Skidmore College
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
http://www.skidmore.edu/precollege/ 
Skidmore College is a highly selective private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, NY. Skidmore's Pre-College Program for high-school students provides a rich pre-collegiate summer immersion experience: students enroll in college courses, live on a college campus, and participate firsthand in college life and engaged learning. Students are enrolled in the five-week Pre-College Program (July 5 - August 8, 2015) as full-time, residential students taking regular (i.e., not remedial) classes alongside Skidmore college students. Approximately 60-70 students enroll in the Pre-College Program each summer. All residential students take two courses, which over five weeks is equivalent to enrolling as full-time students. Students apply for and are enrolled in courses that play to their strengths and interests in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Studio Art, or Natural Sciences. Courses are offered through the College's Summer Session and taught by Skidmore faculty members. The program aims to mirror the daily life typical of an engaged college student, though in a compressed timetable. Classes on average meet four or five days a week for approximately two hours each; daily homework can easily involve two to four hours per class, per day of reading, writing, reviewing, and preparing for tests and exams. During the evenings, students have the opportunity to attend cultural events on campus such as lectures, readings, films and concerts, art exhibits and gallery talks, and of course they will also spend much time socializing with new-found friends. Optional weekend trips and events are organized for the students throughout the program. A staff of 10 Skidmore College students serve as residential counselors, ensuring the students' safety and general well-being, and a professional residence hall director oversees the residential life of the program. Over the course of the summer program, Skidmore provides mentoring and workshops on study skills, time management, college admissions and financial aid, and other academic and personal growth programs to support participants in the transition from high school students to college students. Students in Skidmore's Pre-College Program have an opportunity to build in important ways upon their strengths and acquire evidence�"in the form of a college transcript�"of their readiness for college-level work after high school. The impact that five weeks of living in a college residence hall has on high school students is significant: they will leave the familiarity and routines of home for an environment in which their academic success requires great self-discipline. Engaging in communal living with strangers will both challenge and broaden their perspectives and foster confidence in their ability to live away from home and with others. Throughout the program, students are expected to maintain a high level of initiative and responsibility regarding their work and citizenship within the Pre-College community.
Grants
2025 Academic Readiness/Post Secondary Success Grant | $89,194
Toward the support of their co-sponsored Pre-College scholarships for Charles Hayden Foundation-affiliated high schools’ students in New York City and Boston.