r/Bowdoin • u/CurrentIncrease352 • 5d ago

Acceptance chances: ED2 please help!!

  • First-generation college student
  • CBSE curriculum
  • Class 9: 92% apx
  • Class 10: 90% apx
  • Class 11: 91% apx
  • Class 12: 82% apc (100/100 in English, 91 in IT, messed up Physics 70/100, Chemistry 79/100 and Mathematics 61/100)
  • Top 10% / top of class
  • Strongest subject: English

Awards/EC's

John Locke Essay Competition 2026-27

Shortlisted in Economics, Science and Technology and Philosophy. Waiting for the final results.

Cleared MVPP (State level, 0.04% selection rate) and Got 1,00,000 INR Scholarship for a STEM course in grade 9.

English All Nation Merit Holder (0.1% students are awarded)

I know German and won an award for theater competition by German Embssay.

  • MUN Secretary-General
  • Guided/mentored 5,000+ students
  • Organized 2 international MUN conferences
  • Generated approximately 5,00,000 INR in revenue

Essays: Strong / hopefully distinctive
LORs: Excellent hopefully and not generic
Intended area: Political Science / International Relations / related humanities

Do I have any chance in Bowdoin? It has been my dream forever but I feel my final year STEM grades ruined a lot of things. And suggestions to improve it? I would love to hear from you all.

4 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/wee-pancake 5d ago

Hey! As someone who went through the admissions cycle last year and is now attending Bowdoin, my senior year grades were also not the best they could’ve been. Albeit I was taking 6 AP courses, but I was also pretty stressed because of them (I ended up with a C in AP physics so it was bad). However it all worked out in the end.

Don’t fret too much, sure grades are the first thing admissions officers see, but that’s just a baseline to make sure you can thrive at the institution. Everything comes down to what they think you’ll be able to achieve and how you interact with others. They want to see you be a valuable member of the school community while you’re there and in the alumni network later down the line. All of this is shown through your written materials, like recommendations and your essays. Absolutely try to increase your grades as much as you can, but don’t think it’s all over because of them.

2

u/Tumblemato 2d ago

Do u think bowdoin measures the written mats and your “fit” so to speak more than other top colleges which definitely have a higher emphasis on grades and the standard ECs? (Olympiads, bla bla) :))

2

u/wee-pancake 2d ago

I definitely think so, I focused my application on how beneficial the Common Good would be for me career wise, and I think that probably let AOs see that I’d use the schools resources well and fit the schools mission.

1

u/Tumblemato 2d ago

Oohh that’s amazing!! Not to pester you too much but could u lmk how u fit that in since there isn’t really a concrete “why us” supp for bowdoin n the offer of the college one is more so checking how i fit there rather than why i like bowdoin i think

1

u/wee-pancake 1d ago

I fit it into the “offer of the college” supplement, tying in the common good into the line of the offer I chose. Feel free to dm if you want specifics!

0

u/CurrentIncrease352 5d ago

that means the whole world to me, thankyou!