<p>I am a high school senior deciding whether or not to apply to bowdoin this year. I lokve everything about bowdoin and the only thing holding me back is its size. I realize that the small size has many benefits (like close relationships with professors), but I am coming from a high school about the size of bowdoin and I know that at this point I am feeling very claustrophobic and ready to leave. I was wondering if any current bowdoin students could tell me how the small size of bowdoin has been socially and their experience there.
Thanks!!</p>
<p>I’ve been at Bowdoin for a semester now and I definitely do not feel that it is too small. Don’t underestimate how good it feels not to be completely anonymous. And I think you’ll feel the size thing is different than it was in high school-- you’re only going to be living with the people you go to college with for four years-- you probably knew a good percent of the kids at your high school for 12-- or at least 7-- years.</p>
<p>is there a lot of class interaction within Bowdoin? I am very interested, but am a bit turned off by the small class size. I come from a small high school (class size in the 300s) and would like to know more people in college.</p>
<p>My two kids went to two completely different colleges. One attended a school of 1,700 and the other attended a school of 35,000. The one at the smaller school ended up becoming friends with both a greater number and a greater variety of students. YMMV</p>
<p>One big difference between a big high school class and a similar-sized LAC class: The high school is probably more firmly split along jock/nerd/studious/limited academic ability/ whatever lines than the LAC. </p>
<p>In my daughter’s large public high school graduating class of 800+, she took almost all her classes from 9th grade on with the same set of ~100 students. In her LAC with a similar sized entering class, I don’t think that will be true - the whole class is more homogenous in terms of academic ability. I’m sure there will still be social groups (at her campus, hippies vs arty hipsters vs neither), but I expect more movement between groups. At least they’ll be taking classes together!</p>
<p>My son just went through the college application process this past year, and while I had secretly hoped that he would have chosen a small LAC as his first choice, he chose an urban university, which turned out to be absolutely the best choice for him. We had visited colleges and universities of all sizes in Boston, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina. It quickly became clear that a small college was not for him. I remember that when I had gone to a small LAC, I felt suffocated by junior year, because I felt that I was returning to school with the same people, with little diversity, and I still had two years to go–which contributed to my decision to go abroad for my senior year. So, I am very happy that my son recognized that he needed a larger university; he told me, “I want to walk across campus and not know everyone that I pass along the way.” He came from a small private high school in the Washington DC area and looked forward to the large university experience.</p>