Bowdoin vs. Bates vs. Colby

<p>Are you sure you can handle the Maine winters…</p>

<p>Those who can’t handle Maine winters definitely shouldn’t be choosing among Colby, Bates and Bowdoin.</p>

<p>Curious what everyone thinks of Forbes top colleges rankings. Obviously something to take with a grain of salt but it puts Colby at 20, Bates at 32 and Bowdoin at 38.</p>

<p>My father and I plan on touring Bowdoin, Colby, and Bates at some point during the year. He really wants me to get the vibe of the campuses, but we don’t necessarily want to go when there are feet of snow. I play soccer, and so all September-November is not free for me to tour. When would be the best time to tour? Is it okay to tour in the winter, or should I try to go before school starts? Or just wait until spring?</p>

<p>Hi 2014nhs, </p>

<p>I can vouch for Colby, but as long as you visit during the school year, you will definitely get a good feel of the campus body/academics/students as a whole. You won’t be walking through feet of snow on the tour (the paths are very VERY well plowed), so if the winter works for you, feel free to visit us then! Hope this helps!</p>

<p>thanks. its just because we are out of state, and we will be driving and booking a hotel so we can see all three, and we just don’t want to run into the problem of things getting canceled or delayed because of snow.</p>

<p>I attended Bates for two years, so may be slightly prejudiced. It really is a great place and kids there really like it. Great reputation. From there, I transferred to an IVY, got into two and chose the one with the best Chemistry Dept, though Bates’s Chem dept (Dana) is top notch also. I had the opportunity to study Chemistry with a nobel laureate and took it.</p>

<p>I took my DS to Bowdoin and Colby last summer for a visit. Bowdoin does have the best reputation of the three, was sl surprised that Down East Magazine just recently rated Bowdoin as their top school, but who are they? Bowdoin has a manicured campus with red brick buildings looking very much like Harvard Yard. If you want a small school, it may appeal to you. DS went around the block and decided it was too small, like this size of his HS. Colby is very North. You really have to like skiing. The surrounding town is a little “tired” rundown and a dear friend mentioned Waterville as the drug capital of the Northeast. The campus appears to be hillside. The main clock tower is impressive and DS could see himself living in the dorms, but still, you need to picture it three quarters of the year surrounded by snow. Colby is slightly bigger than Bowdoin, and its reputation seems to be climbing, so if you want a sl larger school with a fine rep, Colby may be the place.</p>

<p>My daughter visited Bowdoin and Colby (she did not want to look at Bates) and decided she did not like Bowdoin and preferred Colby. She grew up near San Francisco. She doesn’t mind Waterville at all, and finds several of the restaurants charming, though not gourmet. She thought Bowdoin felt too Preppy, and didn’t feel the students were outdoorsy enough. She is REALLY happy at Colby. She likes the very friendly, athletic outdoorsey students, and has gotten into cycling, and rock climbing, and went snowshoeing, and did a trip to Canada Cross Country Skiing one weekend. The big shopping in Waterville is Wal-Mart, which I think she only visited once to buy a rug. If you need most things Augusta is 20 minutes up the road. She has seen no evidence of the drug scene in town. If you need a mall nearby to frequent, you will be out of luck at Colby. If you like friendly, athletic, smart, outdoorsey people, Colby could be just the ticket.</p>

<p>Agree with most things people have said except that you’d have to like skiing to enjoy Colby. Many people do like it but by no means all. My S likes skiing all right but hardly ever did it because he was on a winter sports team. I do think you’d have to like or at least be able to tolerate winter, though. Students at Colby find lots of ways to have fun in the winter.</p>

<p>Waterville isn’t the best town but it’s OK. It offers the basic things people need but most social life is on campus or at off-campus houses. There are a few bars and restaurants that students over 21 go to and a campus pub for over 21 students. IMO social life is similar to most colleges, with the exception of those in big cities that tend to have less of a campus culture. I never felt unsafe in Waterville. It’s a little drab. In comparison to the other Maine colleges and towns I’d say Bowdoin is in the best town, Colby is next and Bates has the worst town/location. Colby students get away from campus by doing outdoor trips or by going to Augusta, which has some good restaurants, Freeport for shopping and Portland, which is a great small city for restaurants, shops and walking.</p>

<p>I agree with Sailfish: You don’t have to like skiing to enjoy Colby. If that was all there was to it, this year would have been somewhat of a bust because there was so little snow. I don’t think there was a single weekend when Sugarloaf had all of it’s runs open, and at spring break it was up into the 80’s. However, it does help if you enjoy sports or the outdoors in one form or another.</p>

Hi!
I know this thread is hella old, but I figured other people will be searching for it, like I did.

I totally get your debate-- I’m a rising sophomore and I spent a LOT of time comparing the three schools. Fortunately for me I’m a Mainer so I could visit each campus multiple times. I ended up applying Early Decision to Colby when I realized that was where I really wanted to be. I extensivly toured, researched, and talked to people about the three schools before I decided, so here are the major differences I found:

Bates:
-Small, “urban” campus (Lewiston is a mill town, so think of a VERY SMALL city)
-A decent community theatre in-town (Community Little Theatre-- check it out)
-Campus feels a bit cramped
-Generally friendly students, many of them prep school and flaunting it

Bowdoin:
-Medium campus located in downtown Brunswick (think adorable shops everywhere-- plenty to do)
-Focused heavily on diversity (i.e. me being a white, public-school kid from Maine didn’t bode well for my application)
-Student body tends to be either upper-class prep school or recruited for diversity
-Students not as friendly as I’d hoped…

Colby:
-Large rural campus with a several-hundred-acre nature preserve complete with walking trails
-Very outdoorsy and environmentally-focused (the campus is LEED certified to have zero carbon footprint)
-Most of the kids are from near Boston or in Maine
-Over half the kids went to public school (yay for not having public school prejudice!)
-Students typically can be lumped into four groups: outdoorsy, artsy, preppy, world-saving activists
-Not a lot to do off-campus (just stores for basic needs like Walmart)
-Very friendly students (like hold-the-door-even-though-you’re-a-mile-away-and-it’s-awkward friendly)
-Partying scene is prevalent on weekends, but with all of the insane-busyness that happens during the week, it’s much-needed (note: I don’t drink but I party, and I never get pressured to drink at parties. It’s a good scene)
-If you’re not into the Great Outdoors or enjoy shopping/visiting city-like places more than hanging on campus, you might go stir-crazy. Personally, I love it here.
-We have a Woodsmen team. They chop wood. And build fires. Yup.

Although these schools are all incredible institutions to attend, what I leave you with is this:

Colby is a place for people who love to lay in the sun down by the pond and take leisurely strolls through scenic paths in the woods. It’s really a place where you fall in love not only with the people, but also with the grass, the trees, the hills, the water.

A small correction-for the class of 2018 (the latest class for which information is available for all 3 schools) Bates had the highest percentage of kids from public schools (56%), Bowdoin was next (52%), then Colby (48%).

http://www.bates.edu/admission/student-profile/
http://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/
https://www.colby.edu/admission/why-colby/profile/stats/