Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine
- Private nonprofit
- Town
- 1,873 undergrads
- Admit rate
- 7%Source: College Scorecard
- Average net price
- $15,595per year, after grantsSource: College Scorecard
- Graduation rate
- 94%within 6 yearsSource: College Scorecard
- Median earnings
- $90,15310 years after startingSource: College Scorecard
What's special
Every Bowdoin student receives an iPad and a MacBook Pro that they are permitted to keep after graduation.
Source: Student Aid | Bowdoin College
Bowdoin's financial aid packages are loan free.
Source: Student Aid | Bowdoin College
Getting in
- Admit rate
- 7%About 1 in 14 applicants get in.Source: College Scorecard
- Test policy
- Test-optionalScores are considered if you send them, but not required.Source: College Scorecard
- SAT (middle 50%)
- 1470–1550Reading + math, enrolled first-years who sent scoresSource: College Scorecard
- ACT (middle 50%)
- 33–35Composite, enrolled first-years who sent scoresSource: College Scorecard
From Bowdoin College's own report
These numbers come from the school's Common Data Set for 2025–26, a standard report colleges publish about their applicants and first-year students. Open the report.
- Admit rate in this report
- 7%957 admitted of 14,045 first-year applicants
- Early decision admit rate
- 15%296 admitted of 1,985. Early decision is binding: you commit to attend if admitted.
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1470–154035% of first-years sent SAT scores
- ACT, middle 50%
- 33–3517% of first-years sent ACT scores
- Top 10% of their class
- 89%100% were in the top quarter. Based on the 27% whose school ranks.
Early applicants often include recruited athletes and students who knew this was their first choice, so a higher early rate doesn't mean applying early raises any one student's odds by that much.
What the admissions office says it weighs
Very important
- How challenging your classes were
- GPA
- Class rank
- Essay
- Recommendations
- Activities
- A talent or ability
- Character and personal qualities
Considered
- Test scores
- Interview
- Being first in your family to go to college
- Family who went there (legacy)
- Where you live
- Living in the state
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Showing interest in the school
Not considered
- Religious affiliation
Where you'd stand
Enter your numbers to see where they'd fall among Bowdoin College's first-year students. This isn't a prediction: it shows how you compare with students who enrolled, using the sources linked below.
Leave out anything you don't have. Your numbers stay in this browser and fill in on other school pages. See my list
Sources: Bowdoin College Common Data Set 2025–26. Test ranges describe enrolled students who sent scores.
What it really costs
Most families pay less than the sticker price. Net price is what's left after grants and scholarships.
- Average net price
- $15,595full-time first-years who got grant aidSource: College Scorecard
- Total cost of attendance
- $88,820sticker price incl. housing, per yearSource: College Scorecard
- Tuition
- $71,740Source: College Scorecard
After you enroll
- Graduation rate
- 94%first-time, full-time students finishing within 6 yearsSource: College Scorecard
- Came back for year two
- 97%full-time first-year studentsSource: College Scorecard
- Median earnings
- $90,15310 years after starting, for students who got federal aidSource: College Scorecard
- Median debt at graduation
- $15,000federal loans, students who finishedSource: College Scorecard
Students
- Undergraduates
- 1,873Source: College Scorecard
- Receive Pell grants
- 20%a sign of economic diversitySource: College Scorecard
- First-generation students
- 19%parents didn't go beyond high schoolSource: College Scorecard
Similar schools
Similar, and easier to get into
- University of New England Biddeford, ME — admits 92%
- Macalester College Saint Paul, MN — admits 29%
- Rhodes College Memphis, TN — admits 50%
- Kenyon College Gambier, OH — admits 31%
Also worth a look
- Colby College Waterville, ME — admits 7%
- Williams College Williamstown, MA — admits 8%
- Davidson College Davidson, NC — admits 13%
- Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA — admits 7%
- Grinnell College Grinnell, IA — admits 15%
- Pomona College Claremont, CA — admits 7%
Where these numbers come from
Every number on this page comes from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard page for Bowdoin College, which draws on what the school reports to the federal government and on federal student aid and tax records. We last pulled the data on November 4, 2026. Different measures cover different years; here's how each one works.
Spot something wrong? Report a data error.