Bowdoin College Top Questions

yeah there are preppy and a lot of athletes

Yes however that is not necessarily bad. There are plenty of people who do not fit those categories as well. It seems like the school is slowly leaving part of the upperscale college for prep school kid image behind (hopefully).

Most students are definitely from New England, or from outside of Boston, which can be intimidating at times.

Somewhat

In my experience yes

Bowdoin students are definitely smart - there's no denying that. As to the "preppiness" of Bowdoin students, while we may wear collared shirts or expensive jeans, we are not nearly as preppy as comparable liberal arts schools. Also, we care a lot less about how other people see us than the stereotypical prep. Bowdoin may be less ethnically/racially diverse than some schools but there is lots of geographic and socioeconomic diversity... It certainly doesn't feel like all the same people.

Not always. There are all types o people.

for the most part

I think you can find groups fitting a stereotype at any college, but no one group dominates; there is a niche for everyone

I myself, being from the Midwest, had not encountered the New England prep school culture before, and therefore many Bowdoin students seemed at times preppy, rich, and elitist to me. However, though there are more of these types of students than I would prefer, this is also not the rule - Bowdoin's ethnic and economic diversity have been increasing, and there are students from many different backgrounds.

Not for the majority of the student body.

For the most part they are accurate.

Sometimes

Yes

Somewhat. There are definitely those people here, but it's not like that that is all that defines them. It may appear to be a homogenous group at first glance, but people are unique and interesting under the surface (as is often the case)

Relative to the former, this is sometimes true, are not in many many cases. As for the latter, I would say that there are many Bowdoin students who turned down Ivy League schools to come here, while others find Bowdoin very challenging

Yep.

As far as I know, most everyone DOES do sports on campus, if only pickup and IM games like me.

This one absolutely is - but Bowdoin is actually much more laid back than this implies. Students may dress expensively, but when it comes down to it, many of us are just as comfortable in Bean boots and sweats.

No,

Yes

To a certain degree, these stereotypes are accurate, but not everyone fits into them, of course. Everyone can fit in somewhere and find friends and activities.

No, and yes. There are athletes, and if you find yourself at parties or in class with them, it can seem overwhelming. There are New England prep school kids, but really, they've grown up, and maybe just haven't changed their wardrobe quite yet. Most students here are bright, engaged, and very down to earth...but of course, there are all ends of the spectrum.

Are there preppy and privileged students at Bowdoin? Of course, but this is the case at any school. While there are plenty of students from "just outside of Boston," there are also students from all over the world, and from every socioeconomic class. Just because it might be easy to point out "preppy" students, this doesn't mean that they are the majority. And as for the idea that we're all athletes, this is certainly not true. We have some great teams, but no one will think anything of it if your only form of exercise is walking around our small campus. I don't play any sports, and I have plenty of friends who don't either.

As a guy, I'd say so. The cute girls are taken by upperclassmen.

Absolutely not. I and all of my friends are quite beautiful.

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).

I still feel like you can divide the campus into three groups: preps, jocks, and hippies, and any student here will probably fall under at least one of those categories. As for the part about the cold weather and the beer, I'd say that's true.

somewhat. if you are looking for a good time, you can find one whenever you want but there is no pressure to do so and students do take their work serious, even if they party a good amount, and nobody will trash you for working hard, they respect it.

There are your share of prepsters, but people got in here for a reason. I'm always surprised at how multi-dimensional people are, even if they might not seem so initially. Yes, it's cold but it's bareable

While there are many students from prep schools, I don't think that this is a negative stereotype. You would never know unless they tell you, and it has never been an issue. Many students are from the Boston area, but many more are from all over the country. There are a ton of athletes and most people do drink, but if that doesn't apply to you, there are plenty of other things to get involved with and to do on the weekends.

To some degree, yes

No, although there are a few individuals who stick to this.

