<p>I'm at Bowdoin College right now.. Looks beautiful so far, but my flight got delayed so I had to take an earlier flight. I don't think it was a problem though.. hours and hours of just plain flying.. kinda got annoying..</p>
<p>Going to classes tomorrow, will post updates as I go along!</p>
<p>Kewl. Will be looking forward to how you like Bowdoin.</p>
<p>I'm in the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library right now. So far, the trip has been good. The food was great. Attended two classes. COMP GOV and Amer Gov. Pretty nice, thus far.</p>
<p>Looking forward to the interview later today, wish me luck!</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, the campus is beautiful. The cold is.. bearable. (I'm a Californian, what do you expect?)</p>
<p>Will post later during night-time.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh, by the way, the campus is beautiful. The cold is.. bearable.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It is not cold in New England right now! Trust me. This is pretty much the warmest it will be until next March. Cold is when the daytime highs are in the teens.</p>
<p>How great is this post!!!! A blow-by-blow account of your visit to BOWDOIN! Let's have all the other visitations shared like this!! This is great!!!</p>
<p>It's snowing here. Our first snow of the year. Somehow, I remember it did not snow until around Christmas. Where is the global warming effect?</p>
<p>It is warm snow. (I enjoy reading student posts on livejournal this time of year to see how the ones who have never seen snow before respond.)</p>
<p>Hope your interview goes well. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Are you interviewing with Wendy Thompson?</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>It is warm snow. </p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Indeed. Just a little dusting of an inch maybe, with temps right around the freezing mark. </p>
<p>We had some real winter last year, as fans of the New England Patriots can attest. One game played at the end of a 24 inch snowfall -- they couldn't even get the stadium seats cleared. Another when temperatures at kickoff were 5 degrees below zero. Yeow! Now, THAT is cold!</p>
<p>I agree, great post, Tlak. Hope you do this with all your visits--especially to places so far out of your zone.</p>
<p>Not too impressed with the classes? Did you sit in on classes at SFS? Was that allowed? </p>
<p>What other schools are you planning to visit?</p>
<p>Wow, so many replies! </p>
<p>Cheers: No, I have not visited Georgetown yet (but will do so in January). Will schedule those arrangements after I get back to Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Re: Winter: Being a Californian, I'm used to the 74 degree winters and the 90 degree summers. Nothing of this nature.</p>
<p>It's bearable though, nothing extraordinary. However, 30 degrees with wind chill added is a .. tad cold.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>As far as the interview, it went great. I took a gambit by mentioning my political affiliation -- but wanted to be careful, just in case my interviewer was liberal. Turns out we were both conservative, so we clicked instantly on the politics thing -- I think the interview went great, no one popping in the room this time threatening to kill me (hahaha)!!</p>
<p>The classes were disappointing. They were intro classes, so they didn't have the in-depth discussions I was hoping to get.</p>
<p>Will post more tomorrow, have to do a lot of stuff right now.</p>
<p>Too bad about the classes, but it may have just been an off day. Many of the intro classes have great discussions, especially the First-Year seminars.</p>
<p>I had an incredible discussion about Comp. Politics and National Politics with my interviewer .. My host (a Gov't Major) also was very well informed.. So I had my share of discussing.</p>
<p>Don't forget to see the three polar bears! (one statue, two stuffed). I personally wouldnot miss the art museum or the Peary-MacMillan musem.</p>
<p>Hey, my history teacher teaches at Bowdoin now! Cool. :)</p>
<p>Some personal Brunswick favorites- The Bohemian Coffee House, Wild Oats Bakery, and Scarlet Begonias Restaurant. All within easy walking distance of Bowdoin. If you have more questions about the area (not so much academics...though I can try with those too), let me know.</p>
