Bowdoin College Top Questions

my professors all know my name, they are so easy to get in touch with and actually care if you do well. it is great to have the opportunity to have so much time to ask questions and talk to professors. most of my classes have been great with amazing profs. people participate and we do have intellectual convos outside of class- they just come upon students and everyone laughs after the fact when we realize what we have been discussing for the past hour. my stars and galaxies class and my making theater class were way out there. i like the requirements- they are not too strict but forced me to branch out with my classes. people care about grades but people dont talk about jobs before they have too. most people work because they are interested and the atmosphere is about learning, not competing.

My professor's know me quite well. I came into Bowdoin expecting the major in biology. After I took Introductory Biology, I thought otherwise. Then, I took a Government class my second semester and fell in LOVE, so I decided that I'm going to be majoring in Government. The thing is, at Bowdoin, you're allowed to change your mind, and it's pretty easy. There is a LOT of support out there for the students, it's really amazing. Bowdoin is about learning to learn. It isn't about the grades your getting, it's about the material in your mind that stays there forever.

The professors here are amazing. Their office doors are usually always open, and many students walk in despite the fact if they have a question concerning the class or not. Professors are really great about reaching out to their students, and making them feel comfortable in their classes..comfortable enough to participate. Of course, there are always the occasional shy people, but I've noticed that by the end of a semester, everyone has participated at least once. A lot of my classes weren't really classes, they were merely discussions, conversations with my professor and my peers. It really allows for a great balance and learning experience.

The hours spent in class are, by far, the most rewarding times at Bowdoin. Professors are consistently good, classes are small, material is challenging, and students seem engaged. Then class ends, and it all goes downhill from there. Students do not perform consistently inside and outside of class: in class they're attentive and interested; outside, their work ethic disappears and they seem interested only in doing the bare minimum, just in time. I'm a biology major, a major with more required classes than any other major. I learned a great deal, but most of it is useless, and I now dislike studying biology. The chemistry department (4 chemistry classes are required for the biology major), however, is very strong, and organic chemistry I and II remain two of my favorite classes. Ecology classes were also notably good. After finishing my major in three years, I added a geology minor. The geology department, though small, is very strong, and I now wish I could have majored in geology and minored in biology instead of the reverse. Needless to say, sciences play a large role at Bowdoin compared to other liberal arts colleges. Nonetheless, it is a liberal arts education, so learning is emphasized over skills. I am now educated and thoroughly useless in the job market.

Academics at Bowdoin are pretty much all they're cracked up to be. I have only been dissatisfied with one professor I've had so far, and it was in a math class that I took to fill a requirement. Bowdoin's requirements are easy to fill - you need to take a science course, a math course, a course that "explores social differences," a course in "international perspectives," and an arts course. I haven't had any problems filling my requirements at all -- it might be more difficult for math/science people as they're very humanities-centered, but that's the price you pay for going to a liberal arts school. I would say I've only had two professors at most who didn't know my name (or at least weren't good at pretending they did), and both of them were my freshman year. I have never had a class with more than 45 people in it and my smallest class was seven. Many people are on a first name basis with their major advisers and there is definitely some of that typical liberal arts stuff that you hear about babysitting for professors' kids (I've done that) and going to professors' houses (done that as well). The time that I spend with professors outside of class is almost entirely within the Government department, unless I have a legitimate question and need to go to office hours. I definitely have things in common with my professors besides the work that they're assigning me, though, and I have gotten to know two of them very well after only a year and a half here. Bowdoin students do have intellectual conversations outside of class, but it doesn't just happen spontaneously. I thought when I got here there would be a late night philosophical debate practically every weeknight -- it's not the case. Usually it will happen if you grab lunch with people after class. Also, in my experience, Bowdoin students are really not competitive at all. My high school classes were constantly "what'd you get? what'd you get?" and I haven't had that asked of me by anyone unless we're complaining about how hard an exam was. Education at Bowdoin is a mix of being career-oriented and academic. It's really what you make of it and who you hang out with. I would say about half my friends are majoring in something that's clearly applicable, like Gov, Econ or Pre-Health, and the other half are majoring in something that will leave them living in a cardboard box.

