Answers to common questions

The Admissions Committee strives to admit students whose abilities, interests, character, and background give them the greatest promise of profiting from and contributing to the Skidmore community.

The committee’s primary emphasis is on the strength of a student’s academic record, as evidenced by quality of secondary school courses and classroom achievement. Personal qualities, accomplishments, interests, and capacity for growth are also strongly considered. So, careful attention is paid to recommendations, the student’s personal statement, and co-curricular activities.

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Skidmore ended interviews in Fall 2024. Instead, we hope students will join us for one of our many virtual and in-person programs. If you have questions that aren’t answered at a program, we encourage you to call or email the Office of Admissions to schedule a conversation with an admissions counselor.

You may request an application fee waiver through the Common Application or the Coalition Application.

No. Students may apply through Early Decision I (November 1), Early Decision II (January 8) or Regular Decision (January 8).

Yes. You can change your Regular Decision application to Early Decision I by November 30 or to Early Decision II by February 1. Write to admissions@zhenrenqi.com and we will help you formalize your application change. Please note, both Early Decision I and Early Decision II are binding admission plans.

The Opportunity Program (OP) provides access to a high-quality liberal arts education for talented and motivated students whose academic and financial circumstances would otherwise make them unable to attend our institution. OP consists of students from New York admitted through the state’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and students recruited through Skidmore’s Academic Opportunity Program (AOP) who live outside of New York and/or have a family income that slightly exceeds HEOP guidelines. There is no additional application for AOP/HEOP scholarships at Skidmore College. All applications are screened for AOP/HEOP eligibility.   Learn more

After completing the enrollment reply form and applicable deposit, admitted and enrolled students may request a one-year deferral by sending an email to deanofadmissions@zhenrenqi.com. The email should outline the plans for their gap year and should be sent by June 1. The request will be reviewed by the Dean of Admissions and students can expect a formal response. 

Within the Common Application the question for the London First Year Experience is listed in the General Questions section, "Are you interested in spending your first semester in London? (Students must be 18 years of age by late August in order to be eligible for the London Program." Select "Yes" in answer to this question. Accepted students will be notified of their London admissions decision in their acceptance packet.

No. All applicants must meet the same academic requirements for admission to Skidmore. 

No. You can choose to enroll on the Saratoga campus or in London when you submit your enrollment form. Once you have submitted your enrollment form, your decision is binding.

These two cost calculators can help you anticipate your college costs and estimate your eligibility for need-based scholarships. A Skidmore education might be more affordable than you think.

• MyinTuition – This tool asks six basic financial questions and gives you a basic estimate of the amount your family will need to contribute for one year at Skidmore.
• Net Price Calculator – This more comprehensive tool also provides you an early estimate of your eligibility for need-based financial aid, including grants and scholarships.

All students can apply for Skidmore grant aid. This includes U.S. citizens and permanent residents, international students, and undocumented students. To apply, students must complete the CSS Profile.

Federal or State aid, as determined by the FAFSA, is only available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. 

The fee and waivers are determined by College Board. Visit the CSS Profile website for information. 

Skidmore's CSS PROFILE code is 2815, FAFSA code is 002814, and TAP code (NYS residents only) is 0855.

Please contact Financial Aid as soon as possible by emailing finaid@zhenrenqi.com.

For basic annual costs of attendance, please visit the Bursar’s Office.

Skidmore offers need-based financial aid and meets 100% of demonstrated need. This means you pay only what you and your family can afford. We do not "gap" students.  
 
A financial aid "package" usually includes grants, a campus job, and a loan. Student aid funds come from a variety of sources including Skidmore's own grants, as well as many federal financial aid programs such as Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), the Federal Work-Study Program, and Federal Direct Loans.  

Skidmore also offers two limited merit scholarships.  

For more information, visit Types of Aid (new link).

Across all current students, the average first year package was $52,400. 52% of students received need-based grants.  

At Skidmore College, financial assistance is based on your demonstrated financial need as informed by your CSS Profile. With that information we calculate:

• Financial Need: We subtract what you and your family can contribute from the total cost of attending Skidmore. If your family's contribution is less than the total cost, you qualify for financial aid.
• Considerations: We take into account various factors, including family size, the number of children in college, family assets, extraordinary medical expenses, and any unique circumstances you may have.
• Divorced or Separated Parents: If your parents are divorced or separated, we may need financial information from both.

