Bowdoin College Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Ian

Not at all! While a lot of students wear winter jackets from L.L.Bean, there is a wide diversity in the styles of cloths worn by students, which reflects the diversity of the student population. More importantly, high SAT scores are not a requirement to get into Bowdoin. You are not required to report an SAT score, though you can send it in if you want. They instead look at you as a whole person, not just as a number. Good grades and high involvement in extracurricular activities are good features to have. It is important to note that the admissions process at Bowdoin is very selective.

Liz

I would have to say that, to some extent, all of these stereotypes represent Bowdoin's student body, as they very well may represent the student bodies of many smaller slightly-rural liberal arts colleges in the northeast.Or perhaps what makes Bowdoin unique is that it truly can not be placed under a category of any sort. There are a LOT of jocks here. In fact, almost 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body plays a varsity sport at Bowdoin. In coming to the school, I was amazed by the athleticism and fitness of Bowdoin's students, although at times I was also overwhelmed by the posies of teams sitting together in the lunchroom and the crazy parties sponsored by many athletic teams on the weekends. Bowdoin also has a distinct "crunchy-crowd," a group of slightly more intellectual and environmentally-minded folk who regularly pursue trips with the outing club, indulge in the delicious, healthy and oftentimes locally produced grub that gives Bowdoin its ranking of second-best dining service in the country behind Virginia Tech (students were actually quite upset when Bowdoin was booted from it's 1st-place standing this year). These students tend to play Frisbee, wear flannel and occasionally go winter-surfing, though many of them also party a good deal. There are an unnecessary amount of kids from the suburbs of Boston and the Boston area, and many of them did go to boarding school. In fact, if asked where you are from you reply somewhere other than JOB or New York, you will automatically be considered quite the anomaly and, if you're from the south they might either comment on your accent or demand why you don't have one. In which case you'll have to respond accordingly. Broadly speaking, however, Bowdoin students from all sides of the spectrum are incredibly friendly and warm. No matter what group or label a person might fall under they will probably find a place here, unless they are uptight city kids into hard drugs or punk rock, though we have a few of those here too (though they're very much under the radar).

Jody

A large majority of bowdoin students come from near Boston, and especially from around New England, so many have grown up opping their collars and driving BMWs. However, a significant portion of students are down to earth, and come from all of the country.

Kathryn

Yes, not only are there alcoholic jocks from New England prep schools but also there are alcoholic jocks from midwestern and southern prep schools. There's certainly an abundance of rich, preppy girls from the New England area. I think the fact that the bookstore immediately sold out of $100 Vineyard Vine tote bags says a lot about the female population here...

Kyle

Bowdoin should have no stereotypes attached to it. There is no typical Bowdoin and there is no atypical Bowdoin student-- we're all very different, but we all have similar goals. Everyone is very friendly.

Charlie

We all are over-achievers for the most part. Despite appearances, the interersts and passions of each student are really diverse. The intense athlete may also love to play scrabble, and the student body president may want to be a model.

Perry

Yes.