<p>I was accepted at these three and was waitlisted at my top choice LAC–Bowdoin…
I’m a student from rural South Dakota who’s interested in majoring in a combination of Government/Poli Sci and Economics in preparation for law school. Should I still pursue my spot on Bowdoin’s waitlist? Which college is best in terms of academic achievement especially in the government/economics, and which college will best prepare for and get me into the best law school? Is Swarthmore all work and no fun?
Sorry for all the questions…
All responses will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>If Bowdoin is your top choice, might as well get on the waitlist. Bates is very, very similar to Bowdoin - lots of students at my HS apply to Bowdoin as their #1 and Bates as their slightly-easier #2 pick.
Oh, but I do believe Swarthmore is a better pick than Bowdoin anyways in terms of plain old academics and rankings. I’m sure you would be very successful there. Carleton’s about on par with Bowdoin, I’d say.</p>
<p>Swarthmore > Bowdoin = Carleton > Bates </p>
<p>IMHO</p>
<p>it depends what you’re looking for. </p>
<p>bowdoin, despite being an LAC, doesn’t have the interdisciplinary emphasis that carleton has. Carleton really does have a good emphasis on the interdisciplinary and is very strong in gov. and economics, and has a very good mix between the two. I talked to a professor there, he confirmed my impressions that polisci and econ were very good, but told me advising could def. be better.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has, according to the financial times, the best government department in the world. however, the study of government is largely contained within the government department, meaning you won’t get much credit for your major for econ courses you take, which can complicate your decisions when it comes to selecting classes.</p>
<p>best of luck :)</p>
<p>There is HYPS and WASW (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Wellesley)</p>
<p>I would go to Swarthmore unless there is some big financial difference.</p>
<p>Carleton offers a very good concentration in Political Economy, with study abroad programs in Europe and China.</p>
<p>Don’t let rankings or prestige completely take over your decision. Bates is a little farther down in the rankings, but the others are so close that the differences are negligible on that score. </p>
<p>Do you not care about weather? Swarthmore’s climate is much milder than the others’.
What about geographic location? Carleton is much closer to home. On the other hand, if you’ve lived all your life in rural SD, you may be ready for someplace closer to a big city, in other words, Swarthmore. Another advantage of Swarthmore is the consortium with ByrnMawr, Haverford and UPenn.</p>
<p>Have you visited any of these schools? </p>
<p>Swarthmore may attract a higher number of super-brilliant students. How would you respond to that? Do you consider yourself one of them? If not, would you find it intimidating? If intimidated at first, would you get over it? If you are not the smartest kid in a discussion group, will you still jump into the fray? They accepted you so you do have what it takes, whether it is sheer brilliance or dedication combined with a sense of humor.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has one of the best government/political science programs of any LAC… stay on the waitlist.</p>
<p>And plus, its location is awesome!</p>
<p>Swarthmore, if you are up for it. Then Carleton. Bates would be last on my list. Bates is a nice school, but Lewiston/Auburn is NOT an inspiring environment.</p>
<p>When asked what he did for fun, the student at our information session listed all the organizations he’s involved with (dominantly social justice-type). If that sounds like all work and no fun, I’d say Swat is not your niche.</p>
<p>Links to fireflyscout’s reference to some of the exceptional study abroad programs in econ, government and political economy Carleton runs in Cambridge, China and DC:</p>
<p>[Carleton</a> College: Political Economy - Beijing: Political Economy in Beijing](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/beijing/]Carleton”>Political Economy in Beijing | Carleton College)
<a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/cambridge/[/url]”>https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/cambridge/</a>
<a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/dc/2010/[/url]”>https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/dc/2010/</a></p>
<p>If in addition to academic strength fun is truly important to you, I’ll refer you to Carleton’s write up in Time Magazine - “Most Fun Loving School”
[The</a> Hot Schools Of 2004 | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/59925/page/5]The”>http://www.newsweek.com/id/59925/page/5)</p>
<p>Your areas of interest are not obscure. All these colleges will offer strong academic programs in these fields. Think about where you’d best fit in and best enjoy these next four years.</p>
<p>I am relocating from San Francisco to Maine this summer. I am a student at the University of California Berkeley. I just found out that we were relocating 6 days ago and I am frantically applying to schools in Maine. I am a political science major with plans to go to law school. I have missed the application deadline for Bowdoin and, according to their website, they do not offer mid-year transfer…Does anyone know their policy on this or if they allow late applicants? Also, Bates offers mid-year transfers, but is Bates as good of a school as Bowdoin? Also, I applied to UNE…does anyone if this school is any good. Any help is appreciated…</p>
<p>I’ll be attending Haverford next year and also applied to Swarthmore; however, I was very leery about the latter. I’ve heard horror stories about the insanely intense workload and competitive environment that Swarthmore has. I consider myself a pretty smart guy, but I’m not sure that I would be interested in constant stress and competition. Bowdoin is a very laid back environment (I’ve done an overnight and it was AMAZING) and their government program is one of the best in the world; you would do yourself well to pursue their waitlist. If all else fails, choose Carleton. You can’t go wrong there.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>a) The differences in financial resources between Swarthmore and the other colleges on your list are huge. More than double the per student endowment of the next college on your list (Bowdoin). That is always important because it fuels every program and opportunity on campus., but hugely important when all schools will be making massive budget cuts over the next four years. If you want to see where endowment makes a difference, compare where the colleges stand on putting the hottest new program (Arabic and Middle Eastern studies) in place.</p>
