A+
Overall Niche Grade
How are grades calculated?
  1. Academics
    A+
  2. Value
    A+
  3. Diversity
    A+
  4. Campus
    A+
  5. Athletics
    B+
  6. Party Scene
    B+
  7. Professors
    A+
  8. Location
    B
  9. Dorms
    A+
  10. Campus Food
    A+
  11. Student Life
    A+
  12. Safety
    A-
View Full Report Card
Bowdoin College is ...
Private not-for-profit
Athletic Division
NCAA Division III (with football)
Athletic Conference
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Address
255 Maine Street
Brunswick, ME 04011
Website
bowdoin.edu
From Bowdoin College

Bowdoin (bo-d'n) may surprise you. Situated in a coastal Maine town, we produce leading scholars, innovators, and humanitarians. Alumni include Reed Hastings (CEO/founder of Netflix) and DeRay Mckesson (Black Lives Matter). Students balance rigorous academics with the fun of more than 100 student clubs. Unfamiliar with Maine? We have beaches, mountains, food trucks, and upscale restaurants. We sport L.L.Bean boots while engaging in social justice and community service. Bowdoin students, diverse in backgrounds and interests, are funded by an annual financial aid budget of $35 million.

Bowdoin College Rankings

Niche rankings are based on rigorous analysis of key statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and millions of reviews.

Admissions

Acceptance Rate
15%
SAT Range
1360-1510
ACT Range
31-33
Application Fee
$60
SAT/ACT
Neither required nor recommended
High School GPA
Recommended
Will You Get In?

Test Scores and GPA for Bowdoin College

Cost

Net Price
$22,289/ year
National
$15,431
Average cost after financial aid for students receiving grant or scholarship aid, as reported by the college.
Net Price by Household Income
  • <$30k
    $5,925/ year
  • $30-48k
    $6,713/ year
  • $49-75k
    $12,173/ year
  • $76-110k
    $19,367/ year
  • $110k+
    $36,770/ year

Academics

Professors
A+
Based on faculty accomplishments, salary, student reviews, and additional factors.
Student Faculty Ratio
9:1
Evening Degree Programs
No
98%
of students agree that professors put a lot of effort into teaching their classes.42 responses
73%
of students agree that it is easy to get the classes they want.45 responses
40%
of students agree that the workload is easy to manage.45 responses

Majors

Most Popular Majors
  • Political Science and Government
    77 Graduates
  • Economics
    64 Graduates
  • Mathematics & Statistics
    46 Graduates
  • Biology
    35 Graduates
  • Environmental Studies
    35 Graduates
  • Geology and Earth Science
    30 Graduates
  • Computer Science
    27 Graduates
  • Psychology
    27 Graduates
  • English
    26 Graduates
  • History
    25 Graduates

Students

Full-Time Enrollment
1,802Undergrads
Undergrads Over 25
0%
Pell Grant
14%
Varsity Athletes
35%
Poll
What one word or phrase best describes the typical student at this school?
Based on 23 responses
Report
  • Smart and Energetic
    30%
  • Bright and intelligent, yet modest
    22%
  • Driven
    13%
  • Smart, strategic, casual
    13%
  • Drive, passionate
    9%
  • Ambitious
    4%
  • Interesting, interested, friendly, energetic
    4%

Campus Life

Freshmen Live On-Campus
100%
Poll
97%
of students say they don't have Greek life.31 responses
Poll
67%
of students say varsity sporting events are attended, but not a huge part of campus life.51 responses
Poll
What one word or phrase best describes your school?
Based on 24 responses
Report
  • Bowdoin is the people that make it.
    42%
  • Best college ever!
    33%
  • Exceptional
    21%
  • Bowdoin makes me optimistic about the future.
    4%

After Bowdoin College

Median Earnings 6 Years After Graduation
$54,800/ year
National
$33,028
Graduation Rate
93%
National
47%
Employed 2 Years After Graduation
93%
National
83%
90%
of students feel confident they will find a job in their field after graduation.21 responses
Colleges like Bowdoin College
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Bowdoin College Reviews

639 reviews
All Categories
Whether its the Outing Club, the Literary Magazine, the Film Society, or an a Capella group, there is always something for every kind of person to get involved in. Also, people here are incredibly friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you. Bowdoin's size, with 1700 students, really enables this sense of community. If I could change one thing about Bowdoin, I would offer class credit for laboratory time. Also , this is just my wish , but I think Bowdoin should advertise more to the outside world. I grew up overseas, so most of my other friends had not heard of Bowdoin, or Brunswick for that matter. I can understand that I was surprised that not many people in United States knew about this school either. The social scene is great on the weekends, but for the most part exists only on the weekends as people work very hard during the week. As for food, you can guess exactly how delicious it is from just taking a peek at the NYtimes article and the college rankings.
Review Bowdoin College
We love our security officers--couldn't imagine a nicer group of people! First and foremost, they are here to help students. There are clear lines that should not be crossed, but they are here to make sure we are safe and happy, which we really appreciate. I have never felt unsafe or uncomfortable on campus, which can be attributed to how safe Brunswick is and our fantastic security officers.
Bowdoin could not have made my first year at college any better. I felt challenged, my brain literally expanded, the people I met were interesting, I loved the present but not all-consuming social scene...even when I was stressed out from work I was still so happy to be at Bowdoin. Unlike other colleges, Bowdoin does not have a stress culture and encourages you to try new activities even if you might fail.