<p>For those considering Skidmore I am sharing information I wish we had known when going through the college process. The overwhelming majority of this year's (fall 2011) is tripled as was last year's (2010) class. It is more than 75% of the class in a tripled for the last two years (these numbers were quoted during the ceremony on Sept 4, 2011) The college makes no apologies for tripling nor are they forthcoming about it during any discussions prior to applying and accepting. They also give no consideration on rooming to those who commit and deposit early as many other colleges do. I would advise anyone considering Skidmore to ask explicit questions on rooming and tripling and their plan to get away from so many triples. </p>
<p>When we were on campus for a tour in June they took us to a dorm room. It was a double furnished as a triple. Tight, but the beds didn’t have to be bunked. </p>
<p>That’s not to say I like the idea of forced triples. I don’t. Neither does my D, which is part of the reason Skidmore has slipped to #7 on her list. </p>
<p>I’m just saying they seem to have finally gotten the message and are giving the prospective class of 2016 a little dose of reality. (On the tours, at least.)</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for posting this Dac1317. We’re just beginning the college search and S is a consideration. This is a big deal in regards to quality of campus life. I’m presuming they didn’t build new dorms, which means they have taken double rooms and just turned them into triples? Which probably means they are also accepting more students. Hmmm</p>
<p>Actually, they are building more housing to try to alleviate the situation, but of course that takes time. I have a sophomore at Skidmore, and his class was the single largest class in school history - not by design, simply because they had a much higher percentage of accepted students choose to enroll than anticipated. The school is addressing the larger class size well, both by adding more professors to keep the classroom experience intimate, and by putting into place building plans. Additionally they are replacing outdated apartment style housing for upperclassmen by building new units alongside existing units, replacing them before putting them out of commission. The size of the class was a major topic of conversation during parent’s weekend, and to me it seemed the administration addressed it head-on and well.</p>
<p>Although my son was not tripled, a large percentage of his class was. However many students were “detripled” throughout the year due to normal dorm room turnover such as transfers and studying abroad. I questioned my son often about the size of his class freshman year and it never was an issue for him. He’s very, actually extremely, happy at Skidmore.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter lives in a triple and loves it. The room is quite large - almost one entire wall is a window with window seats, which makes it seem bigger. There are two singles and one bunk bed, two quite large desks and one regular size desk, three closets. They share a shower/bathroom with two single rooms in the same small corridor (making it 5 girls to a bathroom - not bad). And there’s a large shelved storage closet just outside their door which is good for extra towels, bedding, luggage, etc. Students assigned to a triple are given $500 each semester to compensate them for the extra roommate. The money can be deposited directly into the students’ spending accounts. My daughter and her roommates decided to pocket the extra $1,000 and deal with whatever minor inconveniences they encountered. If truly unhappy with the situation, the students can request to opt out of their triple in second semester.</p>
<p>My son is a Skidmore freshman and was assigned a triple but right before classes started it became a double. He has said that many of his classmates are still in triples. One interesting fact is that the two singles that he shares a bathroom with are occupied by Sophomores. It has been a while since I was in college, but I think it is unusual for Sophomores to have singles. When you ask a school about forced triples, maybe you should also asked at what point do the students get singles.</p>
<p>I figure that one 3-story dorm, built in the 60’s reaps over one million dollars in board.
That’s using doubles as triples and charging doubles prices. Where are these new dorms?
it has been years since Skidmore started doing this. How long does it take to build a dorm?
Or are they just having fun pocketing the extra dough and screwing the students. It is not healthy to put three bodies in a room that size. Shame on them. What does the health department say about this?</p>