Does being from Maine help?

<p>I am a junior right now, and considering the schools in Maine- Bowdoin, Bates and Colby (Bowdoin is my favorite so far). I love Maine and would love to go to college here. I live in southern Maine in a nice suburb of Portland. My grades are vey good, I think and I will probably be in the top 10.
How do you think this will affect me? I know these schools love diversity, but not a lot of Maine kids go there. I have heard both sides and I am not sure which is true. Anyone have any advice?</p>

<p>i do not think it will help. if you were from south dakota, now that would help. lol</p>

<p>Yeah I see what you mean. I hate how there are so many things I can't control that affect admission.</p>

<p>Bowdoin does like Maine kids. It's not a big advantage but it's definitely better to be from Maine than Massachusetts or Connecticut.</p>

<p>I'm a Maine student @ Bowdoin.... my perception has been that Bowdoin definitely has been making greater efforts recently to recruit/attract qualified Maine students. I've been to a lot of the outreach days that have been targeted towards Maine high school students, and I definitely think that being from Maine won't hurt - and might even help a little - if you are what Bowdoin is looking for. The bottom line is that, yes, Bowdoin likes/wants Maine students, but it's just a very small part of the picture - I think that it will be a "plus" for you (just my interpretation), but I doubt that it would be a deciding factor; far more important is being the kind of student/person that Bowdoin is looking for.</p>

<p>yeah I dont see being from Maine hurting you.William Shain(dean of admissions) said he was more proud of the higher acceptance of Maine students than even the international community cuz they retain culture or something along those lines</p>

<p>I'm quite sure Bates likes students from Maine as well</p>

<p>Bowdoin loves their Maine kids. 11 percent of 2011 was from Maine. That's really disproportionate from the other states except MA and NY. There are a lot of special grants, too, like the Mitchell Scholarship, which frankly, is the way a lot of Maine kids go to Bowdoin.</p>

<p>Here are my sources:
Class</a> of 2011 (Bowdoin, )
THE</a> MITCHELL INSTITUTE</p>

<p>When I went to an open house at Bowdoin, the college president made a point of discussing his pride at the number of Maine students attending Bowdoin. Whether this translates into any tangible benefit for you, however, is a little tricky. At most, I suspect being from Maine will be an overall plus because not a lot of students come from the state and for a college that talks incessantly about "giving back to the community" and the "offer of the college," I would imagine having a significant presence of Mainers on campus is important. Of course, you don't need me to tell you that geography won't compensate for less than competitive academics or ec's (not that I believe you have bad grades or anything, I'm just stating the obvious).</p>