<p>I’ve been accepted to both Bowdoin and Kenyon. Kenyon has been my diehard top choice for a while. I never expected to get into Bowdoin (14% acceptance rate) so I didn’t really take it into consideration. But now that I am in, I would be a fool to not consider it. I visited Kenyon in February and will visit Bowdoin for the first time in April. I hope that I like Bowdoin as much as I do Kenyon. If I don’t, would I be an idiot to go to Kenyon despite the obvious prestige and opportunities at Bowdoin? I am pre-med, probably a neuroscience major. All and any opinions welcome.</p>
<p>What does financial aid look like? What do you like about Kenyon?</p>
<p>If each school offers the same things for you, then Bowdoin is the way to go. I would put it this way - you would have more higher-end choices with same GPA at Bowdoin as Keynon as a pre-med. Forget prestige, Bowdoin is just a better school, if they offer the same things of you. That simple. </p>
<p>Financial aid is fantastic from both. Both are pretty much equally affordable. I like the Kenyon environment and the community feeling. I just had a really calm really comfortable feeling while on campus. Is bowdoin really a better school, rankings disregarded? </p>
<p>Too be fair, better is subjective after a point. I will say this - rankings are rather subjective after a while, but there is a difference that must exist to be #4 and #32, as that is not even the same ballpark. However, if you love Kenyon and not Bowdoin, then go for Kenynon because environment in college and loving where you are is over half the game. There are people who turn down the Ivys etc, to go to Carnegie Mellon for Computer Science and Hamilton for writing. So, it is not all about rankings and prestige. However, if you like both, Bowdoin does give more oomph in the end.</p>
<p>“Better school” is debatable, OP (but then again, this is College Confidential). The student body will be a smidgeon smarter at Bowdoin, on average. I think you should look up how the professors in your major of interest rate on that website that rates your professors. Then look at the main medical schools you have interest in and review the number of acceptances from either school. However, if you like the comfortable feel of Kenyon, then that is a big plus.</p>
<p>All things equal, Bowdoin. But if you like Kenyon a lot better, go with your gut. My son knew immediately which school was home to him and selected it over more prestigious choices. It was something that made some hard days better. You know you made a choice because the whole picture and feel was a better fit than some stats.</p>
<p>The reason, I even say, all things equal, Bowdoin, is because there are more kids going to Bowdoin who are truly top calibre academically. The spread is tighter there. But that was a reason that my son would not have chosen a school as he wanted a more relaxed atmosphere. Having gone to a rigorous high school, he wanted something that was not as competitive and with kids so high strung. </p>
<p>Make your decision based on your visit to Bowdoin. If you really like Bowdoin more than Kenyon, then go there. But prestige should not be considered.</p>
<p>Kenyon’s campus is unique, and most of us experience the same sense of community and calm that you felt during your visit. Kenyon students are very smart, even if Bowdoin’s are a notch smarter. Kenyon’s students are down to earth and unpretentious, but serious and thoughtful.</p>
<p>If Bowdoin is better than Kenyon academically, the margin is not wide. Frankly, it is amazing that such an excellent school is located in rural Ohio.</p>
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<p>Thank you all so much. I will reevaluate both after my visit to Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Strongly disagree that Bowdoin opens up more opportunities than Kenyon as far as medical schools go. Medical schools care about GPA, MCAT scores, and personal qualities of the candidate. The undergraduate institution attended will not make a huge difference. Outstanding candidates from either Bowdoin or Kenyon will have plenty of opportunities, and marginal candidates will not be saved by the “prestige” of their undergraduate institution.</p>
<p>“If each school offers the same things for you, then Bowdoin is the way to go. I would put it this way - you would have more higher-end choices with same GPA at Bowdoin as Keynon as a pre-med. Forget prestige, Bowdoin is just a better school, if they offer the same things of you. That simple.”</p>
<p>Does the idea that my GPA will be higher at Kenyon than at Bowdoin, thus more competitive in the med school application process make sense?</p>
<p>This is a hard decision to make. Thinking about not going to Kenyon makes me cry. </p>
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<p>^^ I think you’re making your decision right now. This is a time to trust your gut, not some anonymous opinion on CC.</p>
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<p>They are both fabulous schools. You can’t make a bad choice. But since you can only choose to attend one of them, you’ll need to figure out how to make a decision. One way might be the “regret” factor: if hypothetically you decline one of the schools, how much regret do you feel? </p>
<p>As of now, having only visited Kenyon, I would feel immense sorrow if I declined Kenyon. I know I would stalk the Kenyon pages and wonder how the students were doing. If I declined Bowdoin, I feel I would simply feel like I had let go of a fantastic opportunity. </p>
<p>“Does the idea that my GPA will be higher at Kenyon than at Bowdoin, thus more competitive in the med school application process make sense?” … “This is a hard decision to make. Thinking about not going to Kenyon makes me cry.”</p>
<p>Then you really truly need to choose Kenyon. As @CodyChesnutt says, both schools will prepare you equally well for med school. Plus, the difference between the schools is not that major when it comes to academics. Frankly, the more I am on this website the more obvious it is that some people from the East Coast can hardly imagine that a great college could be anywhere past Philadelphia unless it happens to be in California (even then, only Stanford seems to get true respect).</p>
<p>Sure, you might have a higher GPA at Kenyon (especially if you are happier) and that does make a difference. Medical schools simply do not care where you went to college, contrary to what some people here say. GPA is more important.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: my sister, and her husband, and my cousin, are all doctors. Two of these three teach a medical schools. I know a little bit about this.</p>
<p>Take a deep breath. Exhale. And relax, because you are choosing between two great schools and you are totally in control of this process. My advice - visit Bowdoin with an open mind, and have some of that awesome seafood chowder they serve in Thorne. Then, listen to your heart, make your decision, and don’t look back…</p>
<p>I have been reading this thread and have to weigh in. Son was a Bowdoin legacy who chose to attend Kenyon. Really liked both schools but just felt the fit at Kenyon was better. He couldn’t be happier. The work at Kenyon is quite rigorous. Our family loves both schools. We told our son to go where his heart was, not where his Dad did.</p>
<p>Thank you @NROTCgrad. Do you think class ranking plays a part? As in, would it be better to be top of my class at Kenyon than middle at Bowdoin? Not to say that Kenyon kids are less smart are anything, because they’re not. But I know Bowdoin is filled with a lot of valedictorians and such. @itsallgood1 that was super comforting, to be honest. I will do that.</p>
<p>If any medical schools use class rank as a factor, I have not heard of them. I am not even sure that you get a class rank in college, except at West Point and the other service academies. Since students in college have majors in so many different fields, and with a wide variety of difficulty, it is nearly impossible to assign a class ranking to college students. The truth is that even high school class ranking is now being used less by colleges, especially at the best schools like Harvard and Duke.</p>
<p>By the way, it is very debatable whether elite colleges are harder than those that are merely excellent. In fact, it is rumored that it is impossible to get a “C” at Harvard. I do know that the president of Yale is on record as saying that for every student Yale admits to the university there are ten more who would have done just as well – which is why these elite schools started paying close attention to extracurricular activities. In short, there is no reason to believe that Bowdoin would be harder than Kenyon. Both are rigorous liberal arts colleges.</p>