Bowdoin College

Get to know Bowdoin College
School Profile
Suburban campus setting
1,881 undergraduate students
507 first-year students
18% first-generation students (Class of 2029)
Students hail from 49 U.S. states and 62 countries
Admissions
7% applicants admitted in the Class of 2029
50% of the incoming Class of 2029 chose not to submit standardized test scores.
Academics
Introduction to Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College is a nationally recognized college on the coast of Maine, home to roughly 2,000 students. Bowdoin represents an idea that if you give smart, kind young people access to one of the best educations on earth, they will use it to create good in the world. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and locations; they are thoughtful, curious, and willing to take risks.
At Bowdoin, you'll collaborate across writing seminars, field research, and through 45+ areas of academic study to work hard toward the common good. And the Bowdoin community also does the hard work: constantly challenging themselves to be more inclusive and welcoming. 18% of students in the first-year class are first generation college students. Bowdoin is need blind, meets full calculated need of all admitted students with grants and need-based scholarships—not loans, and their all-encompassing support follows students through your entire college career.
Bowdoin's alumni network is distinguished, diverse, and fiercely loyal: they contribute hundreds of internships and job opportunities to Bowdoin students and graduates, in fields from law and finance to software engineering, media, and medicine. Additional academic advising is available to students pursuing medicine and other health professions. Bowdoin's campus in coastal Maine provides access to beaches, mountains, lakes and rivers, galleries, restaurants, and museums. Bowdoin's location is also a driving force in the teaching and study of the environment, with ocean-front research facilities at the Schiller Coastal Studies Center, and a biological field station on Kent Island. Bowdoin's thriving hometown of Brunswick is accessible via Amtrak and is a half-hour drive or bus ride from Portland, Maine, and the Portland International Jetport.
As part of the Digital Excellence Commitment, all Bowdoin students receive a MacBook Pro, iPad mini, and an Apple Pencil. All the software you'll need is included and all of it is covered by AppleCare. The equipment is yours: take it when you study abroad, use it during internships, cover it with your favorite stickers, and keep all of it when you graduate.
Students can apply for funded internships, which provide a stipend to pursue interests in fields that can’t always afford to pay interns. Each year, over 150 funded interns receive financial support of $6,000—plus an additional $1,000 for students on aid.