We expect you and your family to contribute to your educational costs and will work with you within our need based financial aid guidelines to make a Skidmore education possible.

First-year applicants will receive notification of their financial aid with their offer of admissions within their Skidmore Applicant Portal on decision notification day.

Yes. Your aid is for all four years. However, the exact figure may see slight adjustments depending on changes in costs, family income, private scholarships, siblings in college, etc.

To ensure we meet your demonstrated need each year, you'll file a renewal application for your sophomore, junior, and senior years and then review and accept your package for that year. 

We have a generous aid budget, but it is not unlimited. We are not need-blind and do need to consider aid in our offer of admission in order to uphold our commitment to meeting 100% of demonstrated need for all students. However, please don't let this hold you back from applying. 

Email a letter of special circumstances to the Skidmore Financial Aid Office at finaid@zhenrenqi.com.

If your parents are divorced, separated, or never married, Skidmore College requires information from both natural parents, regardless of their current relationship. Here's what you need to do:

• Custodial Parent: Identify the custodial parent—the one you lived with the most in the past 12 months. You’ll provide their information, along with their current spouse's if they are remarried.
• Non-Custodial Parent: You also need to provide information from the non-custodial parent, even if they don’t support you financially. If they refuse or are unwilling to provide information, contact the Financial Aid Office for guidance.
• CSS Profile Process: Each parent must complete a separate CSS Profile. It’s best for the student and custodial parent to start the application before the non-custodial parent does.

Skidmore does not offer financial assistance to students who declare themselves independent of their parents, nor are we able to offer assistance if parents decide that they no longer wish to support a student at Skidmore College.

Yes. There are many part-time jobs available on campus that are not limited to students on financial aid.

Your aid travels with you! You can use your financial aid, except work-study, for both Skidmore-administered and approved outside programs. Costs will be based on Skidmore's comprehensive fee. 

No, we do not change our award on the basis of what a family is offered from another college or university.

Skidmore College lets students use outside scholarships fully, adjusting loans, work-study, or family contributions accordingly. Total aid cannot exceed the cost of attendance each year. If grants and scholarships surpass the cost, Skidmore’s grant will be reduced.

The fall semester bill is due August 15 and the spring semester bill is due December 15.

About 50% of our first-year classes come from students who have been admitted through the Early Decision application process. 

Early Decision I candidates will receive a decision by mid-December and Early Decision II candidate will receive a decision by mid-February. 

Statistically, Early Decision applicants are admitted at a higher rate than Regular Decision applicants because the pool is smaller. However, Early Decision and Regular Decision applicants are reviewed against the same standards. 

Early Decision candidates may initiate applications to other colleges, but if they are accepted under one of Skidmore’s Early Decision plans they must immediately withdraw all other applications and enroll at Skidmore.

Early Decision I and II have different deadlines, November 1 and January 8, respectively, as well as different decision notification times. While both admission plans are binding, Early Decision I can be a good option for students who didn't receive the desired outcome of their Early Decision applications to other institutions, but for whome Skidmore is a top choice. Additionally, the extra time of the Early Decision II deadline can allow you to take more time on your application or bolster your profile. 

Some students who are not accepted Early Decision are deferred for reconsideration through Regular Decision and notified of their admission decision in mid-March. In instances where Early Decision candidates are not competitive for admission, the Admissions Committee denies the student at the time of Early Decision notifications (mid-December) to allow for the student to focus on other college plans.

Yes. You can convert your Regular Decision application to an Early Decision II application until February 1. Simply send an email to Admissions at admissions@zhenrenqi.com and indicate that you want to convert your application. Admissions will work with you to formalize it.

Your school counselor or administrator should submit your O-level/IGCSE results and your predicted A-Level results. Applicants in an IB program should have their counselor or administrator submit their predicted IB exam results. Your final A-Level or IB exam results should be submitted upon completion if you are admitted and decide to enroll.

If you receive a 5 or higher in a Higher Level IB exam, you can receive 4 credits for each result up to a maximum of 16 credits. If you receive a C or higher in an A-level course, you can receive 4 credits for that result up to a maximum of 16 credits. If you receive a C or higher in an AS course, you can receive 2 credits for that result.

