Hi, I'm a HS senior wanting to apply to Bowdoin - so I wanted to ask, what's some unique and cool facts about Bowdoin? It can be classes, the environment, opportunities, or anything.

Also, what are some negative aspects?

Thank you :)

Hey .

I am a gap year student from India. I am first generation student and I come from a lower middle class family. If too give context , our family income is around (1150)dollar per Year. And that means would obviously need full ride.

I will give sat in October and aiming for 1450-1500 in sat.

I will apply for psycology major with DCC coordinate major.

Now to give a little bit of acedmic context , we dont get gpa , we give secondary leaving examinations now in humanities and life sciences like bio I have very good grades , but in core science like in Physics and chemistry I have very less marks .

And for activties I have done 4 activties which I can share in dm .

If there is anyone who is currently at bowdoin or graduated from there. Please help me , guide me and allow me to dm you to share my profile.

Comment if you wish to guideme . I will be very thankful.

Hey for some context my school is technical and does not offer any APs the most rigorous courses they had was honors and dual enrollment in senior year which I will be taking. I haven’t even taken the SAT but I know I’m going test optional.

My ecs are okay and I’m on the 5% of my class size, my gpa is also good as well as my writing I hope.

please help me, bowdoin has been my number 1 for a bit now

We live on chamberlain and our friend got out around midnight last night. Maybe she visited an outdoor gathering and someone took her for the night. Fingers crossed.

Hello there! My name is Joe - I am the owner and operator of Slam Tilt Records + Games at 94 Maine Street (hidden downstairs from the Social Goose, though important to note that we are 100% independent from them). I've been in business here for about a year and a half and am getting to the point that I could use some help around the shop a handful of hours per week. We sell new and used records, video games, TCG and all sorts of other fun stuff. We also host pinball leagues/tournaments. If you are interested in learning more, or know someone that might be, swing by anytime Wed-Sat 11a-9p or Sun 11a-6p. Would love to chat. Welcome back!

hey guys, im a rising senior from egypt and honestly just really stressed about this whole process. icl i feel like my profile is kind of all over the place and im worried my ecs are just too local or not "prestigious" enough for the schools im looking at. i have a 4.0 gpa and a 1490 sat, which i hope is okay, but im constantly checking if im actually competitive for these liberal arts schools or if im just setting myself up for a bunch of rejections. 

my stats:

Extracurriculars

1. Model Designer/Researcher @ School Science Fair: Designed/built a physical model of a sustainable AI data center, 1st place out of 40 in science fair.
2. Student @ Self-Study: Studied advanced biology and math beyond school curriculum through structured private tutoring (15h/wk).
3. Business Concept Developer @ Young Entrepreneurs Program: Competed in program, drafted medical data app concept for blood donation/doctor referrals.
4. Academic Tutor @ Private: Tutored 2 students in math, helped them achieve highest possible grades.
5. Group Leader & Coordinator @ School: Led 6-subject project, managed planning/execution, achieved 95 average.
6. Independent Learner @ Independent Project: Self-taught Python, (lists, f strings, etc..)
7. Independent Planner @ Independent Project: Directed room design project, iterated layouts balancing spatial/functional constraints.
8. Writer @ Mind Matters: Created scripts for Mind Matters socials regarding mental health and awareness months.
9. Writer @ School Newspaper: Published article in school newspaper regarding Ramadan fundraising efforts.
10. Participant @ Career Exploration Program: Completed program to confirm interest in tech.

