<p>Any ideas for colleges similar to Bowdoin (perhaps a tad easier to get in), in terms of size, arts community and facilities, good food and housing, intellectual but not pretentious atmosphere? Or just something that 'feels' like Bowdoin?</p>
<p>Looking for more schools that would be matches, not reaches. ;)</p>
<p>Wesleyan, Middlebury, Colgate, Hamilton, Colby, Bates, Haverford, Washington & Lee</p>
<p>You might consider another NESCAC school such as Hamilton or Conn College. Dickinson is an excellent school with a beautiful campus and a strong focus on undergrad academics.</p>
<p>Colby, Hamilton, Colgate, Middlebury, Bates.</p>
<p>definitely not washington and lee.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo College?</p>
<p>hampshire college?</p>
<p>similar query....schools you can recommend that have something in common with Yale? I would love more than anything to go to Yale, but I know the chances are very small. So can anyone think of something that is like a mini-Yale, a Yale that's easier to get into?? I know this is kind of a stupid question, but really if anyone can think of anything that's similar to Yale in even one category...I would really appreciate it. I've been having trouble finding schools that remind me of Yale (even a tiny bit) but are less impossible to get into.</p>
<p>Try posting in the Yale area. Ask people where they would have gone if they had not gone to Yale.</p>
<p>Try to explain what it is about Yale you like. Any university will offer such a varied experience that it will help to know what you are looking for. Also, how much easier admission are you targetting? Does it do any good to say "Brown"?</p>
<p>Rice has a basically identical residential college system to Yale's. its very nice. slightly warmer in houston though.</p>
<p>i wouldn't say haverford and middlebury, and maybe even wesleyan, are easier to get into (acceptance rates 24-25% or so)... wesleyan is 26-27%. carleton is like bowdoin but equally selective. vassar is close as well but is like wesleyan in selectivity. how about oberlin, reed, grinell, macalaster?</p>
<p>The OP stipulated that a non-pretentious atmosphere was desired. Doesn't that eliminate Wesleyan?</p>
<p>How is Wesleyan any more pretentious than Bowdoin? I think the main objection would be that it isn't any easier to get into. The OP asked for more matches.</p>
<p>Yeah, I hated Wesleyan when I visited, because it had an air of academic superiority without any real foundation. And, it's hard to get into.</p>
<p>sep092 - I know what you mean with Yale. When I visited I really loved the feel of the campus, it was so vibrant and urban and alive. I ultimately decided I didn't like Yale all that much because it's too much grad emphasis and the theater program is just the shadow of the Yale School of Drama. But I think what you're looking for is a big university, because Yale feels like a 40,000 person school when it's only about 12,000. University of Michigan has a very similar feel, actually. Ann Arbor is a lot like New Haven in that the university and city are very much intertwined, and it has a 'downtown' feel but without too much business/commerce and more retail and dining. </p>
<p>Cornell might be similar, too - it has the city grid sidewalk feel, but the buildings aren't quite as close together as those at Yale. None of the other Ivy League schools are really similar to Yale in terms of setting. Brown is much more of a residential neighborhood; I don't think you'd be as interested in that.</p>
<p>Johnwes, my question in post #11 wasn't rhetorical. Based on what I'd heard about Wes, it didn't sound like a down-to-earth place (not that there's anything wrong with that), and I thought I'd throw out the concept and get some informed opinions.</p>
<p>Well, if you are looking for someplace with little or no intellectual pretension AND easier to get into than Wesleyan you should probably look at some of the smaller engineering schools, or colleges that have a larger number of pre-professional students. Take a look at Lehigh, Lafayette, Union, or W&L The problem, of course, is finding a place with no artifice, pretense, elan, ambience, piquance, or conceit -- and, still good in Theater. Good luck.:)</p>
<p>Like Bowdoin? Colgate and Hamilton are only a tick easier... </p>
<p>For schools that are actually easier to get in, check out Skidmore, St Lawrence, Hobart, UVm.</p>
<p>I think there are a lot of schools that have elan without piquance, and a few with piquance without elan. Finding one with duende and cachet but no piquance--now THERE'S the challenge.</p>
<p>Only Amherst can match the pretentious, holier-than-thou attitude of Bowdoin. They gloat in their small size compared to Wesleyan 1600-2700 and even Middlebury 2330. This is the aura most strongly conveyed by the Bowdoin admissions people far more so than their student body.</p>
<p>I agree. Bowdoin's place in the pecking order as a sort of backdoor Amherst is well established.</p>
<p>Carleton, Grinnell, Kenyon.</p>