Hi!
I have a 3.67 gpa and a 1310 sat
I really like these two schools. I’m from L.A. county. I want a laidback student body and to have good professors in history courses. Which one should I go for?
You don’t have to pick one or the other. You can apply to both.
You could even apply to both of them ED, because each school has both ED1 and ED2. So you could apply to Oxy via ED1, and (if rejected) apply to Skidmore via ED2 (or vice versa). In fact, Skidmore effectively has three ED rounds, because if you apply there RD, you can convert the application to ED after ED1 and ED2 decisions are out.
You will find good history profs at both schools. I think Oxy probably has a stronger orientation towards history and the social sciences, while Skidmore probably has a stronger orientation towards English and the arts. For example, Skidmore is about 35% larger than Oxy, yet Oxy appears to have slightly more tenure-track history profs (including the College President) and more history majors.
Your chances of admission may be better at Skidmore, even though Skidmore has the lower overall acceptance rate. First, Skidmore has a slightly lower test score range, which makes your scores more competitive. Second, Skidmore probably wants more Californians. Currently, about two-thirds of their students come from New York or an adjoining state (PA, NJ, CT, MA, VT). They probably want more geographic balance, which means favoring “long distance” students in admissions. Also, their yield for “long distance” students is probably lower than average, which is another reason to accept more of them.
Conversely, being from LA County is unlikely to be a plus at Oxy. They probably get tons of applicants from LA County, and would like to get more students from the Northeast.