We are trying to determine whether Skidmore should be on S21’s list of schools. If it were, it would be a reach for him. Given his ADHD challenges, we don’t want him to apply to a school where the workload/academic expectations are outside his ability, but we also know that selectivity of a college isn’t perfectly correlated with workload, that workload varies by major, etc.
Skidmore seems, on paper/website, like a great fit for him in so many ways, so we’re debating whether it could be worth visiting and applying to for him depending on how reachy it looks (which will depend, in part, of how the next few months go for him in terms of standardized testing and a particular award he is in the running for).
Could current/recent past parents of Skidmore students or Skidmore students themselves comment on the workload (context for the particular student would be great as well - major, high school experience, SATs, any learning challenges such as ADHD, etc.)
Hi- our daughter will be a freshman next year and applied ED1 and was accepted. She doesn’t have ADHD challenges, but has an IEP for a learning disability. Just to give you a sense, she is allowed extra time for testing, a quiet space for testing and copies of notes. She did attend the Skidmore summer program after her sophomore year of highshool and chose to enroll in a science and english writing class. This made her realize to some extent the type of workload that would be involved. She struggled a bit, but loved it. I have found the department of disabilities to be very helpful already and would highly encourage you to visit. Not sure if your child would look into the summer program, but we felt it was a great “introduction” to college. Also, she is a very good self advocate. Good luck!
@BarHarborgirl thank you so much! I think my S21 would probably love the summer program, but the cost is prohibitive for us. I appreciate the information. I’m thinking we’ll wait to see what happens with the SATs in March (hoping for a 50+ point increase overall in comparison to his first try back in October) and with a competitive summer program he’s in the final selection round for, and if those go well, we’ll likely schedule a Skidmore visit. I’d love to see it in any case since I think it could be a great fit for D23 if it doesn’t work out for S21. Thank you!
I have a freshman at Skidmore who does not have any learning disabilities and with the school year just started I may not be the best person to answer your question. But I just wanted to chime in that thus far my daughter has found the workload to be very reasonable and she is a science major. I found that she was much more stressed her senior year of high school with all the AP classes she was taking then she is this year in college. I imagine the workload will pick up though. There does seem to be a lot of extra supports in place for students too and any academic type questions that we’ve had the faculty has been responsive, welcoming and helpful. All of her class sizes, even intro classes, are small.
You did not indicate what possible majors your child is looking at, but mine plans to be a Biology major. In her freshman year, Biology and Chemistry are required and both have 3 hours/week labs (that do not give extra class credit). So it’s a full schedule for her and it was really tricky coordinating her schedule given the extra labs. I imagine this will the case in most schools if you are a science major.
This is so helpful. My daughter is also applying ED and we were trying to figure out what academic supports are like. When you say she gets copies of notes is that foe all classes?