Bates, Bowdoin and Colby Colleges?

[MaryAnnDVC]

What can you tell me about Bates, Bowdoin and/or Colby Colleges and the surrounding areas? Went to an Open House at Bates today, and DD and I both LOVED it, but the more information we get, the better. (She's a Junior in HS...we're just starting the college search.) We also popped in briefly to Bowdoin...will have to make another trip when we have more time; our first reaction wasn't as good as Bates, but will keep an open mind until we get a chance to take a tour, etc. We did like the surrounding area of Bowdoin tho, at least what we saw of Brunswick vs Lewiston.

TIA for any information.

 

[my3kids]

If she likes the feel of these competive small colleges, she might want to look at Washington & Lee in VA. www.wlu.edu A very highly rated small college in a nice town, without the New England winters!

 

[Poohstyx]

Hi Mare! I can't answer your question. I just wanted to say hello. I can't believe you're looking at colleges. Good luck with the search.

Say hello to "Just Dave" and the kids.

Poohstyx

 

[Mermaid02]

My husband's cousin graduated from Bates... Those are all excellent schools with wonderful reputations!

 

[chrissyk]

Those are considered good schools. That said, I have to be a dissenting voice here. I have friends from high school who went to Colby and Bates. Neither of those schools prepared my friends for having a career afterwards! Grad school wasn't an option for them...it was a necessity. Colby was the 1st college in the nation to top 30K a year in tuition. The same year that they did that, they graduated one of my friends with a degree in Social Studies. I'm not kidding. Social Studies. Yes, like the class you take in 4th grade As you might imagine, she had quite a time actually getting a job. 30K a year in tuiton, and she had to go BACK to school to become a paralegal.

The girl that went to Bates eventually went to Law School at the UofMaine and does have a career now. She had to go to Law school, because she couldn't get a job with her Bates degree.

IMHO these schools are too expensive to be graduating "educated" young people without jobs. Unless your DD is planning on major grad-school work, I'd make a stop into the career office of both schools before I made any decisions.

 

[monkeyboy]

Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine, is one of the country's most elite liberal arts colleges. Founded in 1794, the school boasts such famous alumni as Franklin Pierce, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, John Brown Russwurm, Robert E. Peary, Alfred Kinsey, and Joan Benoit Samuelson. Bowdoin is intimately connected with the American Civil War. Some have said the war began and ended in Brunswick, as Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin while her husband was teaching at Bowdoin, and Chamberlain was responsible for receiving the surrender of the Confererate army at Appomattox.
In 1970, the institution stopped requiring SAT scores for admission. In 1971, the first co-educational class matriculated. Just a few years ago the school received national recognition again for converting the long-standing frat system to "the social house system," under which incoming freshmen are automatically assigned a house affiliation.

As of 2003, 1600 students attend Bowdoin College, nestled in the pine trees of Maine. They study hard during the week, but an old hockey rivalry with Colby and beer pong largely fuel the social life on the weekends. Yet activist groups are beginning to gain momentum in light of the rapidly decaying world situation, and publications such as Ritalin, a controversial humor magazine; Naked, an opinion/lit mag; and the Disorient and the Patriot, respectively the liberal and conservative newspapers, are reflections of the ever-broadening student perspective. The Bowdoin Orient is the main student newspaper and is the largest one on campus; it claims to be the "oldest continuously published college weekly in the United States." Brunswick doesn't offer a bustling night life for students under 21, but the larger city of Portland is just a half hour away.

Many of the students are from New England prep schools, but the student population gets more diverse every year. The Bowdoin Dining Services has a high reputation, and was rated the best college food service in the country by the Princeton Review in 2003.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hey Mare. A Poohstyx hello. Yikes, college!! Can't believe she is that old already.

Good book to pick, often recommend to my clients and others here on the board, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-0016484-1635044?v=glance&s=books It is most helpful in learning how to complete the required financial forums along with many ins and outs of the process, and it is easy to comprehend. I bought a new one each year the kids were in college, like a new Passporter each year, similar, yet significant differences, you need to know. First year for you would be this year to get ready.

 

[Auggietina]

I know nothing about which of the schools is better, but I do know a little about the area.
I work not too far from Bates. The Bates area is nice. You don't need to go to far though and you are in the 'bad' parts of town. Lewiston/Auburn (or LA as we like to call it ) are typical small towns. If you drink coffee - Dunkin Donuts is really the only place to get a cup of coffee around here. If I was going to get sick though, the best hospitals are in Lewiston. Brunswick and Waterville IMO are much pretty towns. LA is dirty compared to the other two. Brunswick has naval base in town and is near the coast. Waterville is the farther north than the other two. My brother lives there. Both have quaint Main Streets and I feel safe walking down them.
Do you have any specific questions about the area?

