Bowdoin v Davidson

@homerdog We haven’t had enough experience at Davidson yet to fairly compare the vibe to Bowdoin. I will say that I have repeatedly read stereotypes about Bowdoin on this forum mostly based on people’s impression from tours and what biases they already had that it’s somehow “preppy” or cliquey or conspicuously wealthy, etc., and none of that has been remotely true. My kid wears cheap target clothes most of the time and no one cares. He says most of the wealthy students are self conscious about it and go out of their way to hide it so it’s not even easy to know who is. He’s not remotely sporty and it hasn’t mattered at all. He’s found many good friends.

That said, one of the things that attracted my daughter to Davidson is her school has one to a few students who go to Davidson every year and they always come back happy and super big fans of the school. There’s something in the water or the culture of the campus that engenders positivity and loyalty. And she really liked that, along with the better weather…

Technically, yes, but since you can double count the justice and cultural diversity requirements with Ways of Knowing or your major courses – and you can come in with a lot of the foreign language requirement – I bet it ends up being closer to 8 to 10 for many students.

@citivas That’s true, Bowdoin does do better on financial and ranking-related metrics. I just doubt that graduating from a college ranked #5 vs #10 in the US News LAC list has much of an impact on postgraduate life. Employers will have heard of both.

@AlmostThere2018 Bowdoin will have a leg up with Wall Street based on location, but if OP (assuming they’re still here) is serious about a Wall Street career, then they want to look at true target schools.

My son is a rising senior at Davidson. Political science is a very strong department at Davidson and a main reason his HS advisor put D on our radar, knowing our son’s intention of a PolS major. He’s had a fantastic experience. Signed up for their program of 2 weeks of volunteering with other D frosh the summer before his freshman fall. The friends he made in this experience have become his closest. We love the emphasis D places on grads heading out to “what’s next” seeking to make maximum positive impact. We love the honor code and the sense of community. Excellent school, very rigorous, prides itself on the collaboration between students and professors. As far as the differences ME v NC: our family has had great times visiting him during family (extended) weekend each year in October with his two younger siblings. Went mountain biking all together on the trails at the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. Rented a house with kayaks on beautiful Lake Norman. I can’t speak to the outdoorsy atmosphere at Bowdoin, but our son has had regular opportunities to enjoy his outdoor interests around the Davidson area.

Bowdoin. NESCAC schools have stellar reputation academically.

@waverlywizzard Davidson’s rep is comparable to NESCAC. If you perceive it otherwise it probably has more to do with where you live.

Both great schools. I’m partial to LACs and if I had my way, all of my kids would have gone to them.

Yes, Bowdoin a bit better known. Davidson does give merit money and Bowdoin does not other than NM $2k. Upthread posts pretty much go into the atmosphere, location differences. In the end it comes down to what feels better.

I personally loved Davidson. Visited after a visit at Duke, which is very familiar to me. It would have been a top choice for my kids. I did not like Bowdoin and didn’t match it with any of my kids. None of my kids applied to either though my youngest put it in his list for RD but never got there in the app process.

Bowdoin has gotten crazy selective reporting a single digit accept rate Though ED brings it up 3 fold, you are still looking at a 27% chance. Davidson, imo, is a great deal in terms of acceptance rates, though haven’t got updated 2019 numbers yet. Both schools offer ED1 and 2 , I think— always look up for updated current info, so pick what’s your favorite, go ED1 with it, if deferred, govED2 with the other If it were me, Bowdoin wouldn’t even make my list, so easy decision between the two, but that’s not the case with most students

@cptofthehouse OP may want to know why you didn’t like Bowdoin. Our S19 is headed there in the fall. We live in the Midwest and every single student we know who has gone to Bowdoin has given it a 10/10. S19 isn’t there yet but, with over a dozen kids we know personally not finding hardly any faults with the school, I’d also be curious as to why a student wouldn’t be interested. Maybe too cold?

Bowdoin ranks #5 USNWR rankings of National Liberal Arts Colleges. Davidson ranks #10.