<p>We are not allowed to step out of campus, except for when we go to Freeport (which we did today. bought nothing.. except blew like 90 bucks on the bookstore at Bwdoin.. so much Bear paraphanalia.. it's not even funny.. </p>
<p>Well, I did christmas shopping in advance.. heh heh heh..</p>
<p>Last night tonight at Bowdoin. The acapella group that sang for us was sensational.. The poetry jam I am at right now.. well, it leaves a lot to be desired.</p>
<p>May go to the Latin american Students organization dance right now, but it wasn't set up when I last was over there.</p>
<p>TTYL!</p>
<p>Bowdoin .. is definitely not a dry campus. :-)</p>
<p>I feel I owe a more.. extensive? Report of Bowdoin.. </p>
<p>** Friday Evening **</p>
<p>After a long flight, delays from L.A., and a long stopover in Atlanta, we finally arrived in Portland around 8:30p.m., and arrived at Bowdoin around 9. It was pretty cold, but I was pretty well dressed, esp. from previous experiences in Pennsylvania, etc. (except.. it got a lot colder)..</p>
<p>We sat in the Main Lounge at Moulton Union, where we dropped off our baggage. We were introduced to Erby Mitchell (who came down to our school earlier) and Fumio Sugihara -- both Asst. Deans of Admission for Bowdoin. After the introduction, I headed over to my dorm, Appleton, where I met my three dorm hosts, Dan, Scott, and Josh.</p>
<p>It was pretty nice -- they have two separate rooms per room -- one is a living-room-esque room, the other is a bedroom. I slept in the living room.. The couch, exactly, but I brought a sleeping bag so it wasn't quite as uncomfortable.</p>
<p>** Friday Morning **</p>
<p>I woke up pretty early, around 6:30am (dorm hosts were knocked out from party the night before, I didn't exactly go to sleep too early either).. roamed around Bowdoin, took me a while to find Thorne Hall (for Breakfast).. finally got around to finding it.. The food there is excellent! The weather was a little bit unbearable, but by the time I left, this West-Coaster adapted (this Californian, I should add).</p>
<p>I first went to the American Government class.. sat in the back, didn't want to disturb. Seemed a little watered down, if anything.. just a historical overview of political parties -- basic politics 101, nothing I didn't know from research or lectures before.. So was a little disappointed there.. Had a nice discussion with some of the other prospects, though, so it was a bit better than expected.</p>
<p>That class was in Kanbar Hall.. Next, I went to the Comparative Gov't class, they were discussing the Moral Economy of the Peasant by J. Scott. Pretty boring, once again. I would have been lost -- had I not read the material beforehand in some other class. </p>
<p>We didn't discuss with the class -- for some rason it seemed taboo to discuss the actual material with the lecturer and the class itself -- and seemed disappointing to me.. I wanted to engage in thoughtful conversation -- I got it -- just that I wasn't IN it..</p>
<p>Ah.. Just one more year until I can start discussing governmental philosophy. aargh!</p>
<p>I didn't go to the Campus Tour, partly because I did a little exploration of my own.. a self-tour, per se? (Nothing like finding Smith Union in the middle of the night!).. I went to lunch, once again, excellent lunch! </p>
<p>(The comparative government class was in Druckenmiller, it was right next to Kanbar.. pretty accessible)..</p>
<p>For about two hours, I watched old reruns of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek the Next Generation (was waiting for my interview).. I finally got bored, went to the Hawthorne library (they have an AWESOME collection in there, and my dorm host told me it wasn't even the largest, either..).. Plenty of old court documents, and such.. it was amazing.. I spent about 40 minutes there, then I just went ahead to my interview location in the admissions building -- which looked more like a cozy house, if anything.</p>
<p>I had my interview with a guy named Ben Peisch (still can't pronounce the last name).. It was rather informal, just wanted to show who I was.. and then we got into it about politics. Seems like we were on the same sheet of conservative music -- and we just discussed the somewhat futile nature of trying to promote Republican/Conservative values in the City of LA -- and what I planned to do for the future.. Just gave him a glimpse of my political activity and such.. It was cool!</p>