 

[my3kids]

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/libartco/tier1/t1libartco_brief.php

This is the top tier and second tier in the US NEWS top liberal arts colleges.

 

[Crankyshank]

I have friends that went to all 3 colleges, Mare. They're all really good schools

Colby seemed to have a lot more "prep school" kids. Bates has a great history program , according to my friend.
How about Stonehill?

PS. I'm a social studies major
It's the only way I could double major in history and psych. elementary school social studies is absolutely nothing like my class requirements, thank you very much. It's a way to double major in 2 specific liberal arts programs at my school.

 

[danacara]

All fantastic schools and worthy of a tour. Your daughter must be a pretty smart cookie.

P.S. it's generally harder to get a job with a humanities degree than it is with a hard science or otherwise quantitative background. I had friends who majored in politics and English at Princeton in 2002 and struggled a bit in the job market, but certainly no one who had to go back to school for total lack of options. If you go to a good school and get decent grades and are even minimally socially astute, you will get a job. Then again, I definitely made a conscious choice to major in something more professionally oriented. If she wants a lock on a job, she can consider majoring in economics at any of those schools, in four years call me, and setting her up with a few interviews should be no problem at all. Good luck.

 

[pumba]

Bates is a beautiful campus and the area around there is not bad at all. My sister in law works for Bates and they have so many international students there.......My brother is a Bates Alumni and speaks fondly of the campus itself......Bates is a private college and does fairly well with the scholorships and grants that they allow......I do not consider our town dirty as previously noted...the one area that the previous poster may of been talking about is downtown towards the mills and that area......Bates kids are welcomed to our city and they are involved with our city from day One......hope your school search is an easy one....Our granddaughter is already starting the looking and she is a sophmore in highschool......

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by Crankyshank
I have friends that went to all 3 colleges, Mare. They're all really good schools

Colby seemed to have a lot more "prep school" kids. Bates has a great history program , according to my friend.
How about Stonehill?

PS. I'm a social studies major
It's the only way I could double major in history and psych. elementary school social studies is absolutely nothing like my class requirements, thank you very much. It's a way to double major in 2 specific liberal arts programs at my school.

Crankyshank, I've never heard of anyone else majoring in Social Studies, so I do apologize! I'm glad to hear that other schools have a normal Social Studies major that encompasses other disciplines.

The Social Studies that my friend majored in was very much of the 4th grade variety, though. She switched to it from majoring in something biology-related because it was easier. She couldn't get a job to save her life after graduation. The weird thing was that she acted like her Colby degree should have been her ticket to any job she wanted. Eventually she got the picture and went back to school and became a paralegal.

I guess that I look at her and wonder how her parents feel...they spent goodness knows how much on prep. school and around $110K on Colby all to have her take a community college course and become a paralegal. I think that she just got some bad "guidance" from the college/career councelors assigned to her.

 

[aprincessmom]

She switched to it from majoring in something biology-related because it was easier. She couldn't get a job to save her life after graduation. The weird thing was that she acted like her Colby degree should have been her ticket to any job she wanted.

There are very few colleges in the world that allow you to just write your ticket to any job you want regardless of your major. Also, it is not up to the college to pick your major, it's up to the student. If she chose to major in that and then discovered that it didn't qualify her for many career opportunities then shame on her for not thinking things through.

I know and work with people who went to all three and got wonderful educations and have successful careers in biotechnology, financial services, and politics. They loved being in New England (close to home but more skiing opportunities) and liked the small college/quality education atmosphere that prevails at all three.

Good luck to your DD...she can't go wrong at any of them!

 

[my3kids]

Many many schools offer a liberal arts education and I for one think it is an excellent preparation for any career one chooses. An English major can write, synthesize complex material and likely also took econonomics and psychology. A math major probably took enough history to be versed in American politics and read works of great literature. A history major understands where we've been and also probably took enough computer science courses to know where we're going. I do not think a liberal arts education means you have to be wiling to go to graduate school. A liberal arts degree says you have explored with interest a number of different disciplines and would be employable and trainable for most any job out there.

Anyone who thinks the college graduated from assures them of a job upon graduation(except of course the US Service academies!) probably didn't pay much attention to the public speaking courses and career development workshops they would have had in a liberal arts setting!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Meant to get back to this thread sooner...sorry. Thanks so much for the information, both positive and negative. We need to make an informed decision, and want to hear it all.

Dana, she is a smart cookie but I know it takes a lot more than being smart. She's involved in several school activities, but not a leader (doesn't hold office) in any of them. Her boyfriend's sister was an extremely good high school student and involved in activities, but didn't get into Bates...she did get into Bowdoin tho.

Dan...thank you for the book info!! I'm about to order it, which reminded me that I hadn't come back to this thread to thank everyone! And yes...COLLEGE! I don't know how this happened...she was just A BABY!

And Poohstyx...HELLO!!! From JustDave too!!!