Skidmore and Swarthmore

My 2018 was recruited, OV'ed, and offered by Swat. He ended up going somewhere else...he wanted something  bigger than his HS, and was mildly turned off by the LW fringe there. Besides that, he liked the team, and the coach(es), and apparently the field is even nicer now. If he hadn't some other very good options, he would have gone there. Outstanding academics, and a healthy endowment makes for a large pool of need based aid.

All I have to offer is the fact that sometimes weekends are much lighter traffic on this site.  So, if you don't get several responses, bump it come Tuesday.

Have friends kids on baseball teams at both of these schools.  All of them happy.  Swat had their best year ever in 2018 and still riding high from it.  I would say both Swat (and Haverford from your other post) definitely, like most college campuses, have a very left leaning feel with lots of social justice issues rampant and such.  Skidmore not as much.  

One thing people talk about at Swat and Haverford is the ability to take classes at each other's campus, plus Bryn Mawr plus Penn.  But this rarely happens -- the campuses are not walking distance and while there is transportation, it is difficult to take advantage of this.  This is not true at the Claremont College consortia where the campuses are all adjacent.  

I would say if one was ranking academically, then Swat has a "higher" academic reputation (more selective admissions).  But one would get a great education at either campus.

Swarthmore currently has a stronger baseball team IMO. That being said I don’t think it matters, it is only baseball. Your son should go where he feels most comfortable, all 3 schools ( including havergord) are great 

Here are some visuals of both schools.

 Increase Overall Roster total from 27(*) to 32.

They reported 27 players to the department of education, but team website only had 26.  One player was deleted from website roster

Swathmore 2019 Distribution by State 

Swathmore 2018 Distribution by State

Skidmore 2019 Distribution by State

Skidmore 2018 Distribution by State

Swathmore 2019 Team Insights

Skidmore 2019 Team Insightws

Swathmore Team Performance 5 yrs

Skidmore Team Performance 5 yrs

Swathmore 2018 Equity in Athletics (EADA)

Budget was 139k

Skidmore 2018 Equity in Athletics  (EADA)

Budget was 130k

Swathmore 2018 Expense by Sport

Skidmore 2018 Expense by Sport

Swathmore Baseball Budget 2009 - 2018

Skidmore Baseball Budget 2009 - 2018

My family has members who’ve attended all four philly schools (Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swat, and Penn). Haverford and Bryn Mawr (“bi-co”) students frequently take classes at each other’s campuses. They are only a 30 min walk apart, and easily bikeable for students without cars or the patience to wait for the Blue Bus. Taking classes at Swat or Penn is more work, but still possible if you want to take something specific the bi-co doesn’t offer. Haverford in particular has good access to the philly subway system.

Both very good academic D3 schools that are going to cost your family many $$$$$ even with need based financial aid.   Why not look at the school that is going to position your son best for internships while in school and job prospects after graduation?  Also, consider the alumni network, and proximity to capital & professional jobs.   

Good luck!

Coach Plourde of Skidmore recruited our 2017 at Headfirst and he seemed like a really great person and coach, but the school wasn't a good match. One major difference to note between the two schools, besides somewhat different academic levels, is that Swat is close to a large city, while Skidmore is not.  The campus and town are very nice, but they are in the sticks.

I can't comment on the baseball teams but I'm from Upstate NY and know adults who graduated years ago from Skidmore as well as several families with current students and they all love it.  As was pointed out - location wise these schools are very different.  Saratoga is a great town but it's not a city and there is no major city nearby.  Saratoga is a resort town in July/August and then pretty quiet the rest of the year.  

I can personally confirm Fenway's take on the limits of Swarthmore's aid package.  I don't know about Skidmore's aid but my son got substantially better offers from other very highly rated LAC's than he did from Swarthmore.

So interesting to see that Swarthmore is recruiting much further afield than Skidmore.  In my own research, I have seen that some schools seem to stick pretty close to home and fish in the same ponds over and over (down to particular prep schools), which makes me wonder if it's even worth my Georgia boy's time looking more closely at those schools.

That's something you have to consider, but it's not like we're talking about state schools where the cost is different depending on where you live.  My son is a California boy, and I can tell you he'd  be playing in NY or in another NE  or Midwest state had he not gotten an offer he liked better in CA.  If the coaches are fishing the the same pond repeatedly, that's only what works for them. If they're also traveling to the South or the West for HF repeatedly, then that works for them too, or at least they are hoping it will.

LuckyCat posted:

So interesting to see that Swarthmore is recruiting much further afield than Skidmore.  In my own research, I have seen that some schools seem to stick pretty close to home and fish in the same ponds over and over (down to particular prep schools), which makes me wonder if it's even worth my Georgia boy's time looking more closely at those schools.

I do think it is worth your Georgia boy's time IF they are recruiting nationally AND Swarthmore or Skidmore has national brand recognition for the job market where he is going to live after college.   An easy way to tell is to see if there is an alumni association in your region or area.    I have a very good friend (he was in my wedding party) who played baseball at Skidmore.   He loves the school, and has become a successful businessman in NY City.   I've never got the impression Skidmore was a national level school, but if you've grown up on the East coast you've heard of it.  I would categorize Swarthmore as more national.   Each of their baseball rosters reflect my perception between regional and national.

My parents moved from CT to OH when I was in college.  Not many in OH knew anything about my college...it was harder to find internships and a job when I graduated and moved back to OH.   Contrast that with my (much smarter) sons who went to schools that were familiar locally and nationally.   It was not hard for them to find internships and eventual employment.   

As always, JMO.

Thanks all for this great input! I would say a very important feature of a school's roster for us is geographic diversity. We are not looking for schools that keep to the northeast or MidAtlantic. My son will likely stay on the east coast after graduation so we have thought about the alumni network. We have a lot going on in the next 2 months that will hopefully define things clearly for him. And his 2nd and last SAT scores come Friday and we expect that to open a few doors that were ajar and waiting for the scores. 

His travel coach that we have gotten very close to always says that you never know what opportunity could suddenly appear.  Maybe someplace you have never thought or heard of.  He went to Austin Peay coming from Southern NJ.  Had never heard of it.  Gave him $$, had a great experience and met his wife.  So, eyes wide open, everyone!  Stay strong!

Kimb27 posted:

 We have a lot going on in the next 2 months that will hopefully define things clearly for him. And his 2nd and last SAT scores come Friday and we expect that to open a few doors that were ajar and waiting for the scores. 

Fingers crossed for your son Kimb27!