I’m class of 2022’ and I was lucky enough to be accepted to all three. I now have a tough choice. I’m leaning towards Bowdoin and Colby, because from what I’ve heard Bates has a slightly ragged/depressed town. I visited Bowdoin before and liked it a lot. I haven’t visited Colby & Bates.
A bit about me: I applied as an English major to all three so strong English dep. is very important to me. I am interested in economics and history, possibly as a minor, as well, so I also value strong departments in those. I am a big outdoorsy person so nearby proximity to mountains, trails, lakes etc is important. I value peers who are passionate, creative, and outodoorsy/athletics oriented, not necessarily “artsy” though. Obviously, I value world-class professors. I want to play soccer, tennis, ski and other sports recreationally in college. I would also like to have at least a town area nearby with shops and food.
Thank you so much guys for your help guys! FYI I am also an international so it may be hard for me to visit Colby or Bates before May 1.
I am having the same debate myself, along with many others I presume! Honestly it is a pretty good problem to have in the grand scheme of things. For me, Bowdoin clearly stood out and had the best vibe for me. It was the most traditional and came off as the most serious of the three. Bowdoin clearly has the best town of the three but I can tell you that in my opinion, Bates has a better town situation than Colby. Lewiston is definitely a bit ragged but it is up and coming. They are doing major work on the downtown and main street section in both Waterville and Lewiston although Waterville is a good distance away from Colby. Both Brunswick and Lewiston can easily be walked too when the weather is nice enough. Bates campus was most similar to Bowdoin as Colby’s was more spread out and less centralized with no central quad. It does have Mayflower Hill which is really nice. In my opinion, Bowdoin was the best combination of town, vibe, and campus although only minutely. All three schools are amazing and the town doesn’t really matter as we will be studying all the time regardless of the school. I could absolutely see myself at all three and my decision towards Bowdoin only comes from a gut feeling. Hope this helped…
@socalcyclist congrats on your acceptances as well! do you think bowdoin is more academically rigorous/intense than the other two? are colby and bates more “chill”?
Bates was founded by abolitionist Baptist ministers in 1835. It’s always been open to people of all races, and always included women. It’s always had a tradition of no organizations that any student can’t belong to(no frats ever) . This long tradition of inclusiveness shapes the college, it’s vibe, and traditions. To me, that’s the biggest difference.
My advice is to get to the accepted student days if at all possible, and figure out which group of students you want to hang out with for 4 years. Since that may not be possible, spend time on the Facebook groups and look at the interests / activities / comments of your potential classmates.
We have been to all 3 schools, and they’re all great. As for their towns, Brunswick (IMO) is the winner. Food wise it has a lot of good choices, and the downtown is a nice place to walk around.
The Colby campus is the most out of “central casting”. The hill, the space, the isolation from town (in a good way…not far…but limited traffic from others outside of school).
Bates is a good school with a friendly vibe and a nice campus, but it feels smaller and the town isn’t great.
@aroving , I think in general, Bowdoin has probabaly the most academically intense environment, but make no mistake, you will be working hard at all three. You will find wonderful people at all of them, but it is probably fair to say that Bates and Colby are a little more relaxed. I think you might really benefit from looking at the website Niche and see what students have to say about their colleges. You can read honest student opinions about partying, academics, vibe, sports, dating, etc…at each of those schools.
I know it’s tough because you won’t be able to visit Bates and Colby before May 1, but rest assured that you will not be alone in that. My D has friends at Bates who never set foot on campus until move-in day. They tend to be internationals, but one of them is a kid from NYC. Not everyone can get to campus, especially if you are far from the school. In your shoes, I would look at Niche to help you mke a decision.
Agree with you - Bowdoin has best location and probably best overall reputation and name. Not to say Colby and Bates aren’t great but Bowdoin is a bit above.
Also Brunswick closer to Portland and the coast - better access to nicer places, more to do. All are fairly close to skiing so that should not be a factor.
And yes, even though they are working on both Waterville and Lewiston they have been “working” on them for 30 years! I should know as I grew up in a town halfway between the two of them and that has always been the talk of how they are “working” on them. Perhaps now they are finally turning the corner and improving but I would urge a visit to all three. Good luck
Congrats on the hat trick. All exceptional schools. Visited all 3 recently and here is my take. Bowdoin hands down best town and location with it being closest to Portland and the coast. Best dining hall, food and dorms. Colby, the prettiest campus and best athletic facility. Happy kids. Collaborative. Not really walkable to town, and the town isn’t the most exciting. Bates, big focus on inclusivity and community service. Seemed it would provide a very personal experience. Town is walkable from campus, with some cute eateries. The town is better than people on CC make it out to be. All had a friendly vibe. I didn’t find any of the 3 to be snooty or overly preppy. Outdoor clubs abound at all 3.
