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Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

Get to know Bowdoin College

School Profile

Suburban campus setting

1,950 undergraduate students

500 first-year students

21% first-generation students (Class of 2027)

67% from outside of New England (Class of 2027)

Admissions

8% applicants admitted in the Class of 2027

50 citizenships represented in the Class of 2027

Academics

43 majors and 45 minors

Student-to-faculty ratio 9:1

Average class size is 16 

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, they collaborate across writing seminars, field research, and through eighty majors and minors to work hard towards the common good. And the Bowdoin community also does the hard work: constantly challenging themselves to be more inclusive and welcoming. 21% of students 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 their 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. Their 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.

Fun Fact: The founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, graduated from Bowdoin with a math major!

In 1969, Bowdoin adopted the first test-optional admissions policy in the country —and they’ve been striving to be creative, bold, and authentic in making the College more accessible ever since. 44% of students chose not to submit test results.

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.

Explore Bowdoin College through photos

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