<p>I know, it was sad! Maybe I would have liked Bates a lot better if I had found a sandwich! 
My post was harsh toward Bates, and I apologize. It’s a great school and I respect it a lot, but it’s just not the type of attitude I’m looking for.</p>
<p>I am a Cross Country and Track recruit and Visited all three. However, I am by no means a runner over an academic, as I’m barely getting any help in admissions from running. When I went to Bates I stayed with an idiotic Freshman Runner, who had me sleep on the ground in his dorm with trash and empty beer cans. He showed some passion, but when I met him he had just been informed he was persona non grata at the Lewiston hospital. His friend passed out drunk, and went to the hospital the night before. My host went to the hospital belligerent drunk at 4am, and broke through a line of insistent nurses to visit his friend. Overall, I had a bad experience. I found a lot of stupid narrow minded athletes. very alcohol focused, and not particularly into respectful and meaningful relationships. The food was great, and the campus was nice, but I did not like it at all.</p>
<p>I went to Colby and had a great visit, with a few upperclassmen runners as my host, that seemed like awesome guys. I will agree that most students there are not as intense academically as Bowdoin kids, but everyone takes their studies seriously. The campus was really nice, and I really liked how a lot of people were very environmentally friendly and crunchy granola type. The coach was really nice, and the food… was alright. It has high ranked kitchens, but when I went, it was by no means bad, but it was not spectacular. The dorms are great, and it is not in the ghetto like Bates. I have a swimmer friend up there, and she is having a lot of fun. Drinking a lot, but ecstatic about the school nonetheless. The professors there seem very smart and dedicated to their students.</p>
<p>I think it is unfair to say Bowdoin students are stuck up. I did not encounter anyone that acted like they were better than me, and I feel like calling Bowdoin kids stuck up is just Colby or Bates students retaliation to the fact that Bowdoin is more selective. However, when I went, I did not have a whole lot of fun, and while the students were friendly, I didn’t have a great connection. I went on Halloween which should have been crazy, but there was a pathetically soft speakers set up for music, and the ‘party’ was basically students in costumes standing outside and talking. The bowdoin coach did seem a little more elitist. I didn’t go to a class, but academics are very serious. But, the one thing that surprised me, is the food… mediocre. Not nearly living up to its rep. When I went to amherst, Bates, Oberlin, Wooster, and Vassar, all of their food topped the weird and average meals I had at Bowdoin. but maybe I just came on a bad night.</p>
<p>Go to Colby, my uncle teaches botany there and he’s the man.</p>
<p>This thread makes me love Colby more and more.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is without question the best school in Maine, by quite a long shot. If you are intent on going into a competitive profession like law/medicine, the reputation of Bowdoin among admissions committees especially in the northeast is comparable to the Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>That said, most people at Bowdoin aren’t elitists like myself who say that Bowdoin is without question the greatest, even though it actually is and anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves out of trying to feel better. Would you probably have even more opportunities at Harvard? Probably, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Bowdoin is flat out better than the rest in Maine.</p>
<p>Bobow98 goes to Bowdoin, so it’s obvious he has some bias.</p>
<p>The mention of Lewiston brings up a point: you need to check life on campus and consider it, more than what’s down the street. Truth is, all three have vibrant on-campus cultures. All three are close enough to some CVS or WalMart or pizza joint or Chinese take-out and have plenty of great places for your parents to stay and take you out to dinner. All three are close enough to needle your parents to make the drive to Freeport. All three have social and cultural opportunities galore. None of the three has a particularly great football team, but each has lots of school spirit.</p>
<p>As a parent who has lived in some risky places and some great, the one thing we were concerned about * at any campus* is actual personal safety. When, eg, getting back to the dorms at night requires a walk through a sketchy or isolated neighborhood.</p>
<p>Bates is not in the “ghetto” and its own atmosphere does not reflect that. I can start to name some mighty competitive schools that are in quite dangerous areas though- or where a late-night walk is perilous. </p>
<p>Sure, Lewiston is a struggling city. All New England former mill towns have issues. I will grant you the kids are mostly progressive. And that for many kids today, not being “preppy” is a selling point.</p>
<p>And mr muleman here obviously goes/went to Colby, my and everyone else at Bowdoin’s safety school</p>
<p>Flame on baby!