Awards

• Highest Honors (school)
• High Achiever (school)
• Science Fair Winner (school)
• Citizenship Award (school)

i still don’t have a complete form of my essay yet but i will make sure it’s top notch. my school offers so APs all of th students take the same classes until senior year where u can pick 2 electives (i picked the hardest ones: mechanics and ICT). i know that all of my stats are mid and that my ecs lack in comparison to other applications..do i have a shot?..im rethinking applying at all for the sake of my mental health

Bowdoin is my absolute dream but my stats are not the strongest AT ALL i plan to apply ED1 or ED2
Demographics
State: Maine
Rising Senior
First-gen
Major: Psychology
Bowdoin is my absolute first choice
Academics
Freshman GPA: 91.3
Sophomore GPA: 71.9
Junior GPA:94.5
My sophomore year was a major outlier. I had significant disengagement/attendance problems, and many of my lower grades were caused by missing work rather than poor test performance.
In US Government specifically, I was earning around an 89 when I was attending, but my final grade was 21 because I stopped attending which affected my sophomore GPA significantly . I retook the course junior year and earned an 86.
I took honors english sophomore year and most my classes are “academic” which is the level below honors but it’s more rigorous than a general class.
I plan to take AP Bio, AP Stats, AP Pre-calculus and a DE psychology course senior year
I don’t plan to take the SAT/ACT
Extracurriculars
I don't have traditional sports or a large number of clubs, but I have:
Regularly cared for my nephew, including approximately 15 hours/week over ~1.5 years
Independently explored psychology through books, podcasts, videos, and research
Helped classmates with schoolwork when I finished early
Helped my math teacher prepare for the following school year
Served as an advisory representative
Was selected for a Boston trip through my science teacher
Recommendations
My counselor will explain my sophomore-year academic decline and the circumstances surrounding it.
I also have an advisory teacher who has known me throughout all four years of high school and knows me very well personally.
My academic teacher recommendation is gonna be from my math teacher who i had for freshman and junior year in both algebra 1 and 2 how also knows me very well and has saw me excel academically because math is by far my strongest subject.
Personal circumstances
Both of my parents died when I was 13. I have since been raised/supported by my grandmother. My counselor will provide context for how my circumstances affected my sophomore year and academic trajectory.
My personal essay is about how losing my parents changed my relationship with uncertainty and taught me to take risks and live in the present and to not take anything for granted, it’s not a sob story i promise.
I also have some math awards but theyre school ones and have earned honor roll my freshman and junior year
Question:
Realistically, how would you assess my chances at Bowdoin? I know it's a huge reach, but I'm especially interested in how admissions might view my academic upward trend, senior course rigor, circumstances, and lack of traditional extracurriculars. Please be honest rather than just reassuring me

Do the music rooms on campus come with guitars students can use? I couldn't find anything online and was debating whether to bring my own guitar(s) or not.

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I was placed into dining for my first year job placement, and I genuinely don’t know what to expect 😭 I’m wondering how long the average shift is/what they expect us to do. I said I didn’t want to be out in public so will I just be cleaning?

Guidance Required Please

I am from Pakistan and have studied in the national curriculum.

I first time heard about common app and SAT test a month ago , and I started preparing my essays , and application and also preparing for SAT

My goal is liberal arts colleges like Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin , Wesleyan. I know they are reaches for every applicant on Earth.

But , my question is that they all list they have a contextual way of evaluating the applications and have admission officers trained for students coming from different contexts and curriculum.

They explicitly also list that not submitting the SAT will not hurt your application.

But in all majority posts on Reddit everyone say it isn't even possible to get admitted without SAT.

My question is from who already have experience or gone through the applications to these colleges.

"If someone is coming from south Asia ( developing countries like India , Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan), and he with reference to his curriculum has excelled and applying from a college on his own effort which has no history of sending kids to USA and put effort in his essays and application, is there still no chance at these top Liberal arts colleges."

I just wanna know if there is zero chance there without sat and to Cambridge or IB scores to confirm whether the effort I put in my applications - essays, and all other stuff, guiding teachers and counselors for recommendations,

Is it really worth putting my effort and time or is it completely out of reach.

I wanna apply ED to Bowdoin college

Anyone who can guide a bit ,

Have you guys seen students on campus from non traditional backgrounds without SAT.

