<p>Things like relative yield rate or selectivity or selective and skewed data about “cross admits” should have nothing to do with your decision as to which college to go to. These are just micro pieces of data - both schools have become ridiculously competitive and these tiny distinctions have no real meaning in pratical terms. Which school is preferable will depend in the end on subjective factors that are unique to each individual unless your focus is languages or sciences in which case Middlebury would have the edge in one area (languages) and Bowdoin in the other (sciences). </p>
<p>Some find the Middlebury campus isolated, too spread out, depressing, and too architectrally homegenous (too much granite). Others find the campus to be incredibly beautiful, with the hills and surrounding mountains. Some find the Bowdoin campus too compact and cluttered and the architecture too diverse. Others find the Bowdoin campus to have a perfect quad with a wonderful balance of buildings from various architectural periods surrounding that quad. My point is that these reactions are highly subjective and which school you will like will depend on your reaction to the environment as much as anything else.</p>