Chances at Bowdoin?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Junior in Highschool
1340 SAT

AP World History/ 4
AP Bio
Ap Lang/Comp
Dual Enrollment US History

STEM Academy ( have to apply to get in)
Varsity Swim & Dive all 3 years, Captain Junior year
Swim on a club team year around
Volunteer on local Youth Sports Advisory Board
Volunteer coached for local summer swim team
NHS, Young Democrats

Multiple academic and sport awards
Have swim coaching job and lifeguarding job in summer, and work at a bakery during summer and year around (3 jobs total)

Will have a 3.9 W GPA by the end of the year
Started out with a low freshman and sophomore year GPA, 3.47 W and 3.58 W, respectively, but have a strong upward trend.

Possible major: environmental science

Chances?? Please suggest any matches or colleges I should consider. Any peer schools for a lower price?
Also, what would my chances at William and Mary be?

2

Did you just finish your junior year? What is your unweighted GPA for each year up to now?

Have you run the NPC for Bowdoin?

We were interested in Bowdoin, visited twice, and I checked the little scatter plots for students who got in or didn’t get in from my daughter’s high school. A student with an unweighted 3.5 got in, while students with unweighted 4.0’s were rejected. As such it is very hard to predict your chances. However, to me it looks like a reach or a high reach.

“Please suggest any matches or colleges I should consider. Any peer schools for a lower price?”

Where are you from, What can you afford, and how far are you willing to go for university? Are you specifically focused on smaller schools?

We were looking for smaller schools. We didn’t find less expensive ones in the northeast corner of the US (where we live), but did find much less expensive very good small universities on the other side of the US/Canada border.

3

I think Bowdoin is a high reach for you. It’s very selective! If you are interested in environmental science, I would suggest you also consider Colby. You might also like Carleton. All are kind of similar admissions wise, but they look at applicants differently.

It’s hard to give you a great answer though. All the BBC schools try hard to give preference to kids from Maine, so if you are “local”, that could help. If, otoh, you are from MA, you are in a pretty big, competitive pool.

I’d suggest you post your request in the William and Mary forum to get good feedback there.

4

@lilcida,

Bowdoin is a tough, tough admit, and it’s become brutally tough in recent years. I am not saying that you shouldn’t apply, but do be aware how tough it is. Brutal! Click on the “Colleges and University” link under “Top Forums” and read the various acceptance/results thread for Bowdoin. You will see students with stunning profiles who were rejected and waitlisted.

Again, I am not saying not to apply. Just go into it with eyes wide open. Bowdoin is test optional (it pioneered the philosophy decades ago), but don’t let that fool you. That means that every other aspect of one’s application must be terrific.

You’ve been on an upward trend, which is good. LACs are very holisitic, so an early stumble or early mediocrity does not put one out of the running. Your ECs look fine, but understand that you’d be competing with applicants who have been very involved with clubs and activities. Yours look mostly swimming-related (including volunteer and work experience), with the democrats club also in there. On the one hand, this does create a coherent image of someone committed to aquatics. On the other hand, will Bowdoin expect a bit more roundedness?

Any other factors that you haven’t included? Geographic desirability? Under-represented minority? Will you be able to swim at Bowdoin?

As for other schools, you’re in luck. Bowdoin is a LAC, and if you are interested in that environment, there are quite literally a hundred or more LACs that would be a great fit. Even if you are looking for “prestige,” there should be some nice LACs. For ES, Franklin & Marshall, Smith, and Barnard (these last two are women’s colleges) all have nice ES programs, though all three are tough admits. Even tougher admits: Colby, Amherst, Pomona, and Colorado College.

Bates is a popular alternative for Bowdoin. Bates is also test optional (for decades, Bowdoin and Bates were the two schools that were seen as ultra-progressive for going against the standardized test grain).