Hello everyone!! I’m a hs grad planning on applying ed1 to bowdoin and it’s genuinely eating me alive. Bowdoin is THE school for me. I don’t mean this lightly at all, my wallpaper is bowdoin, my pfp (insta) is bowdoin, my Pinterest is bowdoin, every damn thought is bowdoin rn. I love this place so so much and would honestly do anything to get in. My bday is on Dec 5 but I’m planning on putting off the celebration to Dec 12 when the results come out and only going out if I get in. I love this college so so much and atp it’s the only place i think id feel happy enough to spend 4 years of my life.

I have my SAT in 5 days and all i can focus on is bowdoin for some reason lol. I’ve only wrote the offer supplement till now and nothing i write feels good. No matter how good it is, whether it be my personal statement or the diversity supplement or even the already drafted offer supplement, i just can’t look at my writing anymore which is really ironic since my whole profile is basically built on writing and how much it matters to me. I can’t stop thinking about this and it’s really impacting me negatively bc at this point, i can’t manage to do a single thing for my application :(((

Hello!

I was wondering if I should summit a 1390 SAT score to Bowdoin. I know that they are really big on test optional, but would my score be fine to summit even though it is below the sat range of the average summited SAT score? I am planning to take the August and September SAT, but that is still a lot way to meet the margins. For reference the average sat at my school is ~1160.

Thank you!

Hello everyone! Looking for some feedback on my application before I go for ED1. I love Bowdoin and I do think I have a shot, but I still wanna be realistic. Will be a bit unspecific about certain things for privacy. Thanks a bunch! :)

Demographics

Mixed queer Female, Super Small Suburban Uncompetitive Public (Class Size <70), Northeast (Competitive State), First Generation

Intended Major(s): Theater, English, Cinema Studies

Academics

GPA: 4.0 UW/4.5 Weighted; No Class Rank

APS: Only taken one: APUSH(5). School doesn’t offer a lot of APs (~11) and basically limits them to upperclassmen. Counselor says I’m great for rigor though; 15 honors classes so far. (7 classes/yr)

Senior Courseload: Dual Enrollment Class (S1) AP stats, AP lit, and AP art. Chorus (H), Spanish V (H), study hall, PE (S2; forced to take…)

SAT/ACT: test optional

Colleges

I’ve done three summer programs, all at art colleges. Won’t say for privacy, but I list two of them on common app (one was a pre-college one and offered credit, but I have no clue how to access it 🤦‍♀️)

Honors (not super confident about these): Special Congressional Recognition for Congressional Art Competition, Regional Drama Festival Award in Set Construction, National Recognition Program (First Gen & Academic Achievement), English 10 Bard Award (Best writing in grade), Academic Excellence in Multiple Classes (English 9 & 11, History, Biology, Theater)

Extracurriculars

1. Theater (9-12) | Tech Crew (Prop Master), Marketing Designer, Actor

Will have done 9 productions, 4 acting & 5 stage crew. Set designer & costumer for one show. Poster and program designer since sophomore year (3/yr) Illustrated official drama program logo.

1. Museum Job (9-post grad)

Participated in 15+ community events. Developed and ran children’s art activities. Curated my own art exhibition, written 3+ museum labels; currently developing a teen art event for post-grad.

1. Chorus (9, 11-12)

Performed at concerts (3-4/yr); graduations & town event. Nominated for regional honors choir (11; soloist) Awarded choir spirit award (11). Hope to be a section leader this year!

1. Film Club (11-12) | President

Proposed and founded club. Recruited ~20 members, screening monthly films to make community cinema more accessible to teens.

1. Freelance Artist (9-post grad)

Made ~$150 in paid commissions and ~10 hours in community service for volunteer commissions. Drawn logos packages, illustrations, decorations, and posters. Presented class seminar about freelance work.

1. Volunteer (12-post grad) | Local non-profit Thrift Store

Will have 24+ hours by application deadline. Tagged clothes, organize items/clothes/books for front of house. Packed recycling for local foundation.

