<p>OBD, as usual, is right. I was one of those teaching assistants. Let me tell you, I would be upset if my child had been paying for a Cornell education and had me as a teacher! Teaching assistants teach so many courses there it’s ridiculous (and if they were as focused on their graduate studies as I was, they’re teaching poorly). Professors teach grad students. Of course, I’m not saying you will have no professors and only be taught by teaching assistants, but you’ll be surprised at how much is taught by the assistants. Get the incomparable experience of a top LAC for undergrad and then go to one of the Ivies for grad. It’s a great tradition. I won’t go into why I think Middlebury is better than Bowdoin. The two schools are extremely similar (with some differences as pointed out by OBD). I love the size and feel of Midd, but many students at Bowdoin would surely say they love the size and feel of Bow-Doyn, or however you say it. ;)</p>