I don’t see any ED2/RD discussion, so am starting one here for queries, comments, and input from students and parents. Wishing everyone all the best during the admissions process! --Mom to S19 Bowdoin ED2 applicant
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Hello, I’m another mom to an EDII applicant - anxiously awaiting news in a couple of weeks, I guess?
Bowdoin’s website says mid-February for ED2, but decisions have been released earlier (Feb 1 or 2, 7pm, portal) in recent years. I think our kids might hear late next week.
I have not seen any statistics regarding EDI. Does anyone else know who many applied and what the outcomes were in the first round of ED this year?
I haven’t seen relevant stats for ED cohorts, either. What a relief it will be to have the uncertainty of all of this behind us. Glad to hear there is a possibility that notifications might be issued sooner. 
Despite some fleeting thoughts about jinxing things, I went ahead and ordered something from Bowdoin. In the event our response is a “no” and yours is a “yes” let me know if you’re interested in Bowdoin swag.
Crossing fingers for good news for both of us, then! I’ve been visiting Bowdoin pages here on CC in hopes of sparing my kid further anxiety…figure I am less likely to bother her with all of the hypotheticals if I get my fix elsewhere. lol!
Ditto! I am actually a bit ambivalent about EDII; our son has applied to some wonderful schools. A good option will come through, whether Bowdoin or elsewhere.
@openmom2019 can i ask whether your son submitted the optional video response? My daughter did not, as she felt like her interview was solid and should have given the admissions office more than whatever they might have gleaned from a two minute video. I was anxious about this decision, I have to say, but decided to bite my tongue.
Ditto again. Our son interviewed last summer and, like your daughter, was confident with his interview. I asked about the video response a couple of times, as subtly as possible, to no avail. Admissions decisions to top-tier schools seem pretty arbitrary, given the large pool of highly qualified candidates.Fingers are crossed for both our kids for a good outcome at Bowdoin or another one of their schools.
9300 applicants for the Class of 2023 as per the Bowdoin Orient this morning. Should put the acceptance rate around 10.0%.
Thanks for posting, @polahbeayuh . The article also mentioned that Bowdoin received about 1,000 applications in ED1 and ED2 rounds. Does anyone know how many were accepted in the ED1 round? I am assuming the majority of ED admissions come in from the ED1 round as more folks probably apply ED1 and there may be fewer available ED slots during ED2. For those of us with fingers and other appendages crossed for ED2 applicants, here’s hoping we hear soon.
Interesting numbers. To my knowledge, Bowdoin has never shared breakdown of EDI vs EDII, and even for ED they typically only divulge total apps/accepted, and something like last year “just under half the class was accepted in ED”. Last year’s estimated RD acceptance rate was about 8.5%, so this year if one assumes 500 target class size and about 250 are spoken for thru ED, that would translate to an RD acceptance rate in the high 7%'s. Crazy
lol, yikes, this thread has me very nervous now!
Bowdoin typically accepts something like 200 through ED1 and another 35 or so through ED2 so a higher acceptance rate than RD but the numbers are skewed by the presence of athletes whose applications have been given the green light through the “pre-read” process . .
^^Yes, same as at similar LACs…probably around 70-75 slotted athletes at Bowdoin. Other preferred groups coming thru ED rounds at relatively higher rates of admittance include legacies, developmental admits, Questbridge and Posse students (although I don’t think Bowdoin has a relationship with Posse anymore)
Is there anyone familiar with the process who can clarify whether EDII applicants are evaluated against other EDII applicants, or are they measured against RD candidates, as well? Also, is it likely that EDII applicants, if not accepted in the EDII round, are then just deferred to larger pool of regular applicants? TIA!
I am interested in this as well!
I don’t know the answer to this question. It seems likely that EDII are evaluated on their own, otherwise EDII decisions and notifications couldn’t be made so far in advance of the RD decisions and notifications. I also assume that the EDII pool (applications and admissions rates) is much smaller than EDI.
@openmom2019 why do you assume Bowdoin’s ED2 is much smaller? Yes, it probably doesn’t include sport recruits (or a lot less) and legacy, but the reason there’s an ED2 is to capture those ED1/ED/SCEA that didn’t get into their first places and for to give the applicants who wanted to work on their GPA one more grading quarter. I might be wrong, but I’d think there’d be as many ED2 as ED1 applicants at colleges that have both.