Bowdoin has great academic requirements...because really they dont have many. You dont have to take x-number of English classes or y-number of Math classes. There are 9 actual core credits that you have to get but they are broad...like you have to have an "exploring social differences" credit and an "inquiry in the natural sciences" credit, and there are all different types of courses you can take to fill those. And often the credits overlap so you may only need to take 5 classes to fullfill the core requirements, which gives you a lot of freedom to take classes that interests you.

Professors always come to know your name and remember you even after the semester is over. One of my favorite classes was Behavioral Ecology, where we took field trips to numerous research stations, ran around fields catching dragonflies with nets and helped band birds. My least favorite class was Chemistry 109, which was very dull, but it lead me to do very interesting things. Students study and work VERY hard. The reading load is pretty heavy and class participation often amounts to about 10-15{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of your grade. I once heard a group of football players discuss quantum physics while they ate dinner (no joke, only once). The academic environment is NOT competitive at all. Friends often take classes together and form large study groups where they can both learn and vent their frustrations about the course work or professor. The most unique class I've taken has to be "English 254: Renaissance Sexualities." It was very difficult and was taught by a professor that plays key-tar and sings in an '80's rock cover band. I am a biology major and the biology department at Bowdoin is amazing. They have large laboratories and numerous field stations, including one on Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy and on an island literally 20 minutes from campus by car. I have done a lot of work at the Bowdoin Marine Laboratory and worked with a professor over the summer. I have come to know him well and I been able to work very hard with him and drink beers with him at summer BBQs. Bowdoin has rigorous academic requirements, which really require you to study a little bit of something, and allow you to study a lot of what you're interested in. I have enjoyed every moment of it, even the late nights. I feel very prepared to enter the job world and I have Bowdoin to thank for that.

Classes are generally small, though there are some that have as many as 50 or 60 students. I'd say my average class size as an upper-classmen is probably around 10 students. Students aren't generally competitive.

Professors, as I said above, are awesome. All of the good ones know your name. I've loved all of my classes here. Honestly. It's a pleasure to go to class and I've improved so much here as a writer and thinker. It's all about learning and thinking and developing ideas here. Professors are highly approachable-they want you to succeed and will help you if you want to be helped. Students are fairly studious; it really varies of course. There's definitely an intellectual clique, but they're so full of themselves that it's off-putting for all of us humble scholars. Students are not competitive with each other, but I think most of us work hard for ourselves. The academic requirements are great, but they're improving every year-I think the professors are finally realizing how unreasonable some of them are.

Professors are incredible! They're all very flexible; they all know you by name; and they're all more than willing to help you, in any way possible. Students at Bowdoin are not openly competitive, though it is quite apparent that many students (especially those aspiring to gain medical school admission) are "closet" competitors. Academics at Bowdoin are very rigorous. Some students do well, most students struggle, and a small percent of students fail and are asked to leave the college (for a semester or more)

I was in the largest class Bowdoin offers my freshman fall (87). The professor knew all of our names by the second week. She still remembers them. The professors at Bowdoin are incredibly approcahable. It's great to just go and talk with them about course work or random topics, like the elections.

The academics are great; classes are small and professors definitely know your names. My classes have all been small and discussion based. Academics are obviously the center of the school, so intellectual conversations carry over from class into the dorms and dinner. My favorite classes so far have been Modern Art and 20th Century Hispanic Literature. I meet with my professors regularly outside class and they are always helpful and engaging. I think Bowdoin's academic requirements are good; we are at a liberal arts school and should be exposed to different disciplines. Without the art requirement, I never would have taken art history, fallen in love with it, and declared it my major. I can't say I was as thrilled about my math requirement, but it was very painless. Because professors know students so well, it is easy to talk with them about plans for a major: studying abroad and transferring credits, getting into a class without a prerequisite, etc. Professors want to help you.