Hey, I know these schools are both very similar but I was wondering what if anything differentiates them, and makes one better than the other. Any help is very much appreciated.
@TryHard44 You will find a lot of discussion on this forum comparing Bates, Bowdoin and Colby and many seem to agree, there are more similarities than differences. Have you visited? My daughter had a preference for one ahead of tours and a different opinion after. I believe she would have been happy at any of these fine schools, but she feels confident she is in the right place.
This is a very broad question. Which is better – Williams or Amherst? Harvard or Stanford?
There indeed are things that differentiate the Colby from Bates, but it is a tough say if any makes one school better than the other. And, usually, if you ask on these boards which school is “better,” you will get a totally biased answer.
People with a relationship to a school will push that school over the other, and say conclusively that it is “better” than the other.
Really, the question needs to be turned around to you to decide what is important in a school to you. For example, if you look at US News, you will see comparisons in any manner of categories, such as endowments and alumni giving. Does that matter to you? On the other hand, if you want to major in economics, you might be able to contact professors at other schools to determine which school has the stronger economics program. If you want a certain type of social life, you may be able to decide which school is better for that purpose. If you don’t hone in on what is important to you, expect everyone to wave the flag of their alma mater.
@TryHard44, our DD’s applied to and were accepted to both of these highly selective schools, but each decided to attend another highly selective NESCAC school. They found the personalities to be very different, not one better than the other just different strokes for different folks. You may find reading the student body comments/descriptions in Princeton Review or the student body comments in College Niche to be helpful.