Hi, my son is struggling with committing to Skidmore because of the small study body. He is an admitted “nerd” and is not sure he’ll fit in with what appears to be a very outdoorsy, adventurous, outgoing crowd. I know it’s hard to generalize 2400 students and I’m not really sure what I am asking here, but if someone can comment on any “nerd culture” (ie, gaming, computers etc) found at this school it may (or may not?) help…but I though I would give this a try. If this is dumb question, I apologize, it’s what I do…
What are his other options?
SUNY Geneseo (over 5,000 students) is the #2 choice.
Not a dumb question at all. Unfortunately I can’t speak to the types of students at either school. It seems like Skidmore is a lot more money to spend for a school he’s not sure about and has reservations about.
One advantage of a small college is that it will generally set your son up by phone or zoom with current students for him to talk with and get answers to his questions. I’m noticing that they do have an admitted students Facebook page and they are hosting live in-person campus tours. Skidmore students are on campus although with restrictions. An in-person visit to campus might give him a better feel for the student body.
I think you can find your tribe anymore. Just go in with an open mind. One thing I know is that Skidmore kids are very friendly and accepting (on the whole). He would find people with similar interests, provided he goes out of his comfort zone to meet new people in the first few weeks.
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I am a current Skidmore student (first-year) let me know if you have any questions, you can PM me as well.
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As someone who knows the school reasonably well, I’d say that your son needn’t be any of those things to find his crowd at Skidmore. Nerdy kids fit in just fine. They’re all over the place.
Skidmore does seem to have a bit of a jock/NARP vibe, which isn’t my favorite thing to observe in a school, though many LACs suffer from this problem. But assuming the worst case scenario and my observation is accurate, I’ve also observed plentiful other students who fit a variety of categories. Yes, plenty of nerdy kids at Skidmore.
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Thank you for your reply. He ended up choosing Skidmore and so far, his assigned roommate could not be more different ie, very affluent, prep school, athlete who has communicated using the word “brah” (bro?) a number of times. Should be interesting!
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One of the kids we know well who went through Skidmore (just graduated this year) had a bad fit roommate. The kid we know was the jock in your example. Other kid decidedly not a jock, prep school, and by the sounds of it a pretty quirky personality. Also had a chronic illness fwiw.
Parents we know said ‘suck it up and learn how to deal with people’. There were certainly some interesting anecdotes, but it never sounded like it got ugly. At the end of the semester, both kids wanted a new situation, and the school put the kid we know in a single. Easy peasy. I heard that the other kid actually wound up transferring to Wesleyan. So it doesn’t always work out. That’s true pretty much everywhere.
My D will be a sophomore at Skidmore and had a great first year. She made friends, and I’d say they definitely lean more towards your son than his roommate in personality and background. I know having a roommate who doesn’t quite share the same interests can take away some of the excitement but hopefully he’ll have a good year. She got along with her roommate fine but they weren’t really friends. They respected each other’s space and things but each of them made their own friends. Hopefully your son can find students with more similar interests through the first year seminar he’s in or maybe join clubs. This year should be a bit more open with opportunities to meet others. My D applied for and was accepted to the Periclean Honors program after the first semester and met others who did as well, so she’s looking forward to those experiences this year. I’m still not sure how she met people when they were always wearing masks but somehow she did and had a great time. Best of luck to your son!
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