Skidmore College

Date: Feb 08 2010
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
Some of the negative reviews posted here are unrealistic, in my humble opinion. No one would deny that Skidmore, by and large, has a wealthy student population (though there are certainly many students on scholarship). And yes, most students came from good private schools. As a result, yes, the student body is not the most diverse.

However, this is comparable to all liberal arts colleges and many larger, private universities.

* Anyone applying here should understand this dynamic. Expecting a school with a 50k per year price tag not to have a wealthy student population is kind of silly.

All that being said, Skidmore has been an excellent academic and social experience for me. I came from a small private school, much smaller than Skidmore so the student body here felt large (as strange as that may sound to some of you). I found students to be friendly, hardworking and well-rounded (most students here seem artistically inclined in some way). While I mentioned that the school is not the most diverse, it is making progress and I can honestly say that I felt a positive shift in the school's dynamic between my freshmen and senior years. The school is also becoming increasingly competitive to get into, so I would not be surprised if it made a substantial jump in the college rankings within the next 10 years.

I'm not sure how anyone could say that the academics here were not stimulating. If you're doing the reading and work outside of class, which is substantial (trust me, reading Henry James at Harvard and reading Henry James at Skidmore is still, well, Henry James), you should be well-suited to engage the brilliant, renowned faculty, many of whom are nationally famous for their research, scholarship and writings. The faculty is quite accessible, so anyone who does not feel challenged is probably not doing their job as a student or is simply a genius. This is not to say that every class is stellar, but Skidmore, by and large, is academically robust.

And, please, there is plenty to do on campus (student clubs, performance groups, chamber music ensembles, intramural sports). There are many great musical opportunities to pursue as Skidmore has a new world-class recital hall and attracts jazz and classical greats from around the world (think Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Garrick Ohlsson, and Marc-Andr? Hamelin).

Speaking of famous guest, people like Junot Diaz, Don Delillo, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and John Ashcroft have also been on campus giving talks, so I'd be skeptical of anyone who tells you that its a marginal visiting cast here.

Saratoga is a nice, upscale community in upstate NY. There is good dining, some nightlife, and beautiful parks. It's ideally situated between NYC and Montreal. It is not, however, a major city. Once again though, anyone applying here would presumably understand that Saratoga is NYC or Boston. Of course, Saratoga is a step up from a lot of so-called "college towns" surrounding liberal arts schools (many of which are in the middle of nowhere).

There's much more to say, but let me end by saying that there are plenty of opportunities here for personal and intellectual growth (don't forget about study abroad—quite popular here!), but like any school, your experience is what you make of it. No one should be shocked that Skimore is a small, wealthy school with a strong emphasis on programs in the arts and humanities.