Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin (Brunswick, Waterville: colleges, living in, restaurants)

[RMoore007]

I named my son Colby so I could shop at their school store and get him monogrammed stuff when he was a kid. Actually, Colby is an old family name around Dover. I never thought of naming him Bates or Bowdoin. Those might have been cool names though.

Also, back in the 90's, my dad bought a used car from Harold Alfond, a benefactor of Colby College. The Harold Alfond Athletic Center and Stadium were named after him. It was a used full sized american Buick. Dad was proud of his purchase. And he loved going to that college for me to buy his grandson stuff for b-days and xmas.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by kibble

What are your thoughts on the students who go to Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin? What are your thoughts on the schools in general? Why?

Also, for context, what part of Maine are you from?

I live in Auburn and have lived in Lewiston. I owned a small cafe down the road from Bates and not only employed students from Bates (all female) but the students would patron the cafe..

Other then being a little (ultra Liberal) and nieve when it comes to the real world I found every student I met to be extremely bright, honest, and interesting.. I was really impressed with the girls that worked for me. They were all very organized and responsible.. I got the impression the school is hard and their ability to time manage was impressive..

There are incidents every once in while.. A murder a few years ago that was just what it was... a fight and the kid that murdered the student was a local looser that had mulitple involvments with Police.. Knowing the city like I do you cant hold that against the city.. something like that can happen ANYWHERE.. And last spring there was a bit of to do with the local Police.. drinking, aggressive crowd, led to some arrests and an officer being injured.. again it was blown a little out of control especially by the students who, again.. limited real life experience... thought the police were too aggressive..

but those are two of the most major incidents to happen in the last decade or even longer... really there is not much.. the school does a good job of keeping itself and the students in a bubble..

Which leads me to my biggest complaint.. The school charges some of the highest tuition around... pays NO taxes and spends tons of money on and around campus..... but does almost NOTHING for the city itself..

The college has everything a student would ever need so area business's do not benifit that much from having the college.. granted the alternative would be worse.... but??? it could be much better..

The student's get involved locally politically and that sometimes has an adverse effect on people because lets face it... most of them were born with a gold penny up their ass, are ultra liberal, and have NO real vested interest in the city..

But some do stay in Maine and that is a good thing too..

If your strictly comparing locations brunswick is a much nicer community to live in and go to college in.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by kibble

What are your thoughts on the students who go to Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin?

Wealthy kids from MA and CT who did not get in to Ivy League schools.

Originally Posted by kibble

What are your thoughts on the schools in general?

All 3 schools are competitive, liberal arts schools. I'm not a big fan of smaller colleges, preferring larger universities, but the schools fulfill a nice niche in the New England collegiate landscape, along with colleges like Amherst, Williams, Trinity, Wesleyan, etc.

Originally Posted by kibble

Also, for context, what part of Maine are you from?

I live in MA.

[SidneyGood]

To some degree what you stated about kids from MA and CT going to these three schools instead of IVY league schools is CORRECT...LOL

That certainly was the case when I finished a well known private and snobby boarding school which shall remain un-named, in w MA...lol

but so what, all of these schools are very very good schools indeed ! probably better that schools that produce some of the unqualified undereducated college grads that I deal with on a daily basis in such places such as Birmingham, Memphis, Little Rock and Jackson MS

btw even though I got accepted at places like "Dartmouth", frankly I declined for a smaller, lesser known fine liberal arts school !

also for context, I never lived in Maine, but have spent a lot a time around Bethel, Oxford, Briunswick and s Portland ..lol...........had enough of the cold crappy weather for a lifetime ! but the people in the State of Maine are some of the finest, community oriented, and better educated en masse, than probably 85% of the rest of the USA ! Try living in Jackson MS or Memphis TN or Birmingham, AL

I'll tell my daughter/son anyday that a degree from Bowdoin, or Bates, or Colby is still better and still perceived better than having two degrees from the Univ of Mississippi, or Univ of memphis, or the Univ of Alabama

[homeconstruction]

As a parent of a senior that has been college scouting and has visited all 3 of the campuses, I can say that Bowdoin has the best town. You are walking distance to Brunswick's Maine Street where there is a movie theater, coffee shops, restaurants & stores. Bates is a beautiful campus, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with my child walking around by herself in the city. Colby too has a beautiful campus, but the town is not nearby so students have to rely on transportation. Because we have also been to the campuses for sporting events, the locals all seem to enjoy the students and visitors to their establishments.

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by homeconstruction

As a parent of a senior that has been college scouting and has visited all 3 of the campuses, I can say that Bowdoin has the best town. You are walking distance to Brunswick's Maine Street where there is a movie theater, coffee shops, restaurants & stores. Bates is a beautiful campus, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with my child walking around by herself in the city. Colby too has a beautiful campus, but the town is not nearby so students have to rely on transportation. Because we have also been to the campuses for sporting events, the locals all seem to enjoy the students and visitors to their establishments.

This is correct. Having lived in Brunswick, Bowdoin has a nice campus and is close to a beautiful & quaint downtown. Very safe area. Colby is a little out of the the way and Bates is in a not so nice city.

Someone else was correct too. These are not "Maine" colleges. Their students are mostly affluent and from out-of-state. All are very liberal and your son or daughter will be indoctrinated by the time they leave. All offer some fairly useless liberal arts degrees, but most degrees are well respected around the country.

[lawmom]

See? The same kind of reverse-snobbishness can be found anywhere there is higher education. It's not a Bowdoin, Bates and Colby issue. Intelligence and thinking are bad, apparently, and if someone does not think just like you do, well, that's bad too. Resentment is an interesting phenomenon.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by lawmom

See? The same kind of reverse-snobbishness can be found anywhere there is higher education. It's not a Bowdoin, Bates and Colby issue. Intelligence and thinking are bad, apparently, and if someone does not think just like you do, well, that's bad too. Resentment is an interesting phenomenon.

What are you reffering to?

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by lawmom

See? The same kind of reverse-snobbishness can be found anywhere there is higher education. It's not a Bowdoin, Bates and Colby issue. Intelligence and thinking are bad, apparently, and if someone does not think just like you do, well, that's bad too. Resentment is an interesting phenomenon.

I didn't bother to respond to it because the post is just too ... misguided. But, here goes. Lawmom needs to look up the meaning of reverse-snobbery. I didn't put down affluent people, only stated a fact. I can comment on two of these colleges based upon talking to two of my immediate relatives that graduated from them (Colby & Bates). Neither did I address intelligence or thinking. It may shock Lawmom, but not everyone that is intelligent or thinking is a liberal (notice I didn't call Lawmom a reverse-snob). Finally, I don't resent the schools, just accept them for what they are. I wanted my daughter to attend a school in Massachusetts that is identical to these colleges, but she chose instead to attend UMO.

[hinher]

Originally Posted by flycessna

What are you reffering to?

Seconded. I'm not quite sure which post Lawmom is responding to