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Bowdoin College is a private Little Ivy liberal arts college, nestled in the small but active New England town of Brunswick, Maine. Chartered in 1794 by the Massachusetts State legislature, the school was later redirected under the jurisdiction of the Maine Legislature and the school officially opened its doors in 1802. Bowdoin College’s Appleton Hall is the site where abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe first started writing her famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, while her husband taught at the college. Named the fourth best liberal arts college in 2016 by the U.S. News and World Report, Bowdoin boasts a number of famous alumni, including, but not limited to, U.S. President Franklin Pierce, Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, novelist Nathanial Hawthorne, two Civil War Generals, members of the U.S. Senate, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and an Olympic gold medalist.
Academic Programs
Bowdoin is accredited through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The college awards Bachelor of Arts degrees in over 30 majors through 35+ departments and programs including Art History; Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth and Oceanographic Studies; Environmental Studies; Gender and Women’s Studies; Government and Legal Studies; History; Mathematics; Music; Philosophy; Physics and Astronomy; Psychology; Theater and Dance; and Visual Arts. The school’s collaborative network guides students through their entire four years of study through its Center for Teaching and Learning and Faculty Advising.Bowdoin’s vibrant quadrangle is home to a number of world-class arts facilities including libraries, museums, and science facilities that are all within an easy five-minute walk. Bowdoin’s facilities include the Harvey Dow Gibson Hall of Music; Pickard Theater; Studzinski Recital Hall and Kanbar Auditorium; the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library; Environmental Studies Center; and the Mary Francis Searles Science Building. Bowdoin’s extended campus also offers unparalleled opportunities for field research.
Student Life
Bowdoin’s enrollment figure reaches nearly 2,000 students and provides an inclusive and dynamic living community that is central to the college experience. All first-year students live in one of Bowdoin’s residential halls and housing is guaranteed for all first-year and sophomore students. Upperclassmen participate in the school’s annual “housing lottery”, choosing from a variety of on-campus room and apartment options or applying to live in one of Bowdoin’s eight College Houses. Bowdoin annually selects 72 students to serve as student members of its residential life staff which provides support for individual students and helps to build the college’s community. A variety of student-led groups and organizations exist on Bowdoin’s campus, the largest being the Outing Club which leads canoeing, kayaking, rafting, camping and backpacking trips all throughout Maine.Bowdoin College is a member of the NCAA Division III and has over thirty varsity teams; the school’s athletic department also offers several classes for fitness and lifetime sport and several club teams thrive on Bowdoin’s campus.