<p>Hi everyone.</p>
<p>I’m an international student and am having a really tough time choosing.
Kinda ruled our Boston College and am more interested in Bowdoin and Wesleyan…</p>
<p>Feedback would be incredibly helpful!
Thanks.</p>
<p>Bowdoin and Wesleyan are both excellent. Wesleyan is a little more in the middle of things as it is located between Boston and New York. But both great schools.</p>
1 Like
<p>My sister attends Wesleyan and I will be attending Bowdoin next year. The major differences that I have picked up on between the two schools are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>From what I’ve seen, Wesleyan students seem overall to be a bit more laid back. (That’s not to say that they aren’t working equally as hard academically speaking.)</p></li>
<li><p>Wesleyan students are more “out-there” in terms of style. (A bit quirkier, if you will.)</p></li>
<li><p>Bowdoin has GREAT food (ranked #2 in the country), Wesleyan has pretty good food (I’ve eaten a few meals at their main dining hall, and I wasn’t blown away nor was I repulsed)</p></li>
<li><p>I could be wrong about this, but my impression was that there is more informal music at Wesleyan. </p></li>
<li><p>Both schools are roughly two hours from Boston.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope some of this is helpful to you!</p>
<p>also the size. bowdoin’s food is delicious. housing is nice. bowdoin’s got a better rep than wesleyan in my opinion. i don’t even consider wesleyan to be in the top tier.</p>
<p>MercedesAM: Bowdoin has a better rep with who? The general populace knows nothing about most LACs. Most people who know about them through things like CC will say AWS(maybe P) are the very top tier, with schools like Wes and Bowdoin a notch below. Those who make VERY fine distinctions might but Wes just a notch below Bowdoin, but that’s based almost entirely on rankings, and either way, most people will either consider both of them top tier with small distinctions, or neither of them top tier, just AWS (which is, of course, silly) . And things like grad schools respect both of them a LOT.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is more highly ranked if you care about that, but the difference is small enough that it won’t make a difference when applying to grad schools (will respect both) or jobs (will either known about the school and respect it, or won’t know. Most people who know one will know the other, except for with regional differences).</p>
<p>I think the fact that Wes is a bit more quirky and bigger, and the difference in location are the biggest distinction – which is better for the OP is something they have to decide.</p>
<p>i agree with weskid. wesleyan is certainly in the top tier and just as good as bowdoin. sure, there are fine distinctions in certain things but they aren’t very helpful. every year there are a handful of cross admits for whom this decision is a difficult one; that alone testifies to wes’s cachet.</p>
<p>actually, I think Wesleyan has a slight edge in international students:</p>
<p>Wesleyan - 7%
Bowdoin - 4%</p>
<p>What else is the OP looking for?</p>
<p>I don’t know if it matters to OP, but my impression is that individual Bowdoin students are more “well-rounded” and at Wes, the class is well-rounded. That is, there are a lot of Bowdoin students who are athletic-scholarly-artistic, all in one, but at Wes, the class is full of athletes and artistic/creative/political kids, all of whom are smart, but there aren’t so many who combine those interests/qualities in one individual. I think that at Wes, there’s more of a split socially between athletes and non-athletes.</p>
<p>Wesleyan seems very proud of its activist, passionate student body. Students are known as very liberal (the politically conservative son of a friend applied to Bowdoin but not Wes because Wes was said to be so liberal). Bowdoin’s social/political reputation is not so extreme. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in getting to NYC rather than Boston, Wes is the way to go.</p>
<p>Both schools were at the top of S’s list, but he ended up applying ED II to Bowdoin, in part because of his sport, so he will be going there. He has a friend who was very happy at Wes and S would have been thrilled to go there if Bowdoin hadn’t worked out. Liked both campuses a lot.</p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!
all this information has been great but it has just landed me in more of a rut… haha.</p>
<p>are bowdoin and wesleyan noted for specific majors?</p>
<p>im not too sure about wes. but bowdoin is noted for its Government & Legal Studies major (poly sci), economics, music, and english (hawthorne went here- there’s a handwritten scarlet letter in the library, longfellow went here, uncle tom’s cabin was written here, etc)</p>
<p>id say other strong departments are the sciences for pre-med students. they always have so much work but seem to be very prepared for the mcats</p>
<p>Bowdoin and Wesleyan are both top tier and both have excellent reputations. (Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan are known as the 3 “little ivies”)</p>
<p>I’d say the kids at Wesleyan are quirkier (and seem like extremely fun people to be around) while the majority of the kids at bowdoin are preppy (i felt a little out of place without a northface when i visited). </p>
<p>Bowdoin is known for government, and Wesleyan is known for its sciences, fim studies, art, etc. </p>
<p>One thing about bowdoin that i wish i’d thought more about before i applied is the size - i wanted a small school but 1700 makesme feel a little bit claustraphobic. That said, you get a lot of personal attention, as you will at wesleyan b/c their student-faculty ratios are nearly identical.</p>
<p>Bowdoin and Wesleyan are nearly equal academically, maybe Bowdoin is slightly harder to get into (everyone at my school who gets into Bowdoin gets into Wesleyan, but not vice versa) but honestly the two are so close that your deciding factor should be which school you like better.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a lot of “interesting” people and is extremely liberal. It has the reputation of having super liberal pot-smoking students who are artsy; but this stereotype is exaggerated. From what I’ve seen, these people are definitely present at Wesleyan, but there are “normal” people too. Overall though, Wesleyan students tend to be artsy, very very liberal and somewhat hippy.</p>
<p>Bowdoin doesn’t really have a stereotype for its student body, but most students are somewhat preppy and athletic. However, not as preppy as Middlebury or Amherst. Most people at Bowdoin are friendly, non-judgmental, athletic, and somewhat a-political (as in not very liberal or very republican).</p>
<p>But you should visit both and decide! I would pick Bowdoin if I were deciding because I identify more with the student body, but honestly its your decision! Wesleyan is also bigger so that should factor into your decision.</p>
<p>Wes is much more urban and hipper; Bowdoin has the Atlantic Ocean and a very old New England vibe.</p>
<p>They’re both wonderful.</p>
<p>I would say that Bowdoin is slightly more cohesive and Wes is slightly more exciting.</p>
<p>You know best which is more appealing to you.</p>