Bowdoin College Top Questions

The Social Houses are awesome places for parties! Chem-free kids are welcome as well! Everyone basically drinks their beverage of choice (water or....other things) and dances the night away.

Bowdoin is small, but there's a pretty diverse social scene. There's keg parties with so many people you can't breathe, there's wine and cheese parties, dinner parties, dance parties; I met one of my best friends here at a Contra Dance.

I like the Bowdoin social scene. Social House parties are mostly for freshmen and sophomores, so if you are in either one of those classes you can go to a party knowing you'll run into all your friends there. Sometimes I wish there were more big parties that spanned across the grades, though. Ivies weekend, which is the last week in April, is our big tradition. Pretty much everyone is drunk from Thursday to Sunday morning, and there is a concert on Saturday. We've had some pretty cool people perform, including Ok Go and Jurassic 5. It's a great weekend and one last chance to go really crazy before finals.

Students complain a lot about the lack of innovative weekend activities; social houses dominate the party atmosphere at Bowdoin, which is good because it gets freshman involved and welcomed into campus life, but its poor because the parties are a repeat every year. The dating scene is non-existant here at Bowdoin. Intimate interactions are reduced to weekend hook-ups and there isn't much legitimacy to any of these student relationships. Bowdoin students have 3-day weekends; not many students have classes on Fridays which is great because it's a day to run errands, meet with professors, and go to club meetings. There's a great deal of chem-free (the Bowdoin term for non-drinkers) events on campus; weekly movie showing and parties in the chem-free social house.

Athletics are very important at Bowdoin, and many students play on sports teams. Hockey games, especially Bowdoin vs. Colby are widely attended by the campus. Bowdoin students are also very friendly. Many students will leave the doors in their dorms open (this changes a little once students move into upper-classmen dorms) On the weekends, drinking is a big activity, and while there is are the options of "chem-free" dorms and an affiliated social house, there are not as many options for students who do not wish to drink on the weekends.

Athletes are very close to their team and tend to hang out together when they're not at practice or playing games. The most popular events on campus are acappella concerts and student-produced plays, though students will also show up for many of the common hour events, where the college brings prominent speakers to campus on Fridays. There is almost always an academic event or a speaker on campus, though participation at these events isn't always that high. Students are very open and many of them will leave their doors open during the day, especially in the freshmen dorms. A lot of students complain about the dating scene at Bowdoin, because either you don't have a boyfriend or you spend all your time with your boyfriend. There isn't much casual dating. Drinking is huge on campus and often quite hard to avoid if you want to go out on a weekend.

Bowdoin is a binge school, meaning that students prefer alcohol to other substances, though I have seen both on campus. Weekends usually start on Thursdays because Friday courses are rare (unless you're a science major). There are no frats or sororities here, but a college house system in which everyone on campus is included, which I think is SO much better. If you don't drink, there are plenty of things to do, like go to SUPERSNAX, eat out, go galactic bowling, watch movies or play guitar hero! The majority of freshman go to social house parties on the weekends, even if they don't drink because there is NOTHING else to do or they want a random hookup (Bowdoin is infamous for these), but as you get older, you learn that the partying at Bowdoin is weak and being with close friends is much more fun. During the week, its all about schoolwork and stress, but the weekend is a definite way to release.

The beauty about a small school like Bowdoin is that there is room to get involved in many things. Many of my friends participate in theater and sports, study math and art. There are organizations for everything and if there isn't an organization for something you're interested in a friendly student board will help you make it happen.

Again, the kids are great, and thus the social life is great. It's definitely a school that's into organizations, whether that's varsity athletics, the Outing Club, Club Sports, Activist/Political organizations, and I think it's a significantly more rewarding place socially if you're the type of person that gets into these kinds of activities. I started rowing last year, and not only are we a small, intimate program comprised of fun kids with whom I always have a great time, we are also dedicated, and quite competitive for such a small program.

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Social houses are THE BEST!! They bring the best of Fraternities/Sororities without the exclusiveness/danger. There are tons of organizations to get invovled with, and it's easy to start your own. Since we have such a good relationship with the town of Brunswick, it's also really easy to get involved in the community. Because it's so small, the dating scene is a little bit weird, because you're always dating someone who dated someone else who you knew, but you get used to it. There are tons of lectures/concerts/sports/other events to go to on a consistent basis. Most dorms have friendly atmospheres. Mostly on the weekends it's drinking, although there is never any peer pressure to drink. There is a fairly large chem free contingent that does stuff.

So many activities! You can really find whatever you are interested in here which is surprising for such a small school. If by chance what you want isn't here they encourage the development of new groups. Its kind of easy to get over your head however as there are so many enthusiastic people and groups that can suck you in. In terms of on campus activities there are plenty. Although we are in Maine there is no shortage of things to do on the weekend. You can pretty much find whatever your looking for. Parties are ample and rarely exclusive at all. The Social House system really helps get things going for the Underclassman The College also does a great job of bringing in speakers to keep us intellectually stimualted as well and often times there are so many great discussions on each night that its hard to choose.

