Bowdoin College

Academic life

“To carry the keys of the world’s library in your pocket, and feel its resources behind you  in whatever task you undertake” is part of The Offer of the College, a sort of proto-Mission Statement, ubiquitous within the community ever since a former Bowdoin president penned it a century ago. Bowdoin remains true to this liberal arts ethos, with an academic program designed to broaden the range of the intellect rather than stuff it with facts.

Of the total, students must take one course on mathematical, computational, or statistical reasoning; one course on inquiry in the natural sciences; one course on “exploring social differences;” one course on “international perspectives;” and one course in the visual and performing arts. Courses are designed to help students hone their written and analytic skills, deepen their aesthetic judgments, use varied forms of informational resources, and create multifaceted solutions to complex problems.

In addition, students are required to take one first-year seminar by the end of their second semester. These seminars provide an opportunity for students to take a small, seminar-style class about a topic of interest that is also directed toward building students’ writing, critical reading, research, and analytic skills. The courses range widely; a few examples include: (mass media in America politics; seekers’ live; dreaming in the middle age; non-violence, nukes and nationalism.)

Students are allowed to direct their own studies, taking classes in many different fields outside their major. Pursing two majors is not all uncommon. Requirements for the major vary, but eight to ten courses is a rough standard.

Along with introductory-level course (average size of 30), freshmen (known as “first years” at Bowdoin) may end up taking the regular course offerings that are the bread-and-butter of upperclassmen. These classes have an average size of sixteen. Toward the end of the Bowdoin experience, most students are back in senior seminars-the small, upper-level classes designed primarily for majors. Students are permitted to take up to four classes on a “credit/fail” basis, which allows for a greater opportunity for pressure-free academic exploration.

Independent study and honors projects

Independents study is very popular at Bowdoin, chiefly owing to the motivation of the students and accessibility of the professors. Such projects allow the student (typically a junior or senior, but not always) to choose a topic, set specific goals and schedules, and work closely with a professor. An independent study usually replaces one of the four classes the student would normally take, and work like a class credit toward graduation and, if applicable, the major.

Many projects beign as an extension of work that a student and professor explored earlier-or had to pass up-in a traditional classroom course. Sometimes students with similar interests will band together, find a professor, and use the independent study model to create what is for all intents and purposes a private class. Popular professors have been known to direct three or four projects in one semester, in addition to their classroom duties.

Off-campus study

Many Bowdoin students (about sixty percent) study off campus, usually abroad, for a semester or two of their junior year. Bowdoin sponsors a well-respected program known as the Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education. Students participate in more than one hundred additional approved study-abroad programs.

Students less exotically inclined may also choose to study for a year at one of the schools in the Twelve College Exchange:  (Amherst, Connecticut, Dartmouth, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Trinity, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Wheaton, and Williams.)

Other possibilities, for students who want both a large university’s resources as well as the liberal arts milieu, are the 3-2 engineering degree programs with Columbia and the California Institute of Technology or the 3-2 law program with Columbia.

Social life and activities

All kinds of off-campus activities are available within a short distance of the campus. Bowdoin is a short walk from downtown Brunswick, where students’ favorite stops are two Indian restaurants, a small music store, and a small movie theater filled with sofas and featuring indie films. A ten screen cinema is a few miles from campus.

 The outing club arranges canoe trips, hiking, skiing, biking, and other outdoor activities. Many incoming students participate in preorientation trips that last three or four days, at which time new students bond with their classmates and enjoy Maine’s woods and waterfall students at Bowdoin are allowed to have a car on campus, although first-years are last in the parking-sticker pecking order.

Athletics

Bowdoin is passionate about athletics. One of the most striking aspects of the college culture, according to visitors, is how many students participate in intercollegiate and intramural sports. The school’s gyms see a lot of daily use too; many men and women jog and lift weights.

There are brand-new squash facilities, a new Astroturf field, a boathouse, and indoor and outdoor tracks. Driving, swimming, and water polo teams share a sixteen-lane swimming pool. Cross-county and squash are dominant in their competitions. The ski team is division I, but the hockey team, which plays in the quaint shabbiness of Dayton Arena (slated to be replaced by a new arena in 2008), is central to Bowdoin pride. Many Bowdoin graduates cherish the memory of crowding into Dayton on grim winter nights and joining in ribald cheers with a crowd of students and local Mainers alike. The Colby Bowdoin matchup is not to be missed.

Club sports like crew and rugby are also popular, and intramural competition (usually dorm vs. dorm) is common on Bowdoin’s thirty-five acres of fields. Bowdoin is not a “jock” school, but it’s fair to say that there aren’t many idle bodies here.

Financial aid

The college is committed to making a Bowdoin education available to students regardless of their financial situation. Financial aid at Bowdoin is need-based, which is to say that award packages are not dispensed according to academic or athletic merit. These packages include some combination of grants, loans and students employment.

The amount of financial aid given to each individual student is dependent on the financial situation of the student’s family. Need is determined by an evaluation of financial resource statements that the applicant submits to the Students Aid Office, and decisions are made annually on an individual basis. Financial aid extends to the semesters during which a student’s recipient studies off campus. Furthermore, the college is able to offer some scholarships for postgraduate study at other institutions.

Some sixty percent of Bowdoin students work in part-time jobs on campus. Clerical work in an academic department, shelving books in the library, and driving the campus shuttle are some examples. There are plentiful off campus jobs too.