<p>Congratulations to all of you who were admitted to Bowdoin! And good luck to your son, ohio-mom.
What are your intended majors, acceptees, if you wouldn't mind sharing? I hope my son applies next year - it's a wonderful place!</p>
<p>Please Help! I Am From Pa Also, And I Was Deferred From Bowdoin Early Decision, Yet They Have Remained In Close Contact With Me Since December. My Deferral Letter Was Extremely Personal, And Mentioned My Essay, And My Outstanding Extra-cirriculars... When Do You Think I Will Hear From Them Again?! Please Please Respond!!!!</p>
<p>i was just accepted two days ago. i'm planning to major in neuroscience and go pre-med. at this point, the only thing holding me back from committing to bowdoin is that its neuroscience program isn't very big. but otherwise, i absolutely love bowdoin. go polar bears!</p>
<p>Shwack--I'm a Bowdoin freshman and thinking of being a neuroscience major. So far, I've been very impressed with the program. The courses that I've taken and have heard about are awesome. One of the cool things about the program is that students have such great opportunities to work with professors, to publish papers, etc. For example, in one neuroscience class open to sophomores, all the research is original and the student who does the best lab report has the chance to write a paper with the professor to be submitted to the journals. I believe it was that same course that spent 1 week of Christmas break living together with their professor in a lab doing research and another week during March break--from what I've heard, it required a lot of dedication but was an amazing experience. In addition, the top students are given the opportunity to do intensive summer research with a professor. Finally, you can do Honors projects and independent studies in pretty much any topic that interests you. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to try to answer.</p>
<p>Plus, for small liberal arts colleges, we have an awesome AI program (which can almost be neuroscience-y, if you want to swing it that way. Some of the 300 level CS electives are basically neuroscience)</p>
<p>PeacePlease, who are you? I know TravisD, but I haven't seen you on before. Are you Ms. Sunshine?</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone who is getting in. If you have questions about Bowdoin, feel free to IM me OliverR217 - I'm a math/CS person, but I know a bit about some of the other aspects of campus as well.</p>
<p>GO U BEARS</p>
<p>Hi there Oliver:
As a North Carolinean, how would you characterize the experience of being at Bowdoin as a southerner? Have you enjoyed your new peer group? and have you been able to cope with your first winter up there? Interested in your perspective. Do you love the small class sizes or do you miss not having a larger student body for instance? How would you contrast your Bowdoin classmates and social life to that of NC colleges? Bowdoin looks to us to be a fabulous community of peers and teachers. thanks!</p>
<p>PeacePLease: at this point, my d is strongly leaning towards a neuroscience/ biochem double major. Which professor would you recommend she contact to find out more about the neuroscience program and doing research? She'd like to meet with someone in the dept when she visits next month.</p>
<p>chow or david page</p>
<p>Hey Faline!</p>
<p>I have to admit, before I answer, that I was born in NYC and went to a small private school here, so my answer might not be completely southern. But I can try.</p>
<p>There are southerners at Bowdoin. Some people might not understand how easy it is to say y'all. Others might wonder why we complain that the 'bbq ribs' in the dining hall are, in fact, poor imitations of what we know to be bbq. And some others <em>gasp</em> think that Nestea in a can is the same as sweet tea.</p>
<p>Seriously though, to answer your questions. I find the new group of kids very refreshing. I know people from Turkey, Japan, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, and Maine. It's great! Bowdoin really cares about creating a diverse community of people who can teach each other about more than just academic subjects. I just had two friends from Maine and PA down ove the first week of our two week spring break and educated them in warm weather :-p.</p>
<p>The winter is cold, but everyone deals with it. They keep the dorms warm, and everyone just gets through it. Bring some layers and you'll be fine. Forget the layers, and you can just bum a 15 minute car ride to the LL Bean Headquarters in Freeport (which never closes).</p>
<p>My high school was very small, so the class size wasn't a change, but I love it. I know my professors very well, and I feel they know me as well. Friends of mine at UNC are shocked when I tell them that a professor emailed me to recommend I attend a lecture because they know I am interested in a related topic.</p>
<p>There are things about UNC and Duke (I live right in between them) that Bowdoin does lack. There's not really a bustling Franklin Street where there are restaurants and stores. But Bowdoin makes up for it with the community they create. Other than maybe warmer weather, I wouldn't bring many facets of the NC schools to Bowdoin. </p>
<p>I chose Bowdoin to be my number one school. I chose it over Harvard, Dartmouth, and Duke. After 1.5 semesters, I don't regret my decision at all. And I think the number one reason of that is the community you mentioned. Bowdoin, in my opinion, does the best job, hands down, of all the schools I mentioned, at creating a place where you meet amazing people and professors who are all in it together. I'm not taught by TA's and my classmates are more eager to help me understand a topic than beat me in class ranking. </p>
<p>Let me know if you want more information, or if I missed the point totally.
