Overview
In Brief
Founded in 1903, Skidmore is a prestigious and highly selective college located in Saratoga Springs, NY, in close proximity to major U.S. and Canadian cities. In the U.S., colleges and universities both enroll high-school graduates and award four-year degrees—in Skidmore's case, the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. A creative liberal arts and sciences institution, Skidmore offers nearly 60 majors, including university-like pre-professional options. Management and Business and Biology, for example, are among the college's most popular majors.
Skidmore's 2,400 students come from 40 states and 40 countries. Nearly 60 percent of them go on to graduate or professional school within 5 years of graduation, and 75 percent (national average is 50 percent) of those who apply to medical school are accepted to one of their top choices. Besides the creative nature of the students and the curriculum, the quality and accessibility of the faculty—84 percent have Ph.D.s or the highest degrees in their fields—is one of Skidmore's most distinguishing features. Faculty have earned national and international recognition from Pulitzer and Emmy awards to Fulbright and National Science Foundation grants to MacArthur "genius" grants. The college's 9-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, and its average class size of 16, allow for unusually close relationships between students and professors, including a robust student-faculty collaborative research program, and numerous independent courses.
Excellent Preparation for Life and Career
Beginning with the First-Year Experience and your choice of a Scribner Seminar, the college stresses an interdisciplinary approach to learning that helps students see the connections among fields of study, ideas, and perspectives. Some students pursue interdepartmental majors such as Neuroscience or Business-Spanish, and many add minors to supplement their majors. Almost two-thirds of Skidmore's students choose a second major or minor.
As students become clearer about their career goals, there are valuable opportunities for independent study, student-faculty collaborative research, and professional internships for academic credit. And nearly 60 percent of Skidmore students spend a semester or year abroad, many in the college's own programs in China, England, France, and Spain.
The cornerstone of Skidmore's curriculum is the believe that a liberal arts education is the best preparation both for a life of continued learning and for a career, particularly as graduates face a world of rapid change.
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