I’m considering applying to Bowdoin ED, but I’m worried that it will feel small and boring after a little while. Does anyone have any thoughts? Here are my stats:
Undecided major, but I enjoy English, Global Studies or Environmental Studies.
ACT: 35 (36 English, 35 Reading, 34 Math, 35 Science)
Literature SAT Subject Test: 740
Biology SAT Subject Test: 670
Unweighted GPA: 3.79
All Honors classes through high school with mostly A/A-
AP Bio, AP French, AP AB Calc this year
VP of Student Congress, president and founder of women empowerment club, Membership Chair of Key Club, music leader of student-run a cappella group, violinist in school chamber ensemble
Thanks! If you have any additional comments about Bowdoin that could help me decide that would be great too.
Have you visited? That would help you make a decision. What other schools are you considering? Do you already know you want a top 20 LAC college, and you just need help honing in on your perfect ED candidate?
Your stats are very solid, but as you know at this level nobody’s really a shoe-in, so it’s good to have a raft of places you can imagine yourself doing well in.
Honestly, apply somewhere else and let someone who really wants to go there get in. If you can’t say “why Bowdoin”, then why Bowdoin?
We visit Brunswick a lot, and have toured Bowdoin a couple of times. It is a very good small school in a lovely small town. There is great gelato less than a mile away and multiple very good restaurants. Admissions seems arbitrary to me: I have seen students with stats slightly higher than yours be turned down and a student with stats significantly lower than yours get accepted (and the three students had been in the same classes, so class rigor was not the reason).
Whether it will feel small to you after 4 years probably depends upon your personality and what you are looking for. If you are inclined to ask, then I suspect that it probably will feel small before 4 years is up.
Do you care about cost? If so, then I would be nervous about applying ED.
I disagree with OldbatesieDoc. Many students don’t have a passion for any particular school or any idea what they want to study going in, or even what kind of culture they want. Nothing wrong with applying to a school without being certain it’s the perfect fit for you. Plus at this point the OP is just asking questions to try and get to a better sense of that – to discourage applying because the OP doesn’t immediately know why it’s the perfect school is a not a productive standard.
It’s impossible to answer the OP’s question though with the info provided so far. Most fo the post were stats for a chance me response, but expanding on what the OP’s expectations are that would help counsel on whether Bowdoin will “feel small” or boring. Do you currently live in an urban, suburban or rural area? What kinds of activities do you like – ourdoorsy stuff or clubbing (I just picked a couple extremely different examples, but could be anything)? How big is your school now and do you want some place bigger or do you like it now? I know students who based their college decision on wanting a big school where the entire community rallied behind the big games and wanted to be part of that stadium full of thousands and tailgating experience. That wouldn’t be Bowdoin or it’s peers. My son by contrast wanted small, but not so small as let’s say Haverford. He didn’t apply to any schools with five-digit student populations.
In terms of LAC’s, Bowdoin is comfortably in the middle in terms of being in an accessible college town with reasonably close and easy access to a larger urban and cultural area (Portland in it’s case, which is 25 minutes away). It’s far less isolated than peers like Colgate or Williams. On the other hand if you really want city like consider Barnard. Or Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mahr are super close to Phily. I can only speak for me son. He’s rarely bored. Always over committed with activities on or around campus. He complained just last night that he has 6 overlapping conflicts this Thursday, most of them not class related.
Good luck in any event.
Yeah, just apply anywhere without having any sense where you want to go and see where you get in. That’s awesome advise.Seriously.She’s thinking of applying ED, which is binding, and doesn’t have a strong sense she wants to go there? Better do some research quick.