BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Brunswick, Maine
The College
Students who come to Bowdoin find a collaborative and meaningful college experience and the preparation they need for life and leadership in a changing world. Founded in 1794, Bowdoin is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. It is a coeducational, private, nonsectarian, residential college with more than 1,600 students in residence each term from almost every state and from many countries around the world.
Academics at Bowdoin are rigorous, but the atmosphere is collegial and collaborative, not cutthroat. Learning goes on not only in the classroom but also at club meetings and lectures and over dinner conversations with other students and faculty members. The flexibility of the curriculum allows students to take charge of their own education, and they are constantly encouraged to explore new subjects and test their preconceived notions of what they want to study. This kind of exploration begins with a first-year seminar. These classes introduce students to discussion-based college-level work and enable professors to examine a new area of study or look at a compelling contemporary issue. Limited to 16 students, first-year seminars guarantee some great discussions and the chance to get to know a professor well, right off the bat.
About 90 percent of students live on campus, and each is affiliated with a College House. The houses sponsor social activities, lectures, and other events. House activities depend entirely upon the interests of the students. Recently, a budding chef ran a restaurant in one of the houses, serving gourmet dinners to students and faculty and staff members every Tuesday. Good food is not limited to student cooks, however. Bowdoin has been nationally recognized for its delicious food, and there are always healthy food options, including vegetarian and vegan choices, as well as special class dinners, holiday celebrations, and theme nights.
Bowdoin's first president declared that the purpose of higher education was to serve the Common Good, an ideal that still influences the lives of students. Opportunities for community service are abundant, and about 70 percent of students are involved in such programs during their time at Bowdoin.
Opportunities to have fun outside of class are also plentiful. For most students, the difficulty is in deciding what to leave out rather than finding something to interest them. Among the more than 100 student organizations are the oldest continuously published weekly college newspaper in the U.S., a cable television station, the Bowdoin Outing Club (Bowdoin's largest club, sponsoring weekend trips for hiking, kayaking, skiing, and many other outdoor pursuits), a step team, music and dance groups, and more. There are also organizations affiliated with religious beliefs, groups associated with ethnic and racial heritages, political clubs, theater groups, and academic and athletic organizationstruly something for everyone.
Students do not have to wait for the weekend to find something to do; there is something going on nearly every night. Recent performers have included Mos Def, Rufus Wainwright, Jude, Dar Williams, Keb Mo, Savion Glover, Matt Nathanson, and Okay Go. Speakers have included Spike Lee, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George Will, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Robert Reich, and other noted scholars.
Athletics are part of the Bowdoin experience for many students. Bowdoin fields thirty varsity teams for men and women in eighteen sports and offers seven club sports and many intramural activities. The athletic and fitness facilities are open long hours for all students, and those not interested in organized sports have plenty of chances to work out in the popular Watson Fitness Center or play games with friends through Bowdoins strong intramural sports program.
Location
It would be hard to find a prettier backdrop for four years of study than midcoast Maine. Bowdoin's campus is one of the most beautiful in the country. Its buildings date from 1802 through 2004 and surround a central quad that is equipped with wireless technology, which allows students to sit outside and use their laptops under the trees. Brunswick is a coastal town that offers small-town charm with the amenities of a larger city. There are restaurants serving everything from Mexican to German to Indian cuisine, museums, shops, and movie theaters, and the town center is only a 5-minute walk from the campus.
Freeport, 10 minutes away and known for its outlet stores and L.L.Bean (open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year), is the destination for many late-night student excursions. Portland, Maine's cultural center and largest city, is just 30 minutes away. Portland is an ethnically and culturally diverse city with plenty to do. It is home to dozens of performing arts groups, professional sports teams, and a wide array of clubs, shops, and restaurants.
Bowdoin is only a 2-hour drive from Boston, the business and cultural center of New England. Train service is available to Portland, Boston, and beyond. Maine also provides a living laboratory for many of Bowdoin's courses; students in the sciences, economics, sociology, and other disciplines perform research in communities and locales around the state.
Majors and Degrees
Bowdoin offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in the following areas: anthropology, art history, biology, chemistry, classics, classics/archaeology, computer science, economics, English, French, geology, German, government, history, mathematics, music, philosophy, physics, psychology, religion, Romance languages, Russian, sociology, and visual arts. A coordinate major in environmental studies is also offered. The College offers interdisciplinary majors in Africana studies, art history and archaeology, art history and visual arts, Asian studies, biochemistry, chemical physics, computer science and mathematics, English and theater, Eurasian and East European studies, gender and women's studies, geology and chemistry, geology and physics, Latin American studies, mathematics and economics, and neuroscience.
