Greatly appreciate any advice anyone has on the above two schools. Our son is looking for a small liberal arts college a bit away from a major city that would give him quality professors in small classroom environment with room to explore and grow his interests. He is undecided in his major but right now he is interested in communication, marketing, dramatic writing, chemistry, and media/film. Does anyone have any thoughts on Skidmore College v. Clark University? Greatly appreciate any and all thoughts/considerations. Skidmore appears to be more selective in its admissions rate than Clark, but Clark has been promoting some interesting programs like the LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice). Many thanks!
Have not visited either but have researched both. Financially, merit-based aid at Skidmore is very hard to come by and is limited to specific areas of study. Clark is pretty generous with merit aid and is less selective, admissions-wise. Don’t know about need-based aid at either place.
Clark is located in a somewhat more gritty area; Skidmore’s environs are upscale. Clark’s student body is quite diverse with a lot of international students, has a strong theater program, and is within a reasonable distance of Boston. My recollection is that Skidmore is somewhat more homogeneous socioeconomically (majority white and well-off).
He would get focused attention from professors at either place.
We toured Clark, and they have great programs, but my kids were put off by the location. I’m sure it’s perfectly safe and all that, but it feels pretty urban, which they didn’t want. They also do a 5th-year free program with sounds awesome and have a combo something with Columbia. The kids at Clark seemed happy, but Worcester just wasn’t for my kids. Also, we got a pretty artsy vibe, if that helps.
Definitely visit both. There is a “Clarkie” type that either you kid will fit in with or not. One of my kid strongly considered it, but the other one didn’t apply after our tour guide went on (a bit too much in my opinion) about how only the Clarkie kids are happy there. If your son is artistic and out of the mainstream, he would likely thrive at either place.
Another option might be Muhlenberg.
I went to grad school at Clark 20 years ago, the neighborhood was bad then and has only gotten worse. I live in upstate NY now, have been to Saratoga several times and let me tell you no one will ever confuse Worcester with Saratoga.
Of course there is crime everywhere but if you haven’t visited Clark (and the city of Worcester as a whole) make sure you do before you make any decisions.
My D was accepted at both and is attending Skidmore. Had she got the LEEP scholarship we might have given it more consideration but after an overnight visit we both decided that the location was a big factor in her ultimate decision. My personal opinion is that she would not be able to venture around campus after dark by herself, not to mention leaving campus at night. And, in the end, their financial package was less than Skidmore.
Skidmore has been a great choice. D went in thinking Math/Bio/Spanish but because she really liked the Chem class she was taking, replaced bio with chem. She was offered and has taken a summer research project in Quantum Mechanics with the head of Chem Dept. I’m not sure how many freshman are invited to do 10-week summer research with stipends but she feels honored. She was also asked to take a tutoring job with the department and has been doing that for five hours each week.
ClarkU was a safety for D. FWIW, Skidmore’s acceptance rate apparently went from 37% to 29% this current app season. They are really marketing to STEM majors and trying to build those departments. When two of D’s classes were filled this semester and she was afraid of being shut out, she was assured they would figure something out. In the end, they opened up another slot for each class and, instead of being in a class of 22 students, each class has 15 or so. I thought this was great.
Make sure your son visits Worcester and the Clark campus. While the campus itself is fine, the surrounding neighborhood is sketchy. Check the crime rate for the Main South neighborhood.
I worked for a grant project housed at Clark (grant recipients were Clark faculty) for three years. I was impressed with the faculty and grad students with whom I worked.
That being said, if your son is the type who is looking for entertainment in the local area–movie theaters, interesting eateries, music, etc. Worcester doesnt offer much especially compared to Saratoga Springs and Skidmore. When it comes to theater, Skimore has a strong program that is well respected in the theater world.
Also, Worcester is 45 miles from Boston–it is not just a quick bus/train ride away. Getting to Boston from Worcester is at least an hour trip each way.
Thank you all very much. Very useful information and greatly appreciated!
@allthon , we visited both and my D has been admitted to Clark. She ended up not applying to Skidmore. We found the Skidmore students to be a little “down” as opposed to Clark students. No question, we found the Clark students to be more open and appealing.
I am always surprised by people who think the neighborhood is sketchy. It’s certainly not like the neighborhood around BC (lifestyles of rich and famous) but it doesn’t feel remotely unsafe. Please look at the annual Clery crime and safety reports( Google it). Clark is not unsafe at all. If sketchy neighborhoods were that much of a problem, no one would attend Yale, or any number of campuses that are near or bordering “sketchy” neighborhoods.
In terms of urban vs rural, my kid, who is mostly interested in LACs not particularly near anything interesting thought Clark had a much better location. Boston is one hour away. Saratoga Springs is many hours away from any interesting city. Though Clark is “urban” it is most definitely not urban in the way that NEU or BU are. It is a College in a neighborhood.
Re academics, I am not sure, but again, I give Clark the edge, certainly for chemistry at least. Not sure about drama. The LEEP program is cool. I think you should look at both campuses for sure, if you can.
