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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One of my kids attended and graduated from Bowdoin.

It's generally an upper middle class prep school vibe. There are lots of kids from New England. You should like winter - not just tolerate it but like snow. The kids are generally nice, well-rounded and outdoorsy. The academics are hard and the administration can be somewhat parental. This last point is good and bad - they look after the kids in prep school fashion (for ex, first semester, my kid's friend was called in because one of the professors noticed they hadn't been as upbeat and the school wanted to make sure they were okay) but I also thought that as junior/ senior year and then graduation approached, the school controlled who got certain opportunities - internships, who got into certain classes, etc. It's not too different from private schools in that way but I attended and graduated from a flagship.

The town is cute and the school runs shuttle buses to Freeport. Portland is half an hour away but requires a car or a ride from someone. Lots of kids do junior year abroad. The kids form close friendships and the school emphasizes 'giving back.' Some of my kids' friends went on to law school, medical school, vet school - but  others became teachers (the school actually produces quite a few teachers), another worked for a religious charity for years, another taught English abroad. Again, the school emphasizes 'giving back.'

Yes, admissions was hard and I was thrilled when my kid was accepted. [/quote]

I am glad your kid had a good experience, but this makes it sound so sheltered I almost don’t understand how it is so highly ranked. Did your DC graduate recently?[/quote]

In a increasingly crappy world, being a sheltered oasis is a huge plus point [/quote]

College is a time to start to grow and mature. Hard to picture that in the environment PP describes which sounds like Sidwell II. [/quote]

I don't know. In a panel we saw there, they told the story of a kid who came and was not attending classes consistenly. Some high level administrator sat him down (maybe even knocked on this dorm room door) and explained that it was a privilege to go there. That he had an opportunity that many others would appreciate and if he did not start using it wisely, it would be taken away."

Basically, that kid was NOT mature enough for college and got the talk I think he needed. It is hard to predict how even good kids will react to being away from home the first time. I am glad that there is an alert adult around to catch that kid early and help him get back on track. That would not have happened at a big state school, but I found it to be a reassuring story. [/quote]

Swarthmore admin went out of their way to help my sister, check in on her personally when she was having issues too.

And swat does that while being way way way more economically and racially diverse.

What you describe as the support structure in Bowdoin also happens in other schools.

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