Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Skidmore College is nestled into 1,000 acres of land in Saratoga Springs, New York an home to about 2,500 students. Considered a “Hidden Ivy,” Skidmore is also ranked as a “Best Value” school and is also known for producing entrepreneurs. At Skidmore, “Creative Thought Matters” isn’t just their motto, but their way of life. Skidmore students are interdisciplinary, driven, interested in making connections between ideas, and able to see multiple perspectives. Students push the boundaries of intellectual endeavors, always asking questions and challenging assumptions.
The student faculty ratio at Skidmore is 8:1 and 94% of classes have fewer than 30 students with an average class of 16. This is why creativity is a major part of the curriculum. With 304 full time faculty members, students get a lot of attention. Faculty are there to work with students and teaching is what they are there to do. Interdisciplinary work with faculty members begins on day one.
First year students engage in the First Year Experience which includes a variety of experiences that are curricular and co-curricular. These include a faculty mentor to guide you through your year, a Scribner Seminar which is a small, intense course with your mentor, and a Peer Mentor program that matches you with an older student who will work with you to help you through your time at Skidmore as well. These work together to help teach you the habits of mind needed to be successful at Skidmore and in college. A small group of students are invited to do their FYE in London at the program there. In addition to the classes, other activities include films, exhibits, lectures, performances, and more. Orientation is also a part of the experience.
Skidmore has some things to be pretty proud of when it comes to equity and diversity issues. It has a fairly diverse student population for a selective college. Close to ½ the population of campus is people of color. In addition, Skidmore has a healthy and thriving Gender Studies Program, enough so that they received the Feminist Courses That Give Us Hope award from Elle magazine. It’s also considered a top school for people of color due to the graduation rate (95%) for them by the LA Times.
So what can you study at Skidmore? Business is the top major, but VIsual and Performing Arts are close on its tails. It’s a top school for dancers and for theater. It’s one of the few places you can actually major in Business Spanish, and you can design your own major if any of the 43 majors and multiple minors don’t fit the bill. Politics is a popular major as is Environmental Sciences. All of the programs at Skidmore tend to be interdisciplinary in their approach and all of them foster a creative way of approaching the content.
Skidmore has a very unique program in Documentary Studies that has a long and storied history. Dating back to work done in the 1940s when women from Skidmore documented and preserved the oral histories of Saratoga Springs, the current program continues to provide students an opportunity to document all kinds of tales, histories, traditions, and narratives of significance to us today and to posterity. With a staff of six faculty members, students can create documentaries and recordings to preserve what will someday be our past. MDOCS also offers a Storyteller’s Institute as well. Each year up to ten students are given residencies to work with professional practitioners on their non fiction narratives. Forms vary from photography and film to written and spoken word, to performance and interactive media and more.
About 40% of Skidmore’s campus is heated and cooled by geothermal power and 40% of the power for the campus is from renewable resources. New buildings are LEED certified and students on campus are passionate about sustainability. Skidmore is working on becoming even more sustainable as they expand their campus to add new facilities or repair old ones. Skidmore actually has a Sustainability Coordinator on staff, so it’s more than lip service here.
What’s it like to be on campus? Let’s start with living there. First years and sophomores live in dorms together. There are singles, doubles, and triples for you. All of the dorms have the same basic facilities: laundry, exercise equipment, kitchenettes, lounges (main and smaller), and vending. All first years and sophomores are also required to have unlimited dining plans, but the food at Skidmore has won multiple awards, so I think you’ll be ok there. All housing is substance free. You can also choose from gender neutral housing or all women’s floors. Upper class students can take advantage of the apartment style housing and are not required to be on a meal plan.
Skidmore is a DIII school and it has some sports of particular interest to WAHS including crew. Women’s crew is DIII and there is also Intercollegiate crew as well, both men’s and women’s. They also have women’s equestrian, and ice hockey (because, well, New York). In addition to these are the usual suspects: basketball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, lacrosse, baseball, golf, soccer, etc. Club sports include sailing and skiing as well as ultimate frisbee and cross country. People at Skidmore are healthy and active. Saratoga Springs offers a lot of great things to do around there and people take advantage of its location.
