Bowdoin College Admission
Bowdoin College Undergraduate Program
Bowdoin College Application

The Facts

Bowdoin College is a unique liberal arts college located in the town of Brunswick, Maine, and is home to approximately 1,635 undergraduate students. It is one of the mounting numbers of schools in the country that doesn't require students to submit SAT or ACT scores to be considered for admission. The college is very service oriented, and many students are preparing themselves to go into a career of civil and public service. The school is perhaps best known for its science department that places an emphasis on labs and hands-on experience.

The college offers many majors; some of the most popular choices are government, economics, history, English, and biology.

Admission to Bowdoin College is actually quite competitive for a school of its diminutive size. Last year, over 5,000 students applied for admission and approximately 1,150 students were accepted; of those, 460 students enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1280 to an impressive 1440, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 28 to 33. Furthermore, over 72% of those admitted were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of 3.78.

Bowdoin has a fantastic student to faculty ratio of 10:1, and students remark that their teachers are extremely accessible. Many of the professors are ranking authorities in their respective fields, and students often continue their relationships with their teachers long after graduation. Students are also required to complete a wide array of required core classes, including courses in English, history, natural science, math, social and behavioral sciences, humanities and fine arts, and non-Eurocentric studies. An interesting note: the college has several specialized libraries in the areas of art history, science and mathematics, music, women's studies, and Africana studies.

The Social Scene

The town of Brunswick is small, but it does offer plenty of activities for students, including several bars, restaurants, clubs, cafes, movie theaters, and shops. Most students do own cars, and the larger city of Portland is only about 30 minutes away by automobile, and many students venture there on the weekends. If you don't have a car, students are friendly, and it's pretty easy to hitch a ride.

There aren't any official fraternities or sororities on campus, but students don't really seem to mind. They definitely find their own ways of having fun and partying, and drinking is a very popular activity. Maine is also a very beautiful state, and there are a multitude of outdoor activities that are quite popular with students including skiing, rock climbing, hiking, and camping.

The dating scene is pretty darn vibrant; people at Bowdoin are really friendly. And we mean really friendly...

What’s Good

“There is a real sense of pride here. People love to keep up old traditions that make it feel like a real community.”

“The teachers really care about you, and you feel very looked after here.”

“People know how to balance work and play here. It really helps to put things in perspective.”

What’s Bad

“There is a real lack of diversity here. It's rare to see anyone that isn't white and obviously quite wealthy.”

“People here can be really competitive here in terms of being the next person to save the world.”

“If you aren't self-motivated, it's pretty easy to get lost here. You need to know what you want, or else you will quickly drown.”

Read one student's personal account of the transition to Bowdoin College here.

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