I would say a little less than half of the student population is from the Boston area. But really, people come from everywhere. On my floor alone there are people from Texas, Colorado, Florida, and Canada, so there's a pretty diverse mix. Tuition here is very high, so there are many wealthy students who have homes in the Bahamas or go there with friends for vacation, but there are people from every background. Wealth isn't flaunted so it's not really an issue anyways. As for lobster- every year does start off with a school wide, outdoors, lobster bake. It's a great tradition that brings everyone back together after a summer apart. And just in case you don't like lobster, they also have steak or chicken and delicious sides like roasted corn.

There are definitely people who fit these stereotypes, and they are prominent on campus. However, there are many, many students who don't fit this version, of a Bowdoin student, and they are what makes Bowdoin students so wonderfully fascinating. While many people on the outside seem to appear the same (clothing and skin tone), once you immerse yourself at Bowdoin, you realize that everyone here is their own, unique person, with individual interests and passions.

To a minimal degree... there are all types of people at Bowdoin... including the preppy, upper class kids, but I can honestly say that I have never met anyone stuck-up at Bowdoin. We all know we are here because we are qualified to be here, and we respect each other for that.

There is some validity to the former, but there is still a great mix of diversity, and Bowdoin tries really hard to attract a diverse student body. The latter is not fair to most Bowdoin students, who don't seem spoiled at all.

No, the girls are not completely unfortunate and the guys aren't exactly hot.

pretty much

Everyone is smart. There is a good amount of preppiness, but there are other styles as well. While many students are from the Boston area, Bowdoin does a great job of attracting people from every state and many different countries! BOWDOIN GIRLS ARE NOT UGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every stereotype is true except for the one about how smart and motivated students are. The majority of students write the papers the morning they are due, cheat on every problem set, and rely on the curve to save every test grade. Rampant grade inflation has the side effect of delusional Bowdoin students into thinking that their economics and government classes actually teach them anything or are academically rigorous in any way. Bowdoin is easy but no one tries thereby making classes "hard."

It is becoming less and less accurate as the years go on. There is no dating, just hook-ups or "marriages."- This is mostly true, but special guys still take girls on dates. However, I have never seen dating end happily.

obviously some preppy kids, some ugly girls, some outdoorsy people. overall people are very athletic and very healthy but there is a wide range of kids, as everywhere. the girls are getting much hotter and there is a group of friends for any type of student.

There are a lot of athletes on campus, but many of these athletes do many other things as well. The typical Bowdoin student does a ton of extra-curriculars, sports, academics...the works. It is definitely not true that everybody drinks. There is a large drinking culture on campus, but I know a lot of people who choose not to, and for them, there is still PLENTY to do on campus.

Not really. Sure, there are a few of them floating around, but everyone is so damn friendly here you would never know who they are!

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Yes, to a disturbing extent.

The girls have improved slightly but overall they aren't very good. In addition any decent looking girl there is a million guys going after her so it's tough.

The first one is definitely accurate. A lot of students look like they just stepped out of a J. Crew catalogue, but there's a larger number that threw a polo shirt on with some jeans just so they don't look like they rolled out of bed. There are definitely a minuscule number of hipster or emo type people, though. Like Middlebury, people basically run the spectrum from preppy to hippie, with most people falling somewhere in between -- but I think the hippies are in a much smaller minority here. The stereotype about Bowdoin students being athletes is definitely true -- I think it is actually underreported in most guidebooks, because they only consider varsity sports and leave out teams like ultimate frisbee or intramurals. I would say 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of people I know (myself included) have played a sport here at some point, or they played a varsity sport in high school

Well frankly, it sometimes does feel like everyone around you is able to pay the 50,000 dollar a year tuition and go on shopping sprees to the local LLBean headquarters or skiiing up north whenever they feel like it...But I've never really had this held over my head at all. If you are worried about the stereotypes- don't. I think that Bowdoin is definately a place to invent yourself and all different types of people are accepted. And maybe I have seen more granola eaten here than ever before...but its good for you!...and please, linen pants?!? -we would freeze!! Note: Maine has COLD, rainy, snowy, unpredictable, icy, wonderful, COLD weather. Bring boots....boots from Target, L.L.Bean, or 1955; it doesnt matter...just bring boots and you will love it here.