<p>Just applied to Explore Bowdoin and was wondering about selectivity, how many students are accepted, and most of all how it impacts the admissions decisions. Are most or all spots for URM applicants?</p>
<p>On the other topic, someone replied “I think it’s pretty selective, but my impression is that these programs especially seek to encourage those kids who might not otherwise be able to visit the campus…ie; geography, financial limitations, etc. It’s my observation that Bowdoin really wants to reach beyond the New England (Maine, Mass, CT) kids that make up a bulk of the student population.”</p>
<p>But I am interested to know the answer to the URM question since I am not an URM. </p>
<p>Btw, are you applying to some of the other programs too?</p>
<p>I am, I’ve tried to apply to as many as I can because I really do need something like that to visit these schools. are you applying or have you attended before?</p>
<p>I’m a rising senior now, so I plan on applying. I’m also applying to a few and hoping I’ll be accepted to at least one. Bowdoin is my top choice right now so this is the one I want to go to most. Which date did you apply for?</p>
<p>Yeah I’m in the same boat. I think I applied for the later program, which I believe is in November? You?</p>
<p>Er there’s either September or October! I’m likely going to apply for the September one… though I wish I knew which might be more selective. Do you think I could apply again for October if I got rejected from September? Haha</p>
<p>I applied to the September session.</p>
<p>@student197, are you a first generation student or low income? I’m going to be a freshman at Bowdoin in August and I went to many fly-in programs during my senior year. I saw and met many non-URM kids while I was there but all were first generation/low income or had some special reason for flying in. These programs cater to URM, first generation, and low income kids. Sometimes they also pick kids who are from far away, because those kids are less likely to visit on their own dime. Good luck!</p>
<p>@collegebound752 I am not a first generation student. I’m not sure what would qualify as “low income” but we are definitely not high income, and I’ll be the 3rd child in college by the time I enter so I will be needing FA. I’m East Asian, so I am not a URM either. Haha I guess the only thing that works for me is the fact that I’m from WA which is like the other side of the country? None of my siblings go to school out of state, so maybe they’ll be willing to fly me out. <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>One of my kids did the diversity fly-in programs at Bowdoin, Swat, Pomona, Amherst, Williams, Carleton and Wellesley last year. She is Caucasian and low income, not first gen. She absolutely loved Explore Bowdoin which was the first fly-in she attended. The fly-in programs are selective but if you have a good high school record and seem to be the kind of student who would thrive at Bowdoin, you have a good chance and should definitely apply! Theres a range of what the various colleges consider to be ‘diversity’ but if you love a school, I say go for it! D ended up being admitted to all the colleges she applied to where she also attended a fly-in program. At the program they usually give the students some statistics about how many fly-in students are ultimately accepted to the college and it does appear to increase your chances of admission ( whether causation or correlation, either way it’s a good predictor). Ironically the only fly-in program she wasn’t accepted to (Middlebury) was the least selective of them all - 35% last year I think. </p>
<p>@nynightowl, out of curiosity, which school did she choose?</p>
<p>She is attending Williams, which she feels is a great fit for her for lots of reasons but really would have been happy at Bowdoin or a number of other schools as well. </p>
<p>when you guys submitted your application and your transcript did they ever email you back saying they got it?? or do you wait till decisions to know…</p>
<p>@apsleep I received an e-mail which said they hadn’t received my transcript, despite the fact that I did send it. I sent it again, but never received a reply. </p>
<p>Mynightowl, how did your D handle a rigorous senior schedule with all those trips?!</p>
<p>1203southview, it was pillar to post for sure, and she was sometimes cranky and sometimes exhausted. Her programs were very spaced out - from early September to late November. Knowing it was temporary helped us all get through it. Being incredibly organized and having everyone on the same page helped - big calendars and spreadsheets in a few rooms. Lots of reminders and checkins and emotional support. Her siblings walked the dog for her, I did her laundry for the first time in ages, etc. It was a family priority. Despite having 5 AP’s plus other classes and sports and music and 7 fly-ins (or thereabouts), she seemed to have these occasional windows during the day or evening when she would come home, drop her stuff, go to her room and power nap. She was never a napper before but napping became second nature. She was always an incredibly organized, self disciplined person and it made all the difference. She gave her schedules to her teachers ahead of time, got homework early or made it up quickly. Planes and trains were good times to get chunks of work done. A few times, she lamented that it wasn’t worth it - especially when she was jet lagged from a cross country flight, but now she would never say that. Her sport took the biggest hit - she was a co-captain of a varsity team, she missed a lot and is now doing a new sport in college, idk if there’s any connection. She missed her senior class trip for a fly-in and she missed a Science summit – that was a big deal and a very tough decision. But ultimately, everything about the fly-ins, from having to make tough decisions, to traveling alone, dealing with travel emergencies, to having to assess colleges that no one else in the family had visited - all these were opportunities for growth that set her up really well for college. She was always independent but last fall really grew her up. </p>
<p>One funny detail of the whole long and crazy process involved her AP Physics class. It was really tough for her at the beginning of the year bc she hadn’t taken any Physics at all prior to that. She got a D on a quiz ( this was a student who had never seen a B). She debated dropping the class, got unsolicited advice from everyone we know, but ended up sticking with it. Studied and worked her tail off and pretty soon was getting better and better test scores, (always did well on the labs). By midyear she had a 98 average (she put it up on the fridge, saying we would never see that again) but then ended the year with an A, one point away from an A+. </p>
<p>The funny part, though ( funny odd not funny haha), is when she got her AP exam scores back in the summer, they were all 5’s (she only ever got a 4 in AP Latin and one other 4 I forget the subject) anyway her AP Physics score was a …2!!! A 2??? Of course, it didn’t matter bc she was admitted to college in December, but it was so weird. No idea if her insane fall schedule had anything to do with it - unlikely I think because she aced the class…and the exam was in May, 6 months after the last fly-in.</p>
<p>Anyway, I meant to ask you if you have a child doing some diversity programs this fall? I don’t follow much here on CC right now or I guess I would know that - sorry 
</p>
<p>Editing to add: if you are considering programs and have to choose between some, look carefully at the dates because some programs are more weekend than week days, or might be held on the Columbus Day school vacation, or might happen to be on dates your school is off for P/T conferences - or whatever! Point is, you can minimize the missed school by comparing calendars and looking at what your child will really be missing. That said, once they are taking the time off school, make sure the substance of the program is worth it. HS senior D was accepted to Scripps fly-in, but it’s only one night. Does she really want to fly to CA for a day and a half? She won’t miss much school but that’s more time in the air than waking hours on campus I think! You can make judgement calls like that to help the scheduling work… </p>
<p>when will we know if we were accepted to october fly in ??</p>
<p>Quick question about explore Bowdoin: were we supposed to get a school counselor to send in our transcripts, even though they said that unofficial transcripts were okay? Also did anyone applying to the October one get a confirmation email after submitting the application?</p>
<p>I emailed them after I submitted the transcript to confirm that they had everything. I also spoke to someone that applied to the September program, and she said that decisions came out about a week after the deadline. </p>