<p>anyone know how it is? typical weekend/typical studnet? what do you do for fun? is drinking big? how about class sizes/profs? are they usually conducive to discussion?</p>
<p>I have a niece at Bowdoin and she tells me you can find whatever you want. She does not drink, and though she goes to parties where others drink, she says she is not harassed because of it. Students do all kinds of things: go to campus events (speakers, musicians, etc); movies in town; make dinner at students' apartments; take the shuttle to Freeport and shop at LL Bean; go to concerts in Portland or Boston; etc. Class sizes, she says, are usually capped at 35 but almost all her classes have been smaller. Several of her profs have had her class over to dinner. They have all been extremely open and friendly.</p>
<p>The image that I got when I visited was that Portland is a nice college town. They are two hours from Boston and although they have shuttle buses going there every weekend (I think), many students choose to stay on campus because there are always things happening on the weekends. Also, because it's so close to the coast, a lot of students (upperclassmen, I believe) rent out houses there and so a lot of weekends are spent there.</p>