<p>Any ideas?</p>
<p>big v. small. i think that's what this will come down to. i knew a handful of people at bowdoin who chose it over cornell, although not too many simply because the schools are so different in size. visit each and get a sense of the campuses. that will likely be illuminating. or, you could just choose bowdoin and if you don't like it, transfer to cornell. i think, because of cornell's size, it has a better ability to absorb transfers than the other way around. it's nearly impossible to get into bowdoin as a transfer. note: i would encourage the latter strategy ONLY if you have no other way of deciding. but i bet one of them will feel more like "home."</p>
<p>it depents on prestige for u, and what u want to go into</p>
<p>i'd say they're equally prestigious, although many more people know of cornell because of its size.</p>
<p>What is Bowdoin particularly known for?</p>
<p>government, chemistry/biology, english in terms of subjects. i'm not sure what you're asking, though. bowdoin is known for many things, given it's alumni.</p>
<p>yeah I;m going to revisit both, but I'm definitely leaning heavily towards Bowdoin.</p>
<p>It probably would be easier to land a job after undergrad if you attend Cornell. However, if you are leaning towards the possibility of grad school, both a equally prestigious.</p>
<p>pb2002, I am glad to hear Bowdoin is strong in chemistry. How about math & music? Also, how writing-intensive is the school?</p>
<p>bowdoin is a very writing intensive school. in fact, one of my professors in a seminar my first year spent so much time on one of my papers that he demonstrated how a few sentences would be better written. so, aside from the full page of comments at the end about the content, he was also exceptionally hands on about technique. </p>
<p>bowdoin's math and music departments are small, but strong. i know majors in both who were very happy with their experiences. i'd go ahead and contact the departments directly, though, if you want to know more. if you have a specific interest in music, say, that the department can't meet, i'm sure they'll be candid. they're not going to shill for bowdoin.</p>
<p>Thanks pb2002. Your comments are helpful.</p>
<p>A note about writing-intensive programming: Bowdoin requires every first year take a freshman seminar that focuses on honing writing skills. These seminars are offered in multiple fields, so if you aren't an English person, you won't be stuck writing literature analyses. Anyways, these seminars are very helpful for an introduction to college writing. There is also an on-campus writing workshop where you can bring your paper and writing assistants (other students - you get matched up with them by field of concentration) will help you direct your ideas, proofread, etc. I would say in general because Bowdoin is a liberal arts school it's very writing intensive - I had essay response questions on one of my physics exams. </p>
<p>Re: the Bowdoin and Cornell debate. I think these schools attract very different types of students. There was actually a kid on my freshman floor who transferred to Cornell from Bowdoin. He was very competitive academically, which didn't mesh with a lot of people's academic styles here at Bowdoin - people work hard and are competitive with themselves, but are still pretty chill about things and it's definitely not cutthroat. I don't know how he ended up liking Cornell after he transferred, but I do know that it was fairly easy for him to transfer from Bowdoin to Cornell.</p>
<p>The math department at Bowdoin I would characterize as being small but mighty. All the math majors I know are very pleased with the curriculum. As for music - we just finished building a new recital hall and a bunch of practice rooms, so the facilities are top notch. Music as an extracurricular is very popular here (we've got a cappella groups coming out of our ears and all sorts of chamber ensembles, etc.), but I think the major is a relatively small program. The small size probably is beneficial in this case since you get more attention and it's more individualized.</p>
<p>Writing also depends on your major. I'm a Computer Science / Math person, and I haven't written a LOT since about a year ago. I end up writing a lot of code, but that's different. And I'm currently writing an Honors Project - but in terms of having a bunch of papers, I haven't had one due yet in my senior year (well, scratch that, I had a 1 pager due last semester)</p>
<p>If you're talking prestige, just pointing out that Bowdoin is most selective than Cornell... jusssst pointing out.</p>
<p>...im not too sure about them being "more selective." This year I heard that Bowdoin was accepting students with less than stellar stats. I believe they were really big on seeing ECs and student accomplishment rather than actual academic records. But this is just based on people that I know who got in so I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Bowdoin's definitely more selective (though I sincerely doubt you'd be able to determine that one school's students were smarter than another's).</p>
<p>Does anybody know how accepting the school is toward minorities? And how big are the groups? By minorities, I mean Asians, AA, LGBT, and Hispanics.</p>
<p>And, do you know if Bowdoin is more writing intensive than other good LAC's?</p>
<p>How is Bowdoin "definitely more selective?" Both schools had an acceptance rate of ~ 21% last year, although applications to Bowdoin may be somwhat more self-selecting. If you say that the % who don't submit SAT at Bowdoin are at the 25% range of the class, the avg SAT for Bowdoin would be 1370 vs 1385 for Cornell. Both Cornell and Bowdoin have first year freshman seminars. Cornell is certainly more well known since it is part of the Ivy League and UG alone is about seven times larger than Bowdoin. Besides being northeast and rural, I would think these schools are very different and one would clearly stand out from the others in terms of fit.</p>
<p>Bowdoin's acceptance rate last year was 18.5%, and according to yesterday's new york times, this year its a straight 18%. Just giving you the facts. I agree that these stats are not nearly as important as the "fit" of the school--size, student body, curriculum, location, etc--for the particular student. OBviously both places attract "smart" people and well trained faculty. I do have the sense that Bowdoin is a place that encourages intellectual curiousity, (even if I cant spell) and its less competitive. Not sure about Cornell in this way, but that is one of the reasons I chose Bowdoin. BTW- at the end of the NYT article about "elite" colleges that have low acceptance rates, including Bowdoin, Shain said something like, "I get why its so important but I also dont... Where you go to college has very little to do with how successful or happy you are in life.." A word to the wise...</p>