<p>I know these are tough to answer since usually people from only one school can respond but did anyone here have to make this choice and why? I mentioned before my d not into sports unless you count yoga and is pretty serious about academics .
These two just seem so similar its tough to spot the differences from the outside.</p>
<p>This may not be helpful to you, but you are in New England. Take the time to drive up and visit them. Anything I or someone else may say is not the same as visiting it. DD has visited Colby, Bowdoin and Bates. From all my contact with people and reading online, I had them in a particular order of preference. After visiting them all, DD's impressions are very different from what was expected as well as different from her own parents who were with her.</p>
<p>Just curious what the order of interest was and then what yours and hers ended up? We have been to Bowdoin and Bates and weren't going to do COlby ut have reconsidered. DD loves Bowdoin but it is a real long shot and had mixed feelings about Bates since at the time which was the final Spring session everyone on campus looked kind of preppy adn the tour guide put a ot of emphasis on sports - not my dd thing.</p>
<p>Our expected order of preference from web sites and books was Bowdoin, Colby, Bates. In fact we were not even planning to visit Bates figuring that why did she need to visit three schools in Maine. Current, barring results from re-visits, the order of the three is probably Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. My point is that you have no idea how your DD will click with a particular school and it is great that she is developing ideas of which schools feel right to her. BTW DD does not do sports other than skiing. Her EC's include music and dance. Again given your location, I would take a day to drive up to Colby and check it out for yourselves but in the summer you will not get a sense for the student body.</p>
<p>Thanks - we probably will wait till fall to visit. Interestingly Bowdoin was a summer visit so we may stop back there too. My DD doesn't ski or skate - has already been a bit of a hardship living in NE so she would definitely have to find alternative winter activities. Your DD can't go wrong with skiing at any of the 3.</p>
<p>I really don't think Bowdoin is any less preppy or focused on sports !</p>
<p>i actually visited bates and colby in the same day. on paper bates and colby were almost identical but when you visit it is sooo much different. the students at bates are almost complete opposite from those at colby. i do not think that someone would be truly interested in both schools if they visited. the campuses are really different also.</p>
<p>While the two schools have their differences, I think in actuality there are really a lot of similaraties as well. Both offer a rich array of extracurricular activities and most students at both colleges tend to be pretty active. I do, however, think that Bates may be somewhat less preppy than Colby and there may be a bit more diversity in terms of student interests. Since I go to Bates I'm obviously a bit biased though. You will, however, be able to find students with all sorts of interests at both schools. While the Bates campus is really nice, Colby's campus is more spread out and very beautiful. Colby was probably the nicest school I've seen. Good luck with the admissions process and if you have any specific questions about Bates I'd be more than happy to help answer them.</p>
<p>i agree with whats been said- typically bates students tend to be less preppy and jocky and more liberal and artsy. bates would have more crossover with schools like skidmore and conn college and while colby students would be more inclined to apply to schools such as colgate and trinity.</p>
<p>Since there are several of you that appear to be more familiar with the Maine schools than those of us who have only done school visits, where does Bowdoin typically relate to BAtes and Colby.</p>
<p>I have been reluctant to jump into this discussion, because it is so easy to make generalizations about these three Maine schools when in reality they are very similar. I have just finished following child #3 through his college search process. He will be a freshman at Bates this fall. If I could pass along one bit if advise it would be visit, visit, visit. Each school truly does have a different feel. Bowdoin is probably the most competitive and the most prestigious. It tends to attract a more competitive kid who has probably also applied to schools such as Dartmouth, Williams, and Amherst. Bowdoin has a huge endowment and has beautiful facilities. The school can offer good financial aid. The students appear quite affluent and preppy, but are also really nice. Sports are big at Bowdoin. They are currently building a second ice arena. The arts at Bowdoin (visual, music ) are also quite strong. They have a well known music program in the summer. Because of it's name and endowment, Bowdoin can be slightly more selective than the other schools and has a slightly more diverse student body as a result. The town of Brunswick is quite upscale with alot of good restaurants, movie theaters, and shops. Bowdoin is about 40 minutes from Portland. Bates is about 30 minutes inland, located in Lewiston a (ok I am just gonna say it) rather unattractive old mill town. There are some old cool buildings, but alot of sprawl. Lewiston has a thriving French Canadian as well as Somalian population. The city struggles on many levels and Bates offers many opportunities for students to get involved. I have heard inspirational things about Bates kids really making a difference. Bates has a history of inclusion, and cooperation. I think I hear the word "nice" to most often describe a Bates student. The campus is really pretty with a brand new dining hall and great food . Sports are big, but not as competitive as Bowdoin. Most teams aren't great. The outdoors club is very big. Like Bowdoin, the work is rigorous. Kids work hard. Bates has a beautiful Arts Center and a well known Dance program in the summer. The Sciences are also very strong. The 4-4-1 calendar offers a creative way to explore in the spring. The admissions office seems dedicated to creating a more diverse student body, but my quess is location and lack of endowment make it challenging. Bates is also 40 minutes from Portland. Further toward the mountains is Colby. I don't know much about Colby . The campus is beautiful, but slightly more remote than the other two. Waterville has similar economic challenges as Lewsiton, and is nearer skiing than to Portland. Colby has a 4-1-4 calendar. All three schools offer a great education. Wonderful professors happy students. BUT...Maine winters ! Now here I go.(cringing) The pinnacle of generalizations. One word to describe students from each school from a friend who taught at all three : Bowdoin - Competitive. Bates - Inquisitive. Colby - Fun. Sorry.</p>
