Bowdoin College Top Questions

For me, the people are what make Bowdoin what it is. Everyone really wants to be here. Everyone really cares about life on campus. Students, professors, the dining service staff, our housekeeper, the president Barry Mills (affectionately know as B Mills), the head of security (he broadcasts a show on our local radio station) etc. We’re all a little nerdy, outdoorsy, preppy, high achieving, motivated, very social, and ready for some excitement and adventure. The dating scene is decent. I think the male population is pretty attractive even if they do have some maturing to do. Relationships tend to fall into one extreme or another. They are either casual hook-ups or serious long term things. I think that’s pretty standard for college. Sometimes the selection can feel limited, but let’s be honest, it’s like that anywhere. For the most part students are friendly and laid back. When I was visiting schools I did what I called the “smile test” on the campus tours. This sounds so silly but I would smile at students walking by the tour group. If the students smiled back, they passed the test. Bowdoin definitely passed. There’s a tradition called the “Bowdoin Hello”. Anytime you’re walking along a path and it’s just you and another person, you smile and say hello. Again, sounds silly, but it makes all the difference in creating the feeling like you belong. It’s the type of place where I can be waiting in line for coffee at the café and start having a conversation about anything and everything with the people waiting beside me, whether t’s a student or a professor. You can wear sweatpants and a polo to class. You can wear your running spandex. You can look like you're going to a business interview. It all works at Bowdoin.

-Generally everyone is pleasant. -People are very driven and at times compare themselves with others too much and don't do what they as an individual want to do.

Most students wear either jeans and a T-shirt to class or leggings, uggs, and a sweatshirt. Pretty laid back. There are way too many trust funds. If you can't deal with having a lot of friends who have more money than you, this is probably not the place.

Statistically there's not that much diversity at Bowdoin: racial, economical, sexual. But that's not to say the campus is devoid of different kinds of people. I have met all sorts of people at Bowdoin from a wide variety of backgrounds, and I'm still meeting different people. I think because bowdoin is so small you're most likely to actually meet some people who in a larger setting you might never get an oppurtunity to talk to.

Bowdoin is a small, New England liberal arts school, which means little ethnic diversity. There are definitely efforts to change this, but I have mixed feelings about how successful they are because there isn't as much interaction between different racial groups on campus as one might hope. I haven't sensed any tension, but there isn't much communication. I have to say that the student body can be very clique-y, which is annoying. People are friends with the people they live with, or maybe the people on their athletic team, and it seems like the cliques are very hard to break into (or out of for that matter). But to be fair, I've never liked being part of a clique and I have to say I have some really wonderful close friends here. I just tend to eat dinner with one or two people instead of five, but that's fine with me. Students wear sweatpants to class. I have heard from so many non-Bowdoin students that they cannot get over how many people wear sweatpants here. It's pretty awesome. Also, it's near impossible to complete your college career without buying a pair of "Bean Boots" (L L Bean's famous rain/snow boot). Half of Bowdoin students are on financial aid. There are definitely some incredibly wealthy people here, but there are also students who aren't wealthy at all. As someone who falls on the lower middle class mark, I have never felt weird about it. I have a work study job and I pay own cell phone bill, which is more than most here can say, but it's never bothered me.

I am a Mexican girl from Hawaii and I feel very comfortable at Bowdoin. At times it is a bit difficult to see yourself as equal to your peers when you are constantly battling with the Bursar's Office (where the tuition gets settled). Students here definitely divide along racial lines. Maine is not a diverse state and so the diversity here at Bowdoin is generally imported which can make some students feel out of place. There's a lot discussion surrounding these issues and Bowdoin has made a lot of advances to ease this division. For example, Bowdoin just irradicated student loans which will bring a new wave of students to campus; the middle class and hopefully these students will help to break some of these economic class divisions.

Bowdoin is definitely attempting to address the issue of lacking diversity on campus. Most students tend to be of upper socio-economic classes. Bowdoin only gives scholarships based on need, so this issue is also being addressed by the college.

The Bowdoin campus is diverse, though it wouldn't look it, because students tends to separate into groups. There is tolerance for all different groups on campus, but this doesn't necessarily mean that they intermix. The Asian American students tend to be friends, the African American students tend to be friends and the white students tend to be friends and thus the dining hall can often seem a little segregated (though not on purpose). Most students come from the New England area. A lot of the students are also very rich, which was sort of difficult for me, coming from a more middle class background. Often the students are either rich or on a lot of financial aid, but there aren't that many students in the middle. Students are very politically aware and tend to be predominantly left. Bowdoin students are very aware of their future and being planning when they're still in college.

Here at Bowdoin, at least from my perspective, most people don't flaunt their financial backgrounds, though there is MUCH money...its a $43,000/yr school, what do you expect? People may wear some high couture, but don't outright say "I'm rich, envy me". Its pretty chillax.

The student body is diverse and widely talented. I am continually impressed by how many different things people do on campus. For the most part students care a lot about each other and are always looking out for each other. Students are not very competitive and usually open-minded.