<p>I’ve been reading in various threads on CC that Bowdoin is “preppier” than other liberal arts colleges. Maybe it’s just that I’m from a large urban school in southern California, but I’m not really sure what that means. Can anyone familiar with both Bowdoin and preppiness help explain it to me? And do you really think Bowdoin is preppier than other schools?</p>
<p>Try and find a copy of the Preppy Handbook .Usually preppy means to be wealthy and a Conservative ,probably a Republican . Talbott’s ,Lily Pulitizer ,J Crew and Ralph Lauren come to mind .</p>
<p>Most of the NESCACs have a hard core preppy contingent – they like to play sports, especially sports that are rooted in the prep school world like lacrosse and hockey, and tend to be more politically conservative than the rest of the student body. And of course they favor more preppy garb . . Bowdoin’s preppy contingent seems to be comparable to the preppy contingent at other NESCACs.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is definitely not as “preppy” as some other New England liberal arts colleges. My son is a freshman there and I’d say the campus is less Ralph Lauren/BMW and much more L.L.Bean/Toyota. It’s really very New England Yankee in its tone, meaning pretensions are looked upon and the local millionaire is just as likely (more so?) to shop at Marshalls and drive a beat up truck. </p>
<p>Honestly, it’s extremely refreshing and I think you’ll find the atmosphere at Bowdoin to be much more inclusive and welcoming than at Amherst, or even Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I would say fauxmaven and torasee are pretty far off on their stereotypes. It’s an illusion. First “preppy” just means characterized by the style, behavior and education of a college preparatory school. Some former college preparatory students may project some of these traits, others may not. Frankly I doubt that you will find very many Republicans or conservatives amongst them, especially at the NESCAC schools. You could probably count the number of Republicans at Bowdoin figuratively on one hand. Next, the athletes. The NESCAC is a very highly competitive DIII league. The best players recruited on most of these teams, and many non recruits, including lacrosse and hockey, tend to come from many large Northeast and New England public schools that compete in much tougher leagues and roster more naturally gifted athletes than most “prep” schools can muster. Of course they are good students too. That’s the idea behind DIII athletics. These players and the teams they play on in fact, rather than projecting preppy arrogance, tend to be more down to earth than the general student population, and reflect the more typical middle class lives they come from, often more so than much of the rest of the student body. I think it’s about time to get over these misguided stereotypes. In many respects if there is anything real about preppiness in some people then perhaps that’s just one more facet adding character to the interesting mosaic of diversity important to any undergraduate experience and community. Agree entirely with storytimes characterization of Bowdoin. It’s just true.</p>
<p>[2011-12</a> Bowdoin Men’s Ice Hockey Roster - Bowdoin](<a href=“http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mice/2011-12/roster]2011-12”>http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mice/2011-12/roster)
[2011</a> Men’s Lacrosse Roster - Bowdoin](<a href=“http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mlax/2010-11/roster]2011”>http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mlax/2010-11/roster)</p>
<p>While it is probably true that these kids are down to earth (my friend is an incoming athlete at Amherst and is very down to earth), it is simply false to say that they come from mostly public schools. As the two links above show, there is definitely no shortage of prep schools on the Hockey and Lax rosters at Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Gladitsover, you couldn’t be more wrong about the high school backgrounds of Bowdoin lax and hockey players. There are almost no public high school products playing hockey at Bowdoin or any other NESCAC and not very many playing lax either. It’s just the way those sports are.</p>
<p>Thanks for the enlightenment torasee and alacky. I stand corrected with respect to Bowdoin ice hockey and lacrosse players. Perhaps to other NESCAC schools as well, although Wesleyan, the school I am most familiar with, seems to be an exception in lacrosse - [Roster/Team</a> Photo, Men’s Lacrosse, Athletics - Wesleyan University](<a href=“Wesleyan University - Official Athletics Website”>Wesleyan University - Official Athletics Website) - I stand by my other comments. The main point is that the students at these schools tend to be a rather exceptional and diverse group. The stereotypical labels of “preppy” are unfair characterizations observed from a shallow perspective. Bowdoin and the other NESCAC schools are very well represented by students from all walks of life. Probably much more diverse than a state school.</p>
<p>In the end the differences between the individuals of any group are far greater than those so-called differences represented by stereotypes. That’s why I suggest the concept is just an illusion. Meaning - so superficial as not even being worthy of consideration.</p>