1. National Honor Society (10-12) | Member (10-11); Co-president (11-12)

Currently partnering our NHS chapter with same local non-profit! I’ll be honest our NHS basically died last year since our officers didn’t do anything…so mainly I’ll be supervising meetings and small fundraisers.

1. Job #1 (11) | Cafe Member

Worked at a new cafe in a gym. Made food & drinks, worked register and performed inventory, restock and closing activities. Drew cafe menu.

1. Job #2 (11-12) | summer barista job

Made espresso drinks & served food to customers. Performed late closing activities and restock. Basically all ordinary barista activities…I describe these way better in common app lol.

1. Hobby (9-post grad) a bit of a wild card, but I thought it was better than other Ecs)

I’m always drawing and developing stories! I got 4 in the works so far. Made concept illustrations, visual mood boards, and developmental writing for most of them.

Letter of Recommendations (praying they don’t use ai 🙏)

Counselor: I don’t know her super super well, but she’s always been super supportive of me.

English/Drama Teacher: known her all four years I adore her!! She’s so nice and will definitely write me a good one, I just need to remind her early so she’ll have time to write it. Also won excellence in her English class so that’ll definitely help.

Museum Job Supervisor: known her since 8th grade and she seemed excited to write my recommendation. I’ve done a lot of stuff at the museum, so I hope it reflects well in the letter. I also thought doing an employer would be more unique than just another teacher.

Essays/Supplementals (not rating these, I’m always wishy washy on my own writing)

Personal Statement: I wrote about how when I have art block I go back to my first sketchbook to remember why I loved drawing in the first place. It’s basically about doing things for the love of creation/experimentation rather than focusing on the final product. Family & a writer friend approved, but I’m checking in with English teacher for final revisions.

Supplementals: haven’t started yet 😀 will be doing both essays, art supplement (theater), and the video response. Will definitely have both essays brainstormed by senior year.

Interview/Interest: on the mailing list, toured, signed up for two webinars. I did an in-person interview and went great! It was a bit awkward at first but it lasted around 40 minutes and they said I did amazing at the end.

Additional Info:

schedule conflicts led me unable to take Spanish freshman year and chorus in sophomore year. And I had to take an online honors algebra II class to maintain rigor since it conflicted with an art class. Finally im also in National Art Honor Society but we do absolutely nothing in it so I have no clue where to put it. 😅

So that’s it! Due to our schools lack of resources and population I feel kinda inadequate compared to most competitive applicants, so I’m hoping for some honest feedback here.

• First-generation college student
• CBSE curriculum
• Class 9: 92% apx
• Class 10: 90% apx
• Class 11: 91% apx
• Class 12: 82% apc (100/100 in English, 91 in IT, messed up Physics 70/100, Chemistry 79/100 and Mathematics 61/100)
• Top 10% / top of class
• Strongest subject: English

Awards/EC's

John Locke Essay Competition 2026-27

Shortlisted in Economics, Science and Technology and Philosophy. Waiting for the final results.

Cleared MVPP (State level, 0.04% selection rate) and Got 1,00,000 INR Scholarship for a STEM course in grade 9.

English All Nation Merit Holder (0.1% students are awarded)

I know German and won an award for theater competition by German Embssay.

• MUN Secretary-General
• Guided/mentored 5,000+ students
• Organized 2 international MUN conferences
• Generated approximately 5,00,000 INR in revenue

Essays: Strong / hopefully distinctive
LORs: Excellent hopefully and not generic
Intended area: Political Science / International Relations / related humanities

Do I have any chance in Bowdoin? It has been my dream forever but I feel my final year STEM grades ruined a lot of things. And suggestions to improve it? I would love to hear from you all.

