WARM WELCOME
Incoming class arrives at Skidmore College
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Skidmore College is welcoming an incoming class of 740 students, selected from its largest ever applicant pool of 11,000 candidates.
Skidmore’s Class of 2023 is also among the school’s most diverse. It includes Skidmore’s highest ever percentage of domestic students of color and first-generation college students.
This year, 28 percent of first-year students are domestic students of color, and 17 percent are first-generation college students, both records for the college.
Members of the class come from more than 30 different countries and 30 U.S. states. A total of 11 percent of the class are international students and six percent are dual citizens.
The class is 44 percent men and 56 percent women.
Almost half of the incoming class enrolled through early decision, and the same amount of all first-year students are receiving some form of financial aid, with an average grant amount of more than $43,000.
Additionally, the class brings with it an impressive record of volunteerism and involvement in athletic and entrepreneurial activities, the college said in a press release.
The majority of the class, including athletes and international students, arrived on campus early for pre-orientation activities.
The rest moved into residence halls and join their classmates at Convocation on Sunday. Classes will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
A group of 32 students are spending their first semester in London, where they are studying with Skidmore professors and learning through participation in cultural and educational activities as part of a First-Year Experience program.
Members of the Class of 2023 begin their liberal arts education with Skidmore’s First-Year Experience (FYE) program, which celebrates 15 years this fall.
The centerpiece of the FYE program is the Scribner Seminar: Students select from 50 interdisciplinary courses that range in scope from Cultures of Climate Change to Chaos Finds a Voice: The Politics of Identity in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands. The smallgroup courses help firstyear students explore ideas, challenge assumptions, think critically and build a solid foundation for continued study at Skidmore.
“We welcome the Class of 2023 to Skidmore,” Mary Lou Bates, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid, said in the release. “Driven by a core belief that ‘Creative Thought Matters,’ Skidmore provides students with an academic and co-curricular 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.”
Founded in 1903, Skidmore College is a highly selective private, coeducational liberal arts college of about 2,500 students. Skidmore is consistently named one of the “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” by U.S. News and World Report and has recently been recognized as one of “America’s Most Entrepreneurial Colleges” by Forbes, a “Top College Value” by Kiplinger and one of “The Best 385 Colleges” by The Princeton Review. Travel and Leisure has also called Saratoga Springs, home to Skidmore’s campus, one of “America’s Best College Towns.”