<p>I'm a high school senior and I currently have offers from the football coaches at both schools (they would support my application in ED 1 admission as one of 14 of their slots). I feel very lucky to be put in such a position, but I'm having a tough time coming to any sort of decision. </p>
<p>I feel that the schools are very similar in their location, academics, prestige, size etc, and I'm sure that I'd have a good time at both. I'd just love to get a good grasp on my decision making as the deadline is approaching quickly. </p>
<p>This past weekend I did an overnight at Middlebury and I liked it a lot. I hung out in an apartment with a bunch of football players then went to a party for homecoming which was fun, but I'm worried that this would get somewhat repetitive. I didn't get a chance to do an overnight at Bowdoin, but I visited during the day twice. The food is great, and I think I like its location more (easier drive from Mass and closer to civilization :/ ). In terms of football, I'd be more apt to choose Middlebury. Their facilities are excellent and I'd be more likely to play as an underclassman seeing as they have fewer players at my position in the class of 2015 and 2014. </p>
<p>So my main question is whether anyone can put some insight into what they think I should do, and maybe compare the following: </p>
<p>-Social scene
-Economics and/or Political science departments
-Academic rigor </p>
<p>Also, at the beginning of my college search, I thought I wanted a more urban or suburban school. How much does it matter that both schools are relatively isolated compared to where I am now (20 min from Boston). I really only go into the city a decent amount during the Summer, but I do like being around shopping areas and movie theaters etc. </p>
<p>I hope that wasn't too long to read, and any information would be very appreciated!</p>
<p>Size and location are two of the major distingishing factors between the schools.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has just under 1,800 students, while Middlebury has over 2,500. When youâre dealing with small New England liberal arts colleges, an extra 750 students can make a big difference socially. Also, Midd is in a more rural mountainous location, while Bowdoin is in the flatlands near the sea. If you love to ski or take advantage of the great outdoors, Midd may be a better fit. If you love the ocean and small coastal towns, Bowdoin certainly has more to offer. Both have access to larger cities (Portland and Burlington) with everything youâll need. Theyâre both academic powerhouses, so you canât really go wrong there. </p>
<p>Leave football out of the equation. Decide with the thought you might get hurt the first day of practice and not play again or great recruiting next year benches you. Now where would you want to be for four years?</p>
<p>Bowdoin is , in my opinion, preppier. Itâs very old New England upper crust, and it didnât go co-ed until the 1970s.
Midd is more egalitarian in its roots- coed in 1905, tho of course plenty of prep school grads go there, the vibe is more âsave the worldâ than âprotect the trust fundâ</p>
<p>Coastal Maine is warmer, less sunny, and thereâs tons of great seafood.
Native Mainers and Vermonters share a strong independent streak.</p>
<p>You canât go wrong, you lucky boy! Both have excellent econ and poli sci departments.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help! Crewdad, I definitely agree that in a scenario where I wouldnât be able to play football, Iâd still want to be happy, but I think football should definitely factor into my decision. </p>
<p>I appreciate the information OldbatesieDoc! The part about the students there is helpful, and I agree completely that Iâm lucky to have such a win win, I just want to pick the right one for me.</p>
<p>Agree with previous posters about the quality of education youâll receive at either school. I also believe youâll make friends for life at both places and have great experiences outside the classroom, both socially and academically. I do not, however, agree with some of the characterizations of Bowdoin. Brunswick is not exactly flatlands and the fabulous Outdoor Club at Bowdoin has more participation than any other. The outdoor vibe there is rather dominant in fact. And the notion that Bowdoin is preppier is nonsense. OBDâs opinions may have been formed at a different time period than the present but the idea of the âCommon Goodâ is a theme in which students hear and involve themselves with throughout their four years there. Iâll add that my child chose Bowdoin specially for the outdoor experience along with the rigorous academics and laid back and caring student body. His four years there just ended and went beyond my expectations. I donât mean to say itâs the better choice for anyoneâŠjust want to echo that both are fantastic schools with great resources available for the benefit of their diverse and dedicated student body. Congratulations on two great choices and hereâs to making the most of your next four yearsâŠcheers!</p>
<p>Vermonters call people from other parts of New England flatlanders. Compared to Middlebury, which is nestled between two mountains ranges, Bowdoin is indeed in the flatlands. But oh, that savory ocean air!</p>
<p>Okay, gottcha arcadia. Just that if I were to assume what Vermonters call other parts of New England to be true, the expectations of my bicycle trip through the region would have been such that I would have been unprepared for the arduous but beautiful climbing ahead. Youâre right, context is everything â I grew up in the Cascades and now live in the Midwest where both mountains and flatlands mean something different ;-)</p>
<p>Ah, but the culture of the school is reflective of its history.</p>
<p>We visited Bowdoin 3 years ago and did the tour and the Admissions talk. It was amazing to learn so much about Bowdoin, Franklin Pierce, and the Civil War. Turned us all off. Then we went to my dear alma mater, where all the talk was about Bates and the current community service projects going on. I was proud to be a Batesie, and the contrast couldnât have been more obvious.</p>
<p>Panther, thanks for the date correction-I was going by the date on the first Womanâs dorm.Of course Bates was coed and integrated in the mid 1800s-hot bed of abolitionist Baptist preachers and their sufragette wives.History and institutional memory are a major part of a collegeâs culture.</p>
<p>My S and I will be visiting both Bowdoin and Bates next week⊠It will be interesting to see the contrast. Wonât make it to Midd, but my S spent a semester in VT last year and it stole his heart⊠we live about 3 minutes from the beach so the ocean canât hold up against the mountains for him, as he is a mountaineer and competitive rock climber. He is also all about community and giving back. He REALLY likes the Bowdoin supplement about the common good. We will see if that vibe is really there. I have heard so many mixed views of Bowdoin⊠not so much Bates.</p>
<p>OBDâs post on Bowdoin has got me reflecting again on the vicissitudes of the college shopping process. You can think youâre being thorough, doing your visits, getting an accurate âfeelâ for the various schools, but thereâs still an element of randomness and fate to the entire exercise that is difficult to escape.</p>
<p>I say this because we just visited Bowdoin and had a completely different experience. While we did hear about Bowdoin the school, there was no mention (that I can recall) of either Franklin Pierce or the Civil War (though Longfellow got name-dropped a time or two). Our tour guide was personable and engaging, and our info session was among the most informative and entertaining of all the ones weâve been to. Chances are, we just happened to get a great tour guide and a particularly charismatic Adcom guy.</p>
<p>I was left with the impression that Bowdoin was a top-notch LAC that any kid would be privileged to attend. Of course I also had that impression at Middlebury, Williams, Carleton, Wesleyan, Davidson, etc, etc. I just find it very tough to get a handle on that elusive âessenceâ that distinguishes these institutions from one another in the course of even a pretty lengthy visit. Iâm starting to think that overnights are the only way a kid can hope to make a truly informed judgement about campus culture, and even that is luck of the draw with regards to host and the eveningâs activities.</p>
<p>Anyway, this is sort of a pointless ramble. Short versionâchoosing a college is hard and people can come away with very different impressions based on quick visits.</p>
<p>No, Rayrick, I actually agree. I do think there is a lot of hair-splitting going on, and it really has as much chance involved as anything-bad roommate, great professor, ran into the right alumnus at a conference-we really canât control it, and a lot of energy is spent for no good reason.
