<p>It looks like it’s down to these two for me…financial aid and everything worked out, and now I just need to choose one. Opinions regarding academics, social life, the kids on campus, weather, etc. would be very appreciated!</p>
<p>I’m a Bowdoin alum. You’ve certainly got 2 great choices and you can’t go wrong. </p>
<p>I have visited friends at Williams and I also spent time there during the summer working for the theater festival. Williamstown is much more isolated than Brunswick (I believe the populations of the towns are approx. 7,000 vs. 25,000 respectively). Brunswick is also alongside the ocean and 25 minutes by car from Portland so you don’t feel the claustrophobia you might feel in the mountains.</p>
<p>I would generally characterize Williams students as a bit more serious and uptight based on personal experience. The Bowdoin kids I knew during my time there were intellectually curious and focused on academics but also very well-rounded and non-competitive. It translates to a relaxed, supportive campus environment.</p>
<p>Academically the schools are comparable, although I’m sure the people on the Williams threads will say that Williams is superior based on some arbitrary magazine rankings and endowment figures. I will say that I can’t imagine getting a better education than I received at Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Having said all of that, I would advise you to visit both campuses and go with your gut in the end. You’ll know what feels right when you’re there in person.</p>
<p>what do you want to study/do? the difference between the two schools are minimal, academically speaking. bowdoins got a long history of very strong alums, and so does williams</p>
<p>the bigger difference will be the feel of campus life. williamstown is depressing, while bowdoin is in coastal maine. and even though bowdoin is in maine, it’s only 2 hours from boston (direct bus) and williamstown is 3-4 hours away.</p>
<p>go visit both campuses and look at the type of people at each. if you want academic rigour but with a laid-back feel, bowdoin is good for you</p>
<p>Thanks, trufflehunter and topamin (: I’d definitely like a more laid-back campus life combined with the academic rigor that both schools offer, so Bowdoin does sound like a better fit as far as the atmosphere! I’m considering studying something related to the sciences, but nothing’s set in stone yet…are there any major differences between the science programs at both schools? And trufflehunter, did you feel well-prepared for the job market coming from Bowdoin?</p>
<p>its good to not have stuff set in stone! you end up “discovering” a lot in an environment like bowdoin. </p>
<p>in terms of sciences, not sure if you’re more oriented towards pre-med or physics/environmental… but i think bowdoin used to part med school back in the day</p>
<p>the founder of mayo clinic was a bowdoin alum who got his M.D. at bowdoin</p>
<p>environmentally speaking, bowdoin owns an island and has a coastal studies center on another… these resources are as nice as they come in a school this size in my opinion!</p>
<p>Bowdoin has incredible sciences. The strongest science departments here are biology, Earth/Environmental Sciences, and possibly chemistry. If you come to Bowdoin, you will have access to incredible science-based resources. I would agree and say that the feel for the schools are completely different. Bowdoin is much more relaxed and non-competitive while generally happier, while Williams (I hear) can be more stressful, although students are just as bright.</p>
<p>I can’t speak with any authority to Bowdoin in general, although I had always heard that Bowdoin was on the academically intense / intellectually serious side of the liberal arts spectrum (not quite Swarthmore, but similar to Amherst and Williams in that regard). And the two Bowdoin alums I know both happen to be really, really serious guys, but that is too small sample to count for anything. So I guess it depends on who you run into. I do think that the Bowdoin folks posting here aren’t really accurately characterizing Williams. I found it to be a fun, chill place. The whole place has a goofy spirit to it – from Mountain Day, to Winter Study / Winter Carnival, to the quirky, varied campus architecture and sculptures (most famously, the eyes), to the Purple Cow mascot – it just felt more open, less self-serious, and less cloistered to me than some of its peers, and that is what attracted me to Williams in the first place. When I visited the Bowdoin campus (which is gorgeous) it felt like more of the typical picture-perfect traditional New England campus to me. I certainly would not characterize Williams, or the vast majority of its students, as uptight. (And on my one visit to Bowdoin, it felt like a very friendly, lively place, as well, it was right there with Amherst, Williams and Haverford amon the liberal arts schools I really felt immediately at home at). </p>
<p>But other than that caveat, I’d agree with the Bowdoin posters who say that both are great schools, and you can’t go wrong either academically or in terms of post grad experiences. In addition to the differences in setting already noted here, I would also add that Williams is slightly bigger than Bowdoin both in terms of the feel of the campus and the size of the student body (2100 students vs. I think 1800ish, right?), but the difference is not huge. Williams is also, I believe, a bit more diverse, Bowdoin has a higher concentration of New England kids and also a smaller population of minority / international students than Williams, but the difference is not extreme in either case. </p>