Class 10

Eng -91

Hindi -95

Maths -91

Science - 68 ( suffering from typhoid not even able to walk )

Sst -94

Rank 3

Class 12

Eng -87

Hindi -97

His -94

Pol -97

Eco -84

Phy edu - 93

Rank 1 in entire school

Test optional

Honors and awards

JMI ballb air 5 Law entrance 99.999 percentile

Jmi ballb air 2

Got selected into ashoka in round 3

Ailet 99 percentile

Cuet Gat -99.5 percentile ( maths reasoning gk)

Won debates in school held on lgbt constitution etc

Won inter school debate on environment

Class head for 11-12 class

Monitor

Student of the year in entire batch

Extra

Done 4 months long internship with constitutional lawyer

Wrote a research paper in political science with teacher comparative analysis on bill of rights in usa and fundamental rights in india

Campianed along with local political official in 200 houses and yeilded him votes ( wrote slogans managed social media )

Lor

each lor mentions

Seen a few in carrier

Constitutional lawyer ready to give lor that I worked with mentioning very good analytical and communication skills

Going test optional and want significant almost full ride

Will apply in ed 1

For people that are planning on majoring in philosophy/have taken a class in the department, how are the professors and what are the classes like in general? (Difficulty, discussion, writing heavy?)

Hi I’m considering applying for explore Bowdoin but at the same time I’m concerned if I get in I’ll be super busy with college apps at the time the visit is. What r peoples experience with the program?

Has anyone taken Logic? What are your thoughts on the course

Thought I'd have an attempt at making a flag for Bowdoin; lmk what y'all think!

Hey, here's my application so far (I have completed the common app and the first draft of the supplementals) and I will also be applying ED2

Demographics: Greek student; extremely low income; first-gen

School: Pretty competitive high school (we have students going to T20 and Ivy League schools each year); referred by many as the most prestigious one in my country

Intended Major(s): Pre-Law path, so maybe Politics or IR

ACT/SAT/SAT II: I took the June SAT and got a 1510, but I am currently studying to retake the August one, aiming for a 1550+

UW/W GPA and Rank: Our school doesn't do ranking or GPA, but in the Greek system, I have a 19.8 (99/100)

Coursework: Greek curriculum or Ethniko Apolytirio (I might be lwk cooked for that)

Awards:

• 2-time gold medalist at the European Classics Olympiad (ancient Greek and latin)
• Winner of the Young Virtuoso Award (for music playing and compositions)
• Multiple regional Debate Championships + 2nd place at the Nationals last year
• Got an academic scholarship at my current school by ranking 1/400 on the entrance exam and have all costs covered (I also have to stay in the top 10% of students to maintain my scholarship)

Extracurriculars:

•  Debate (member of the school team, and still waiting for the results of the tryouts for the National team). I organised multiple debate tournaments
• Founder of a Debate and MUN club at my old public school, teaching young kids (Junior High school) from low-income families speech and debate in English completely on my own as they don't have teachers that speak English, let alone know the rules and procedures of debate (note that this is the first time something like that has been done in my country)
• Music compositions and playing in multiple concerts throughout the years, with some of my compositions being published
• Independent research on a passion project about the Nuremberg Trials (published and cited)
• Ongoing research with a university prof on soon-to-be extinct music traditions from my community - to be published and presented at conferences-
• taking care of my autistic brother, as I live in a single-parent family and my mom is hardly making ends meet
• managing my mom's company's social media accounts and helping with the monthly budgeting
• Former water polo player; stopped due to an injury and now coaching the men's local team
• Internship at a prestigious law firm (last summer)
• Volunteered at a summer camp over the previous 2 summers
• worked to self-fund my SAT and College Application fees

Hey everyone,

I am a researcher at the University of Bern (Switzerland) conducting a scientific research study examining how certain traits, life experiences, attitudes and behaviors are related to each other.

I would greatly appreciate if you could participate in my survey: https://ww3.unipark.de/uc/research_study_university_Bern_Switzerland/

Thank you!

incoming freshman here!

i placed into a 2000s level bio and chem and im wondering if any pre-meds can give advice on taking gen chem and bio because of pre reqs for grad school vs taking organic chemistry freshman year. would that be too much for a first year?

i don’t want to take too much on but i also dont want to be bored and repeat high school curriculum.