Bowdoin, Bates, & Colby for Asian Male student

College Search & Selection
41

Bates is around the corner from one of the two major hospitals in town. With the community partnership opps, involvement there is a possibility. Plus with the large immigrant community, lots of ways to get hands on health-related experiences.

I’d warn that encouragement Sue22 mwntions may shift before OP graduates college. There’s a shortage of docs today and projected and most especially in rural areas.

OP wouldn’t be the first kid to need to get from college to a med school interview. The bigger issue is which (or all) of those schools will weed out med hopefuls.

42

ok @Sue22 , you probably know more about this program than I do or MaineMedicalCenter (https://fundraising.mmc.org/file/MaineTrack.pdf) or others (https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/project-examples/885).

Certainly, CBB have medical school assurance program connections as does Reed, Pomona, Carleton, etc… But this might be slightly off the OP’s request… If you want to come to Maine and go to college here, great. We’d love to have you here for 4 years or a lifetime.

@lookingforward you’re right, St Mary’s Hospital is 2 blocks from Bates, and the CMMC hospital is 4 blocks the other direction. Lewiston has a really great mixture of cultures.

43

The student has not been accepted into any of the CBBs yet.

And now we are throwing in acceptance to its most competitive affiliation program? It’s way too premature.

OP. You would have a wonderful experience at any of these schools.

If you are ok with having only 115 other Asian students or roughly 60 Asian young men in the entire school. For me that would have no impact on my decision. But I am not Asian and don’t have any strong cultural ties.

The cold winters. It’s not like a weekend at Whistler with apres’ ski and all. And then back to relative comfortable weather. It’s cold. Cold cold. And very dark days with sun setting at 430pm after the clocks go back. And the spring has hints of warmth and then two feet of snow the next day.
I personally love it. Fireplaces good books and warm gear make it perfectly fine. But you have to decide if it’s all too much for you.

These schools are elite for a reason. The students like you are super smart, poised and interesting. Also driven. The resources they give to the students are off the charts. The options for entertainment, exercise and enrichment outside of the classroom are equally awesome. They know it’s cold and it’s far away. They bring things to campus for you that people wouldn’t believe.

And jumping in a car to go to Portland or Boston is a road trip for fun. Pro sports etc.

44

The question is: how much does OP, for his prefs and interests, “need” to be outdoors, in winter. The user name…you can swim indoors all year, but not in the ocean, rivers or lakes. You can bike when the weather is good, but that’s sure not like California. (It’s a similar consideration for kids who say how much they like to golf and don’t seem to realize you can’t golf in New England for 5-6 months of the year.)

45

The only other thing is that folks don’t know or realize is that northern new englsnd winters run from thanksgiving to easter. Sept and oct are glorious. Summers fantastic. May can be nice. So nov to April is winter. Not the end of the world but a big chunk of the school year. And yes of course people have indoor activities. But the general walking to and from class. Tossing a frisbee or reading on the lawns in the admissions pictures are definately less part of the experience in Maine. Heck that goes for Boston and brown too. Probably all ny upstate too.

46

PB, I lived many years in Southern CA, a shorter period in Northern, and don’t think Nov or Dec are that bad in NE. A cold day in Nov, in SF, is startling, I remember being cold in my apt all winter long. We always had a ski jacket or parka for the colder nights in S. CA.

In contrast, in parts of the south, people wear a winter coat when it hits 60.

Maybe OP can tell his experiences.

47

@lookingforward 100% True. San Fran can be really cold and blustery . I love living in New England. I did find my years in North Conway area much colder and longer winter than southern New England. But I loved that too skiing snow shoeing snowmobiling, fires and wood stoves warming up the house.

48

@XCBikeSwimSleep Thank you so much!! That is really really kind of you!!

49

Hi everyone, sorry for my super late responses, but here they are:

30 @intparent ok, when I talked to a financial aid representative at a private school in california, they said that both grad and undergrad would be considered; however, I know that you have daughters who went to grad school so you may be right.

33 @lookingforward you made me shed some tears, thank you so much for your compliments! ;)

35 @ucbalumnus you are right about being secluded from interview locations, but isn't Skype sometimes an option for students who live in rural areas?

36-41 @lookingforward @NewEngParent @sue22 @merc81 wow i never knew about that program, but @privatebanker in #42 is right I haven't been accepted to these schools yet, but thanks for the information! I'm not sure if I could handle the rigor of medical school and medical school admissions though, so I'm looking into like Optometry and stuff instead which doesn't require med school. Obviously the salary wouldn't be on par with med but my goal isn't to get super rich, but to live a long, happy life without too much worries of financial issues :^)

43 @lookingforward ohhhh yes that will be an issue that I've been keeping in my mind but if CBB has indoor pools then that will keep me from going crazy and depressed from lack of physical exercise during the winter, haha.

44 @privatebanker haha no wonder why east coast schools have open houses / diversity weekends in september and october :^)

45 @lookingforward I've never really lived in temperatures below 35 F. I've been fine with 40 F (I've biked to school in these temperatures with only two layers) It'll be an interesting experience with the cold at CBB! :^)

47 @calitoeast no problem; I saw your earlier posts so I thought I could help :^)

50

Oh, and if you have time, please check my recent thread I just posted. Thanks so much!!

51

You may want to ask on the pre-med forum section. But given how competitive medical school admission is, you may not want to count on getting some kind of exception in the process, since there are many other applicants a medical school can interview instead of you.

For getting hired out of college, being at a small remote college means that employers may be less likely to think that the travel logistics are worth recruiting a small number of students, so you may have to be more aggressive at looking for and applying to employers (particularly smaller ones) on your own.

