<p>We're from the far northwest corner of the US and not very knowledgeable about upstate NY schools. My s was accepted at Skidmore, Colgarte and Cornell and thinking of one of the three is it for him. While I've heard of Cornell and Colgate and familiar with some of their graduates I don't know much about Skidmore, its not as familiar out here. Hoping we could get some objective voices about the three options and learn more about Skidmore. We will be visiting the end of April and hope that helps.</p>
<p>What is your S hoping to study? Skidmore is a very respected private LAC in the Northeast. Cornell is an Ivy with strong engineering. The two are very different in culture, size, and even majors. The town of Ithaca is nice (Cornell) and the town of Skidmore (Saratoga) is quaint and lovely. Cornell is close to Ithaca; Skidmore is nestled into a small town and near a cozy neighborhood, but small. I personally don’t know a lot about Colgate.</p>
<p>Skidmore is an incredible college. Small, liberal, and very hands on. It is very tolerant to everyone. Saratoga Springs is the prettiest small town in America.</p>
<p>Cornell is actually in Ithaca, not near it. While its graduate school is very good, many of its under grad classes are taught by TAs. It is huge and rather hard to get around. The two couldn’t be any farther apart. I have no problem saying Skidmore is better. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Colgate is out in the middle of no where. It is very good. </p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with any of them. My favorite of the three is Skidmore.</p>
<p>Cornell is an Ivy League school - if that is important to you, and it’s important to a lot of people, then it’s a big deal.</p>
<p>Colgate is a truly excellent school - as people have said it’s basically in the middle of nowhere, but academically and prestige-wise it’s really at the top of this list, even thought it’s not “Ivy League”. The campus is really beautiful, but very remote.</p>
<p>Skidmore is the bottom of your list prestige-wise if that is important to you. It’s much smaller than Cornell, about the same size as Colgate. Colgate is a lot more impressive, snobbier, and sports conscious (they are very proud of the fact that all of their sports are division one, and something like 60% of their student body are student athletes). Skidmore has a much more relaxed atmosphere, the faculty is very friendly and accessible to the student body, and the general aesthetic of the campus is much more crunchy granola and touchy feely. For an east coast school it’s more like a west coast school. </p>
<p>The town of Saratoga Springs is a beautiful resort community and it’s a joy to be there.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I have a sophomore at Skidmore who is happy as a clam. He also applied to Colgate and was rejected, but I didn’t even want him to apply there as I thought it was a terrible fit for him. However, he has friends at Colgate who are also quite happy. Truthfully, you can’t really go wrong with those choices. What is your son planning to study?</p>
<p>My son works for the admissions department as a tour guide - if you are interested in having your son get in touch with him to discuss the school please pm me and I can arrange it.</p>
<p>@CollegeDadX3 – Why do you think many of Cornell’s classes are taught by TAs? I have two sons who are recent graduates of Cornell; all of their classes were taught by professors. In addition to giving the lectures or running the seminars, all professors have office hours for students who want one-on-one time.</p>
<p>(Labs and sections are often led by graduate students who are working on PhDs in the professor’s field, but that’s very different. The only courses I know of that are taught by TAs are the freshman writing seminars, and that’s just because they want to keep the class sizes small. Writing seminars are required of all freshman across all the undergraduate schools and there just aren’t enough English professors to go around.) </p>
<p>I think that Cornell would be a very different experience from either Colgate or Skidmore, because it’s a large research university and therefore has lots of students studying a wide variety of subjects. The other two are liberal arts colleges, which will provide more personal attention in a more limited range of majors. Colgate has the reputation of being ‘preppy,’ and Skidmore has the reputation of being ‘artsy.’ </p>
<p>All three are great schools – it just depends what you want. I think the choice will probably be pretty clear once you’ve done the college visits.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in here. My daughter and I visited Saratoga for a weekend, and she attended the Dance Department’s open house. We drove around Saratoga, took the tour of campus, and she attended the Dance Department’s activities and classes. The campus is wooded and beautiful, and the buildings are very modern. The town is pretty, quaint, and artsy. Saratoga is the summer home of the NYC Ballet, a big draw for my dd. The newly built Arthur Zankel Music Center is amazing. </p>
<p>I can’t speak to Cornell’s facilities. I do know many children of friends who have gone there and been very happy.</p>
<p>A very close friend went to Colgate many years ago. Her biggest complaint was that is was VERY isolated.</p>
<p>I lived in Ithaca for twenty years in a neighborhood of Cornell professors. The TAs are graduate and PHD students. There is nothing wrong with that, but just a fact. Don’t get me wrong, Cornell is world class. I just think their graduate and PHD programs are better than their undergraduate programs. It is also huge and not really a campus. I prefer smaller campuses. I only say this on the Skidmore forum to be pro-Skidmore. Cornell is perfect for many kids, I just like the smaller colleges more. I also think on campus housing is guarenteed for two years at Cornell.</p>
<p>Colgate is also great. A really terrific college. I just prefer Skidmore and my child is incredibly happy there and is getting a great education. And, I do understand world class colleges as I also have a kid at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>The bottom line is all three are great. You can’t go wrong with any of them.</p>
<p>In addition to all the good points above, I believe you will find some differences in academic departments. In addition to its well-known strength in the arts and English, Skidmore has a strong business department, which your son may find compelling. When you visit you will also see Skidmore’s “creative thought matters” interdisciplinary emphasis.</p>
<p>In my experience, Ithaca, while beautiful, is very remote and wears thin over the course of the winter. You will also likely find it difficult to travel to/from the west coast, while Skidmore and Saratoga are part of the Albany/Schenectady/Troy metro area and benefit from Albany’s much better air service (more flights out today before 7am than all day from Ithaca). In addition, Skidmore is much closer to the mountains of upstate NY and VT for winter sports.</p>
<p>We have been to all three schools and they all have VERY different vibes. Know quite a few students attending each school. Academically, for undergraduate education, I would say Cornell and Colgate might offer a little more prestige and are about equal to each other, but with different environments. That is not to say that a student cannot do fantastic at Skidmore and go on to whatever graduate school, career they desire. </p>
<p>Location of all three is pretty comparable I think; each with about a 40-80 minute drive from an airport of any size. Each with a small college town…some a little quainter than others and each surrounding area offering many nice outdoorsy things to do. </p>
<p>Most important is what type of environment (academic and social) does your son perfer or thrive on…he will do best where he is happiest. </p>
<p>Cornell: Quite large, a little intense, feels like a “city”, Ithaca so-so
Colgate: Medium size, a bit preppy but still a bit of a mix, somewhere between LAC and large university, Hamilton cute and bit of a drive to Syracuse but probably not worth it.
Skidmore: Small LAC, artsy but a lot of student athletes too, Saratoga is very nice, bit of a drive to Albany…?worth it?</p>
<p>These are just my observations, none of them make the schools better or worse, because it all depends on the kid and what they like.</p>