Well, looks like we will be checking out BC sooner than expected! In a very last minute decision, D and I are headed to Maine to visit S19 next weekend! Long story short, the plan to do so in April was murky and we were having a hard time finding a weekend that would work. She has a four day Presidents Day weekend and flights were cheap so it’s the new plan.
We will be with S most of the days but plan on swinging back to Boston mid-day on Monday. Not flying out until late Tuesday. I checked BC’s visit calendar and they have three info meetings/tours on Mon and Tues but all are booked. I’m going to call and see if we can at least get into the info session. Many of these types of sessions aren’t useful but this one includes a student panel which I think could be interesting. D has two good friends there who can give us a tour and maybe even take her to class. She can definitely see their dorms and we will try to eat lunch with them in a cafeteria (and then treat them to dinner!).
Homerdog, we never paid attention to full registration. If we turned up in time for a tour or info session, they always let my kids join. And if they don’t let her in, she signs in at admissions, and you can both just quietly join a tour, unless it’s very small and specific.
By and large, we thought info sessions were useless and avoided them. Sessions with student panels are the exception I think. Best one we ever did was at Clark U, fully conducted by students. Definitely useful to get students’ feedback about their school.
Enjoy your visit to ME and BC! I’m sure if you call, you will have no problem getting into a session/tour. I think the MA kids are on vacation that week, thus the groups will be filled with local kids. Having friends on campus will provide invaluable insight. That, alone, makes it worth the visit.
Hi, I distinctly remember the BC info session including the student panel from 2 years ago. We toured 30 colleges and BC stands out in my mind because we were able to hear from actual students and they did Q&A while the admissions rep left the room. They were very open and honest and we learned a lot, got a good feeling about the students there.
Definitely. BC doesn’t track demonstrated interest anyway, so there is no great benefit of being on the list. When we showed up for our info session last year, there was a young lady and her mother in front of us at the check in desk. They informed the BC rep that they had not registered in advance, and the woman said it was not a problem. She informed them that they mainly use registration to track how many tour guides they need, so they can keep the groups small.
To echo what others have said, we found the student panel VERY helpful.
D really enjoyed Bowdoin. Loved the size of the campus, the casual and friendly nature of the kids, the food, the dorms, the town right next to campus with multiple coffee shops and restaurants and the beautiful scenery. Only negatives are the weather and the acceptance rate and that she feels like she needs her own school. It’s pretty small there for two siblings.
She decided against visiting Bates. She just doesn’t see herself there. I didn’t push.
Boston College was ok but doesn’t check any of the boxes that Bowdoin checks except nice friendly kids and strong academics. She’s not into being near the city. It’s just not important to her and likes how, at Bowdoin, it just feels like there’s more space. It’s not so crowded. She thought the dorms “looked like prisons”. The possibility of having to live one mile away from main campus freshman year (40 percent of freshman do this) is not a selling point no matter how many students tell us it’s fun. Her friends there have to leave at least 30 min before class starts to catch the bus. S19 can leave his dorm five min before his classes start. Especially in a cold weather state, bus rides and long walks not ideal. Plus, it usually means leaving at the beginning of the day and not going back to the dorm until you’ve done everything you want to do on campus that day - class, club meetings, working out, etc.
The campus was pretty. I think main campus isn’t too big (not like Wisconsin). The food was ok but you buy it ala cart and her friends say they are already tired of it. They do spend money eating out and I know they’ve spent a lot more money that S has at Bowdoin on that kind of stuff. It’s really nice that S has no joke spent $400 so far and that includes books too.
In the end, she said she could be ok there. She’s not in love. I could see her there. The Jesuit vibe was not at all overwhelming. She likes that she knows kids there. She’d rather not break the bank on a school that’s not thrilling her though. It will stay tentatively on the RD part of the list. It’s a very hard RD admit so it’s a reach. So, it’s onto spring break to see if one of the VA or NC schools feel right.
One thing we did determine is that an LAC is actually a match for her. At one point not that long ago, she was worried it might be too small but she did really like the size of Bowdoin. So I think that means Davidson is solidly back on the list. And it means maybe Wake will feel too big like BC kind of does. I still think Richmond might be the perfect fit.
LACs are almost always great during one’s first semester & usually during one’s first year because everything & everyone is new.
I encourage your daughter to apply to both small & mid-sized schools as your son’s experience at Bowdoin College is still developing.
LACs are, in my opinion, great for two sport athletes who cannot or do not wish to compete at the D-1 level. LAC athletes get frequent breaks from the small environment for competition at off campus locations. A non-athlete typically does not get off campus as often.
Davidson College should be exciting for your daughter because she will experience a different region of the country as well as a different climate. Lots to explore.
There is a significant difference between a cold weather LAC–such as the Maine schools Colby, Bates, & Bowdoin–and warm or fair weather LACs such as Pomona College or Davidson College. Also, Pomona & Davidson are close to cities.
We’ve been to Davidson. It’s not “close to the city” like BC is close to Boston. BC feels like a city neighborhood. Davidson is a town- more of her preference at least right now. Not sure what you mean by a significant difference between the Maine LACs and Davidson. Davidson was the other school S was considering in the end and he still thinks he would have been happy there too.
We get that a LAC can get small over time. She definitely wants to study abroad so would be gone part if not all junior year. I agree she should keep some medium sized schools on the list but it’s still possible she could ED to a smaller school.
I think she’s drawn to the comfort of the small schools. Adults who know them. Small campus. Options to be a part of many different clubs. Cute attached town. She’s not a city kid and just isn’t drawn to busy campuses where she’d be anonymous.
Bowdoin just felt homey. Kids were saying hi to S. Spaces are beautiful. Good quality of life in general. She was drawn to that.
Not everyone gets falling down drunk at northern LACs. That’s not S19’s experience at all. For those of you reading who are considering those schools, that’s not the case for all kids.
@homerdog- glad you had a good trip! Any chance your D would reconsider Vassar now that she knows she likes that size and maybe the school spirit thing is less important than other factors. It seems to meet a lot of things she wants and would have good dance opportunities for her.