Student Governance is important at Skidmore. Students are very involved in decision making at Skidmore and the college is committed to the concept of Shared Governance. There are essentially three parts to how the school is governed. While Faculty Governance is overseen by the Faculty Executive Committee, and Student Governance is overseen by the Student Government Association, the All-College Governance is overseen by the Institutional Policy and Planning Commission. The IPGA is overseen by the president of Skidmore. But its members are made up of people from the FEC and the SGA jointly, so decisions about how the college will run and what policies will be in place are made by both faculty and students. Skidmore students are leaders and if you are interested in being a leader, this is a great opportunity for you.
So what if you’re not into sports or student government? No problem my friend! There are over 130 clubs to choose from at Skidmore. Get into yoga or the join the circus. Sing a capella with the Bandersnatchers. Dance hip hop with the Breakbeats or tap with the Stompin Soles. Do improv with the Ad Liberal Artists or perform with the Cabaret Troupe Club. Join the Skidmore News or submit your writing to Folio. Sing with Lift Every Voice Choir or join Hillel. Do Model UN, join the Geology Club, or get involved with the Society of Physics Students. Join Feminist Action Network, Skidmore Republicans, Democracy Matters, FeelGood, Skidmore Education Taking Action, or SkiBuilds. Prove your mom wrong and compete in eSports, become a Woman in Business, be a Knit Wit, join the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Services, or become a peer mediator with Fight Club. There is so much more you can do. It’s really just up to you.
So is Skidmore for you? It’s for smart people who want to learn with other smart people in an environment where creativity and original thought are rewarded. This is not a school for people who just want the grade and want to be done. If that’s you, don’t go here. If you want to learn how to think and want to be with other people who do, this is for you.
Pros:
Skidmore College is nestled into 1,000 acres of land in Saratoga Springs, New York an home to about 2,500 students. Considered a “Hidden Ivy,” Skidmore is also ranked as a “Best Value” school and is also known for producing entrepreneurs. At Skidmore, “Creative Thought Matters” isn’t just their motto, but their way of life. Skidmore students are interdisciplinary, driven, interested in making connections between ideas, and able to see multiple perspectives. Students push the boundaries of intellectual endeavors, always asking questions and challenging assumptions.
The student faculty ratio at Skidmore is 8:1 and 94% of classes have fewer than 30 students with an average class of 16. This is why creativity is a major part of the curriculum. With 304 full time faculty members, students get a lot of attention. Faculty are there to work with students and teaching is what they are there to do. Interdisciplinary work with faculty members begins on day one.
First year students engage in the First Year Experience which includes a variety of experiences that are curricular and co-curricular. These include a faculty mentor to guide you through your year, a Scribner Seminar which is a small, intense course with your mentor, and a Peer Mentor program that matches you with an older student who will work with you to help you through your time at Skidmore as well. These work together to help teach you the habits of mind needed to be successful at Skidmore and in college. A small group of students are invited to do their FYE in London at the program there. In addition to the classes, other activities include films, exhibits, lectures, performances, and more. Orientation is also a part of the experience.
Skidmore has some things to be pretty proud of when it comes to equity and diversity issues. It has a fairly diverse student population for a selective college. Close to ½ the population of campus is people of color. In addition, Skidmore has a healthy and thriving Gender Studies Program, enough so that they received the Feminist Courses That Give Us Hope award from Elle magazine. It’s also considered a top school for people of color due to the graduation rate (95%) for them by the LA Times.
So what can you study at Skidmore? Business is the top major, but VIsual and Performing Arts are close on its tails. It’s a top school for dancers and for theater. It’s one of the few places you can actually major in Business Spanish, and you can design your own major if any of the 43 majors and multiple minors don’t fit the bill. Politics is a popular major as is Environmental Sciences. All of the programs at Skidmore tend to be interdisciplinary in their approach and all of them foster a creative way of approaching the content.
