in Naviance and other sites. Not so at this rate, and she was waitlisted. I’m glad she did not have her heart set on this school!
Akqj10, Based on this years projected numbers, I would slot Skidmore ahead of Bates too.
As for your defense of NESCAC schools, and ‘beef’ with colleges that manipulate admission numbers, let me remind you… (although specific application requirements are a constantly moving target)
Bowdoin, Bates, and Wesleyan all appear to be test optional
Colby has no application fee
It looks like Colby, Middlebury, Trinity, and Wesleyan do not require a supplemental essay.
So, it would seem that many of the more elite NESCAC LAC’s aren’t above a little application manipulation either.
In the end, colleges simply want to accept students who genuinely want to go to that college. Campus visits, interviews, and financial aid inquiries all indicate a level of interest that gives an applicant a leg up in the acceptance game.
In this day and age of Net price calculators, Expected Family contribution calculators, and ED acceptance rates that are regularly 2-3 times that of RD acceptance rates, I don’t know why any student wouldn’t apply ED1 and/or ED2 to their top 1-2 schools. There really isn’t any information that suddenly becomes available to a prospective student AFTER the March RD acceptance period, that wasn’t already fully available back in the Fall, prior to the ED 1 and ED 2 periods.
wait so what is the acceptance rate if they only accepted 660 applicants out of 10,000?
Also, does anyone know if financial aid/merit scholarship info comes with the acceptance letter?
colleger111, First, yes the financial aid info will come with the acceptance letter.
The actual acceptance rate would depend on what Skidmore projects its yield to be. For example, if they estimate that one in four students will actually accept an offer to enroll, and they need 600 total students, then they would offer admission to 600 x 4 = 2400 students. 2400/10000 = 24% acceptance rate.
What’s driving down this years RD acceptance rate is the number of ED accepted students, the rising yield rate over the past few years, and the fact that Skidmore is looking for a smaller class this year, to balance out last years higher yield, and larger class than expected.
Rising applications + rising number of ED students + rising yield + smaller class size = plummeting acceptance rate
@josevi it sounds like your mentors didn’t give you good advice.
Not all colleges that offer financial aid to international students are “elite.”
http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml
Of course, I don’t know your home country or how you ultimately evaluated which US schools would be preferable to an education there. Just be careful not to equate acceptance rate with quality of education.
@trekslxchick By no means I am equating acceptance rate to education quality, in fact, Reed college which would be one of my “safaties” is one of my top schools because of its good production of PhD.