Anonymous wrote:I think the NARP/athlete divide is less pronounced at both schools than it once was. That said, if it's a real concern, you might look more at SLACs outside the NESCAC, which is the most athlete-focused collection of SLACs.

+1

That said, if it’s between these 2 schools, I would give a slight edge to Williams for econ, but a bigger edge to Bowdoin for location.

For Econ, a SLAC, and non-athlete, check out Pomona. A top SLAC (tho perhaps a slightly easier admit for a boy), it has an Econ dept that's top-rate, the sports team combines students from both Pomona and Pitzer, so athletes represent a smaller percentage of the Pomona student body and don't dominate, and has strong offerings as well in the environmental sciences (a focus of a lot of students). Though Pomona is small (just shy of 2000 students), it's part of the Claremont Colleges, a single campus with 5,000 other students at Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Scripps and Pitzer that functionally operate as one school, providing more social diversity, opportunities to find friends, clubs, classes, etc. It's extremely rigorous but students are known for being nice. It's also beautiful, with great weather nearly year-round, and while not in LA, it's close enough for the occasional getaway and definitely not isolated like Williams. Tho plenty of students go on to Wall Street, it's probably a bit more academic/intellectual in its vibes. Also has fantastic food. It has a huge endowment (esp. per capita), so very generous with financial aid and other resources for research, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

Williams is pretty suffocating. The biggest difference is Bowdoin has an actual neighborhood of people living there, while Williams is a small island with no where to go

It's funny, Williams was the one that felt tiny to me. Like, a handful of buildings on either side of one street. That's it? Maybe we just had a bad tour. Very picturesque setting in spring/summer but not sure how it would feel in the winter. So impressed by the academics though. Bowdoin and Amherst felt about the same to me, small+. Not very interesting campuses. Middlebury felt largest, and prettiest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

Williams is pretty suffocating. The biggest difference is Bowdoin has an actual neighborhood of people living there, while Williams is a small island with no where to go

To be fair, to the north of Williamstown is Bennington Vermont, to the east is North Adams, to the south, Pittsfield. And Albany isn't too far. None of these are big cities, but for someone who just wants a change of scenery, there are options.

Anonymous wrote:Williams is very cliquish and there is an athlete/non-athlete divide socially.

Bowdoin is less cliquish, but there are cliques based on one's athletic team.

RE: Academically, both are strong for a liberal arts education.

If a student doesn't find his or her clique, both places can be lonely and isolated.

These are small, isolated schools. For the right person, it can be a nice experience.

Would anyone know if the challenges are the same as above at Vassar — since small if you dont your group it can be lonely and isolated?

I feel like artsy/theater/fringe types might have better representation at Vassar (not the majority, but present). It seemed less preppy when we were there. The library is nice, but Poughkeepsie, not so much. Convenient that you can take Amtrak from there to NYC/DMV (though I don't think kids go into NY often, for fun. It is too far). If you have a car, there are some pretty nature/outdoorsy outlets nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

That’s so funny because my UMD alum husband who was very anti-slac loved Bowdoin when we visited and thought it felt much larger than it was.

Also, surprised no one has mentioned the food 😆 When you visit Bowdoin, they offer you free dining hall meals for a reason.

While I recognize that perceptions often differ among individuals, it is difficult to accept that anyone found Bowdoin College's campus large (and I do understand that what you wrote was relative = larger than expected). I wonder if your husband meant less congested than expected. Very understandable if coming from a highly populated urban or suburban area as Bowdoin's campus does offer students a good bit of open space.

Bowdoin College has almost 120 buildings on 207 to 215 acres of land. Bowdoin has about 1,900 students. For those who prefer a small community, Bowdoin College might be an outstanding option to consider.

Yes, but of those 120 buildings, how many are larger than a house? Maybe 30-40?

The Bowdoin campus is compact. But the college also own a couple hundred acres of adjacent open space land with trails on it and Brunswick City and the local land trust control an amazing amount of open space land within a few miles of the campus, much of it connected with trails that are accessible right off campus. My DC likes to run and hike and says the students use these trails all the time. So, not quite the same as Williams with its Hopkins Forest, but for kids that need to get out in nature every day there are bountiful opportunities to do so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

That’s so funny because my UMD alum husband who was very anti-slac loved Bowdoin when we visited and thought it felt much larger than it was.

Also, surprised no one has mentioned the food 😆 When you visit Bowdoin, they offer you free dining hall meals for a reason.

While I recognize that perceptions often differ among individuals, it is difficult to accept that anyone found Bowdoin College's campus large (and I do understand that what you wrote was relative = larger than expected). I wonder if your husband meant less congested than expected. Very understandable if coming from a highly populated urban or suburban area as Bowdoin's campus does offer students a good bit of open space.

Bowdoin College has almost 120 buildings on 207 to 215 acres of land. Bowdoin has about 1,900 students. For those who prefer a small community, Bowdoin College might be an outstanding option to consider.

we had to pay for lunch at Bowdoin! no fair

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

Williams is pretty suffocating. The biggest difference is Bowdoin has an actual neighborhood of people living there, while Williams is a small island with no where to go

Anonymous wrote:Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

That’s so funny because my UMD alum husband who was very anti-slac loved Bowdoin when we visited and thought it felt much larger than it was.

Also, surprised no one has mentioned the food 😆 When you visit Bowdoin, they offer you free dining hall meals for a reason.

Bowdoin’s campus is tiny and we felt it was claustrophobic. Felt the same way about Amherst. Williams and Middlebury felt like they were the right size, especially considering their rural locations.

Bowdoin seems like a much better environment for college. Williams appeared incredibly dull, stuffy, and drilling levels of academic, because there really is nothing to do. Bowdoin kids can catch a ride to Boston for $10. They also have the ocean right there, and the students seemed drastically happier on admitted students day than the ones dc met for Williams.

DS is a current sophomore at Bowdoin. He loves it and calls it home. He is a non-athlete and has a nice group of friends (athletes and non). He takes advantage of outing club activities. He played a little bit of rugby in HS and works out periodically with the team....just because it is fun. He doesn't want to play right now, the guys welcome him with open arms -- the attitude is "the more the merrier"

Bowdoin is very accessible - Amtrak station next to campus, flights from Portland and Boston

The best thing he enjoys about Bowdoin is the focus on learning, interesting and challenging classes; and, access to professors. Office hours are a big deal. He has found they always make time to answer questions, talk, explore new ideas, asking thoughtful questions to direct and advance thinking. His favorite story -- Last semester he caught one prof. toward the end of an office hours and instead of telling him to come back later as the prof needed to get across campus for a meeting, the prof offered our son a cup of coffee, invited him to "walk and talk" -- in a 10 minute walk DS had his questions answered, learned about the research the prof. was engaged in and a shared interest in House of the Dragon.

We also looked at Willams, Middlebury and Colby -- Bowdoin was the right fit for him. Good luck

our private seems to have a good reputation w Williams and I have come to believe the LORs carry a lot of weight. I mean, they have the essays, GPA, stats .. I find it refreshing they dont require 3 more essays. it's a lot more work that covers much of the same ground. all kids have a quirky side, an essay about what class you'd teach etc doenst' really help a lot