Amherst or Bowdoin?

My son is currently looking at colleges. He has very good grades and is interested in majoring in politics and/or economics. He is set on a liberal arts college and is now considering Bowdoin and Amherst.
Whilst Bowdoin is in rural Brunswick, it has a train station that connects to Boston. On the other hand, Amherst has a larger population (not to mention a lot more college students) but there is no connection to major cities. We live in a city and my son does not drive; he is used to public transit. Apparently, there is a defunct train station in Amherst, and even when it was operating it did not go to Boston or NYC.
It is worth mentioning that he looked at Williams; whilst he is a keen hiker who loves the Berkshires, he thinks he would get bored living there for four years with little to do in town.
Lastly, he is very academic and indifferent to sport, so he is not concerned about athletics. He is very interested in extracurriculars such as Model UN, politics, etc.

There are buses from the Amherst area to Boston. Northampton is a pretty hopping place.

I don’t think of Bowdoin as rural but there are a lot of strip malls in the Brunswick area, a lot of traffic. The college area is small and quiet.

I have spent time in Williamstown and personally I would take that over Bowdoin,but that’s me, and I love art museums so nearby Mass MOCA and the Clark at Williams area draw for me. I like the little downtown area and observed a lot of Williams students having coffee and talking. Nice vibe.

Amherst with UMass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire seems like a good choice.

How about Tufts or Wesleyan?

The train from Boston went to Albany through western Mass. for years and I was shocked when I just looked it up and saw it goes to NYC in between. Still, Boston, MA → Amherst, MA Bus: from $31 | Peter Pan | Busbud

3 Likes

Are you asking specifically about ED? Is he a rising senior? If not, he should apply to both since they are reaches for everyone. The big selling point for me on Amherst would be their open curriculum, but that might be my Brown bias showing through. Has he looked at Bates, also in Maine? Swarthmore and Vassar are def in more populated areas as well.

4 Likes

The nearest train station to Amherst appears to be Northampton which is, at most, a 20 minute cab ride away. Personally, that would not be a deal breaker for me (same situation at Wesleyan, btw; Buses connect to a train station 10 miles away.)

Have you visited both campuses?

I’m sure he can catch a ride to Boston from either on a regular basis.

Not related but both those are reaches so I’m sure he has others on his list. . If he’s comfortable outside the NE, Macalester might work. In the city, but small and strong in intl relations if he has interest. Not easy but less difficult. Swarthmore may also work.

Is he open to other areas ??

This is ED. Swarthmore is another option, yes.
Thank you for the reply.

Sorry. Missed that. Good luck to him. I don’t know either. I’d assume Amherst has a lot going on. He’s close to home. I’m sure every week he can catch a ride.

I would the the culture at each is most important than ease of transport.

PVTA buses run frequently and connect Amherst and Northampton and all the schools in the Five College system. They are free to students. Peter Pan runs a regular service from Amherst to Boston.

2 Likes

Rising senior here who literally just went on a trip to see Bowdoin haha. I absolutely loved Brunswick and would not consider it rural at all. The town is bustling with restaurants (a waiter at one of the places we ate at said there were around 30 just in that area alone). Also, there is a year round shuttle bus that takes you from the Bowdoin campus directly to Portland, which is an amazing city and known for its food. It took us about 20 minutes to get there, and that was with traffic. I was considering Amherst for some time, as I had a cousin who went there and was actually their hockey captain, but the biggest turn off to me was the athlete/non-athlete divide. The school is known to be far cliquier than Bowdoin. That said, Amherst is an amazing school and if he is an athlete then he would love it. Honestly, all of the institutions you listed are amazing, and some of them are on my list, but the only one I can speak for is Bowdoin since I toured it just last week. Best of luck!

1 Like

That was another weird aspect; why is there no Uber or Lyft?

Well, it sounds as if you have visited both places. Did one campus not make a better impression than the other?

Academically, Amherst appears to be somewhat stronger for economics than Bowdoin when considered by faculty research and publishing: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc.

What about Brandeis? It’s small enough to have the feel of an LAC, very close to Boston.

There is tons to do in the Amherst/Northampton area. First, it’s the second biggest booking venue in New England, so there’s lots of live music in small clubs and big concert halls. Second, there are loads of good restaurants. Third, there are 30,000 college kids in Amherst alone. I’m originally from NYC and know that one can easily feel disconnected even with millions of people around. Coming from Brooklyn, when I discovered Amherst & Northampton, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. It’s the quintessential college town. What does he like to do in a big city that he can’t find here?

To me, Amherst as a place to go to college has it all over Brunswick. And I say that as someone who loves the educational opportunity at Bowdoin. Sure you can hop on a train to go to Boston 3 1/2 hours away. But how often is anyone going to do that? A college student’s time will be spent on and around campus. They should love that. If he’s looking to get away from that, then maybe he should be looking for a college in a big city. There are certainly lots of great colleges in big cities. Why not look there?

1 Like

If Swat is an option, you might also consider Haverford. The location of Haverford is much more active than Swat. There are a ton of shops, bars, and restaurants around the school, and it has the same access to Philly as Swat (about 10-15 mins on the train that runs just off campus).

Between Amherst and Bowdoin…our family would lean Bowdoin. Access to the Maine coast makes up for a lack of size. Portland is 30 mins away, and Brunswick has several very good food options.

5 Likes

@Landsdowne: “Why Amherst” & “Why Bowdoin”.

I’d pick Bowdoin for proximity to Portland, and neither for “close to Boston”… But as I think about this post, I really wonder if either is the right choice. If you’re looking for urban activities, why choose a remote LAC? I completely endorse @EyeVeee 's suggestion to look at Haverford and Swat. Check out Tufts, which is bigger but maybe right on the money for interests and location. What about the DC schools?

I am a HUGE fan of the rural LAC experience, but it is very much about making a life in and with a community. Doing things outside this community more often than not take the form of study abroad or internships, not a fluid coming and going… If your interest is in doing city things with peers, that’s a different experience. My kid’s friends were pretty evenly split on which they wanted. It’s good to think about this upfront.

4 Likes

I know neither are close to Boston, but one does have direct transport.
The LAC is more about the small class sizes and quality of undergraduate education.

When I say close, I guess I should have said “if you want your social life to be in Boston”.

You might want to check the stats on class sizes at some of the schools. I DO think that many classes at Tufts, for example, would be larger. That doesn’t mean quality is worse but it is a different classroom experience.

Direct doesn’t mean easy or quick. It’s 3.5 hours each way to Boston from Brunswick. I love Bowdoin…but it isn’t close to Boston.

Including the train from Swarthmore/Haverford to 30th Street (Philly train station), DC is less than 3 hours from campus, and NYC less than 2. Nobody ever went to Swat or Haverford because it had direct transport to DC or NY…but it’s quicker than Brunswick to Boston.

3 Likes