<p>Bowdoin was prestigious in its hard drinking days and has always ranked well above Bates and Colby. I don’t think that Bowdoin’s relative standing in prestige terms has changed much over the past 40 years – it’s just that the pool of students seeking an LAC education has broadened greatly over the years, making all the LACs more competitive. The drinking rep had more to do with the all-male environment the did not end until the mid-1970s and the massive presence of frats on campus that did not end until a few years ago (in the hay day of frats, virtually every Bowdon student belonged to a frat).</p>