52

Bates and Colby are under 2.5 hours from Boston, Bowdoin is under 3. These are not rural or remote in the sense some colleges are, out in the woods or farmlands, no more than Williams, Amherst are. Middlebury is 3.5 hours and rarely do folks say that affects post college placement opps, All these top 25 colleges, across the country, have fine records for their graduates.

OP can cross the med school interview bridge when he comes to it. Speculation now isn’t a way to pick the best college opp.

53

I would try to find some time to visit these Maine schools in the winter and see if you even want to still apply to them? It’s really the only way you will know for sure if they are a right fit for you. It’s 4 very important years of your life that I wouldn’t want to rely on blind faith or second hand opinions.

54

@ucbalumnus,
You often post that students at LACs are at a disadvantage relative to students at places like UCB when it comes to graduate schools and employment. That has just not been my experience. Looking at comparison data, taken from the websites of UCB , Bates and Bowdoin*,

UCB 2017 (The overall response rate for 2017 was 37% (2846 responses out of the 7724 graduates)):

The largest percentage of students in the class of 2017, 55%, were employed full time immediately after graduation. Students matriculating to graduate school were 18% of the survey respondents. Nineteen percent (19%) were seeking full-time employment while the remainder were engaged in endeavors such as volunteer experiences, family commitments, taking a year off, part-time employment or other pursuits.
https://career.berkeley.edu/survey/2017overview

Bates 2017 (Eighty-nine percent of the class participated in the survey. ):

76% Employed
10% Graduate/Professional School
5% Fellowship
5% Internship
3% Other (includes volunteer, travel, further study)
.5% Still seeking employment
https://www.bates.edu/career/class-outcomes/

Based on survey responses collected in the fall of 2017, 88% of Bowdoin’s Class of 2016 reported that they were employed or attending graduate school.

70% reported that they were employed.
18% indicated that they were attending graduate school.
3% reported that they were seeking employment.
9% Other (fellowship, personal project, caring for family, etc.)

Graduate schools most frequently attended by Bowdoin alumni were:

Boston College
Boston Univeristy
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Northeastern
Northwestern
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of California - Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University

https://www.bowdoin.edu/ir/outcomes/index.shtml

The lists of employers are too long to post here but they can be found on the schools’ graduate outcomes survey pages.

*The data are not apples to apples in that UCB’s are for right after graduation, Bowdoin’s are for 3 months out and Bates’s are for 6 months out, but clearly BBC students are doing just fine when it comes to graduate outcomes.

55

With respect to relative remoteness and early career salaries, these colleges fall, from highest to lowest, and essentially marginally, in the order of Bowdoin, Colby, Bates. Though the geographical differences between the schools may be minor, graduates of the nonetheless most remote college of the three, Colby, appear to do fine relative to those of its less remote peer, Bates.

56

I really don’t intend to start a whole thing here, but after visiting a few LACs in New England (in July and weather was amazing!) and then doing more research, my D. decided to stay away from New England LACs. She felt like there was too much of a Northeastern prep school / moneyed vibe that turned her off.

With the exception of Mt. Holyoke (where she had a friend who attended and felt like she was good candidate for merit $) she turned her attention to midwestern, CA, and southern schools (Carleton, Grinnell, Davidson and Scripps to be specific) because they seemed more down to earth.

Anyway, I know they are great colleges and great kids there – just sharing her perspective and where she landed.

Agree with others – visit a few to determine fit for yourself.

Good luck!!

57

Re #54:
All three do well. I was just too lazy to look up the Colby stats. :slight_smile:

58

yeah i really wish i could visit @socaldad2002 @AlmostThere2018 the schools have diversity open house weekends and I can have a chance to fly over and participate, but they are held smack in the middle of XC season and I want to perform well this year… :-// I’m getting considered for D3 athletics, so I want to show them what I got! :^)

@almostthere2018 thanks for sharing me your D’s perspective; I’m not sure if I want to be in a preppy vibe; i come from a school where the majority are hispanics with about a dozen students getting national AP scholar awards, so the environment will definitely be something very new to me if I go to CBB. I’ll see if I can visit in the spring after admission decisions

@ucbalumnus @sue22 @merc81 I will consider these factors if I apply and get admitted to the CBB schools. I think it’s a bit too early for me to speculate on these right now, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind! :^)

59

@XCBikeSwimSleep: In terms of a more immediate suggestion, I’d recommend you closely consider the CS offerings at your colleges of interest. CS, among your stated academic interests, will be the area most likely to vary in breadth and depth across your potential options. As you correctly implied, most of your other considerations will be generally broad in nature. Wishing you a successful running season and college search process.

(So that you know, my comment was directed towards the subtopic of remoteness generally, not your detailed, informative post that preceded it, @Sue22.)

60

Maine is a wonderful state that has excellent flights to Chicago and available flights to everything from Boston Logan that is strange. So it’s remote but has access to Canada. For example, on the way to Bangor, there are exits for Montreal and Toronto I think. French is commonly spoken much like Spanish is widely heard across the US. The schools are quite diferent. Bowdoin on the coast just north of Portland, Bates is located in a small city that is just north of Portland and inland. Colby is north o the road to Bangor and is located on rol!ing hills aka fabulously beautiful locafion. Colby has scholars from all over who teach for a period. My heart beats for Colby. Maine has a small population overall wiith few minorities. That is because of history and geography rather than white supremacy. Lobster rolls are available at McDonalds. Maine has lots to do recreationally and offers both skiing and sailing. Portland is very sunny even in winter, but cold. Of the three schools, I suggest choosing on the basis of areas of study and cost. University of Southern Maine in Portland lacks some of the prestige of the others, but is a rsally good school. Maine is special!