<p>from my touring experiences, bowdoin was the least isolated feeling out of most top small liberal arts schools</p>
<p>polka, what other LACs did you visit? We haven’t visited many, so I am curious.</p>
<p>Re: the weather. There’s a saying out there that I think comes from the Norwegians, “There is no bad weather; only bad clothing.”</p>
<p>thanks bowd and stratus!!
im from nyc as well, so i totally understand how no place can ever be like it is here, but i’ll just have to deal with that. if i get in, ill go visit once again of course!</p>
<p>thanks again! :)</p>
<p>i visited colby, bates, bowdoin, hamilton, middlebury, & williams</p>
<p>@Kazala: Of course! NYC is simply flawless!!! lolol</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, I think like bowd says, it takes some getting use to. I’m not the biggest fan of Brunswick but it is a nice attempt at being a local escape from Bowdoin. It’s just when you’re used to being in a city and then have to come to a town it can be like a culture shock. Definitely visit again if you get in. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and I hope you get that acceptance package sometime this week! :D</p>
<p>thanks so much! ill be letting you know, either screaming or crying
haha</p>
<p>@Stratusfaction…Being a parent of a “15”, can you give any advice for optimizing FA @ Bowdoin? This is open for anyone who has some insight. Yes, we have filled out the FAFSA & CSS profile & received a tentative figure (not as much as we would like or the published average by US World & News for Bowdoin College). Any inside tips? :-)</p>
<p>Polka, we visited the same schools (except for Colby) + Amherst + Tufts, along with Brown, Dartmouth, & Cornell. Bowdoin was the best!</p>
<p>gladparent – not sure if anyone will have any “inside tips” re FA for you, but as a parent of a member of the class of '14, who was accepted ED and was dependent on FA, I have to say Bowdoin was fair in the aid package. It’s not unreasonable to expect the student to contribute $4,000-$5,000/year from summer and campus earnings, and the all-grant aid is a terrific benefit. Certainly, S could have received generous merit aid at other schools, but for a small need-based aid school, Bowdoin did well by S. He’ll be taking his maximum Direct loan each year and working summers and about 6 hours/week during the school year, but that’s not too big a burden to carry in exchange for a great education and no other loans in his FA package.</p>
<p>So, if you can’t visit all the colleges you were accepted at, what ways will you (or did you) go about gathering all the information you need to make your decision as to which college will be the ideal choice when you have not visited all of them?</p>
<p>I’d love to get suggestions on the best ways you think you can remotely gather information that will lead to a wise choice as to the best “fit” college – and, in particular, how to do so for Bowdoin as it has been a favorite choice for my S but, living abroad, he has never visited the campus.</p>
<p>@D’yer Maker: Here’s a list of everything I did besides visiting:</p>
<p>-I archived all threads that pertained to Bowdoin since 2005.
-I used sites like Campus Pr.owler (remove dot) to get some feedback.
-I used sites like U.nigo (remove dot), CollegeACB, and others to get a sense of what life is like at Bowdoin.
-I came up with a list of 3-5 strong questions and Facebook messaged like 15-20 current students with my questions (I think only 5-10 responded).
-I carefully looked over EVERYTHING that was sent in the acceptance folder.
