<p>5Boys–you are right. I just remembered that she had a choice of doing the full court press “You have been admitted, pick us” program at Colby last April (which I think included an optional overnight, maybe not, I can’t remember for sure) or doing a overnight at Colgate or Macalester in their “You have been admitted, pick us” programs. She did the overnights at Colgate AND at Macalester, but opted for just the tour at Colby, and ultimately decided on Colby. You just never know.</p>
<p>GDMACK…How exciting that your D got into so many amazing schools. She must have been thrilled, but then I’m sure the difficult decision of picking just 1. Almost all of my S’s schools are very similar, except UVM, which is a state school and a bigger than all of his other rural LAC choices, and Colorado College that has the block plan… the big three in Maine are really going to have to WOW him to pick any of them over CC at this point. He almost did ED to Midd, but he never visited and wasn’t ready to say no to CC yet if by some miracle he got into Midd ED. SOOO, IMHO, he will like Bates the best, as it the most similar to CC, and then Colby. He already has some negative thoughts about Bowdoin because some of his friends have already visited and said the he is going to hate it because it is REALLY preppy. I have learned not to take these generalizations too seriously, so he will see for himself. I KNOW he will love their outing club. </p>
<p>His plan now is to find out about CC EA in December, and then apply to all of his top favorites RD, and then see where the cookie crumbles in April. He can always go back to those " your in, please pick us" events like your D if he is lucky enough to get in. I think those top schools will be, the Maine schools, Hamilton, Midd, and Colgate.</p>
<p>5Boys–you really can’t go wrong with any of those schools. My daughter did not apply to Hamilton, but I really like that school.</p>
<p>I had the exact same problem a few months ago!
They both have so much to offer and they are, in fact, very similar. Personally, I decided to go to Midd because of the size (both of the student body and campus size), and because of the skiing. It also, for me, was a more appropriate match, with excellent languages and sciences. It’d be awesome if Midd, with its campus and size and everything (and the snow bowl, obv) were in Maine (I’m from VT already, so the nearness isn’t awesome). I’d recommend Midd, because it’s the most fun place in the world, but Bowdoin would probably be pretty awesome too.</p>
1 Like
<p>5 boys, I will be looking forward to your son’s impression of Bowdoin. My son is looking at many of the same colleges and has decided to apply ED to Bowdoin. He has not yet seen the college but we will visit at the end of this week, just before the ED deadline. He has had a full fall semester and this is our first opportunity to look. Maine is far away from our city in the south. I am hopeful that he doesn’t visit and change his mind. </p>
<p>I have really enjoyed everyone’s opinions on CC, they have been very helpful in narrowing his choices without visiting. (Though I will admit, he does not look at CC but he listens as I relay other peoples’ comments). </p>
<p>My son is athletic, not so much a partier but very social. He wants a small town or rural campus, beautiful campus and surrounding area. Loves the outdoors. Good food is relatively important (he is a bit of a health nut) and he loves the idea of the social houses at Bowdoin. On paper Bowdoin seems like a perfect fit (as do some of the other LACs including Middlebury). We will see in a few days!</p>
<p>Lhornmom…I’m glad to hear that we are not the only ones doing visits up till the last minute…I will report back as soon as we return… when do you guys visit? We live in CA so this is REALLY a far way to go. My S had a full Fall schedule as well, was in a Shakespeare play at his HS and his teacher wouldn’t let him leave till it was over last weekend. On a postitive note the weather looks like it will be nice… 50’s… so not too much colder than CA right now,and his host texted him already and asked him what his interests are so he could hook him up with some kids that were involved in those things. I thought that was GREAT! He is really excited now… I’m a little worried as we are taking a red-eye and arriving in the morning… we will go see a friend of his at Bates and he has an interview there as well, then drive back to Bowdoin for his overnite… his interview is at 8:45 the next morning…AHH… I am hoping he gets SOME sleep that night as I have images of him blood shot eyed and sleep deprived trying to put together a cohesive sentence at his interview.LOL!!! </p>
<p>My S is athletic, but more into mountaineering/hiking/kayaking and rock climbing than actual ball sports, although he has taken a real love to Ultimate Frisbee this year. He also is thrilled about the social houses at Bowdoin and Midd. Like I said he almost applied ED to Midd, but changed his mind at the last minute, but it is definitely his #2 right now. He went to a school for a semester last year in VT. and fell in love with the area, and tons of kids from that school matriculate to Midd. My opinion is that they are all VERY similar and he would be ecstatic to get into any of them. I am kind of pulling for the Western schools, Whit and CC though, just because travel will be easier.</p>
<p>As a Bowdoin student, I think you should choose Midd</p>
<p>Lovetosmile, I’ve seen a number of posts from you about Bowdoin over the last couple of days that belie your cheery screen name. What’s soured you on the place? What aspects of it have not lived up to your hopes or expectations? The only concrete thing I can recall you mentioning is the cold weather (going to Middlebury will clearly do nothing to address that issue) and that the social scene is “not so hot”. Are you willing to elaborate?</p>
<p>Tour guides are so random, yet important, especially for teens looking for a good fit. Our tour guide at Amherst was smart, witty, attractive, and athletic and our son felt great about the school. Bowdoin and Williams were excellent too but he left the tour at Tufts because he didn’t feel a connection with the guide. Perhaps making a list for each school rather than relying on tours is more objective.</p>
<p>OldBatesieDoc…I think we had the same tour guide at Amherst…your description is right on!!!.. She was definitely awful. That’s why our S applied to Bowdoin instead.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, in case anyone was wondering, I ended up applying to Midd ED1 and was accepted! Thanks for everyone’s input! I really appreciated it when making the decision.</p>
<p>Congratulations Danbear. Best of luck. I’m sure you’ll love it there.</p>
<p>Awesome! Great choice and have a great career.Thanks for the feedback.</p>