Bates vs. Colby vs Bowdoin

As someone whose child also is considering Bates and Bowdoin (though not Colby), I keep checking this thread in hopes of reading something other than a score-reporting debate. I learned more about the colleges from the insights some posters provided into the vibe, social life, campus activities, town, food, etc, for each college.

@Lindagaf, thanks for providing the feedback the OP requested…

The Princeton Review lists mid-50 data on all the schools in this thread, and they seem to mirror the CDS. It clearly states that these are for all enrolled students, so it gives insight as to how test optional plays out at these schools once people matriculate.

Bates 1150-1400 27-32
https://www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024055/college/bates-college

Bowdoin 1290-1520 30-34
https://www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024068/college/bowdoin-college?ceid=best-colleges

Colby 1270-1480 29-32
https://www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023880/college/colby-college?ceid=best-colleges

Hamilton 1300-1480 31-33
https://www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023128/college/hamilton-college

@TheGreyKing I hear you. We toured both of these schools (all 3 in this tread topic actually) and the vibes are quite different. Honestly I think the vibes of Bowdoin and Bates really mirror the scores, so I think its a relevant discussion to learn more insight into each school.

Bowdoin exudes studiousness. To some this feels cold and intimidating; to some it feels challenging in a good way. There is a distinct air of seriousness to the place, it felt like the Ivys we toured but smaller and more personal. The info session and tour guide both pointed out that Bowdoins mission is to educate the whole person and their presentations clearly fleshed this out. The tour was evenly divided into 30 minutes on academics (touring classrooms, discussing academic support services etc) and 30 minutes on quality of life (food, outing club, dorms, social houses, social events etc). I got a very clear sense of the place and I can see why some love it and some find it cold. D loved the academics and it was a front runner for ED1. It fell a bit on her list because many of the interior common spaces are not very nice (dated, dark).

Bates exudes friendliness. There is nothing intimidating about it. The first stop on the tour was the chapel, and our guide said that the entire freshman class fits into it which really spoke to the personal scale. Our guide said that the month long term in the spring was largely a time to ‘chill’ and the classes she took were non academic. She mentioned that she felt the first year was on the easy side for her (and would be for D as they went to similar HS) because of the wide range of incoming students and the seminar that gets everyone on a level playing field. I think many LAC have a similar first year program so I am not sure if this is unique to Bates but it was the only time seminar was described as such. The info session was very very focused on internships and interaction with Lewiston. Lots of learning through doing - vs Bowdoin which seemed more intellectual and learning for learnings sake.

At both schools we sensed a wide range of social interaction between different races, genders and socio-economic groups. Bowdoin had a few more preppy kids, Bates a few more arty ones - but both types existed at both schools. The food was great at both; Bates dining space is one of the nicest we have seen at any school. Bowdoin is in a picture-perfect Maine small town with a farmers market, cute restaurants, and a health food store selling raw milk and Kombucha on tap - the town feels affluent and progressive. Bates is in a former industrial town with great bones that fell on hard times and is being revitalized. There are a couple of cute new coffee shops but also run down diners. There is an energy at Bates that seems like it’s a place thats ‘on its way up’; at Bowdoin it feels like they have been at the top for a very long time. Some people feel Brunswick is too sanitized and some people feel Lewiston is too sketchy. I think your reaction to which town you feel most comfortable in is a clue into your reaction to the schools respective ethos.

If you have not visited these 2 schools I think its really imperative. While they are often spoken of as ‘very similar’ on these boards I think there are also a lot of differences.

OP, Middlebury also profiles similarly and has many shared characteristics to the schools noted.

Middlebury 1280-1510 30-33
https://www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023860/college/middlebury-college#!admissions

The OP here is not the one who asked about score reporting. The OP is an athletic recruit.

Another poster posted a question about scores and inadvertently took this thread on a bit of a hijacked direction.

Helpful if you are directing your comments. @4junior , above is for you!

@FROMTHESOUTH3, is DS an athletic recruit that has completed pre-reads at all three? Also, attended overnights yet as it’s getting late in process for ED (II) support?

OP asked original question 2 months ago and I suspect is on top of it as information was for ED1.

Thanks @Chembiodad and @gardenstategal. D has submitted her ED1 app to Midd - fingers crossed!

and sorry for the hijack!

No worries @4junior . I hope December brings her good news!

@4junior, great choice - good luck!

my d looked at all these schools along with williams, amherst and middlebury. she painted williams, amherst and bowdoin with the same brush: money, carefully managed diversity, entitled (just reporting the impressions of a 17 yo). She found colby, bates and middlebury more down to earth. In the end, the plan was to apply to mid and colby ( two of her best friends had bates down as their top school and she was concerned they’d only take one from our hs)

I did a fairly deep analysis on her chances at all these schools. I came to the conclusion that she’d be admitted to bates and colby but bowdoin a much tougher admit, was just not going to happen.