Admissions Requirements of Bowdoin

 

     Gaining admission to Bowdoin gets harder each year. In 2006, Bowdoin accepted 1,667 of 5,401 applicants. That's less than twenty-two percent. Of those accepted, 483 matriculated--a full forty of them high school valedictorians. Since 1969 Bowdoin has made it optional to submit one's SAT scores, although most accepted students do, and the average score of that group is pretty high.

  Bowdoin's admissions committee reviews grades, a personal essay, awards and honors, extracurricular activities and accomplishments, and teacher recommendations. Of special to the committee is a demonstrated willingness to seek out intellectual challenges in Advanced Placement and Honors courses. Interviews, are strongly encouraged, and can be arranged during a campus visit or in one's hometown with an alumni interviewer. If supplementary materials such as musical tapes or works of art help to flesh out ones basic application, then the committee encourages the application, then the committee encourages the applicant to submit these.

  

  The entire admitted class begins in the fall, and generally includes only a very small handful of students who have transferred from other institutions. Some will have spent a day and night on campus the year before in order to sample the classes, the social scene, and the famously  good food. Many will be international students, actively recruited by the college.