@waverlywizzard Yeah, I noted the ranking differences above. But you referenced NESCAC as a whole and Davidson would be right in the middle of the NESCAC rankings with US News, if not above average. And realistically within a few ranking positions apart is not really statistically significant anyway. The bottom line is Davidson is in the same reputation tier as the NESCAC’s in general. The NESCAC’s are more well known in the Northeast and Davidson more so in the Southeast.

I just didn’t like the feel there. Just a personal thing. It’s against the grain of everything about the schoolbthat I did not like it. About it but it would not be a school on my list for me. Don’t get me wrong. I think it is a top of the top school. But schools often have a vibe. I really liked Davidson and I think it is an under rated admissions deal right now.

Just to follow-up here for anyone who tracks this topic. In my first post I noted one of the great things about Bowdoin is that any student can get a campus job and further than they don’t weigh financial aid/work study status at all into hiring. So it’s entirely merit based. If you are the best applicant for the job, you get it regardless of your family’s financial status. Since there’s enough jobs for everyone who wants one, it’s not an issue. Further, they pay you for most activities. Work crew in the theater, get paid by the college. Etc.
Now that I’ve seen it play out at Davidson, it’s definitely not the same. Almost the opposite in fact. My Davidson student has basically been shut out of any jobs on campus as the vast majority of them are exclusively “work study” for people on financial aid. In fact, their job search site doesn’t even have a way to search or filter for non-work study jobs. Entire departments exclusively hire work study. It’s all funded from a different source, so they have no discretion to offer jobs outside of work study if that’s where they are funded from. So not only does it leave others unable to find work on campus, but it means they are ineligible for many of the interesting work experiences on campus that would have had value beyond the pay.
I’m sure the situation at Davidson is probably common elsewhere and I understand the reasons. But it certainly a great benefit of Bowdoin. My Bowdoin student is getting great work experience, earning an income to pay for some expenses, doing a job he enjoys. My Davidson student is being asked to do the similar work to what my Bowdoin student is getting paid for, working beside others getting paid for it, but as a volunteer, and with no real prospects for other campus employment.

Saying that Davidson has “better weather” assumes that the student in question wants warm weather. My 2018 specifically ruled out any southern school because of heat, and is completely fine with very cold weather. Maine weather definitely gets nippy. The moist maritime air makes for a more biting cold than the drier cold in the mid west.
Davidson’s food is probably just fine, but Bowdoin’s is supposed to be outstanding.

@57special I don’t think that’s true about weather at Bowdoin. We know three kids there from Chicago and they all say the winter is much more manageable in Maine than at home. Bowdoin is not as cold as Chicago and, at least for the last two winters, seems to get more snow.

@homerdog Weather is all relative. Comparing to Chicago is already comparing fairly hearty weather. Whereas if you grew up in California, Bowdoin weather will be a shock. Even Bowdoin, close to the ocean which moderates the temps, is not as cold as other NE schools that are more in-land like Middlebury, Cornell, Colgate, Hamilton, etc. But objectively Bowdoin has lower average temps, gets more snow, and the snow sticks far longer than Davidson. For my daughter who already finds New Jersey weather too cold, it was a factor.

@citivas oh for sure! I’ve heard that the darkness is worse than the cold. One needs to really fight against being depressed by the 4:30 sunset for a little while. Get out and do stuff!

Driving conditions from Maine to most places , as well as flying , can be more dubious than to NC. Not a big game changer, but a thought. Also, much colder weather for longer up in Maine.

If the schools are equal in terms of how desirable they are to a prospect, Davidson gives a better chance for admissions.

By pure temperature data, Bowdoin falls toward the colder end of this group:

Avg January Low (°F)

Middlebury: 8.8
Bowdoin: 9.0
Colgate: 11.4
Hamilton: 12.0
Cornell: 14.7
Davidson: 27.9

Source: Sperling’s.

(Edited to include Davidson.)

@merc81
And Davidson average Jan Low: 32

My favorite site for comparing weather:
https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/27201~18897/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Brunswick-and-Davidson