Bring it</p>
<p>Oh I almost forgot: Mules are sterile!</p>
<p>This is stupid, but I’ll play along anyway.</p>
<p>If we look at statistics, your claims can’t possibly be true.</p>
<p>Colby’s average SAT for accepted students last year was 700/700/700, while Bowdoin’s was 700/710/710. A whopping 20 point difference in average SAT scores does not qualify as a “large” difference. Also, Bowdoin is test option and Colby is not. Therefore, Bowdoin’s average scores are somewhat inflated because those who apply with low score don’t submit them.</p>
<p>If we look at percent in top 10 percent of a class, the difference between Colby and Bowdoin is 6%, Colby having 79% in top 10 and Bowdoin having 85% in top ten.</p>
<p>I apprecate that Bowdoin’s acceptance rate is lower than Colby’s, but the class profiles are very similar. </p>
<p>If you look at percent accepted to medical school, Colby has an 85% acceptance rate and Bowdoin has an 80% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>I appreciate the school rivalry, but don’t be petty.</p>
<p>Ha, way to try to inflate your statistics in defense of things. I will, as the mighty polar bear, stomp on your mule turd by actually citing statistics.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>During the past decade, the medical school acceptance rate for Colby students has been about 75%.
[Colby</a> Career Services | for STUDENTS | Health Professions](<a href=“http://www.colby.edu/career.serv/student/grad/health/statistics.shtml#allo]Colby”>http://www.colby.edu/career.serv/student/grad/health/statistics.shtml#allo)</p></li>
<li><p>The acceptance rate of those who applied through Bowdoin to enter medical school in 2001-2008 has averaged 86%.<br>
[Overview</a> (Bowdoin, Office of Health Professions Advising)](<a href=“Health Professions Advising | Bowdoin College”>Health Professions Advising | Bowdoin College)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So Bowdoin is superior in terms of med school placement. I’m really not sure where you get your statistics from. Maybe from that imagination that somehow believes that Mules can match up against Polar Bears. </p>
<p>Now I’m sure there are some very smart people at Colby. But I’m also sure there are lots of people who could defend your institution better than you are doing, Mule sir.</p>
<p>Also, from collegeboard:</p>
<p>Colby
Test Scores
Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 630 - 710 65%
SAT Math: 620 - 710 65%
SAT Writing: 620 - 715 65%
ACT Composite: 28 - 31 39% </p>
<p>~~~~~~</p>
<p>Bowdoin
Test Scores
Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 660 - 750 75%
SAT Math: 660 - 750 75%
SAT Writing: 660 - 750 75%
ACT Composite: 30 - 33 28%</p>
<p>So somehow, more Bowdoin people submit SAT scores than Colby? (75% to 65%) And yet Bowdoin has vastly higher scores across the subjects. </p>
<p>Mule sir, please work hard on that undergraduate degree. You’re not quite ready to play with the big boys yet.</p>
<p>BOO YAH</p>
<p>bring it.</p>
<p>Well, at least it wasn’t a Colby student who was immature enough to start this silly food fight. And who do you think you’re kidding about safety schools? Everyone at Bowdoin wanted an Ivy, Williams or Amherst, even Middlebury in the case of one freshman I know this year. Hope this is all meant in good fun but I kind of doubt it…</p>
<p>I’ll post one more then stop. Salifish is right. They are both great schools and people are lucky to attend either of them. Also, the career center statistic was in a recent press release by Colby, the one on the website must not be updated.</p>
<p>From the Colby website:
For the Class of 2014
700/700/700 median SAT critical reading/math/writing</p>
<p>Also, those who don’t submit SAT scores at Colby submit ACT scores, as Colby is not test optional. The statistic you provided for Bowdoin is total number of students that submitted scores, period. So, Colby reports all scores, while Bowdoin only reports whatever percentage of scores you wrote previously. So while Colby counts all the scores for everyone we accept (legacies, recruited athletes, etc), Bowdoin does not typically receive the lower scores because they are test optional. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>Again, I think both schools are great and this is a fruitless thread.</p>
<p>Ok lol…I’m done trollin’ now.</p>
<p>Agreed, both schools are excellent :)</p>
<p>I was just bored earlier ;)</p>
<p>Keep fighting and Bates will smell like a rose.</p>
<p>@lookingforward: Amen. You guys represent your schools, and you seem to want to promote them. So tell us what rocks about your school (I don’t care about SAT scores or if one was your “safety school”, and nor does the OP). Just please don’t make applicants (like myself) rethink your schools’ attitudes in a negative way. Thanks :)</p>
<p>Bowdoin’s score represents all students. Although for application purposes SAT is test optional, they have to be sent in after acceptance for the statistics.</p>
<p>i visited all three and i liked bowdoin the best. bates had a very cold and secluded look to it and it just didn’t feel right for me. Colby was beautiful, but the surrounding town was just too small. There was a music festival going on at Bowdoin and i was able to talk with some of the students. Everyone seemed thrilled to be there and I loved the architecture and trees on campus. The entire campus was just…awesome!!! haha</p>
<p>@alibabadude- No, actually thats not true.</p>
<p>all i can say is… the food at bowdoin is delicious. prospectives, try the food there!</p>
<p>And don’t forget to get a great meal at Colby–in one of THREE dining halls–including one which specializes in vegetarian and vegan food! My DH lives for our campus visits! (what does that say about the food at home?) :)</p>