Skidmore has a very unique program in Documentary Studies that has a long and storied history. Dating back to work done in the 1940s when women from Skidmore documented and preserved the oral histories of Saratoga Springs, the current program continues to provide students an opportunity to document all kinds of tales, histories, traditions, and narratives of significance to us today and to posterity. With a staff of six faculty members, students can create documentaries and recordings to preserve what will someday be our past. MDOCS also offers a Storyteller’s Institute as well. Each year up to ten students are given residencies to work with professional practitioners on their non fiction narratives. Forms vary from photography and film to written and spoken word, to performance and interactive media and more.
About 40% of Skidmore’s campus is heated and cooled by geothermal power and 40% of the power for the campus is from renewable resources. New buildings are LEED certified and students on campus are passionate about sustainability. Skidmore is working on becoming even more sustainable as they expand their campus to add new facilities or repair old ones. Skidmore actually has a Sustainability Coordinator on staff, so it’s more than lip service here.
What’s it like to be on campus? Let’s start with living there. First years and sophomores live in dorms together. There are singles, doubles, and triples for you. All of the dorms have the same basic facilities: laundry, exercise equipment, kitchenettes, lounges (main and smaller), and vending. All first years and sophomores are also required to have unlimited dining plans, but the food at Skidmore has won multiple awards, so I think you’ll be ok there. All housing is substance free. You can also choose from gender neutral housing or all women’s floors. Upper class students can take advantage of the apartment style housing and are not required to be on a meal plan.
Skidmore is a DIII school and it has some sports of particular interest to WAHS including crew. Women’s crew is DIII and there is also Intercollegiate crew as well, both men’s and women’s. They also have women’s equestrian, and ice hockey (because, well, New York). In addition to these are the usual suspects: basketball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, lacrosse, baseball, golf, soccer, etc. Club sports include sailing and skiing as well as ultimate frisbee and cross country. People at Skidmore are healthy and active. Saratoga Springs offers a lot of great things to do around there and people take advantage of its location.
Student Governance is important at Skidmore. Students are very involved in decision making at Skidmore and the college is committed to the concept of Shared Governance. There are essentially three parts to how the school is governed. While Faculty Governance is overseen by the Faculty Executive Committee, and Student Governance is overseen by the Student Government Association, the All-College Governance is overseen by the Institutional Policy and Planning Commission. The IPGA is overseen by the president of Skidmore. But its members are made up of people from the FEC and the SGA jointly, so decisions about how the college will run and what policies will be in place are made by both faculty and students. Skidmore students are leaders and if you are interested in being a leader, this is a great opportunity for you.
So what if you’re not into sports or student government? No problem my friend! There are over 130 clubs to choose from at Skidmore. Get into yoga or the join the circus. Sing a capella with the Bandersnatchers. Dance hip hop with the Breakbeats or tap with the Stompin Soles. Do improv with the Ad Liberal Artists or perform with the Cabaret Troupe Club. Join the Skidmore News or submit your writing to Folio. Sing with Lift Every Voice Choir or join Hillel. Do Model UN, join the Geology Club, or get involved with the Society of Physics Students. Join Feminist Action Network, Skidmore Republicans, Democracy Matters, FeelGood, Skidmore Education Taking Action, or SkiBuilds. Prove your mom wrong and compete in eSports, become a Woman in Business, be a Knit Wit, join the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Services, or become a peer mediator with Fight Club. There is so much more you can do. It’s really just up to you.
So is Skidmore for you? It’s for smart people who want to learn with other smart people in an environment where creativity and original thought are rewarded. This is not a school for people who just want the grade and want to be done. If that’s you, don’t go here. If you want to learn how to think and want to be with other people who do, this is for you.
Pros:
- Small school with lots of attention for you
- Creativity is the underpinning of the school
- Great programming and lots to do
- Hardly anyone from WAHS applies here which makes you much more interesting
- Private college means it costs money
- Small side so fewer options
- Farther from home than in state options
- You need to work hard here, it’s not about grades