Lake Forest College vs Bowdoin College

Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, Lake Forest College, and Bowdoin College, a gem of the Northeast, stand as two distinct beacons of higher education. While both institutions share a commitment to academic excellence and student success, they offer unique experiences shaped by their contrasting locations, student demographics, and academic offerings. With Lake Forest College's acceptance rate hovering around 60% and Bowdoin's highly selective admissions process resulting in an acceptance rate of 11%, the first step in choosing between these two esteemed institutions lies in assessing your academic profile. Explore the comparison table below to delve into further details, including popular majors, student body diversity, graduation rates, and more, to discover which college aligns best with your aspirations and goals.

	Bowdoin College	Lake Forest College
Overview
Location	Brunswick, Maine	Lake Forest, Illinois
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: 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%	87.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.8%	64.4%
Application fees	$65	$50
SAT range	N/A	1130 - 1345
ACT range	N/A	26 - 31
Students submitting SAT score		26.0%
Students submitting ACT score		15.0%
Total number of applicants	9,325	4,358
Total number of admissions given out	822	2,808
Admitted students who chose to enroll	517	417
Yield rate	62.9%	14.9%
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	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$76,310	$66,400
Average net price	$26,727	$25,126
Tuition	$57,776	$50,100
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $7,630 Meal plan: $8,268	Room/dormitory: $5,540 Meal plan: $5,958
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	54.0% Average amount $45,153	100.0% Average amount $38,182
Students receiving federal student loan	11.0% Average amount $4,767	43.0% Average amount $5,895
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $20,700	4.0% Average amount $15,800

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,951 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%	1,661 Men 41.7% Women 58.3%
Graduate students	N/A	29 Men 34.5% Women 65.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	91.5%	45.4%
International students	7.1%	15.7%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,913	1,236
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	Illinois Arizona California Colorado Minnesota

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 Education Foreign Languages and Literatures Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	12:1
Institutional accreditation	New England Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	93.8%	73.0%
Dropout rate	2.2%	4.8%
Transferred out	4.0%	22.2%
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	Finance and Financial Management Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,498 Year 2: $44,468 Year 3: $58,948 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $45,662 Year 2: $41,007 Year 3: $50,604 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,515 Year 2: $40,647 Year 3: $46,215 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,630 Year 2: $30,409 Year 3: $42,995 Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,945 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $37,497 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $33,373 Year 2: $23,807 Year 3: $32,580 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $26,153 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,832 Year 3: N/A Neurobiology and Neurosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,544 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,197 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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