Any parents of Bowdoin students?

Parents Forum
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<p>I'm looking to communicate with any parents who have students currently attending Bowdoin or alums of Bowdoin, or parents whose children have graduated from Bowdoin.</p>

<p>My D is deciding between Bowdoin and another college on the west coast. She has to decide NLT May 1st, but we want her to make the decision by April 29, Friday!!</p>

<p>Any takers?</p>

<p>private message me or feel free to respond on the board.</p>

<p>My questions:
1. How would you characterize your child's experience at Bowdoin? </p>

<p>-- Social fit,</p>

<p>-- academic workload, </p>

<p>-- balance between time for other things besides school, whether it is sports, outing club, parties, hanging out w/friends watching movies, etc and academic workload,</p>

<p>--inclusiveness of the student body whether the child fits the dominant culture or not (ie. preppiness, style of dress, athletic ability, race/gender relations...)</p>

<p>--hook up culture?
My D did an admitted student program at Bowdoin and she said on the tables in the dining hall there were jokes about the hook up culture at Bowdoin, which has been written about in the student newspaper - apparently it's a well known culture --not to say that people don't have relationships there...I'm sure they do. My D is interested in relationships, not hooking up, and while I don't think it would make her not choose Bowdoin, it definitely fell in the "con" category.</p>

<p>--competiveness of the student body? vs collaborative culture.</p>

<p>thanks - any comments would be appreciated!</p>

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<p>I don’t have a kid at Bowdoin, but I live within half an hour of the campus and know a few current students and their parents.</p>

<p>All of them love it. </p>

<p>Re the “hookup culture”: I strongly doubt that this is more of an issue at Bowdoin than it is at other colleges.</p>

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<p>S’s experience has, for him, been fantastic. He graduates this spring. Smart, friendly, laid back kids who are well rounded and hard working. The environment is not competitive but kids care about their work. Yes, there is a hook up culture, just like most other schools, and i know it’s very openly discussed–even joked about–which can be a good thing. I can’t tell you what the dominant social culture is but can say the kids enjoy parties and the social house system has been an important part of S’s experience, as has his connection with professors and clubs. The workload, for him, was a lot but not overwhelming–often. I’ve not had one complaint as a parent and am extremely grateful for the ways in which Bowdoin has expanded and enriched my S in each of his four years, it’s been a joy to watch him grow and I suspect this is the case at many top LAC’s, but I’m particularly grateful to this one. I’d advise you to read the school paper, which is available online, if you haven’t already and trust your instincts with the various choices your daughter has in front of her.</p>

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<p>You might want to move this to the Bowdoin forum.</p>

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<p>I caution that what follows is hearsay, and old hearsay at that – it happened before 2005.</p>

<p>Years ago, a couple of non-white kids my daughter knew had bad experiences there. They felt very isolated, excluded, thought the atmosphere was way too preppy. That was something, coming from kids who were, for all relevant purposes, preppies, and who had been happy as one of a handful of students of color in a highly academic private school full of well-to-do white students. I would add that both kids were very social and popular at the high school; their opinions carried a lot of weight. Anyway, they were really miserable, and both left, the second very abruptly.</p>

<p>Around then – and now I am talking 4-5 years ago – I saw some similar comments here on CC from non-white kids or their parents, but nothing since then.</p>

<p>Anyway, if my kid were non-white – even if she were preppy non-white – I would make certain she talked to current minority students about the atmosphere there before making a decision about Bowdoin.</p>

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<p>@pizzagirl – I had already posted on the Bowdoin forum, but no one answered. This forum got answers…
@JHS --D is white…</p>

<p>Everyone, thanks for your comments. My D made her decision. She will be attending west coast school. Giving up Bowdoin and the location in Maine and the Maine coast was hard, she went back and forth a long time, but I guess giving up other school would have been harder…so she’s looking forward now not back and I’m trusting her instincts on it.</p>

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<p>If you expect the school in the West Coast not to have a hook-up culture you will be disappointed. They all do these days.</p>

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<p>I just want to add that I have it on good authority that the situation JHS described is still true. I know a non-white student there who attended a very good, primarily white school, had lots of friends and was very involved in high school. That has not been the experience at Bowdoin. The school is very cliquish. There are minority kids there-- but so few (partly because the school is so small) that they seem to have a clique of their own (and that culture is more urban and poor than this kid was raised).</p>

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<p>I am surprised about that negative story at Bowdoin. Take a look at this article in the current issue of Bowdoin Magazine:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>[Africana</a> Studies: A World Dialogue, A Campus Conversation (Bowdoin Magazine)](<a href=“Bowdoin Magazine | Bowdoin College”>Bowdoin Magazine | Bowdoin College)</p>

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<p>Take a look at this article and note the things taking place: </p>

<p>[Orient</a> Express 200 attend meeting to discuss bias incidents](<a href=“http://bowdoinorientexpress.com/post/3734755320/200-attend-meeting-to-discuss-bias-incidents]Orient”>http://bowdoinorientexpress.com/post/3734755320/200-attend-meeting-to-discuss-bias-incidents)</p>

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<p>Bias incidents occur at all colleges. Would other colleges take the chance to use this as an opportunity for the school and its students to learn and grow? They might, but not to the extent Bowdoin did. There might be a lot more bias at other schools.</p>