<p>Just visit both. You’ll know the right answer after spending 10 minutes on each campus.</p>
<p>Middlebury is even more of a jock school than Bowdoin</p>
<p>How would you compare Williams to these two?
One poster said it was “uncomfortably small”. </p>
<p>Thoughts? Opinions?</p>
<p>williams is actually larger than bowdoin but in a smaller town. they’re all very similar, with williams being a touch more difficult to get into and often preferred to B or M. nevertheless, i met a few people at bowdoin who chose it over williams and i’m sure the same is true at middlebury. they’re just all so similar. i say go with your gut if you have to choose between the three.</p>
<p>Yeah, they are all similar.
I actually didn’t apply to Bowdoin or Middlebury (I wanted to, but I already applied to 12 colleges and I figured enough was enough), and got into Williams, so I’ll probably end up at Williams.
I just wanted to know what Bowdoiners and Midds thought of Williams compared to their schools in terms of food, academics, campus life, diversity, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, Williamstown is tiny but it’s stunning. I think it comes down to the small things when comparing these colleges. For me, Williams has a huge draw with its extremely good reputation amongst med schools, grad schools, etc.
It’s a huge plus for me, personally.</p>
<p>excellent academics but very jockey kids </p>
<p>there’s a really funny facebook group about williams…i think its called “You never heard of Williams? It’s cool, you wouldn’t have gotten in anyway”</p>
<p>it sounds really snotty, but the things they say in it are hilarious (I know someone who goes and i saw this group on his profile)</p>
<p>just a not very important side note:
unless something shockingly strange happens with the yield rates/waitlists, bowdoin is going to end up 1-2 points more selective than Williams this year and probably around 4 points more selective than middlebury.</p>
<p>I wonder what that’s going to do to the USNWR rankings.</p>
<p>The other thing that will eventually affect USNWR rankings is finances although it may take a year or more for that to filter through and hit the rankings. Reading between the lines, I get the sense from what I’ve read is that Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury have been hit pretty hard by the economic downturn (perhaps harder than Bowdoin although that remains to be seen).</p>
<p>Tzar09
Bowdoin has a similar group except it’s not active but it gets group members from new first years each summer it’s called “Never heard of Bowdoin? It’s Okay, you wouldn’t have gotten in anyway”</p>
<p>I, too, was deciding between Bowdoin and Midd (Amherst as well), and I just got home from visiting these two schools. Here’s what I thought of them:</p>
<p>Bowdoin’s campus was a bit smaller and more intimate with the red brick buildings a lot closer together. Although all the buildings were made from red brick, they each demonstrated a unique personality because the architecture varied so much. The dorms were amazing, the best I have seen, and even a lot of the parents were commenting on the large space available to freshmen. The students were, for the most part, just wearing jeans and sweatshirts. The tour guide was engaging and made sure to talk about the importance of the environment, the opportunities for outdoor activities, the great facilities, and the sense of community and tradition (he was apparently naked in the freezing water the night before as a member of the polar bear club). When my grandfather missed the dorm room tour, we asked a student if she would show us her room. She was really accommodating and went out of her way to show us not one room but two (both the double and the quad). I equate Bowdoin with a very comfortable, broken-in, non-conforming environment. </p>
<p>Midd’s campus and surrounding area were definitely a lot nicer than Bowdoin’s, but I didn’t react to them as well. The campus was really spread out, and it took a long time to walk from one end to the other. I cant imagine doing it in winter. The campus lacked that intimate, comfortable feel and was instead replaced by a very modern, impersonal setting. All the buildings matched, and I felt as if all the students matched as well. Although there were the normal outliers, most of the student body seemed very upper middle class and not very diverse. Also, midd kids seemed a lot less concerned about their classes. None of the students I hung out with started their homework until after 11. Midd kids are more laid-back, but I still felt like one would have to act a certain way to be accepted.</p>
<p>It depends on what you are looking for in a school/student body. I personally preferred the down-to-earth, committed students in the intimate Bowdoin campus. You may want to be around the kids at Midd. If you havent visited yet, I recommend that you do. I had so much trouble deciding between these two but knew immediately after I visited which college i preferred. Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Taylorann11, did you choose amherst?</p>
<p>^ I concur with TaylorAnn.</p>
<p>Lol, lolli, i’m pretty sure she’s saying she chose Bowdoin.</p>
<p>I chose Bowdoin over Midd, but I haven’t visited Amherst yet. So the toss up is now between Bowdoin and Amherst. However, I have a feeling I am going to lean towards Amherst. I will post something about my visit once I go.</p>
<p>The financial situation has affected all the elite LACs…Williams, Amherst, and Midd have been more public about the impact, and Middlebury has been the most transparent (according to colleges’ websites and communications from campus).</p>
<p>Bowdoin just issued $118 million in taxabale and tax-free bonds at between 5% and 6.6% interest, which will take a bit out of its operating budget and force other cuts in the budget.</p>
<p>I suspect that when it all shakes out that there will be some real differences among the LACs as to how the financial situation affects each school but we are not going to know exactly what those are for some time. Anecdotally, Amherst, for example, seems to have been more adventurous in the financial markets and therefore to have jeopardized a greater percentage of its endowment.</p>
<p>Also the bond recently issued by Bowdoin is almost entirely tax exempt and a refinance of existing indebtedness so it should not affect the operating budget . .</p>