Funny comment about Clarkies. When we toured, we were so impressed at how empowered the kids were (they were running the tour office by themselves. Only the info session had a pro.) Everyone was so friendly, even just kids we passed. I have a friend who teaches chem there and loves the kids. Have other friends who worked there and enjoyed the time. I know some young grads and they loved it. Sure, that area isn’t perfect, but that’s true of many good colleges and most kids focus their time on campus.
Saratoga Springs is lovely, the little shops along the main street, the race horses. There are other social and SES issues in the town, just not as apparent. (D1 wanted to be involved in community service during college, so opportunities were something we checked.) The arts are very strong at Skid, it would have been a great match for D2.
I would disagree about how it “doesn’t feel remotely unsafe”. While my daughter attended a program there before her overnight stay that evening, I took a one hour walk around the perimeter of the campus. It was dismal at best and dangerous at worst. Two of the four corners had drug deals going on at 3 pm in the afternoon. Another corner had prostitutes hanging around. A lot of the storefronts were closed or looked dicey. I’ve been around a bit, I know a drug deal when I see it. I can also spot prostitutes. This one hour was one of the few times in my life that I felt uncomfortable walking around by myself in any city/suburb. I found no place to have a cup of coffee or slice of pizza, although there was a 7-11 type store with some hoodlums hanging outside the door 
I’d agree that the best city around is more than two hours away, Burlington, VT. I’m not familiar with Albany except to drive through but they do have a good concert list and its a fairly good size city from what I gather.
I’d like to see stats about the Chem edge going to Clark. Honestly, I have no clue either way but I’d be curious about it for my own information.
It will definitely take visits to both schools and obviously one person’s perception can vary widely from another persons and again, obviously, each student has to decide what characteristics of a school are the most important to them. Location might top the list, academics might top the list, student body might…
We visited both and S applied to neither because Skidmore was too close (only 30 minutes away) and The Clarkies seem too “save the world” for him. I liked both but, IMO, the are very different so you should really visit.
Worcester was a non factor (he ended up at Bates in Lewiston - another less then dazzling old mill town.)
I think you missed “Annie’s,” and some other local places.
In the end, agree OP needs to visit and snoop around, get the kid’s gut reaction. Lots of people complain about the area surrounding where my kids did go to college. We could name a long list of colleges that aren’t in sweet pockets of town, including some big names. You do want to see what kids do with their time, how much is available on campus.
@NEPatsGirl , the crime report for Clark is perfectly fine. Maybe you saw all that stuff going on in one hour, but in terms of safety at Clark, I am afraid I have to be a bore and give a few stats. I keep a notebook and researched all the colleges my kid applied to. Of colleges similar in size to Clark, here is what I found. These stats are from 2014 and include crimes off campus if a student was involved. These colleges are pretty similar in size.
Clark had 6 burglaries.
Dickinson had 24.
Oberlin had 47.
Clark had 2 sex offenses.
Carleton had 5.
Brown had 43. (Not a mistake.)
Clark had 212 liquor violations.
Bates had 348.
Oberlin had 172.
There is 0 evidence to support the claim that Clark is not safe, even if some people feel like it isn’t safe. Of course, statements like the one above don’t help the reputation of a college.
@Lindagaf While Clark itself is safe(ish) because they take security very seriously, the surrounding area is very bad. To be clear, this isn’t some area half a city away, if you are at the admissions office many of these things are happening closer to you than you are the the gymnasium. This includes murders and all sort of bad stuff in the park across the street. As long as you stay on campus you are fine but there are definitely areas nearby that everyone should steer clear of.
http://www.golocalworcester.com/news/worcesters-university-park-becoming-a-hotbed-for-gang-crime
http://www.telegram.com/article/20151004/NEWS/151009588
It’s not just that the neighborhood around clark is sketchy, its that the campus is TINY and buildings are ugly. Interiors are old and dated. The kids seemed happy and are more of the artsy variety. Clark prides themselves on an open campus, not sure why. Sketchy people walk through all the time. They should gate it, and spend some $ on aesthetic improvements. At $50K+ per year, having a pretty campus matters.
Not to beat a dead horse here but keep in mind that ClarkU is an OPEN campus that welcomes and encourages Worcester residents and visitors to walk through campus and around the buildings and dorm areas. They impressed this upon us many times during the admitted student’s presentation.
@NEPatsGirl although there was a 7-11 type store with some hoodlums hanging outside the door
oh my. If I say what I want to say, I may be banned here for life!
Clark is not on this list. Please note that UCB, UCLA and Duke, by all accounts, are much more dangerous. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-dangerous-colleges-in-america-2012-11#1-university-of-california–los-angeles-25
Someone was murdered in the park near Clark. A lot of people were murdered on campus at a number of colleges in this country, with guns. Please have some perspective and stop slamming this college for no good reason. There are sketchy neighborhoods adjacent to some of the most elite colleges in the country. I am guessing that this conversation isn’t happening on the Yale forum.
@Lindagaf There are sketchy neighborhoods adjacent to some of the most elite colleges in the country
You are correct! U of Chicago being pretty bad but no one brings that up.
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