<p>-Where do most Bowdoin students stand on the political spectrum?
-What is the social scene like? (Is it cliquey? What is there to do in addition to drinking/partying?)
-How diverse is the student body? (I’ve heard it’s not as diverse as other LACs like Williams, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, and Oberlin.)
-How does it compare to Middlebury (and other LACs)? I know they’re all quite similar, but there must be some distinguishing factors.</p>
<p>All the LACs are pretty diverse these days, with “whites” a minority at Amherst, Wesleyan, and Swarthmore. The data collectors count “non-resident aliens” separately so there is some undercounting of the “white” population. Still, it’s impressive to see how far all the LACs have gone in terms of diversifying their student bodies. </p>
<p>You can go to collegeboard.org if you want to examine the data more carefully and look at how many are in each of the other subcategories but this is what I found for the “white” student population (the rest of the students are divided among hispanic, asian, african-american, multi-racial, and non-resident alien):</p>
<p>Oberlin: 71% white
Middlebury: 65% white
Bowdoin: 64% white
Williams: 56% white
Wesleyan: 49% white
Amherst: 44%
Swarthmore: 40% white</p>
<p>Most students are liberal, but you’ll find that at most LACs. The College Democrats are very, very active, but there is the College Republicans as well. I agree with the above post concerning diversity. The social scene does have spheres of interest, but typically you will have a group of close friends and you can go to basically any party. Besides drinking/partying, there is usually karaoke and movie nights on Thursday. There is a lot to do on the weekends, but most of the more popular events involve alcohol. Definitely come for a visit to assess your interest.</p>
<p>Okay and how roughly how many students are in your classes?</p>
<p>Depends which classes:
My 300 level seminar: 5 people
My 200 level lecture courses: 25-30 people
My popular science class: 50 people</p>
<p>My daughter is a Bowdoin sophomore. She chose to live in the chem-free dorm her freshman year. As far as I can tell, she has never had a weekend in which she has not had more activities to choose from than she could possibly participate in, despite the fact that she does not enjoy the campus-wide parties. Her friendships are not at all limited to friends from the one dorm. I thought of Bowdoin as a prepster party school, and was worried that she would find it was a poor fit. You will see popped collars aplenty on campus, but there’s much more to Bowdoin than red cups and lacrosse.</p>
<p>What were the deciding factors that led you to choose Bowdoin (over other LACs like Middlebury, Amherst, Wesleyan, etc)?</p>
<p>Best financial aid and great location (in town, but near coast) were two draws for my daughter.</p>
<p>Laid back atmosphere and great academics plus the beauty of the area. Just went to visit last week and I am more impressed than ever-</p>