Bowdoin College vs Reed College

Bowdoin College and Reed College, two esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Bowdoin, nestled in Brunswick, Maine, boasts a lower acceptance rate (10.6%) compared to Reed's (38.5%) in Portland, Oregon. While Bowdoin's student body is slightly larger, both colleges share a commitment to small class sizes, fostering close interactions between students and professors. Bowdoin's popular majors include government and legal studies, economics, and English, while Reed's strengths lie in social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to delve into further details, including graduation rates, student demographics, and more, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Bowdoin College	Reed College
Overview
Location	Brunswick, Maine	Portland, Oregon
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	88.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	43.8%
Application fees	$65	$75
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	9,325	7,010
Total number of admissions given out	822	3,071
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	502
Yield rate	62.9%	16.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$76,310	$77,020
Average net price	$26,727	$33,056
Tuition	$57,776	$62,420
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	Room/dormitory: $8,130 Meal plan: $7,510
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	58.0% Average amount $43,945
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	46.0% Average amount $4,374
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	7.0% Average amount $19,335

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	1,548 Men 41.6% Women 58.4%
Graduate students	N/A	18 Men 61.1% Women 38.9%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	91.5%	88.7%
International students	7.1%	8.8%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,913	1,113
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California Maine Connecticut New Jersey	California Oregon Washington New York Colorado

Academics
Popular study areas	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Biological and Biomedical Sciences Natural Resources and Conservation Mathematics and Statistics	Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science Multidisciplinary Studies Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	72.7%
Dropout rate	2.2%	8.2%
Transferred out	4.0%	17.8%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $122,292 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $67,101 Year 3: $83,803 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $61,127 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $77,719 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,934 Year 2: $50,231 Year 3: $60,473 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,194 Year 3: N/A Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,244 Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $32,925 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $22,771 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,658 Year 2: $39,009 Year 3: N/A Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,454 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $18,771 Year 3: $26,088 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $16,874 Year 3: $23,169 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $26,739 Year 3: N/A Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,125 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: N/A Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $28,598 Year 3: N/A

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