<p>Hi everyone! I've been lurking around these boards for over a year now soaking in a ton of info about the college application process, and I've finally decided to make my own post.~</p>
<p>I'm having some trouble deciding between three schools to apply to (I only have the possibility of adding one more on the list)--those being Carleton, Bowdoin, and Bryn Mawr. From what I've read/seen in pictures, Bryn Mawr seems have the prettiest campus w/ smallest community, Bowdoin has the best dorms/food, and Carleton has the best location (in terms of being near a big city; let's conveniently ignore the biting winters!)</p>
<p>I'm looking to major in neuroscience or cognitive science, with some dabbling in psychology, French, and English, and I'm not sure which of these schools would be the best pick. I don't have the opportunity to visit any of them, so any stories/advice from students at any of these schools would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I think that Bryn Mawr is closer to Philadelphia than Carleton is to Minneapolis.</p>
<p>All three are great schools, and I would be hard-pressed to pick amongst them. Do you need FA? Carleton is need-aware. Bowdoin does have very good FA, not sure how it compares to the others. Also not sure hoe the offerings in neuro or cognitive science compare. (Remember that BMC has easy access to classes at Haverford, and somewhat less easy access to Swarthmore.) You might want to take a detailed look at the number of faculty and courses in those areas of interest, and see if one of the three stands out.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr alum here and I live in Maine, have been to Bowdoin. These two schools are very different. </p>
<p>Bryn Mawr has easy access by commuter train to Philadelphia. There are many dorm styles to choose from, from historic gothic-style buildings to modern. Bowdoin is not near any cities of note (most of Maine isn’t), and the dorms are nice (my daughter went to lacrosse camp there I’ve been in the dorms) but not remarkable. Bowdoin has a more athletic-jock vibe that is not at all a presence at Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>Maine is not nearly as cold as Minnesota. I grew up in Wisconsin and Maine winters especially near the coast are balmy compared with the midwest.</p>
<p>Once Haverford became coed, when I was close to graduating from Bryn Mawr, the ratio of women to men in the area changed drastically (to the great delight of Haverford men). If gender ratio is important to you that’s something to consider. Bryn Mawr has a small and supportive community. But overall you should look at the programs at these schools and decide from there.</p>
<p>Carleton has a free application. If you’re willing to spend an extra two hours and $8.50 sending scores, you should apply and then decide between Bowdoin and Bryn Mawr</p>
<p>You may want to go through each school’s course catalogs to see which ones have more interesting course selections in the subjects that you are interested in.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is much more accessible to Philadelphia than Carleton is to Minneapolis. Bryn Mawr, an actual Phllly suburb, is on the Main Line commuter train (20 minutes). Carleton is 45 minutes away by car from Minneapolis and there is no public transport.</p>
<p>The discriminating differences between these schools will not be academics in the fields you’re defining - all will be very strong. But these schools are very different in multiple other ways.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr, as NJSue points out, is of the three uniquely suburban in location with a city most easily accessible (esp by train). It is very measurably smaller, 2/3 the size of Bowdoin and Carleton, obviously single sex, and heavily cooperative with Haverford to extend academic and social offerings. Nice campus and facilities. Hard working, academically oriented student body with, like Carleton, a predisposition towards grad school, a bit less competitive stats wise than the other 2. </p>
<p>Bowdoin sits within a small town, though not a particularly rural location, about 30 miles from Portland, a much smaller city by standards of Philly and Minny. Facilities from dorms on down are great. The student body is somewhat more preppy, button down than the others. Open space including waterfront school owned property is not attached to the campus but about 20 minutes away, a great resource for environmental studies.</p>
<p>Carleton sits at the edge of a historic river town of about 20,000. It is alone of the three in having an adjoining close to 1,000 acre arboretum with streams, forest, restored prairie, integrated running/ski trails, serving as lab to the popular Bio/Geo/Environmental Science programs. The student body is more midwestern individualistic and less button down. MSP is ~40 miles away, accessible by Zip cars very popular and housed on campus or Northfield buses.</p>
<p>Well, yes, Carleton is without a doubt the most “Midwestern” of the 3 schools. It is also the least provincial, in the sense that its student body is least drawn from its home region. Bryn Mawr draws about half its student body from the Northeast and another big chunk from California; apart from that, it doesn’t draw particularly well on a national basis. Bowdoin is even more a regional school, drawing about 64% of its students from the Northeast and much smaller numbers from other regions. Carleton draws about 40% from its home region, the Midwest, but it also draws pretty strongly from the Northeast and West. None of these schools does particularly well in the South.</p>
<p>I’d say Carleton is the most “national” of the three, based on geographic distribution of its student body.</p>
<p>On financial aid, Carleton is need-blind for the top ~90% of admissions, and only need-aware for the bottom part of the application pool (I believe the exact percentage varies a little from year to year). Once admitted, they meet 100% of demonstrated need. Financial aid is quite good - my boyfriend’s folks are music teachers, and he graduated from Carleton with almost no debt. Same goes for me - I haven’t been paying my student loans since I was enrolled in grad school, but despite that will comfortably pay them off more or less immediately as soon as they come out of deferment. I can’t speak to financial aid for Bowdoin or Bryn Mawr, but thought I’d clear that up.</p>