<p>I’d say visit both and pick whichever school you feel more at home at (barring something like a huge difference in financial aid or a particularly strong department at one vs. the other). The experience at either will be very, very similar.</p>
<p>Regarding your question about the job market…</p>
<p>Either school will prepare you for your post-grad experience, whether that be grad school or a job. Both have very strong alumni networks and notable alumni. The best grad schools and employers know all of the top LACs. That said, I wouldn’t get hung up on what will happen in 2016…it will fall into place. The most important thing right now is to choose the school that you will enjoy the most. Remember that you are spending 4 of the most important years of your life somewhere so you want to feel comfortable and happy above all else. Visiting both campuses is the best thing you can do to make your decision.</p>
<p>Sciences at bowdoin are very strong and many people go on to med school and PhD programs. But keep in mind that what you think you want now may change entirely. I began bowdoin thinking I would stay in the sciences because that was my strong suit in high school, and I did a 180 and wound up in the humanities. That’s the beauty of a liberal arts eduction…it exposes you to subjects you might never have considered before.</p>
<p>as a former bowdoin student who was probably too academically intense in college, i agree with ephman.</p>
<p>Williamstown is in the “extremely isolated” category in my list of places. Sure, you could drive to Boston. But you won’t. Because it’s winter, there’s snow and ice on the road, it gets dark at 3:30 pm, North Adams is hilly, and you have some studying piling up, so a 3 hour car ride – versus a 15 minute local trip – actually does cut into that time resource. On the other hand, Brunswick is in the “somewhat isolated” category. Sure, you could drive to Portland, which is only 45 minutes away. But you won’t. Because it’s winter, there’s snow and ice on the road, it gets dark at 3:30 pm, and it’s flipping cold outside. Plus, you have some studying that’s piling up, so a 45 minute car ride plus time to find parking actually cuts into that time resource. So you rush from one warm building to another across a frothy Quad, looking to see what madness your brethren have cooked up.</p>
<p>Bowdoin vs. Williams? Williams has a slightly better academic reputation, which I agree with. But for all intents and purposes it comes down to taste; should be more like Bowdoin U Williams, based on principles of: “categorically compatible” and “a tool is still a tool despite the toolshed”.</p>
<p>FWIW, the Brunswick-Portland drive is more like 30 minutes – it’s a straight shot on a 4-lane highway (I95) and a very easy drive.</p>
<p>It’s been awesome reading all of these (: It seems like everyone who’s posted has had a terrific experience at these schools, and it’s obvious that I can’t go wrong either way. I definitely have a difficult decision ahead of me, but I’m going to take your advice and try to visit both before May 1st. Hopefully that will clarify things! I appreciate all of your help!</p>
<p>FWIW, the Amtrak Downeaster will soon be servicing Brunswick, proving easy, safe access to Portland and Boston via comfortable trains.</p>
<p>I took my S to visit both schools this past November. As an adult I much preferred Bowdoin. Both campuses are beautiful, but there are actually things to do in Brunswick. There seems to be virtually nothing to do outside the college at Williams. We ate in the dinning hall at both. The food was great at Bowdoin, acceptable at Williams. The drive from Boston to Williams = 3 hours and no pleasant public transp. The drive from Bowdoin to Boston = 2 hours and the train will start this fall giving easy access to Boston, even for a day trip. My S was delighted to be accepted to Bowdoin, and was planning to attend, until he received a “yes” from Brown. I still think Bowdoin might be a better place for him. One area where Williams does surpass Bowdoin, is that Williams actively accommodates athletes, while not interfering with academics. There is a block of time each day in the afternoon, when no classes may run, so students can have athletic practice. No athletic practice is permitted during class blocks. I appreciate that a student doesn’t have to choose between academics & sports at Williams.</p>
<p>My kid was drawn to Williams, not Bowdoin. It could have gone the other way. I am not sure what kids are looking at when they choose their schools, but they see something I don’t.</p>
<p>S walked on Williams campus and knew it was his place.</p>
<p>D went to the Upper West Side of NYC and knew Barnard was her place.</p>
<p>I couldn’t explain why, and neither can they.</p>
<p>If Bowdoin is preferred, I see no reason to choose Williams and vice versa.</p>
<p>The only reason that I ended up being happier with Williams is that we were able to drive there and back in one day, which we could not do with Maine. </p>
<p>But that’s relative to where one lives, and many kids are too far away from both.</p>
<p>These elite LAC’s are like Baskin Robbins – 37 flavors but all ice cream.</p>