Funny, we had a completely different experience on our Bowdoin tour. We did not visit Bates or Colby so I can’t compare. But our campus tour guide seemed down to earth and friendly and we got a very outdoorsy vibe regarding the student population. It didn’t seem snooty and the admissions folks were very helpful in answering our questions and pointing us to a good place to have lunch. My daughter, who has reasonably good snooty filters, really liked Bowdoin (and Vassar) and was turned off by Harvard and Amhert.
That said, we didn’t visit when classes were in session so @teanotwar might have had a more in-depth experience.