I have done lot of research about both these colleges for my daughter who is in Junior now. We are planning to visit both places this summer. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated 
Bates is a “Top Choice” and Bowdoin receives an “honorable mention” on this online list: “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.”
Bates probably sends a higher percentage of its class to medical school than Bowdoin and it has a larger medical school advising staff. The other benefit is that a teaching and residency hospital affiliated with BU Medical is literally across the street so it’s probably easier and less stressful to get time in medical ECs. Lewiston is also much larger than Brunswick so more doctors are in the immediate area as well.
Thank you very much. This info is very helpful :-)…How about the security? Is the campus well secured.
There’s very little need for security at the Bates campus
The campus is very pretty and compact located in a residential area of Lewiston. Lewiston is not a pretty town in the classic sense but the crime rate is very low and things are on the upswing. Neither Bates or Bowdoin are rural campuses, both are right in or next to town and close to the airport.
Both have excellent food and housing, among the best anywhere.
They are very close to each other so you won’t have any trouble seeing them in one day, a long day though.
Be sure to schedule interviews. Both schools value kids that want to attend.
@OnTheBubble, wewill definitely schedule interviews as suggested.
Here’s what Bates has to say about their pre-med applicants:
*Qualified Bates College applicants are very successful. Depending on the specific pool of applicants each year, roughly 75 – 100% of the qualified students and alumni who apply are accepted to medical school each year. Acceptance rates to other health professions schools, dental, optometry, PA, nursing, veterinary, etc., are even higher.
Bates College provides strong premedical preparation for its pre-health professions students including most of the requisite coursework, internship opportunities, pre-health professions advising and support from the Medical Studies Committee.*
Note, however, that they only refer to qualified Bates applicants. The rest of the language on their page seems to suggest that they view a qualified Bates student/alumni as someone with a 3.5+ GPA and a composite MCAT score above 500, along with demonstrated interest in the health professions and strong letters of recommendation.
Here’s what Bowdoin says about premed:
We urge prospective students who are trying to choose between undergraduate schools to look beyond the statistics of each institution to the quality of the curriculum, the pre-health advising, the opportunities in and beyond the classrooms and laboratories, and the support that is offered applicants to health professions programs…The annual acceptance rate of those who applied through Bowdoin to enter medical school in 2001-2010 has averaged 86%. The average over the past three years has been 84%. All of the candidates who applied to enter veterinary medicine, dental medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physician assistant, public health and sports nutrition programs during the past three years were accepted.
The average of 75 and 100 is 87.5, so it seems that Bates and Bowdoin’s acceptance rates to medical school are about the same.
Both Bates and Bowdoin do the “committee letter,” where the pre-medical advising office convenes a committee (usually made up of some faculty and some administrators) who write letters of reference for students seeking admission to medical and dental school. Usually it requires the student who is interested to register their interest in the fall of their junior year and build a credential file (transcript, CV, statement, internal letters of recommendation, etc.); the committee then reviews this credential file and writes a committee letter of reference recommending the student to medical/dental school. It’s pretty common at elite schools, actually - Columbia does this, too; I remember writing a few recommendations to the committee for students who were trying to get a committee letter.
The downside is that elite schools that do the committee letter have created an expectation with medical schools that their strongest applicants will come with one, meaning that students (and alumni, potentially) who apply without a committee letter have lowered chances of admission. However, some schools do committee letters competitively or will only write one for you if you meet their requirements. IMO this isn’t a bad thing - they’re trying to ensure that the student doesn’t waste their time grasping for something that’s not really within the realm of possibility (and also that the college doesn’t besmirch their reputation by recommending students who don’t have the record to get in). Bates says
Please note that while there are no GPA or MCAT cut-offs to receive a composite letter of recommendation, we strongly encourage students to engage in the committee letter of recommendation process when they feel confident that they are a competitive applicant. A committee letter will provide an honest evaluation of academic performance and readiness for success in the rigorous medical school curriculum.
Bowdoin says
*It is the policy of Bowdoin to assist any student or graduate of the College who is seeking admission to a program in the health professions. *
Checking out other stuff, Bowdoin says that they have volunteer programs at two hospitals in Brunswick and a network of health professionals in the immediate area for informational interviewing and job shadowing. Bates’ website lists several resources related to getting health experience, including several student employment positions (like peer educator in the health center or lab assistant in psychology or biology labs), becoming a Bates volunteer EMT (they have an on-campus EMS class that you can take), a 6-page list of job shadow and a 5-page list of internship opportunities in the local area (these include health professionals across fields, though, including dentistry, optometry, vet med, etc.), and some other cool opportunities.
I mean, a website is only one indicator but just judging by the information available it seems like Bates has the edge in their organization and pre-med advising. However, it could be that Bowdoin’s page is just not very well-developed - and the two schools have a similar track record in getting students and alumni into med school, so either could be a good choice. I’d definitely talk to someone in the premed advising office when you visit, especially at Bowdoin.
All the courses you’d need to prepare for med school would be available at either school.
One or the other may offer slightly better pre-med advising or internship opportunities. If so, I doubt it makes a significant, measurable difference in the med school admission outcomes of students with identical GPAs and MCAT scores.
Thanks Juliet for detailed explanation. We are visiting both the colleges.
Why is Bowdoin ranking higher than Bates in national college lists? Is that have to do anything with faculty or nunber of students graduating?
Looks like Bates had Neuroscience as one of its major. Not sure whether Bowdoin has?
You haven’t put your daughter’s stats in the thread. Both of these schools are very difficult to get in and neither accept a lot of students because they both have very high yield. Admissions outcome can be very different for students with identicals stats.
The rankings have a lot of ties and also they are distorted now because the service academies are included. Bowdoin ranks higher most likely because it is slightly harder to get in, but that doesn’t mean Bates is easy with around an 18% acceptance rates for both men and women in regular decision. Both will be harder for females than males. You will have no way of knowing the outcome until she applies. Bates rejects about 85% of women and Bowdoin about 90% women in regular decision. The difference in selectivity doesn’t apply to many students.
If you describe your daughter’s stats and anything else like location and race maybe you will get better feedback.
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We are South Asian Americans and she is the top 10 in her high school. GPA…4.2
We are from Massachusetts. She got April 2016 ACT composite score 30 and March 2016 SAT composite 1360/1600
She is again reappearing from ACT in SEPT of 2016. My d is expecting her May SAT results.
She is into leaderships roles in school and does lot of volunteering.
Student selectivity only counts for 12.5% of the USNWR rank.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/ranking-criteria-and-weights
@tk21769 True but selectivity also influences other factors so it’s more than 12.5%.
@prsts05 What percentile is that SAT score? If it is similar to her ACT she will have a hard time getting accepted to these two schools, especially a female coming from Massachusetts. She needs some schools that are bit easier to get in. Not saying she can’t but a below average chance is a real long shot at these schools.
Bates’ ACT middle range on their CDS is 28-32. A 30, subject to a senior year increase, is not bad for this school, pending other factors.