<p>b) Touting any other LAC’s poli sci and econ departments over Swarthmore’s is silly. Swarthmore is the number one per capita producer of PhDs of all colleges and universities in Political Science, in Economics, and in all **Social Sciences **combined. It is a poli sci/econ powerhouse.</p>
<p>c) The high school senior above who posted that Swarthmore has a “competitive” environment knows absolutely nothing about Swarthmore. It is, in reality, just the opposite. It is one of the most collaborative academic cultures you will find. Swarthmore is often held up as a model in academic circles of peer mentoring (like their award winning Writing Associates program), study groups, etc. It is completely taboo to discuss grades, students are always studying together, and so forth.</p>
<p>d) There is also no comparison on diversity. Swarthmore is 45% African American, Latino/a, Asian American, or International. The other colleges on your list look lily white in comparison.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I apologize for upsetting you interesteddad. I was merely going on anecdotal evidence from two Swarthmore students I know. Of course, it is anecdotal (I already stated that in my previous post) so take it for it’s worth.</p>
<p>I think Swarthmore is the most similar to Bowdoin on your list, for what it’s worth. They are very different schools, but many students who are drawn to the intellectual nature of Bowdoin are similarly attracted to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>You’re honestly extremely lucky to have a chance to attend Swarthmore and I would seriously consider it. People who say that it is “too competitive” or “too intimidating” or “too hipster” or “too much work” are oversimplifying the situation. College is what you make of it - every school can be too intimidating or too competitive if you choose to believe it to be so.</p>
<p>And as you are interested in solid, central areas of studies the endowment of each school should not really be a major factor to consider. Each school is financially well endowed enough so that central departments like PoliSci, Gov, and Economics will stay strong.</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate the extent of the budget cuts that are coming. Most of these colleges are going to need to trim 20% of their operating budgets by the time all is said and done. No new buildings. There will be enrollment increases combined with unfilled faculty slots, meaning dorms are going to be more crowded, classes larger. I’ve already seen one LAC cut half of its peer mentoring programs (peer writing review, study groups, etc.).</p>
<p>You are correct that nobody is going to eliminate poli sci or econ departments, but these two departments will actually feel a lot of enrollment pressure, since they are often two of the biggest departments on campus and may have already seen larger than average class sizes. </p>
<p>There certainly will be a pause on new initiatives (like Arabic) at most colleges. This is a great real-world example of financial resources. After 9/11, colleges identified the need to offer Arabic instruction, Middle Eastern studies, and study abroad options in the Middle East. As far as I can tell, Bates does not yet offer Arabic. Bowdoin appears to offer only Beginning Arabic, taught by a post-doc. Carelton offers two years of Arabic, both taught by a visiting professor. Swarthmore offers three full years of Arabic, plus additional conversation and drill courses, plus at least one additional literature course each year. They already have two full time professors plus two Arabic lecturers who handle the drill and conversation classes. All of that has been put in place since 9/11 and Arabic is now Swarthmore’s second most popular language (behind Chinese). Financial resources matter.</p>
<p>This is an easy choice for me… Swarthmore!</p>
<p>Swat would be an easy call for me, too.</p>
<p>Interesteddad</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused how this thread has turned in to a discussion of Arabic and PhD production. I thought the OP was interested in going to Law school and majoring in Gov’t and Economics.</p>
<p>But I’ll bite.</p>
<p>ID: “Touting any other LAC’s poli sci and econ departments over Swarthmore’s is silly. Swarthmore is the number one per capita producer of PhDs of all colleges and universities in Political Science, in Economics, and in all Social Sciences combined.”
“Arabic is now Swarthmore’s second most popular language”</p>
<p>I’ve long been impressed by both Carleton’s and Swarthmore’s PhD productivity. Both are per capita top ten finishers in most fields. In the social sciences, Swarthmore is ranked first nationally, Carleton third. But I hope you would never suggest someone misuse a statistic such as this to select one college over the other. While Swarthmore’s PhD productivity is higher in more fields, Carleton’s is higher in several, e.g. Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Earth Sciences, and yes, even Foreign Languages (though possibly not in Arabic). I doubt you’d use this fact to suggest that a particular student interested in these fields choose Carleton over Swat. I presume you’d also have difficulty suggesting the OP find out which school is a higher “producer” of JD’s as an argument to choose one of these schools over the other. </p>
<p>As an interesting addendum to your discussion of Arabic, Carleton’s President Oden holds his PhD from Harvard in Near Eastern languages and literature. Last year, he personally led a study abroad program to the Middle East and reported on the experience in Inside Higher Education. It is emblematic of the type of school Carleton is:
[Views:</a> An American College President in Egypt – With 32 Students - Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/01/25/oden]Views:”>http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/01/25/oden)</p>
<p>To return to the OP’s question, I’ll repeat what I argued earlier and add a tag line (borrowed from ID) - it would be “silly” to see your choice as clear:
Your areas of interest are not obscure. All these colleges will offer strong academic programs in these fields. Think about where you’d best fit in and best enjoy these next four years.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>