My DD was rejected.
From a public school in upstate NY. School doesn’t rank or weight grades, may have hurt her.
GPA 97 full IB curriculum, hardest classes, BC Calc and 2 years of Physics.
ACT 34
Letter saying “best student I have ever had”
Tipped athlete-also has multiple leadership ECs
“great” interview
She’s devasted and this is ridiculous. She was deferred ED1 as well and this is really hard on her.
Oh well, Bowdoin’s loss will be someone else’s gain…
I just have to say beware to smart girls from NY without other hooks-spend that ED wisely…
Hey guys, I was accepted. My family has an income of less than 90000 dollars and my FAFSA estimated family contribution was 16,000 and the Bowdoin calculators all estimated that I would only pay between 26000-33000 per year. That was still a stretch but something my family could afford. I was only offered 10,000 in financial aid, however. And I really just don’t know how my parents are going to be able to pay 56,000 dollars per year. I was also named a Faculty Scholar and so I assumed that if they wanted me, they would try their best to meet my need. Do you know if there’s anyway I can appeal, because Bowdoin really is my top choice and I just feel so lost, and bummed, and let down on the whole.
You can certainly appeal your decision! First I would call the office and basically say exactly what you said here. I did that when I got D’s award and they told me the reasons that it was not higher and walked me through the appeals process (at another school, but one that is similar enough that I feel the process is the same). They were super helpful about what we should provide to help them re-evaluate their offer. Saying that the net price calculator was so off will also be helpful - if your family does not own their own business and are not divorced the two should be more in synch.
I agree with with 4 junio; call the Bowdoin FA office. They are good people.
@OldbatesieDoc My DD was rejected too - deferred ED1 - then rejected. And her brother is a 2017 grad who did GREAT there - so even “hooked” kids (from MA) aren’t guaranteed. My DD is also an athlete, GPA 4.0, ACT 33 and SAT 1480, great ECs, great recommendations - it really is a little random when they have SO many great kids! She has three acceptances so far, and we are waiting on four more schools…but she is very disappointed.
That’s just cruel. Honestly, you don’t even know how to help your child. Aside from curing cancer or moving to Montana, I can’t imagine anything else she could have done.
Waitlisted, but I was accepted to Williams, so I’m happy with that!
@OldbatesieDoc - My child was also a rejected tipped athlete (ED1 - denied; not deferred) with 32 ACT, 4.4 GPA, 5 APs and multiple honors courses, yada yada yada. Got good news this week and previous weeks from other schools and waiting on 6 others. After initial (huge) disappointment, know that things will work out! All the best to you and DD.
BTW - interested in hearing that you (and so many others on CC boards) who know what their letters of rec say. How did you get a copy?
@InquiringMom3 didn’t actually see the letter itself-math teacher told her-
Son accepted as Faculty Scholar
Legacy
35 ACT
4.0+ GPA (school uses diff scale)
800s on three SAT subject tests
IB Diploma
Lots of ECs
Go Polar Bears!
Thanks @4junior @daedulus, I’m going to hope for the best. I love Bowdoin so so much, it’d suck so much if I couldn’t go there even after having got in 
Rejected. Ouch
Oldbatesiedoc I am so sorry to hear that about your daughter, can I ask what high school she went to? I’m a student from upstate NY too and was accepted to bowdoin. I am so sorry , she sounds amazing and that was Bowdoin’s loss not to take her!!
@OldbatesieDoc and @Jlong1220 – Best of luck to your children. We can commiserate together! But keep this in mind: 1) Bowdoin saw a 25% increase in applications (as so many schools are – which is a good thing in that students who would not have had an opportunity to even consider college now have that chance); and 2) Hindsight with most things in life, and this will be one of them as well, is that this will work out.
Hopefully your child applied to many schools – reach, target and even safety. My advice has always been to have a list that includes schools in all three categories and be ok with going to any of them.
And remember: It’s just college… 
Waitlisted
asian american from Texas
1470 SAT
4.19 GPA
great EC’s
accepted to Colby but like Bowdoin more
I dont think that i will have any chance getting into Bowdoin now because waitlist is not need blind…
what do you guys think the acceptance rate was this year? I wish they would publish it
Relax - You won’t be any more or less intelligent, important, or special regardless of the acceptance rate. It’s lower than last year, and higher than Pomona and a few other schools.
@pl1212 Congrats on Colby!! Ugh, I really wish I would’ve applied!!!
@EyeVeee I am so sorry, I did not mean to come across as tooting my own horn or anything like that. I was reading about the increase in applications and was curious, sorry if that had a bad sound to it!!