Founded in 1794, Bowdoin College is a private liberal arts college nestled in beautiful Brunswick, Maine. With a student body of about 1,800, it’s small! Bowdoin fancies itself an institution that gives young people access to creating a better world. And the academics are everything. With an acceptance rate in the single digits (9%) Bowdoin is extremely competitive. According to U.S. News & World Report, half of all accepted applicants had an SAT score between 1460 and 1560, or an ACT score between 33 and 35.
Bowdoin is a great school for anyone looking for an intimate campus setting in a lovely college town. Brunswick offers, as the school likes to boast, proximity to urban, rural and coastal areas. The school is just a few minutes from charming downtown Brunswick (the total city population is 22,000). Maine has lovely outdoor offerings in the summer months, too. There are forests, there’s hiking, beaches, and much more. It’s not for the faint of heart in the winter. Bowdoin is a small school steeped in tradition. There are regular campus lobster bakes, for example.
Notable alumni include the founder of the Mayo Clinic, Pulitzer prize-winning poets, U.S. senators, businesspeople, scientists, and many more. Bowdoin is ranked as the #9 best school in the country. It also offers nationally-ranked programs in Teaching, among other disciplines.
Interested in a personalized summer plan? Call us. We love to help students match with their top choice schools.
Clarify Your Interests
We advise all of our students to develop an academic niche throughout high school. Ideally, this looks like a hyper-specific field of study. Colleges are looking to build freshmen classes of experts, as opposed to classes of generalists. They want their grads to go on to be the best in their (very specific fields), win big prizes and come back and donate to the school. So, we recommend positioning yourself in as an expert in a particular area that you intend to continue to study at Bowdoin. The secret is, you don’t actually have to commit to that major or discipline. You can change your mind and go in as an undeclared major. BUT, for the sake of a competitive application, you should show that you’re deeply passionate about one area and your whole application, including classes, your resume and your recommendations should align therein. Science is too broad. Think more like Microbiology. History is also too broad. American Presidential History is a strong niche.
Underscore Your Academics
Taking summer classes at a top-notch school is a great way to spend your summer. Bowdoin offers summer courses for high school students. They have coursework in Laboratory Sciences, Writing & Literature, Math, Foreign Languages, and Social Justice, in addition to a Senior Seminar for college preparation. We recommend taking a rigorous class at an excellent university, like Bowdoin. Ideally, this class should fit within your area of expertise. The goal is to show that you spent your summer applying yourself, enriching yourself and further developing your academic niche. Summer is also a great time to really get a feel for what the college experience is like. Taking classes is a really good way to dip in slowly before diving in head first when you finally go off to school.
Intern
Interning is a really great option for your summer. The goal should be to hone in on an internship that aligns with your academic area of expertise. We recommend against getting in on a programmed internship with a major company where you’ll be one of many interns. We don’t want you making copies and grabbing coffee all summer. The goal should be to learn something and to show the admissions committee that you worked hard. Small businesses in your area that are related to your academic niche are a great option. They will need help and likely give you a chance to learn by doing.
Enjoy the Summer
We don’t want you to work so hard that you forget to enjoy your summer. School is hard. Social dynamics can be stressful. And being a kid is really important. There’s no need to pull 10 hour/days on whatever you do, be it an internship or a job. Take the time this summer to rest, relax and have fun with your friends and family. Unwinding is actually a really important part of the college application process, too. You’re human! You can’t go nonstop for four years with no recuperation. So, do yourself a favor and build some memories and sleep in this summer.
Don’t Go Overboard
That said, don’t overdue it. If you’re binging TV for 10 hours/day, you’re also doing yourself no favors. Get in the sunshine and apply yourself to your college goals. Swim, hang out, relax, see friends, but don’t let the summer go by without having accomplished something for college.
The college admissions process is a marathon, not a sprint. That’s why we advise our students to spread everything out across all four years to make it manageable. Summer is a great opportunity to build your resume and show your top choice schools that you were thoughtful about enrichment. One other note we want to share: getting a summer job is a great way to spend your summer. The admissions folks understand that many, many young people need to contribute to the family or work to make spending money. (They have jobs themselves). Try to get a job that somehow correlates to your academic niche. If you’re interested in education, babysit or teach summer school. If you’re interested in business, work as an assistant manager at a restaurant.
Need help coming up with a great summer plan? Call us. We’re experts at helping students develop standout applications.