-And more (but I forgot)</p>
<p>The point is, since you’re not visiting, it is your responsiblity to make sure that you can get as much information (unbiased) as possible on Bowdoin. Every school has flaws, including Bowdoin, so don’t only try to look for the good and dismiss the problems people have with Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Here’s what I’ve gathered in terms of on-line resources just sitting around. I think the idea of reaching out to current students is important. If you (or others) have other ideas or thoughts, fire away!</p>
<p>Student Reviews:
[Bowdoin</a> College | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/brunswick-me/bowdoin-college-2038]Bowdoin”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/brunswick-me/bowdoin-college-2038)
<a href=“http://collegepr0wler.com/bowdoin-college/[/url]”>http://collegepr0wler.com/bowdoin-college/</a> <– change 0 to o in pr0wler
<a href=“http://www.unig0.com/bowdoin_college/reviews/[/url]”>http://www.unig0.com/bowdoin_college/reviews/</a> <– change 0 to o in unig0
[Bowdoin</a> College - Videos, Photos, and Visit Reports](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/bowdoin-college]Bowdoin”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/bowdoin-college)</p>
<p>Official Virtual Tour:
[Experience</a> Bowdoin](<a href=“http://www.bowdoin.edu/tour/tourIntro.html]Experience”>http://www.bowdoin.edu/tour/tourIntro.html)</p>
<p>Official Blogs and Other Insights:
School paper: [The</a> Bowdoin Orient](<a href=“http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/index.php]The”>Orient article offers singular, alarming interpretation – The Bowdoin Orient)</p>
<p>Other Video Overviews:
Dining: [YouTube</a> - Bowdoin College: Best Dining Hall in the Country](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
Dorms: [YouTube</a> - Bowdoin College Dorm Rooms](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
Social Scene: [YouTube</a> - Bowdoin Social Scene](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
Intro to YouniversityTV tour: [YouTube</a> - Bowdoin College](<a href=“Bowdoin College - YouTube”>Bowdoin College - YouTube)
[video</a> - Bowdoin College | YOUniversityTV](<a href=“http://www.youniversitytv.com/video/viewvideo/3199/bowdoin-college/bowdoin-college]video”>http://www.youniversitytv.com/video/viewvideo/3199/bowdoin-college/bowdoin-college)</p>
<p>Something Unusual And Interesting:
[AN</a> UNLIKELY GRADUATE LIFE’S ODDS AT BOWDOIN | Dave MarcusDave Marcus](<a href=“http://www.davemarcus.com/content/unlikely-graduate-lifes-odds-bowdoin]AN”>http://www.davemarcus.com/content/unlikely-graduate-lifes-odds-bowdoin)</p>
<p>I have three questions about Bowdoin.
- How difficult is it to get chem-free housing?
- Do you know anything about appealing financial aid? I really want to attend Bowdoin, but they estimate that my parents can pay about $14,000 more than Bates and Carleton have estimated.
- I listed Bowdoin as my first choice school for National Merit, but I didn’t get anything in my acceptance packet about National Merit Scholarships. Do you know when Bowdoin sends them out?</p>
<p>What is Bowdoin’s library like? It looks nice on the outside, but I haven’t found any pictures of the outside.</p>
<p>I LOVE Bowdoin’s library. It is beautiful from the inside. Umm… you said you hadn’t gotten pictures of the outside… but you’ve seen the outside? Either way, it’s full of lots of great books and study space, and it looks nice from the outside and inside. There’s actually an “underground” passage through the basement stacks that goes into Hubbard Hall. Plus, the librarians are SUPER nice and helpful from my contact with them. :)</p>
<p>The library outside looks pretty ho-hum but its nice space inside. The bio building is also very cool.</p>
<p>sara12: Sorry! That was a typo! I meant that I hadn’t seen any pictures of the inside. That sounds really awesome!</p>
<p>By the way, do you know if Bowdoin offers a Middle Eastern Studies major or an International Studies major? I looked on their website and I was unable to find either. I found a Government and Legal Studies major, but that’s not really what I’m looking for.</p>
<p>Brunswick (from the pictures) seems like a quaint New England town! I love it!</p>
<p>doonerak: I haven’t seen the bio building. I guess I need to look at the virtual tour on their site. I think the student center looks awesome!</p>
<p>The library is cool! I love it. Quick funny story. First semester I studied in the library for a bit, but ended up getting annoyed with it, and studied in Smith Union. But last semester, I ended up getting annoyed with Smith Union and loved the library haha.</p>
<p>The library is very nice. It’s spacious, has nice furniture, and even has cool study rooms that have tvs, desks, and those box looking things from Apple ( I think it’s called MacTV or something like that). All in all, the library is awesome. However, as you go through your first semester, you’ll see if the library is the right study spot for you. There are plenty of other study spots on campus if the library ends up not being your cup of tea. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to some of the inside pictures: [Welcome</a> Class of 2015](<a href=“http://library.bowdoin.edu/welcome/]Welcome”>http://library.bowdoin.edu/welcome/)</p>