Bowdoin College | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Jessica

Class: Freshman
Major: Government
Gender: F

High School: Melbourne Central Catholic HS
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Bowdoin is an amazing school. The people are kind and welcoming and truly make the Bowdoin experience. First year housing is unlike any other schools. All of the dorms were completely remodeled within the last two years. We have the top one or two dining services in the country, which becomes important when you're eating at the dining hall three times a day for months at a time. The size of the school is just right. At first I thought it would be too small, but now I love the fact that anywhere I go, I'm bound to see a familiar face. When I go into the dining halls, walk through Smith Union (the student center), or come out of the library I always see a friendly face and hear a nice hello. It really fosters a great sense of community among the students. People at Bowdoin tend to be really close with people from their freshmen dorms, which is great for most people, and not so great for others. The social house system also really fosters this because many parties at the beginning of the year center around affiliates of that particular house. Bowdoin's administration is extremely efficient, from the time you're a pre-frosh going through the admissions cycle, to course registration, to security on weekends. I have never run into any issues regarding the administration, which cannot be said of students at many other schools. One of my only complaints is the lack of school spirit exhibited by students at any time other than during a Bowdoin-Colby hockey game (which is one of the best nights of the whole year). The majority of even men's football, hockey, and basketball games are only sparsely attended, and when students do attend, they is lackluster spirit. All in all though, Bowdoin has been a great experience so far.

Academic Life

Academics are top-notch at Bowdoin. Even taking all intro classes last semester, I was in classes of 16, 21, 35, and 50 students. The largest class that I'm in this semester has 35 students. That's amazing for freshmen year. All of my professors knew my name after two weeks of class or less. Class participation is not only encouraged, but almost always required. On my tour when I came to visit Bowdoin, the tour guide said you can never hide in a class at Bowdoin, and that's definitely true. Students are not competitive with other students, but they are very competitive with themselves. Students work very hard during the week, and people take their classes very seriously. One thing I would say is a warning about taking foreign language classes. Intro language classes move very, very quickly, so expect to work hard if you want to keep up.

Student Body

The realiy is that the majority of Bowdoin students are white, upper middle or upper-class, and from New England. Of course, there are many exceptions to this rule, but it does describe the majority. However, 99% of Bowdoin students are really down to earth. Most students wear sweat pants or jeans and a t-shirt to class. People are not really into brand names here. The majority of the students would describe themselves as liberal. I would describe the majority of students as apathetic. People do not really care about politics, and they are rarely discussed.