Bowdoin is a wonderful small liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. And when we say small, we mean it. They have under 2k undergrads. Bowdoin has excellent STEM programs, making it a top choice for science students who are also looking for a rigorous liberal arts education.
If you are considering transferring to Bowdoin, there are a couple of things you need to do because, spoiler alert, it is hard. It is always challenging to get into Bowdoin. Last year, their first-year acceptance rate was just about 8%. This is an extremely low acceptance rate. However, their transfer rate was even lower at about 6%... that’s only 18 applicants. Yes, they took under 20 transfer students last year. We don’t want to scare you. Rather, we want to motivate you. If you are serious about transferring to Bowdoin, you need to be an elite candidate, which is going to take some work.
Thankfully, we are here to break it down for you.
Bowdoin’s Requirements
Bowdoin doesn’t have a lot of requirements for transferring. Technically, they don’t even ask for a minimum number of credits… but remember, 6%, you need to be taking a full class load.
They ask students for the usual stuff: your high school and college transcripts, a college report, letters of recommendation, and an essay. They also have a couple of optional submission materials, including more essays, a video question, a mid-term report of in-progress grades, and SAT/ACT scores. We have more to say about this, but generally, you should submit all the optional materials when possible.
Pick the Right Classes
While Bowdoin’s requirements are a little loose, you need to make sure you are crafting a great package which includes a great transcript. There are two important things to keep in mind when choosing classes: major and core.
Bowdoin wants transfers who know what they want to study and are taking steps to do it. So, if you want to be an Art History major at Bowdoin, you need to already have Art History classes on your transcript when you apply. You can’t be “undecided,” and your transcript can’t look undecided. You will have plenty of time to take interesting electives down the line, but now is not the time.
You also need to consider your current school’s core requirements. Not every transfer application works out, and you want to ensure you have a solid backup plan where you are already. So, if you need to take a writing seminar or a year of Spanish, just do it.
Get Really Good Grades
You need perfect or very near-perfect grades to be taken seriously as a transfer to a top school. You need to shoot for that 4.0. This also goes back to choosing the right classes. If you bombed AP physics in your junior year of high school, you should not take it during your first semester of college. Set yourself up for success by taking classes you think you will do well and then work to excel in those classes.
We get it: college is much harder than high school, but if you feel your grades are slipping or your classes are super challenging, you need to stay on top of them. Go to office hours or the writing/tutoring center. Sign up for tutors or study groups. Your transcript is highly important, and you need to show Bowdoin that you’re an academic college superstar.
Develop Your Niche
You need to be an active member of your college community. Get involved! But not only that. You want to get involved in meaningful activities that tell a story. Ideally, a big part of your extracurricular resume should connect to your studies. For example, if you are studying history, working at a museum, joining the art or film club, and doing research with an Art History professor are going to help your resume. Whatever you want to study, getting involved with research will look great. Ask your professors if they need assistance or check in with the undergraduate research center. Working closely with a professor or research mentor will also help you when it comes time to ask for letters of recommendation.
More generally, the rule of thumb here is to choose a couple of meaningful activities and commit to them instead of joining a bunch of random clubs—quality over quantity. Often, first-year students join a bunch of clubs. It is okay to shop around, but you need to settle into a plan and prioritize.
Write Good Essays
This will be more important later, but Bowdoin asks applicants to write a couple of essays. Some are optional, but again, they only accepted 18 people last year. Write all the essays. It shows you are excited to apply and are serious about getting in.
The first essay is required. It asks:
Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve. (Max 4000 characters)
This is a classic “Why do you want to go here essay?” with the added context of being a transfer. Just like a “why” essay, you want to speak to specific opportunities at Bowdoin and relate them to your academic interests and goals. You should include what you want to major in, specific higher-level classes in that major that align with your academic interests, professors you would like to assist, educational opportunities that stood out to you, and specific extracurriculars that fit with your interests. This usually takes some research. The more you know about Bowdoin, the better.
But you also need to add a second layer to this essay and relate all of this to being a transfer. Often, when we ask students why they want to transfer, their initial reaction is something along the lies of “because it is a higher ranked school.” That answer won’t work here. You need to dig a little deeper than that. You should show that you have an academic need or goal that your current school doesn’t offer that Bowdoin does. This could be a specific academic program (maybe you want to study Francophone studies, but your school doesn’t have it, and Bowdoin does), or maybe you are at a large school but want a small school community. You don’t necessarily want to badmouth your current college, but you want to make it clear that they don’t offer something that you are craving out of an experience.
If you do this essay right, the reader should walk away feeling that Bowdoin is the best place for you and you would be the perfect student for Bowdoin.
The next two questions are optional; however, we highly recommend writing both essays. We have a full blog on these questions because they are the same as the questions they ask first-year applicants that explains them more, but if you want quick explanations:
Generations of students have found connection and meaning in Bowdoin's “The Offer of the College,” written in 1906 by Bowdoin President William DeWitt Hyde.
To be at home in all lands and all ages;
to count Nature a familiar acquaintance,
and Art an intimate friend;
to gain a standard for the appreciation of others' work
and the criticism of your own;
to carry the keys of the world's library in your pocket,
and feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake;
to make hosts of friends...who are to be leaders in all walks of life;
to lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends –
this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.
Optional: The Offer represents Bowdoin’s values. Please reflect on the line you selected and how it has meaning to you. (Limit 250 words)
The first step in writing this essay is choosing a line that connects to a story from your life. In this essay, you should tell that story. For example, if you love “to count Nature a familiar acquaintance,” you could write about your passion for hiking even though you live in a city or the time your friend took you birdwatching. Then, weave the line back in by connecting it to your story.
Optional Writing About Navigating Differences
Bowdoin believes that only through building a more diverse and inclusive campus community will the College best prepare graduates to be contributing and useful citizens of the world. Every graduate of this institution should be confident in their preparation to be able to navigate through differences and in all sorts of situations. A Bowdoin education does not guarantee these skills, but it does impart a set of tools necessary to bravely enter unfamiliar conditions with the confidence to deal effectively with ambiguity.
If you wish, you may share anything about the unique experiences and perspectives that you would bring with you to the Bowdoin campus and community or an experience you have had that required you to navigate across or through differences. (250 words)
This question is very broad. All you need to do to answer it is tell a good story about a time when you had to navigate a difference. Your story could be about any difference, but this essay is on the shorter side, so generally, we recommend a smaller or more nuanced topic. But in many ways, the topic is far less important than how you responded or what you learned. You could write about your roommate being a night owl and you being an early bird, but what we really want to see is how you fixed this issue. What conversations did you have? What creative problem-solving did you employ? What are your conflict resolution skills? This is the real meat of this essay.
Getting into Bowdoin as a transfer is hard, but you can do it if you put in the work! Starting early can be a huge help, so start making that plan! And if you need help, we are here for you!
Talk to a counselor today! Contact us here.