Friday, August 21, 2020
Skidmore College Admission Advice TKG
Skidmore College Admission Advice We visited Skidmore recently and what we learned is so crazy that we need to pass it along to you.First off, some background information. Over the past four years, Skidmoreâs acceptance rate has dropped from an estimated 36.5% to an estimated 27%. In this time, Skidmore has also gone test-optional, meaning that you donât need to submit standardized test scores, and theyâve nixed their supplement, making applying as easy as possible. Ever since, the number of applications they receive has skyrocketed. This spring (2018), Skidmore announced that they had experienced a 7% jump in applications in just one year and a 30% jump over the past five years.Thatâs crazy.Whatâs even crazier is that nothing has changed about the school. The jump in applications isnât because they overhauled their offerings, itâs all about numbers. When applying is easier and cheaper, more people will do it. More people applying drives down acceptance rates, and it becomes a feedback loop. More applic ations = lower acceptance rate. Lower acceptance rate = more applications.But thatâs just the background. I recently visited Skidmore in-person and was able to speak with an admissions representative. While I asked about a number of things, my focus was the supplement. As college consultants, we believe that supplements are an important tool for students. They help a student show as many angles of themselves as possible, but they also help students narrow down their list. No kid should be applying to 25 schools. Having to do a supplement is one way of weeding out the schools that youâre really just applying to because âwhy not?âWhen asked about the lack of supplement, he clarified that while there wasnât a âtechnicalâ supplement, that didnât mean that people donât submit supplemental materials. To this, I said âHuh?â This was also paired with an exaggerated eyebrow raise. He clarified that while there is not a supplement, prospective students email the admissi ons office âall of the timeâ with unsolicited supplemental documents.Sending unsolicited documents isnât unheard of, but, traditionally, it is the bane of many an admissions office, and they warn applicants that itâs an excellent way to end up on some sort of blacklist. It turns out that this allegedly is not the case at Skidmore. Yes, you read that right. According to them, when Skidmore receives supplemental materials they add them into the applicantâs file and take them into account, even when they arenât about urgent or sudden extenuating circumstances (the only two situations in which we generally advise such emails). The most common supplement that they receive, according to the admissions representative, answers the question âWhy do you want to go to Skidmore?âThis is mindblowing and, while we donât condone spamming admissions officers, it does show that âbest practiceâ isnât universal. You can email admissions officers, but whatever you send must be high-quality, add something useful that was missing in your application, and be thoughtfully written and professionally presented. In short, donât waste their time.As far as the test-optional factor, he didnât have a satisfying answer for how they manage to ignore the lack of score. âWe just do,â he said. The verdict is, if your scores donât represent you, donât send them. If they do, please send them as it helps towards an easy yes.One more tidbit we gleaned from him was what he looks for in a college essay. Echoing our favorite word, he emphasized the importance of story. An essay, he said, needs to show depth, be enjoyable to read, and it needs to have a story arc. Avoid cheesy, grabby first sentences. Basically, do what weâve been telling you this whole time.We are continually visiting colleges so that we can provide our clients (and you!) with the best information possible. Hereâs our piece on how to get into Pomona, straight from an Admissions Officerâs mo uth!If youâre looking for deeper insights and a curated college process, weâd love to help you out.
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