<p>I'm quite familiar with all three schools and concur with artschoolmom: the schools are much more similar than different but each has a different feel and emphasis that she has captured well. </p>
<p>I think of Colby as the most 'outdoorsy,' and although it's not THAT much farther up the road than Bowdoin or Bates, it FEELS much more remote to me. (Go past Augusta and then keep going some more...) The campus is spacious with harmonious New England brick on a lovely hilltop (but some windy/nippy in winter) above Waterville, which as artschoolmom suggests, is a former mill town facing economic challenges. The campus feels very much unto itself, and I think the student body is especially close-knit as a result. Perhaps because of the challenge of attracting a diverse student body to a comparative distant campus, Colby has focused in recent years on bringing in an international student population and looking outward with international programs. A substantial proportion of Colby students study abroad. </p>
<p>I think of Bates as the 'happiest' of the three schools, active and sports-y but not gung-ho to the same degree Colby is, and with a strong arts presence as well. Seems like nice, balanced kids who are happy to be there and not striving to get their tickets punched for the 'next' stage of life, as might be true at Bowdoin. Artschoolmom is right about the tradition of inclusion at Bates--always coed, never any frats, founded by abolitionists, etc.--and the commitment to service and community involvement. Its Harward Center has been nationally recognized for service learning and connecting the college with the community, which as artschoolmom says, has many needs but also offers kids tremendous opportunities to make a difference.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has the resources that Colby and Bates probably wish they had and a postcard-lovely location in a coastal town. The campus and its architecture strike me as the least appealing of the three schools but what the heck, the facilities are fabulous, the town is wonderful, and the ocean's within easy reach. I think of more Bowdoin students as pre-something, pre-law, pre-med, than Colby or Bates students, but friendly and deeply involved all the same. All three schools are in the same extremely competitive athletic league, NESCAC, but only Bowdoin consistently fields winning teams season after season, and there's considerable pride and spirit on the campus for that.</p>
<p>All three schools are terrific and offer great opportunities. As others have said, kids who visit the three campuses often come away with strong feelings about fit that are worth paying attention to.</p>
<p>What about admission requirements and more importantl, financial aid? Which school tends to be more generous to international students?</p>
<p>new englanders saying....bowdoin for the reputation, bates for the education and colby for the parties. says it all</p>
<p>We visited Bates, Colby, and Bowdoin (and had visited some other schools earlier), and got very different impressions. We expected my daughter to like Bowdoin best, and thought Bates and Colby were similar and might be possible safety's for her. What a difference, at least in our impressions. My daughter (and her parents) were almost ready to leave Colby before the tour was over. Bowdoin she was luke warm about, and she REALLY liked Bates - it just felr right and comfortable. The main characteristics that made the difefernce was a more down-to-earth school, including student body, while still being very high quality. Less pretentious, less preppy, less "jocky" (even though there are plenty of good sports opportunities available, and high level of participation) - just more friendly and good feeling, at least in my daughters eyes (and ours). It is all relative, but Bates gave us all a more "comfortable", at ease feel.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is much more generous in terms of financial aid because they have 5X the endowment that Bates does. That allows them to attract a more diverse student body and give merit scholarships, I believe. Bates is trying to diversify and has hired 2 admissions officers soley for that purpose. But it is harder without the $$.</p>
<p>Also-
(I'm not a Bates, Bowdoin or Colby student, but i'm from Maine and have been familiar with them my whole life.)
I'll put it right out there, Lewiston, where Bates is located, is a sketchy town. It's kind of the more ghetto-y part of Maine (well, as ghetto-y as Maine really gets, which compared to other states isn't bad). there are undoubtedly some very nice parts about it, including the Bates campus, which is rather removed from the sketchy parts of Lewiston.</p>
<p>I'm a Colby parent but S never visited Bowdoin and Bates, so I cannot speak for the other two colleges. My S, not into sports at all, parochial schools all his life and into writing and theater, loves, loves Colby. He is in a chem-free dorm (there are 3 dorms that are chem-free) and he has yet to be bored. His dorm is extremely tight-knit and he said the school has a very friendly and supportive atmosphere. He has grown leaps and bounds since he left home 4 weeks ago, and he really likes his chem-free dorm. Absolultely no stigma. His roommate is an athlete and they get along superbly. A close friend of his attends Bowdoin and loves it, too.</p>