Bowdoin or Williams - How to choose which to visit?

My child was lucky enough to be accepted to both Bowdoin College and Williams College, but now I have to choose which to visit. I know it is a great problem to have, and I never figured it would be such a hard decision so that’s why I’m posting here. We live pretty far away and the costs to visit both would be a strain. My child is interested in biological research, especially genetics, as well as public service and political science…Can we say, “Totally Not Sure”, and says either school would be fine to visit. The cost for us would be similar so any help, suggestions, or recent reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Congratulations on your child’s acceptances! What a great choice to have, you can not go wrong.

Both schools are great, and have many outdoorsy students. Look at the research that the bio professors are doing at both schools to see what is of interest. Same with Poli Sci, which is the most popular major at Bowdoin, less so at Williams (based on 2017 Ipeds data). Look at the online catalog to compare and contrast courses.

There are two blocks of restaurants/shops within walking distance of Williams. Brunswick is more of a ‘town’ than Williamstown—more restaurants, movie theater, shopping, within walking distance. Both areas have more shopping/restaurants accessible by an uber or bus ride. Bowdoin is also about 20 minutes from the oceanfront, and has the Schiller science center on the coast where the students go swimming.

Not sure where you are coming from but Williams is about a hour drive from Albany airport. Bowdoin about 30 mins from Portland Airport, 2.25 hours from Boston Logan. Portland and Albany can both experience lots of travel delays in the winter.

Both campuses are nice. There is a busy road that bisects Williams’ campus, while Bowdoin’s is more of the quintessential LAC in terms of layout and visual impact.

Good luck!

You may be able to visit both. You could rent a car and drive between them. You may end up attending one during admitted students’ days, and the other on just regular days, but that is fine: both colleges are used to that and will be glad to accommodate you.

Both are fabulous colleges, probably much more similar than they are different (or so our family thought, when we visited them). I think Mwfan1921 pointed out one of Bowdoin’s advantages: its location. Although the mountains around Williamstown are gorgeous and there are nice hiking trails, as well as world-class art museums within walking distance in Williamstown and an easy public bus ride to North Adams, Brunswick is a larger town with more amenities, and the ocean is nearby on top of that.

My son is at Williams, so I can comment about it in more depth. As a parent, I feel great about Williams because my kid is so happy there.

Here are some features that distinguish it relative to other world-class small liberal arts colleges.

  1. The tutorial system. Two students take a class with the professor. Each week, one student prepares a paper and the other reads the paper and prepares a critique. Very intense, but amazing.
  2. The freshman entry- Your child will live in an “entry” with about 39 other freshmen and a Junior Advisor. It is a built-in friend group when you first arrive. And each entry is designed as a diverse microcosm of the college community, so you will really experience the diversity of Williams.
  3. The freshman orientation program- Start the year with two weeks before classes start just to make friends and get used to being away from home. Do a bunch of activities with your entry mates. Read a book and debrief it with a professor and a group of students. Sign up for an Ephventure of your choice with another group of students, and spend intensive time getting to know those people as you go on adventures together.
  4. Winter Study- a month every year in which to study one subject pass-fail, possibly going to another nation in a travel class or doing an internship in a potential career field. With lots of free time to socialize, enjoy winter sports, and be active in your clubs and activities.

Edit to #2: should read “three to four Junior Advisers, upperclassmen who are unpaid volunteers who serve as big brother/big sister types to help freshmen learn about the college and get to know their entrymates.”

I would make every effort to visit both – it looks like it is about a 4 1/2 hour drive between the two schools. From my expereince each LAC has its own distinct vibe and it would be nice for your child to see his/her two top choices.

Also, if cost is a concern, there are good inexpensive motels near Williams College. Check out the Berkshire Hills Country Inn, the Maple Terrace Motel, or the Willows Motel. We have stayed at all three, plus the Williams Inn which is more expensive. The best included breakfast of those three motels is at the first one, but that is also the farthest from campus (but still only a ten minute drive).

Thank you for all the information and direction. I’ve tried to make it work, but it is not feasible for us to visit both colleges so I will show my child these points and do research and decide. If there are any other points I should know that stand out or separate one school from the other, please let me know.

The regions of New England are very different, so it might be good to research then a little and set if there is an obvious preference. Downeast Maine is comprised of artisan-infused coastal communities populated with people who still make their living on the water (Camden, Belfast, etc) and blue collar industrial towns (Bath - home of Bath Iron Works) Western Mass is a blend of lower income towns and some very upscale communities colonized by wealthy city transplants. There’s more fine art and classical music in western MA (tanglewood and several world recognized museums.) There’s probably more fun for the college student in the Portland area…plus shopping in Freeport. If I could only visit one and the colleges were otherwise equal to me, I would probably pick Bowdoin for location.

Thoreau’s comment on Williams’ location might be worth a mention:

Choose the one you think you’ll kick yourself for not visiting once buyers remorse sets in (as it often does.)

@circuitrider I’m already kicking myself trying to figure this out. I might just have to bite the bullet and spend more than I planned on college visits.

I agree - visit both. Drive. Take a night at a Hampton Inn in-between (they aren’t super expensive) and see both colleges. This is a huge lifelong decision. You need to get it right. It is doable.

It seems to me that either one probably justifies renting a car, by which point you might as well stay one more night (if it is not too late to change flights) and see both. I have driven by Williams College a few times, and have driven by Bowdoin perhaps a few hundred times. Both are very good schools in very attractive locations. If I were trying to decide between them and if they were equally affordable I would have a tough time deciding without visiting both.

If you are going to visit Bowdoin, then you might want to get some gelato at the Gelato Fiasco just up the street from it. Let me know if you want suggestions for restaurants. Maine street runs north from Bowdoin for a couple of blocks and is full of restaurants and shops and would be a good place to wander for an hour or two.

@Eveready2Grok, I hope you can figure out a way for you and your son to visit both. If you don’t, you’ll always wonder what you missed. My son is a Williams grad so I’m biased in that direction. He didn’t look at Bowdoin (mainly because Williams was such a good fit for his interests in visual art and art history) but I would say that the two schools’ overarching personalities are very similar.

To me the major difference would in location, both of the campus and in the surrounding area. My son considered Williams’ insular mountain village environment a plus and he took full advantage of outdoorsy activities that the location encouraged. Massachusetts is a compact state, and Williams kids usually get to New York or Boston once or twice a term – either for a social activity or as part of a class event – so it’s not as isolated as it appears.

Williams has a superb biology program. Your son might contact the department and ask about opportunities in research in his areas of interest. Oddly enough, when I was looking at the bios of a few of Williams biology professors I came across this one, who did his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin. He’d be a good person to ask about the differences!
https://biology.williams.edu/profile/rsavage/

However-
The truth is that they are both excellent colleges, more similar than they are different… And there would be no need for anyone to have buyer’s remorse with either choice! What’s to rue? Both choices are amazing. Your child can commit to one, love it, and never look back!

If you CAN visit both, why not do it? Your child will have additional information for her/his choice. If you can visit only one, and (s)he can name which one (s)he wants to visit more, then (s)he has really already made her/his decision, and that is fine.

@Eveready2Grok Keep in mind that if you fly into Boston it is super easy to visit Bowdoin by train (so you don’t even need a car). The train from Boston (North Station) goes directly to Brunswick Depot which is a block from the heart of Bowdoin’s campus. It only takes a little over 2 hours and the ticket is cheap. So fear not, you can do this visit quite painlessly and return to Boston same day.