There are a lot of sports, clubs, and intramural activities at Bowdoin. It is really easy to get involved in any of these. All it takes is an email. Many clubs encourage people with no particular experience to join. The Bowdoin Outing Club is a perfect way to take advantage of Maine's beautiful geographic features while being active and meeting students from all walks of life. I find that Bowdoin students are particularly environmentally concerned as well as grateful of their local community, and as a result, like giving back to the community by volunteering. On the weekends, especially in the winter, hockey and basketball games are popular to attend. The biggest game of the year is the Bowdoin hockey game against our rival Colby. Everyone wears black and it gets wild in the arena. Almost every weekend you can expect a big house party hosted by one of Bowdoin's social houses. These parties are all-inclusive of every student on campus, whether they drink beer or not. The social houses are especially careful to cater to those who may not drink by providing snacks and soda. Even if there are no official parties going on, it is fairly easy to find some little shindig going on in one of the dorms or upperclassmen housing. Every Thursday night there is easy a band or DJ at the campus pub, and attendances at the pub on these nights are very high. Bowdoin, in conjunction with the social houses too, host a variety of speakers. The Bowdoin film society often hosts movie nights during the week or weekend. There are also two movie theaters in town. The dating scene at Bowdoin is definitely undermined by the 'hook-up' culture. This may not necessarily be bad, but if you're looking for that special someone, chances are they're not looking for you.

a large percentage of the students on campus play a sport, but not many people go to most of their games. hockey and basketball are probably the most popular sports for students to go watch. many students participate in the outing club, and many people go skiing/snowboarding through the outing club as well during the winter. the dating scene is difficult because the campus is so small and everyone knows everyone- either students have very short, non-serious hookups, or very long term relationships, but nothing really in between. students generally work hard sunday-wednesday, and then thursday-saturday go out pretty hard. students primarily drink a lot, but it is difficult to find hard drugs on campus, and are very rarely used. campus-wide social house parties are really fun as a freshman and sophomore, and are a great way to meet lots of people in your grade. there is not much to do on saturdays if you are not drinking and are looking for an organized activity- there is generally a concert, play, movie, etc. but not more than a couple alternatives. main st. has a lot of little coffee shops and cute restaurants to go to, which is really nice if you're looking to get off campus. also if you have a car, portland is really nearby (25 min) and is a really fun city to explore, and there are a lot of fun beaches to go to/cool maine outdoors activities to do if you're adventurous.

One of the most popular groups on campus is V-Day, which is a group dedicated to stopping violence against women. They sponsor many activities on campus and every year they put on the Vagina Monologues. This year, in fact, Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day and author of the Vagina Monologues, came to Bowdoin to speak during Common Hour. It was one of the most incredible talks I've ever heard at Bowdoin and elsewhere. I am involved with the Bowdoin Women's Lacrosse team. It's a spring sport, so I don't have too much of a social life in the spring outside of the team. It's an incredible group of girls and we have so much fun together on the weekends, at practice and during the week. Athletic events are pretty popular on the weekends. More so in the fall than the spring, because the weather is nicer, but Bowdoin definitely comes out to support their teams--even for away games. Many students attend Common Hour every Friday, where a guest speaker comes and talks for an hour. It is free for students and faculty and it's a great activity. I met my best friends through Pre-O, Freshman floor, lacrosse and other friends. People at Bowdoin party frequently (I think). Thursday nights are pretty big, especially if there is a DJ at the pub (Bowdoin students love dance parties). Friday nights are usually a little quieter, but there is definitely parties going on, they're just a little lower key. Saturdays are huge. Most everyone goes out and frequently there are a couple upper classman parties (which basically any grade can attend) and at least one social house will have a themed party. (Social House parties also happen on Friday nights sometimes too). Sunday nights are big for athletic teams. A lot of times teams will have games on Saturday and Sunday and then have off practice on Monday so they'll go out Sunday night and most of the time a fair amount of the rest of campus will go out too. Generally, Bowdoin students work hard and party hard.

As a freshman, everyone's really friendly and outgoing, but that quickly changes as social groups get set. No one dates here, only hooks up (often drunkenly), or has long, important relationships. We don't have fraternities. You can go to lectures, etc., but if you don't have a really big group of friends who don't drink and you're single, it's hard to find things to do on the weekend. Sometimes you can go to Portland if you know someone with a car.

There's so much to do here, which makes this college so special. You just cant be bored, as long as you try to find somethting.

Greek life was removed from Bowdoin more than ten years ago, but it was replaced with the College House System. There are eight first-year dorms, which are always affiliated with the same College House. Incoming students are placed in their dorms and affiliated with a house, which they will be affiliated with all four years (and forever). The student members of the houses are active during orientation, getting the new students settled in. They house members help the first-years move in and choose classes. Throughout the rest of the year, the houses help sponsor student groups, clubs, and offer venues for musical performances. They also generally alternate offering campus-wide or affiliate parties every weekend, which are registered with the college, but are a safe, fun place to drink, dance, etc. The House system in my opinion is pretty flawless. There are friendly rivalries between neighboring houses, which were originally frat houses and still uphold traditions. Beginning sophomore year, students can live in the houses, which are made up of about 20-28 students and run by a president. Last weekend the College House that I live in had a two night party with four kegs each night. The current house members also did a bit of celebrating with last year's residents on Thursday night. Olympic games of sorts may or may not have been involved (drinking games are technically illegal on campus, but that really isn't enforced). Everyone in the house had a great time throwing the party and we had great attendance.

lots of varsity athletes as well as a large following for Intramural sports. Lots of hanging around with friends, just talking--very interesting people to talk to. Not a very big dating scene. Always things to do on the weekend.

Athletics dominate the activity/social scene. I played sports freshman year, but quit because it was too large of a time commitment, and wasn't worth the supposed social benefits that came with it. Plenty of drinking (beer and hard stuff) on the weekends. If you don't drink, there's not a whole lot else to do on the weekends. I mean, it is Brunswick, not NYC-you can't just decide you'll go see a show on broadway or listen to some live jazz.