<p>
You can probably get a very good general science/math education at any NESCAC school, including Bowdoin. However, different schools have larger or smaller science/math programs, depending on school size, school wealth, and level of student interest. There will be differences in the number of fellow science majors, the number of faculty, the variety of elective courses, and the opportunities for research. These differences may or may not be important to you, depending on how specialized you expect your undergraduate study to become. More is not necessarily better (if it was, no one would be considering LACs at all). </p>
<p>The leading NESCAC school overall, in terms of the most majors, tenure-track faculty, course offerings, and resources in science/math, is probably Williams. This does not mean that Williams is automatically the best choice for a prospective science/math major. However, you might consider using Williams as a benchmark if you are looking at the departmental offerings of other schools. Note that some NESCAC schools are smaller than Williams, and that others are larger. </p>
<p>In the Mid-Atlantic area, Swarthmore is probably the top science/math LAC. Swarthmore is smaller than Williams; however, it also has an engineering program. </p>
<p>
Unfortunately, that’s a handicap. In general, college applicants in the Northeast are considered both the most qualified and the most “provincial” in the country; they are the least likely to consider schools outside of their own backyard. However, top schools usually place some value on geographic diversity. Every top school in MA/CT/NJ/NY/PA is deluged with highly qualified applicants from MA/CT/NJ/NY/PA, – but they don’t want to fill their entire class with such applicants. So the competition among northeastern applicants is particularly intense. </p>
<p>In theory, students from the Northeast could turn the geographic diversity factor to their advantage by also applying to top school in other parts of the country; for example, schools like Carleton, Grinnell, or Harvey Mudd would be excellent choices for non-Northeast science/math LACs. In practice, though, they rarely seem to do this.</p>