Bowdoin offers minors in dance, education, film studies, gay and lesbian studies, Greek, Italian, Latin, and theater. Students majoring in education may obtain teacher certification. A concentration is offered in Arctic studies, and courses are also offered in architecture. Bowdoin participates in joint liberal arts/engineering programs with California Institute of Technology and Columbia University and in a liberal arts/law program with Columbia University.
Students also have the option of designing their own major.
Academic Programs
Bowdoin gives students exposure to many disciplines and extensive knowledge in whatever major they choose. The curriculum is designed to allow students to test and expand their intellectual interests. Among the few requirements are at least two courses in each of the three divisions of the curriculumnatural sciences and mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, and humanities and fine artsand two courses that focus on non-European cultures or societies.
Student-faculty interaction is at the center of intellectual life at Bowdoin. Students and faculty members often become friends and research associates, and it is not uncommon for students to publish papers with their professors. For many, this work is the most meaningful intellectual experience of their years at Bowdoin. As students increase their mastery of their chosen major, more than 60 percent of them participate in an independent study project.
Off-Campus Programs
More than 50 percent of Bowdoin students choose to study away from campus for a semester or a year in the U.S. or almost any other country in the world. Students also find opportunities for off-campus study through fieldwork in Arctic studies, biochemistry, biology, the classics, and other disciplines.
Academic Facilities
The intellectual heart of the campus is the Bowdoin College library, which contains more than 950,000 volumes, and in the science, art, and music libraries. The Bowdoin College Museum of Art, with more than 14,000 objects, holds one of the oldest and finest college collections in the country. The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, named for 2 Bowdoin graduates who pioneered Arctic exploration, continues the College's historic link to Arctic science. Bowdoin offers new and newly renovated theater and arts facilities, including a craft barn, a dance studio, and two state-of-the-art theaters. Planning is under way to convert an unused swimming pool building to a state-of-the-art concert hall. The science buildings have all been built or renovated within the past five years. The new outdoor leadership center is one of the finest in the country, and Kanbar Hall, a new home for the Departments of Psychology and Education, opened for the fall 2004 semester.
Bowdoin's off-campus research facilities include the Coastal Studies Center, with both marine and terrestrial labs and seminar and studio space, and marine and ornithological research stations near the campus and at Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.
Costs
Tuition for 200405 was $30,944, fees were $682 (including the $325 student activities fee and the $357 health services fee), and room and board were $8054, for a total of $39,680. Books, supplies, and personal expenses were estimated at $2070.
Financial Aid
Bowdoin is committed to ensuring that cost is not an obstacle to those qualified to attend the College. Financial aid at Bowdoin is need-based, and Bowdoin meets the full, demonstrated need of all admitted U.S. applicants for all four years. Aid may include grants, loans, and campus jobs. In 200405, more than 42 percent of the class of 2008 received about $5 million in need-based aid. Awards to entering students ranged from $1500 to $40,000; the average award was $28,000.
Faculty
Bowdoin has a world-class faculty that has been honored and recognized by the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, National Institutes of Health, and National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as with the Pulitzer Prize. Working with students is as central to the mission of Bowdoin's faculty members as their own research. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1, and professors teach all courses. Professors routinely use knowledge from their research to keep students informed of the latest developments in their fields. Faculty members are also involved in the lives of students outside the classroom, serving as mentors to students and advisers to student organizations. They are willing to go the extra mile to help students thrive at Bowdoin.
Student Government
Bowdoin's student government is divided into two parts: the Student Assembly and the Executive Committee. The Assembly consists of class presidents, house officers, and open positions. The Executive Committee comprises 9 students elected at large. Students are also elected to serve as representatives to committees of the Board of Trustees and the faculty.
Admission Requirements
Academic accomplishments and talents are given the greatest weight in the admissions process. Extracurricular activities and written recommendations are also very important. Added consideration is given to demonstrated skills in leadership, social service, the arts, and athletics. The College does not require SAT, SAT Subject Test, or ACT scores for admission, but scores are considered if submitted. About 25 percent of Bowdoin's accepted applicants each year have not submitted standardized test scores. In recent years, between 30 and 40 percent of the entering class has been accepted under the College's early decision programs.
Application and Information
Application materials include the Common Application and Bowdoin Supplement. Both are included in the viewbook, available online, or are sent by the College's Admissions Office upon request. Also required are a school report, two teacher recommendations, a supplementary essay, a midyear school report, and a $60 application fee (or application fee waiver). An interview, either on campus or with an alumni interviewer living near the applicant, is strongly recommended but not required. Candidates should make appointments in advance.
Campus tours are available weekdays and most Saturdays throughout the year. Group information sessions are held several times a day throughout the spring, summer, and fall. There are two early decision options. Students who apply by November15 under the early decision I option are notified in mid-December. Early decision II applications are due by January1, and applicants are notified in mid-February. Regular applications are also due by January1; candidates are notified by mid-April.
For more information, students should contact:
