Skidmore receives largest number of applicants in college history
The number of applicants for the incoming class at Skidmore College has broken the
record in each of the past three years. This year, Skidmore received 10,750 applications,
the largest number in college history, representing a 7 percent increase over 2017
and a 30 percent increase in applications over the last five years.
Skidmore continues to experience growth in applications from international students,
as well as domestic students who self-identify as students of color. In the past decade,
the percentage of domestic students of color in the college's applicant pool has increased
to 30 percent from 21 percent, and the percentage of international student applicants
has increased to 30 percent from 6 percent.
Skidmore also received a record number of Early Decision applications, with 695 students
applying to Skidmore as their first choice of college, a 12 percent increase compared
with 2017. Since 2012, Skidmore has seen a 65 percent increase in early decision applications.
Additionally, the collective student body is composed of 14.1 percent first-generation
college students.
"Skidmore College has become increasingly attractive to exceptional high school students
because of its emphasis on distinctive interdisciplinary connections between and among
the sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences, and between the campus and the
broader world beyond," said Mary Lou Bates, vice president and dean of admissions
and financial aid.
A highly selective liberal arts institution, Skidmore expects its Class of 2022 to
include 690 students. Accepted students hail from 47 states and 51 countries. Approximately
38 students will choose to begin their college experience at Skidmore's First-Year London Program. Regular-decision letters have been mailed to accepted candidates, who have until
May 1 to commit.
"We are delighted to meet so many prospective members of the Class of 2022 in April,
when hundreds of accepted candidates will visit or revisit Skidmore for special on-campus
programs for admitted students," Bates said.
"Driven by a core belief that 'Creative Thought Matters,' Skidmore provides students
with an academic and cocurricular environment that is richly influenced by creative
thinking across many disciplines including business, humanities, sciences, social
sciences, arts and literature—a tradition that values and rewards real-world actions
and outcomes," Bates said.
Skidmore is consistently named as one of the nation's best liberal arts colleges by
U.S. News and World Report, and the college has recently been featured on the Forbes lists of America's Top Colleges 2016, America's Best Value Colleges 2016 and America's
Most Entrepreneurial Colleges.