Tell me about the Maine private schools

[Anonymous]

Colby, Bowdoin, Bates - anyone familiar with all three and can speak to their culture, admissions selectivity, location?

[Anonymous]

Maybe tell us about the kid and what they are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Bates and Colby are not too hard to get into in ED but impossible in RD (bc they fill so many spots in ED). Bowdoin is impossible always.

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin- outdoorsy, environmental, extremely friendly student body, culture of Bowdoin logs and quality food, has a beautiful part of campus on an island, basement parties, cheap trip to Boston, big majors- history, government, economics, and education.

[Anonymous]

Sure.

Weighted GPA 4.2, might be good enough in sport to play D3 but if not would want to play club sport. Not quite sure what he wants to study, perhaps political science, business, or something in health. Progressive white, UMC male who is kind and friendly. Very social but not a huge partier. Looking for community and great groups of friends. I think he would be happy at a lot of different schools so just trying to put some small D3 schools on our list of potential visits.

[Anonymous]

I live in Maine and have spent time on all three campuses. Bowdoin is by far the most appealing location, nice little town and not terribly far from Portland, close to the water too. I like the Bates campus and I have no issues with Lewiston, but definitely the town gets a bit of a bad rap. Colby feels pretty out there in the middle of nowhere to me in Waterville. As you can imagine in Maine there are lots of alumni from all three and generally a pretty high level enthusiasm for the experiences they offer. Probably more alike than they are different, but Bowdoin has long been considered the most intellectual of the three, Colby and Bates more preppy/sporty.

[Anonymous]

Is there skiing near any of them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure.

Weighted GPA 4.2, might be good enough in sport to play D3 but if not would want to play club sport. Not quite sure what he wants to study, perhaps political science, business, or something in health. Progressive white, UMC male who is kind and friendly. Very social but not a huge partier. Looking for community and great groups of friends. I think he would be happy at a lot of different schools so just trying to put some small D3 schools on our list of potential visits.

Health? Business? Why is he considering liberal arts colleges at all? Those are not liberal arts subjects and will not be well represented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure.

Weighted GPA 4.2, might be good enough in sport to play D3 but if not would want to play club sport. Not quite sure what he wants to study, perhaps political science, business, or something in health. Progressive white, UMC male who is kind and friendly. Very social but not a huge partier. Looking for community and great groups of friends. I think he would be happy at a lot of different schools so just trying to put some small D3 schools on our list of potential visits.

Health? Business? Why is he considering liberal arts colleges at all? Those are not liberal arts subjects and will not be well represented.

I went to a liberal arts school and we had both a PT/OT program and a business major. He's a sophomore, has not really figured everything out yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure.

Weighted GPA 4.2, might be good enough in sport to play D3 but if not would want to play club sport. Not quite sure what he wants to study, perhaps political science, business, or something in health. Progressive white, UMC male who is kind and friendly. Very social but not a huge partier. Looking for community and great groups of friends. I think he would be happy at a lot of different schools so just trying to put some small D3 schools on our list of potential visits.

Health? Business? Why is he considering liberal arts colleges at all? Those are not liberal arts subjects and will not be well represented.

I went to a liberal arts school and we had both a PT/OT program and a business major. He's a sophomore, has not really figured everything out yet.

At none of these liberal arts colleges are these programs offered. Those just aren’t liberal arts subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there skiing near any of them?

Colby is near Sugarloaf. Tour guide said he skied there five days a week in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Maine and have spent time on all three campuses. Bowdoin is by far the most appealing location, nice little town and not terribly far from Portland, close to the water too. I like the Bates campus and I have no issues with Lewiston, but definitely the town gets a bit of a bad rap. Colby feels pretty out there in the middle of nowhere to me in Waterville.

I don't live there but visited all three campuses. I thought Colby was the most beautiful, but you have to like the great outdoors. Thought Waterville was a nice town. Bowdoin was second. Bates was not a very appealing campus and Lewiston was gross.

[Anonymous]

In terms of admissions selectivity, from most to least: Bowdoin (tough admit across the board), Colby (for strong students easy ED admit), Bates (for strong students easiest ED admit).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Maine and have spent time on all three campuses. Bowdoin is by far the most appealing location, nice little town and not terribly far from Portland, close to the water too. I like the Bates campus and I have no issues with Lewiston, but definitely the town gets a bit of a bad rap. Colby feels pretty out there in the middle of nowhere to me in Waterville.

I don't live there but visited all three campuses. I thought Colby was the most beautiful, but you have to like the great outdoors. Thought Waterville was a nice town. Bowdoin was second. Bates was not a very appealing campus and Lewiston was gross.

DD admitted to Bates RD last year. Before visiting for accepted students day, everyone referred to Lewiston in the worst terms possible, almost warning her not to go. True, Lewiston is not a shiny, sanitary college town, but being near "real" people and the integration between Bates and Lewiston was a plus for my DD.

For context, we live downtown in a large metro (bigger, more diverse than DMV) so the change was appealing and no big deal to my DD. She was not interested in feeling completely sequestered from the real world. Sure, Lewiston is not for everyone indeed (what is?) but DD was so impressed with how nice and down-to-earth Bates students were. She picked it over other higher-ranked SLACs and is loving it. I would suggest touring and garnering your own opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there skiing near any of them?

Colby is near Sugarloaf. Tour guide said he skied there five days a week in the winter.

Define "near"...We lived in Augusta (20 minutes to Colby) and the loaf is about 90 minutes away.

Bates practices at Lost Valley, a great little ski area about 15 minutes from campus. Bowdoin is about 90 minutes to Sunday River, Colby is 90 to Sugarloaf/Saddleback. Real skiers would of course go to Middlebury but all the Maine schools are close enough. Facilities wise Colby just finished huge athletic upgrades and has by far the best current athletic facilities. Bowdoin is about to start construction on theirs, their campus overall is the best. Bates is quirky. All are among the most selective of the NESCACs just below Williams/Midd/Amherst