They are all pretty much in the same league, though Bowdoin may be harder to get into it. As far as rankings go, Bowdoin sits on top so that matters a lot to some people. Both my students passed on Bowdoin, just didn’t like the campus or the vibe. They both loved Colby however and were admitted. Colby is super friendly, has a great J term in warm places and does a ton of student research. Really a nice, tight-knit community with all the bells and whistles of a super LAC. if you visit and fall in love with Colby, don’t give Bowdoin a second thought because of prestige only.
@aroving I would say that Bowdoin certainly has a reputation for being more strict academically than Colby and Bates although all three are amazing schools. You can’t go wrong with any one of them and you will keep doors open for any grad school option if you work hard at any of them. Really I think it goes down to feel and your desired environment.
I feel like a lot of Bates lovers have been commenting on this thread, so I’m here to give Bowdoin the love it deserves as a student. Disclaimer: Of the three, I only applied to Bowdoin, because I didn’t like the other two. I feel like people are painting Bowdoin students as stuck-up and exclusive, but that hasn’t been my experience at all. Everyone has been friendly, and will say hi to you in passing if you’ve met them even once. Bowdoin might be more academic-focused than Bates or Colby, but there’s still plenty of time to do things you enjoy. I also feel as though Bowdoin’s outing club is more emphasized than those of Bates and Colby - could be due to the mandatory orientation trips, though I’m unsure. It’s also worth mentioning that Bowdoin has a greater endowment per student. Of course, they’re all fantastic schools, and I don’t mean to discredit anyone’s wonderful experiences at Bates and Colby - I just felt like the conversation was a bit one-sided. OP, congrats - you have many wonderful options, but I do think you’d fit in perfectly at Bowdoin!
???Bowdoin might be more academic-focused than Bates or Colby.
Don’t kid yourself. Both Bates and Colby attract scholars. In my own experience, Bates puts a lot of emphasis on Outing Club also. Every student is automatically a club member.
Yesterday I watched several YouTube videos for each of these three schools. Left me with very negative impression of one school, not interested at another & fine with the third. The very negative impression was my reaction to a few YouTube videos about the importance of drinking at one of the schools due to its isolation & small community.
@preppedparent that was poor wording - I meant to refer to the comments that say Bowdoin is “more strict academically” and “more academically intense”. I’m not “kidding myself”; all three are fantastic schools and the student bodies are much more alike than they are different. Like I said, I didn’t apply to Bates, but I felt like the outing club was mentioned very offhandedly in my tour and not at all in the info session, whereas the Bowdoin outing club was enthusiastically brought up several times and its breadth and importance on campus was highlighted in both the tour and info session.
I don’t claim to know what it’s like to be a student at Bates or Colby, but I do know that I know what it’s like to be a current student at Bowdoin. I accept that I have bias, just like many of you. However, I chose Bowdoin (just a year ago, so very recently) for many reasons!
(Posting this on the Bates and Colby threads as well)
I don’t want to violate the CC TOS but if you google “educational consultant” plus the name of the school(s) on a popular video hosting site you’ll find a series of short videos by a consultant with the first name Mark who has travelled to numerous schools and posted about them and various topics germane to his visits. I believe Colby’s is about the “Colby bubble”, the Bates visit is addressed in a 5 part series, and Bowdoin’s is primarily about ED at Bowdoin.
[I have no connection to the consultant in question but I watched a couple of his Bates videos and found them useful and accurate.]
@youwillbefound, I daresay that the least apt point of differentiation between the three is academic focus. All three are top notch in academic focus. As far as strictness goes, Colby is probably the most academically conservative of the three. Colby is the only one that is not SAT optional (it is test optional, like Middlebury and Hamilton). True to these roots, it traditionally has had more in the line of distribution requirements than Bates or Bowdoin. This is not good or bad, just a point of differentiation. In fact, it might be a plus for one student and a negative for another.
@Momtofourkids, this time there might actually be a change to Waterville. For a town the size of Waterville, it is not possible to dump the amount of money that has been dumped without having an actual impact. With a new downtown dorm, new downtown arts center, and new boutique hotel, I suspect the change will be pretty substantial. Of course the proof is in the pudding. We’ll see in a year or two.
@gointhruaphase I hope you are correct! Love their new-er addition of the brewpub Mainely Brews at the top of the main street through town. As a former Mainer who grew up in that area I would love to see it flourish. The reputation of Colby only seems to be growing in renowned and and can only help to bring good things to the area.
As a Junior at Bowdoin, reading your original post tells me that you’d thoroughly enjoy yourself here. I’m sure Bates and Colby are great as well, but Bowdoin wins out in my book, and seems to check all of your boxes. Amazing and walkable town, proximity to the rural parts of Maine, and proximity to Portland/Boston by train/bus/shuttle. Hopefully you got to see all three over accepted students weekend, and hopefully I’ll see you around in the fall.
