What are the differences in culture between these schools? They all have fairly similar education, athletics, and surroundings so what makes each of them unique? Also what is spiritual life like on each of these campuses? Are you going to be judged on one campus vs the others? Is there going to be a bigger group on one campus vs the others? What is the party culture like?
Several posters / students have reported a social divide between athletes & non-athletes at at least two of these LACs. So this may be something to investigate further.
All three LACs have very beautiful locations & experience spectacular change of seasons weather & environment.
All three are considered to be very prestigious academically.
I find the concern about spiritual life to be interesting & am curious about this as well.
Thank you for posting & asking such genuine questions.
I think @MWolf has good information on these colleges.
From a numbers perspective, Middlebury is significantly larger (~2500 undergrads compared to ~1800 at Bowdoin) and also has a noticeably wealthier student body than Bowdoin or especially Williams. According to a NYT report a couple of years ago, only four colleges have more students from the top 1% than Middlebury (Trinity in CT, Colorado College, SMU, and Vanderbilt).
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Based on survey information, students at Bowdoin tend to be less religious than those at many other colleges:
We seem to have had this discussion a little while ago:
It really depends on what you want from a school and what majors interest you.
My kid is a rising senior at Williams, but we visited all three colleges back in the day before he applied to Williams early decision. Frankly, the three colleges are much more similar than different, and if you’d be happy at one, you’d probably be happy at all three.
Middlebury: absolutely gorgeous campus, great mountain views, good food, buildings seemed to be in the best condition.
Bowdoin: most buzzing town, reputedly the best food.
Williams: I can say the most about this one. Some unique aspects of Williams:
-the tutorial system: a class with only two students and a professor: the students take turns, alternating weeks in which one writes a paper and the other critiques the paper.
-the freshman entry system: creates a family group for you within your dorm, right upon arrival. Approx. 40 freshmen with 2-3 unpaid junior advisors (who function like big brothers/sisters, with no disciplinary function at all).
-the Ephventures orientation program: another social experience right upon arrival.
-an on-campus recruiting target for many elite firms, esp. in management consulting and investment banking
-endless resources and amazingly generous financial aid: books, suits, internships, skiing and snowboarding costs for PE class, etc. will be covered, as well as the usual expenses. (Actually, even students ineligible for financial aid for tuition and room/board can apply for and get aid for a winter study or summer internship or study abroad opportunity, etc.)
-These endless resources also support lots of opportunities for clubs, etc. and it is (usually) easy to start your own club if you don’t see one that matches your interests.
-Winter Study: the month of January with only one course, with also may include a study abroad opportunity, a self-designed course, a practical job-related learning opportunity, etc., as well as student-run non-credit classes just for fun.
-Likelihood of a single dorm room at least three out of four years (incl. 60% of freshmen). On the down side, the dorms are in embarrassingly poor condition and the food is not as good as at the other two colleges.
I suggest contacting the presidents of religious groups on each campus, if that matters a lot to you, to get a sense of the fit for you. But you mentioned a concern about being ‘judged’- I think you will find acceptance at each college for being religious, not a negative reaction. But you may run into more of a challenge (probably at all three) if you are a vocal person with conservative politics; the social justice warriors at each college (though they are a small minority of students in reality) can be very, very vocal.
You asked about party culture. Probably similar at all three. At Williams, there is a lot of drinking, including drinking to excess. However, there is absolutely no pressure to drink and many people choose not to drink at all. You can attend parties as a nondrinker and/or hang out with your friends just playing games or watching movies in your dorm or going out to student performances, guest speakers, etc., etc.- there is lots to do on campus on weekend nights. Daytime events can include hiking and outdoor sports, club activities and sports, local art museums, apple-picking, etc. The mountains are so close you can walk from the campus to trailheads. Also- you and your friends can get a group study room at the library and hang out there, or in your dorm, studying together. There is a lot of studying!
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