The use of agents is not needed to gain admission to Skidmore. As part of our application review process we look closely for any signs of unethical practices in all submitted documents.

Skidmore College accepts applications from undocumented or DACA students. However, financial aid funds for undocumented and DACA students are extremely limited and highly competitive. The College is committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted students, regardless of citizenship status. To apply for financial aid, undocumented and DACA students must submit the College Board’s CSS Profile.

Yes. If you have started taking classes at any institution as a degree candidate in the U.S. or abroad, you can and should apply to Skidmore as a transfer student.

All admission applicants are eligible for need-based aid. International students who are applying for financial aid must indicate they intend to apply on the admission application. A Skidmore finanical aid application for international students will be available to complete in the admission portal within a week of the receipt of the student's admission application. A very limited amount of aid is available to international students, however we commit to meeting demonstrated financial need for all admitted students. If an international student is admitted and enrolls without financial aid, they cannot apply for financial aid in future years. Skidmore is also a member of the Davis United World College Scholars Program.

Currently, there are nearly 250 international students from more than 60 countries. This represents about 9% of the overall student body of 2,700 students.

You only need to translate your grades to English. The translations can be done by an official from your school and they do not need to be done by an external agency, unless you are doing that for other schools and want to use the same files. 

Yes. For many, work-study is part of your total financial aid package can include up to $2,400 USD of earnings each year. This is money for personal expenses and spending money, not direct costs such as tuition or room/board.

Yes but only if the national exam results are tied to grades and completion requirements for your school. They will be reviewed like many other senior year exams as a final assessment and proof of graduation. If they are not tied to your grades/school, then we do not need the results. 

Transfer applications are accepted for both fall and spring semesters. The fall deadline is April 1 and the spring deadline is November 1. 

For transfer admission, the Admissions Committee places particular emphasis on the applicant's academic record in college but also considers secondary school records and standardized test scores. The committee will consider how well previous course selection at both the secondary and post-secondary level has prepared the applicant to satisfy Skidmore's degree requirements. Personal qualities, accomplishments, interests and capacity for growth are also considered, so careful attention is paid to recommendations, and the student's personal statement.

There is no minimum credit requirement, but we prefer to see one full year of college-level work completed prior to transferring.

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a Skidmore degree. We will accept a maximum of 60 transfer credit hours. A minimum of 60 credit hours must be completed here at Skidmore.

A tentative evaluation of transfer credit will be available upon request at the time of acceptance. The definitive evaluation is provided by the Office of the Registrar and is not available until after the student has decided to enroll at Skidmore and an enrollment deposit has been received. Only courses in which a student has received a grade of "C" or better are transferable.

Some need-based institutional grant assistance is available. For more information, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

Yes. Housing is guaranteed for all incoming transfers.

The standard course load for a full-time student is 15 credit hours each semester, and students are encouraged to balance their commitment to quality and rigor with realistic expectations of the workload involved with specific course enrollments.

A major field of study selected from the Skidmore College degree programs must be formally declared by the second semester of a students' sophomore year, prior to registration for the junior year.

Your summer advisor is your initial contact to assist you with academic planning. If you are a first-year student, the instructor of your Scribner Seminar (SSP 100) will be your faculty advisor in the fall. Most transfer students are assigned initially to a classroom instructor or to the chairperson of the department of an anticipated major.

Student Academic Services works independently and in cooperation with other administrative offices and academic departments and programs to identify and implement individualized accommodations.  Learn more

Student Academic Services serves students interested in strengthening their academic performance or skills by organizing peer academic coaching and individual peer tutoring, and by offering private, professional, one-on-one academic support. Learn more:

Skidmore students often do independent research with professors during the academic year, as early as their first year. In addition, the College’s Summer Faculty-Student Research Program (five or 10 weeks) provides students with a unique opportunity to work with faculty on original research in virtually every discipline. Learn more: 

More than 50% of our graduates study off campus either internationally or domestically. Students can choose from 120 programs in 45 countries, including several Skidmore programs and several domestic options. Learn more:

85% of Skidmore students complete one internship and 75% complete two or more. Many of them are funded by the College. While some students apply independently, many utilize the expertise and network connections of our Career Development Center, which they have lifetime access to. Learn more: