Preparation for Profession: Affiliated Programs and Other Agreements

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The undergraduate program at Skidmore affords preparation for graduate work either in the liberal arts or in the professions. Students interested in advanced degrees should consult the appropriate department as soon as possible in their undergraduate careers. A number of preprofessional programs, such as premed and prelaw, are supported by special advisors at the college.

Most graduate schools require an appropriate entrance exam:

  • the MCAT for medical school
  • the LSAT for law school
  • the GMAT for business school
  • the GRE for most other graduate programs

Many graduate programs in an academic discipline leading to an M.A. or Ph.D. require competence in one or two foreign languages.

Most professional schools advise students to obtain a sound foundation in the liberal arts, in addition to the necessary preprofessional courses, as the best preparation for admission. This holds true for engineering, law, medicine, social service, and teaching certification.

Business Administration

Skidmore College offers qualified students the opportunity to earn a baccalaureate from Skidmore and a master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, or Accounting through cooperative programs at Clarkson University, Union Graduate College, Syracuse University, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

The 4 + 1 M.B.A. Program with Clarkson University

In this program, students earn a baccalaureate from Skidmore and a master’s degree in business administration from Clarkson in the year following Skidmore graduation. Normally, the M.B.A. requires two or more graduate years to complete.

Under special agreement, students plan their undergraduate programs to include certain foundation courses normally taken in the first year of study in an M.B.A. program. In addition to completing the foundation equivalents, students will meet Clarkson’s prescribed admission standards.

Foundation requirements include satisfactory completion of a total of 27 credit hours. See 4 + 1 M.B.A. Program with Clarkson University (https://www.clarkson.edu/sites/default/files/2020-09/Skidmore%20College.pdf) for details of the requirements.

The 4 + 1 M.B.A. Program with Rochester Institute of Technology

In this program, students earn a baccalaureate from Skidmore and a master’s degree in business administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in the year following Skidmore graduation. Under special agreement, students plan their undergraduate programs to include certain foundation courses normally taken in the first year of study in an M.B.A. program. M.B.A. programs typically take two or more years to complete.

Foundation requirements include satisfactory completion of 12 courses:

Accounting
MB 234Foundations of Financial Accounting4
MB 235Foundations of Managerial Accounting3
Organizational Behavior and Leadership
MB 224Foundations of Organizational Behavior3
and one of the following:
MB 314Organizational Theory3
MB 316Dynamics of Leadership4
MB 358Human Resource Management4
Statistics
EC 237Statistical Methods4
MA 204Probability and Statistics3
Economics
EC 103Introduction to Macroeconomics4
EC 104Introduction to Microeconomics4
Marketing Concepts
MB 214Foundations of Marketing3
and one of the following:
MB 317Marketing Research4
MB 337Advertising and Promotion4
MB 344International Marketing4
Finance
MB 338Foundations of Finance4
and one of the following:
MB 339Investments3
MB 345Global Financial Management4

In addition to completing the foundation requirements, students must meet RIT’s prescribed admissions standards.

Graduate Program Affiliations with Syracuse University are currently being revised. Details forthcoming.

Wake Forest University Master of Science in Accountancy Key School Agreement

In this program, five students graduating from Skidmore College and majoring in management and business may qualify for and enroll in the Wake Forest University Master of Science in Accountancy program each year. Admitted Skidmore students will receive a minimum $10,000 per semester tuition scholarship as well as be considered for competitive merit-based scholarship awards. One admitted Skidmore College applicant will be designated the “Skidmore College Accounting Fellow” and will sit on the MSA Program’s Student Advisory Council. Consult the Department of Management and Business for details on additional admissions criteria.

Education

Effective for the Graduating Class of 2017 and Later

Through a cooperative agreement with Clarkson University, Skidmore College offers qualified students the opportunity to complete their Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree at Clarkson University in one calendar year following the completion of their undergraduate studies at Skidmore. Candidates may pursue the MAT degree in any of the following secondary disciplines:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Chinese
  • English
  • French
  • Geoscience
  • German
  • History/Social Studies
  • Classics (Latin)
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Spanish

Qualified Skidmore students receive preferred admission into the MAT program at Clarkson. To qualify, students must

  1. have passed ED 233 Emergent Literacy Adolescent Development or PS 204 Educational Psychology with a B or better,
  2. have completed at least one semester of foreign language,
  3. have completed a full major in the area of study they wish to pursue in the MAT degree,
  4. graduate from Skidmore with a cumulative grade point average of 3.000 or higher, both in their major and in their overall program, and
  5. have GRE results in the top 50th percentile.

A four-day structured field experience is a required prerequisite; exceptions may be made with permission of the chairperson for the Department of Education at Clarkson. Applicants with a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher will receive an automatic, two-course reduction in tuition.

Because students completing the MAT degree must have fulfilled certain course requirements within their field of study, early advising at Skidmore is important. Students interested in pursuing the agreement should consult with the Skidmore liaison, Shannon Rodriguez in the Career Development Center, before the end of the first semester of the junior year.

Engineering

Skidmore College offers qualified students the opportunity to earn dual degrees in liberal arts and engineering through cooperative programs with Dartmouth College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. These are challenging programs designed for the student who has strong preparation in mathematics and physical sciences, and above average problem solving skills.

Interested students should be aware that each program has prerequisite courses that must be completed at Skidmore or elsewhere before study may begin at the host institution. Scheduling of such courses is normally arranged with the assistance of Skidmore’s Engineering Advisory Committee. Students should register their interests with the engineering coordinator, Professor Evan Halstead, at the earliest possible date.

Dual-Degree Program with Dartmouth College

Through a cooperative arrangement with the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, students may earn both the Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore at the end of the fourth year and, at the end of the fifth year, the Bachelor of Engineering degree from Dartmouth. Normally, students spend their junior and fifth year at Dartmouth, returning to Skidmore in their senior year to finish their Bachelor of Arts degree requirements (2-1-1-1 option). In unusual circumstances, it may be possible to spend successive years at Dartmouth, beginning with the senior year (3+2 option; see the engineering coordinator for relevant details). In either case, some courses taken at Dartmouth may count toward major requirements at Skidmore.

An additional one or two years may lead to the master of engineering management or the Master of Science degree from Dartmouth. See Engineering Dual Degree Program with Dartmouth College for details.

Dual-Degree Program with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

A cooperative agreement with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) allows students at Skidmore to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from RPI in five years of study, through either a 2-1-1-1 or a 3+2 option.

See Engineering Dual Degree Program with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for details.

Law

The law school admissions process is highly competitive. While there is no prescribed course of study for the undergraduate who plans to attend law school, a strong academic record is the best preparation.

Law schools emphasize the importance of a broad liberal arts education. The ability to analyze critically, and synthesize material, and the power of organization, clear expression, and sound judgment are desirable. Well-developed skills in reading, speaking, and writing are essential. Students are encouraged to choose courses widely, concentrating in an area that is of most interest to them.

Practically all law schools require the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) of the Educational Testing Service. Students should consider taking their exam in the spring of their junior year. Students should submit several law school applications early in the fall of their senior year, and may want to consider retaking the LSAT in October.

A prelaw advisor counsels students preparing for law, assisting them in evaluating law schools and in preparing effective applications.

Health Professions

HEALTH PROFESSIONS

Health Professions Advisory Committee Contacts:
Kelly Sheppard (chair)
Tracy DeRocher (administrative assistant)
Shannon Rodriguez (career counselor)

The Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) at Skidmore advises interested students on course planning, co-curricular and extra-curricular experiences, and applying to health professional schools as they relate to pre-health tracks. As such, pre-health advisors help students prepare for careers in allopathic and osteopathic medicine (M.D. and D.O.), dentistry, veterinary medicine (D.V.M.), physician assistant, nursing (e.g., registered nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, and nurse anesthetists), physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health, optometry, and other health professions such as pharmacy, podiatry, genetic counseling, speech pathology, and audiology. Students interested in clinical Psychology should consult the Psychology Department, not HPAC.

Students with an interest in the health professions need to join the Student Health Professions Network once they arrive to Skidmore to be assigned a pre-health advisor and to be added to the health professions communication list. The HPAC office is located in the Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences, BTCIS 147. HPAC information is online at https://www.skidmore.edu/hpac/.

Courses for Pre-Health Tracks

Students interested in careers in the health professions may choose any major. However, students should consult with their pre-health advisor early in their college careers and before registration each semester to plan classes to fulfill the prerequisite coursework requirements of the health professional schools they are interested in and to prepare for the relevant standardized admissions test. Individual health professional schools vary in their specific course and other admissions requirements. It is the responsibility of the student applying to know the requirements of the specific schools they are applying to and to make sure they meet those requirements. The typical requirements are summarized on the HPAC website as a guide, including for:

Articulation Agreements

Skidmore maintains articulation agreements for preferred but not guaranteed admission to the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing 15-month accelerated baccalaureate nursing program as well as the Russell Sage College School of Health Sciences doctor of physical therapy and occupational therapy (master of occupational therapy, M.S.O.T., and doctor of occupational therapy, O.D.T.) programs. Students interested in the programs should discuss them with their pre-health advisor and the chair of HPAC after reading more about the articulation agreements: