Bowdoin College is a small (less than 2k people small), liberal arts school located in Brunswick, Maine. They’re known for their poli sci and econ programs, as well as some STEM majors like biology, biochem, and neuroscience. They’re a great school if you’re looking for that classic, well-rounded liberal arts education to supplement more analytical majors. Doctors and scientists need to know history and how to write too, ya know!
Bowdoin is hard to get into, period. Last year, they saw an 8% acceptance rate for first-year students, and their transfer acceptance rate was 9.4%. Before you get excited about that increase, let’s put it into clearer numbers. For 2022-2023, 170 students applied to transfer to Bowdoin, and only 16 were admitted. On their website, they say “we generally receive between 150-200 transfer applications, and we admit five to twenty candidates.” Remember, spots only open up when people leave that school, and they seem to have a pretty high retention rate.
If you want to transfer to Bowdoin, you need to have excellent grades and scores, robust extracurriculars, and a great essay
Bowdoin’s Requirements
Bowdoin doesn’t lay out a lot of the same guidelines as other schools, like the minimum number of credits needed, but it’s safe to assume you should take a full course load as a freshman to make that happen. They also say you need “B” work or better, and no lower than a 3.0. You should aim higher than that to be competitive. Let’s talk about their other requirements, some of which are optional, but there’s no such thing as optional:
The Common App personal statement for transfers
The weird Bowdoin poetry essay prompt
High school transcript
College transcript (must be ~official~)
College report (a Dean or advisor has to fill this out)
They’re test-optional, but do accept SAT or ACT scores
Two letters of recommendation from a professor or similar from your current school (preferably from someone who taught you)
Mid-term report for your in-progress grades
An optional video question in lieu of an interview
Pick the Right Classes
So, into the nitty-gritty of how you can best prepare to transfer. If you want to be a poli sci major at Bowdoin, you should pick classes that communicate “I want to be a poli sci major at Bowdoin.” Seems simple, but many of you overlook this crucial aspect. Don’t load up on silly electives (we know it’s tempting to take the Bowling class, or whatever), instead focus on what you want to study.
But hey, don't brush off the core classes at your current school. Transferring can be a bit of a gamble, so it's smart to make sure you’re going to be set up for success if your transfer bid isn’t successful. It’s okay to take that required writing course or that science with a lab.
You’re aiming to develop a niche, so take classes that fit that niche. If you’re interested in electoral politics, take classes that are about electoral politics.
Get Really Good Grades
Nailing your grades in college is the easiest way to communicate to Bowdoin that you’ve got this whole “college” thing down. Shocker, we know. And since Bowdoin is a hard school, getting excellent grades is a must. If you got a C in bio back in junior year, there is no need to relive that nightmare now, so (like we just told you), keep this in mind while choosing classes. The cool part about college is that you can load up your schedule with stuff you're genuinely into, and guess what? It usually translates to better grades.
Here's a pro-tip: hit up office hours. Seriously, every single one. When you're struggling in a class, swinging by the professor's office is like unlocking a secret level. Those connections? They'll come in handy when it's recommendation letter time.
Develop Your Niche
If you’re applying as a poli sci major, you need to show Bowdoin you’ve done some work outside of the classroom to further that interest. Run for student senate, write for the school paper, intern with a campaign, join clubs, and reach out to professors to see if you can be their lil’ research assistant. Having extracurriculars with some depth on your application will help you, but it can also help you stay connected in case you don’t get into Bowdoin.
Write Good Essays
Bowdoin has two essays, one of which is the standard “Why are you transferring?” essay, which is essentially a “Why” essay with a transfer tang. You’ll want to start researching Bowdoin’s upper-level classes, professors, and other opportunities that tie into what you want to do. You need to leave them convinced that they’re the only place for you to study whatever you want to study.
The other essay is the weird poetry one they ask first-year applicants. They give you a poem written by a former Bowdoin president in 1906 and ask you to pick a line from it and talk about why it resonates with you. We have a whole guide on how to write that here.
Good luck with your transfer application to Bowdoin. You need to make sure to keep those grades high, get plugged into your major by picking good classes and diving into extracurriculars, and write good essays! You’ve got this.
If you need help with your transfer applications, reach out to us today.