kennebec

most people generally agree that on a pure pestigege scale(not a good reason to choose a college) that bowdoin rates the highest of the maine schools. most people ive heard from say that colby and bates are on the same level(this is backed up by us news). but then there are some people ive heard from on cc who claim that bates is significantly more prestigious than colby and that colby really isnt prestigious at all(i can sight examples if you guys want). why is this? where does this viewpoint come from? was bates historically more selective and the gap has lowered over the years? does bates have a better connection to top NE prep schools?

i dont want to get into which college is better, im just looking for an answer as to where this viewpoint is coming from.

Salvorix

Basically,

Almost nobody outside of New England has heard of any of these Maine schools and will probably smile politely upon hearing that you are attending one of these schools. Most people in New England have heard of all three schools and will impressed that you got into any one of them.

Don't expect replies on an online forum here to be justified by facts and/or logic. As you have said yourself, Bates and Colby are basically even in terms of rankings. Who cares what others have to say.

RochesterMom

I think it's how do you feel on the campus. D will be attending Bates this fall. She looked at Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby. Didn't like Bowdoin because of the outside track. Didn't like Colby because the coach stood her up for a meeting. Bates she loved and the coach was great. She could "see herself there" and that came through on her essays and her interview.

bro2baseball

I'd say that they are even. I applied and was accepted to both. I liked the feel of Bates better, and found the people more down to earth. Contrary to what you said, it seems that when I see rankings for various things, Colby seems to be ranked higher. Though I don't know if that's worth anything. I love it at Bates!