-Oliver</p>
<p>Hi Oliver:
Your response was priceless. thank-you. They should use you in Admissions. We found Bowdoin to be a breath of fresh air, unpretentious but intense. Students did seem mentally healthy and running their own race rather than competing with each other. I felt the common sense quotient there cut through the level of privilege. You are not set up for PMs or emails and I am a parent on CC who tries not to crowd my son's privacy on this site, so I won't post much more now. However, you did address concerns quite well. Two more weeks to go at most. I very much appreciated your take on full professors, intimacy and your super peers from all over the map.<br>
thanks from another person South of the Mason Dixon who thinks the Maine Coast is one of the greatest stretches of the USA and that small can be beautiful in colleges.</p>
<p>Faline2, you may not see this but I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I have two relatives who go to Bowdoin. As a parent, you might be interested to know how INCREDIBLE the administrative staff has been - my sister says that when she has a problem/question, whether it is the Dean's office, Bursar, registrar, bookstore, whatever, they get right back to her via email and even add personal notes to the response. They have been truly amazing - I am always in a state of shock when she tells me these stories (wish my d would apply there!).</p>
<p>Also, I second the professor thing. My two relatives get emails all the time from profs -sometimes they go to everyone in the class, sometimes they are personal. They go to the profs' houses for dinner. They get to do research with them....it just goes on and on. I am a huge Bowdoin booster because of these experiences and many, many others. </p>
<p>Both kids are on awesome school-sponsored community service trips right now, too, and having a great time. </p>
<p>They have had no trouble traveling to Portland or Boston for concerts etc.</p>
<p>The area Bowdoin owns for sailing is simply one of the most breath-taking coves I have seen, especially at sunset.</p>
<p>The school isn't "too" anything (too preppy, too jocky, too artsy, too liberal, too conservative) - apparently one can find anything he or she wants there, and people seem really respectful about all the diversity. I have been very pleasantly surprised, reading professors' comments on the two kids' papers - one is pretty conservative, one is pretty liberal, and the professors are great - they seem to have no axes to grind; they just want you to think clearly and critically. </p>
<p>I really can't say enough good things about the place! (Maybe I will sneak an app in for my D! LOL!)</p>
<p>Hi and thanks for your knowledge of your two relations who are current Bowdoin students. I did not know there was a sailing cove...and your reports are very welcome. I really liked the ethos of the place, and felt that the students there had self-selected in order to work in a social atmosphere that was very intimate, demanding and the opposite of competitive. Maine itself casts something vast over the place that keeps life a bit in perspective. Just my feeling.</p>
<p>congrats everyone !!...we are talking about RD right ?</p>
<p>I especially like the combination of being academically excellent and demanding, but NOT crushing and especially NOT competitive. The kids I know do a lot of collaborative projects, and it really seems that the students are trying to reach their own personal best, not "beat" others. This segues into one truly amazing thing I left out: the alumni network. It seems the people are helpful even after graduation! I can't tell you how many stories I've heard - </p>
<p>sigh. I gotta go talk to my D again! (I think it is just the Maine winters - which I love - that are holding her back!)</p>
<p>Wow! Its so interesting to see that there are so many neuroscience majors! I also want to major in neuroscience at bowdoin, as well as being a studio art major. I love Bowdoin so much. I can't wait to hear from them. I'm getting pretty nervous!</p>
<p>oliver, do u know a guy who is a first year at Bowdoin by the name of Sam? He's from Texas. Sam M.</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone!</p>
<p>I have also recieved an early-write acceptance to Bowdoin. I loved the personalized letters. I have also heard that Bowdoin actually personalizes ED deferral letters also. That is amazing!</p>
<p>Yes BrownSurfer, Sam actually lives in the dorm room directly next to me. You know him from home?</p>
<p>I'm a Sam M from Texas, do I know you?</p>
<p>hahhahahaha</p>