Improve your chances of getting into college,

It's true: professors will get to know your name (for the most part). Of course, not all professors think about teaching in the same way, and some don't value names as much as others. The truth is that the small size of classes provides both student and Professor with a situation in which they are more inclined to know each other, and to examine academic material more intimately and more rigorously. Bowdoin is committed to keeping classes small, and I feel completely taken care of by an administration that is clearly tireless in their efforts to improve and add value to my education.

Competitiveness in Bowdoin's academic setting is almost unheard of. Instead, students are more often encouraged to work in groups and support one another. In every course that I've enrolled in that has problem sets, every professor has encouraged me to work with others. This to me, reflects Bowdoin's unique view on diversity of learning styles - which the admissions office maintains through not requiring applicants to submit SAT scores. This is something I absolutely love about this school.

The most unique class that I've taken was called "Globalization and Social Change," A Sociology and Latin American Studies course. It was one of the most demanding course loads I could have possibly imagined, but it was also one of the most influential courses of my life. It fundamentally changed the way that I think about the future and the nature of the economy. It has inspired me to act as a force for positive social change.

Professors want to be your friend. Many department offices are contained in converted houses on the edges of campus where professors hold office hours and hang out with one another and talk academics. They love meeting with students and being academic and personal resources. They are more than willing to guide students in their independent studies, and they all need ladders to access all of the books in their bookshelves.

I would say, unequivocally, that a Bowdoin education is about learning for its own sake. Academic requirements are a wonderful incentive for students to explore new disciplines and to try thinking in different ways instead of staying too comfortable with one field of study or major.

Having said that, Bowdoin also has a fantastic Career Planning Center, which can hook you up with landing a good job, and one that can change the world.

I think that the Bowdoin student body is very diverse. Bowdoin was among the first of colleges to admit African-Americans, and they maintain a consistent commitment to all different types of diversity.

There is a distinct difference between how upperclassmen party and how first-years party.

Generally, many people tend to party with their teams, clubs, or floormates. This is the best way for first years to access alcohol, if that is how they are interested in having fun.

Often, the College Houses have large parties that are open to any student. These are large and mostly impersonal events, unless they're hosted by one of the better houses with more active, and/or friendly residents, such as Quinby or MacMillan House. (The six other houses are Ladd, Baxter, Helmrich, Reed, Burnett and Howell - Howell being the substance or "chem" free house)

Other first-years who aren't as interested in drinking often get frustrated that there aren't more substance free programming events. However, as students get older they are invariably more in tune with social events and have more autonomy (particularly when they are of legal drinking age). Invariably, seniors love Bowdoin infinitely more than they did when they were first-years.

Sometimes people complain about the difficulty of meeting new people or people in general, but this is a reality of college that no school can overcome.

Unfortunately, Bowdoin falls victim to the same stereotypes applied to all other NESCAC schools: mainly that they are too small and consist of over privileged students with suburban backgrounds. While this is true of all the schools to a limited extent, to think this about Bowdoin is to completely misunderstand it.

Bowdoin also sometimes falls victim to the stereotype of a safety school for Ivy Leaguers. I would disagree with this as well because I feel that the Ivy League Schools are not comparable to the New England Small Liberal Arts and Science Colleges on several fundamental levels including size and location. I'm often frustrated by this tendency of prospective students to compare these schools on the U.S. World and News Report kind of scale, when students should really be looking at the schools that are right for them as individuals (not according to some arbitrary list of determinants).

Bowdoin is the best college that exists. I am extremely pleased with my decision to come here and I wouldn't have it any other way.