Get into a good school, get good grades and learn something, get engaged in the campus activities and greater community, donât waste your time abusing your body, and you prolly will turn out fine.</p>
<p>There are differences but they are subtle and hard to characterize which means they probably arenât that meaningful. We visited Bowdoin, Midd, Williams, Hamilton and Kenyon with D1- all great experiences and wonderful small LACs, even with snow on the ground in April at Bowdoin and Middlebury. On the other hand, Amherst and Vassar were clear disappointments, at least in my daughters eyes. In both cases the physical plant was a problem and in the case of Amherst the tour guide was a turn off.</p>
<p>The tour guide can be ridiculously important. </p>
<p>Our Bowdoin guide really did point out the plaque commemorating those who died in the civil war, and he was a clear pre-Wall St type. Our Amherst guide was a young woman of color who was disorganized, long-winded, and spent too much time complaining about the food. A difficult overnight visit placement at Carleton was overcome by an outstanding Adcom interviewer, and the Dartmouth guideâs constant comments on beer played into the stereotype. MIT geek emoting about his 7 computers made my sons feel they clearly didnât belong. </p>
<p>Midd guides were cheerful, positive and knowledgable. Bates guide a real standout-scholarship girl from the Caribbean-and Carnegie Mellon tour was very persuasive. Harvard is Harvard, youâre gonna want to consider it no matter what. Other tours have long since faded from my memory-not very good or strikingly bad.</p>
<p>The Admissions Office should spend time and money âvettingâ their guides, because itâs the all-important first impression.</p>
<p>Absolutely OBD⊠the tour guides and hosts make it or break it for HS kids⊠they are trying to imagine themselves at the school and if they somehow canât relate to the tour guide I think they assume this is how all the kids are and cross it off⊠which is okay because there are just soo many small LACâs that are so similar. My S had an overnite and spent the day at Colorado College a few weeks ago and both his host and the tour guide were like mini himâsâŠboth rabid mountain men and both pre-medâŠbefore he left he wanted to put in his ED app right then and there. He really felt like it was the school for him. He has been at a couple other schools where he left before the tour even started because some small thing turned him off. His tour guide at UVM was a beautiful girl who just happened to be a rock climberâŠhmmm, wonder why he sent in his EA app there? It will be interesting to see how his overnites and tours go next week at Bowdoin and Bates.</p>
<p>The âessenceâ thing is really a mystery, and yes, schools should do a better job of vetting their guides and hosts. My daughter toured Princeton and didnât care for it at all. Part of the reason was the guide who she felt was intellectually arrogant, as in, âI was accepted into Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, and the reason I chose Princeton was becauseâŠâ My daughter did an overnight at Colgate and came away thinking it was not the place for her. My daughter is athletic, and her hosts for the overnight were overweight and had never ever been to the gym. I personally liked Colgate and thought she would love it, but I was wrong. She also applied to Bowdoin, but decided she would rather go to Colby than Bowdoin before she had even seen Colby. When she finally did see Colby she was only on campus for about 2-3 hours (no overnight, just a tour and lunch in the cafeteria) and decided it was the place for her. She had much in common with our student guide (she was an athlete), and she looked around the cafeteria and said, âI can tell that I could easily be fast friends with any of these kids.â She is absolutely happy as a clam at Colby. Somehow she picked up what was right for her, and it all worked out. Somehow these things do alway work out.</p>
<p>Just thought Iâd add my $.02. I looked at every school on the east coast (ok, slight exaggeration). Every trip to a new school held such promise and hope. I would arrive on campus and instantly realize, âthis is not the school for meâ. My mother drove me up to Middlebury. As we approached the limestone and marble buildings we drove through cow pastures. âThis is not the school for meâ I thought. When I came out of my interview, I told my mother, âthis is where Iâm going to schoolâ. Something will strike you when you visit the campus and youâll just know. Honestly, there are few schools that are more similar than Bowdoin and Middlebury. There must be a million threads on here discussing the topic. Pick the one that makes you feel best and youâll likely be happy (remember though, if you choose the other one, youâll probably still end up happy). Good luck.</p>