<p>Headed back to Appleton, sat around for another 5 minutes, went to Moulton Union for the Admissions/Fin Aid stuff.. Fumio (Sugihara) and Mr. Steve Joyce (Dir. of Fin. Aid) was great in introducing parts about the process -- and in fact gave a glimpse on how Bowdoin did their evaluations (which is REALLY interesting.. ask if you're interested :P).. </p>
<p>Went to dinner -- once again, a fine menu..</p>
<p>I didn't go to the events for that night, partly because I didn't get enough sleep. In fact, Appleton is almost like party central -- they had a party there almost every night I was there.. In fact, EVERY night I was there.. The dorm was wet like.. a swamp. :-).. They had Vodka, Beer, you name it -- they ahd it..</p>
<p>My friends went to the AASO (African American Students Organization) dance.. where I heard they got freaky.. I preferred my little "comfortable" party in Appleton though.. pretty funny when half the dorm is drunk..</p>
<p>** Saturday **
Oh man. I must have gone to sleep at 4am that day.. I went to sleep .. woke up at 10a.m. (later than I usually do). I headed to Thorne (Moulton was closed by the time I wanted Brunch).. to grab some Brunch.. the food is GREAT.. (hahaha).. I headed back, watched some TV in the dorm (people were having interviews..) Went shopping in the Bookstore (spent about $80.. came back to shop some more later on).. and then went to Freeport..</p>
<p>** Freeport **</p>
<p>Nice little cozy town.. Mostly outlets, though. Nothing I couldn't buy in Los Angeles, although the L.L. Bean is pretty cool.</p>
<p>I went to this nice little Japanese restaurant in the town.. charged 18 bucks for 2 diet pepsis, a Sushi salad, and 6 tiny beef rolls .. Oh my.. that was a regretful purchase.. But alas.. It was decent..</p>
<p>I missed the Bowdoin Chorus performance because we got back from Freeport too late.. So I went to my dorm, and dressed up -- for the Dinner w/ the President of Bowdoin, Barry Mills. Very friendly, not what I expected from a College President.. (who I never expected to meet in the first place..).. Had a lot of fun talking to a Professor who had a joint appointment in ES (Environmental) and Philosophy, and a Professor in the Music department.. both were great guys.. had a nice talk about where we planned to go and such ..</p>
<p>Went to the Meddiebempster Invitational (a cappella group).. The Meddiebempsters are AMAZING! I LOVED their theme song (I can't remember it, but I do remember "we send ourselves to Wellsley in the fall.. " couldn't help but grin when I heard that).. Other schools were there, but the Meddies ROCKED! (They had Wheaton College from MA, the MIT/Wellsley Toons, and the Bates College Merimanders (all female a cappella))..</p>
<p>Headed over to the LASO dance.. no one was there til 12am.. so I went to the Poetry Slam.. Ugh, couldn't stand it. Not my political atmosphere.. just right-bashing, liberalist poetry.. so I headed back to the LASO dance.. still no one there.. I headed back to Party Central (aka my dorm, Appleton).. and saw my dorm host and a friend of his named Ralph playing Mario Kart.. they were drunk (at 9pm or so).. but they were still cool.. they beat me 3-3-0 on Mario Kart and they were inebriated! Oh goodness I stink at videogames.. But I caught up and evened up the score to 3-3-3...</p>
<p>Finally, I started packing.. all my dorm hosts came back and rested, meanwhile at 3am, I found myself kicking in my bags trying to make it all fit.. (no luck, really, though.. blah..)</p>
<p>** Sunday - Day of Goodbye **</p>
<p>Really hard to say goodbye.. Bowdoin was a beautiful campus.. I hated the flight, but loved the campus. After I returned, I found a new appreciation for the liberal arts college tucked away in Maine -- and I would love to go there .</p>
<p>Parents: if you visit, stay away from the Bookstore. It's very addictive (I went back three times!)...</p>
<p>Nice report, it gave some more insight into Bowdoin.</p>
<p>I'm currently a junior in high school and am interested in applying to Bowdoin next year. How would I apply for the Bowdoin Invitational? Should I send them an e-mail sometime soon or how does it work - is it only for URMs also? (I'm Asian Indian, btw)?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>