Bowdoin College & Williams College Panel

Webinar Transcription

2020-07-16 Bowdoin College & Williams College Panel

[00:00:00] Hi everyone. Welcome to the Bullseye admissions college panel for bolding college and Williams college. We’re just past the halfway point in our new college series. And this panel features our advisors from top liberal arts colleges.

My name is Iris, and I’m an advisor at Bullseye and I’ll be your moderator for tonight just to orient everyone with the webinars structure in different functions. We’ll start off with our panelists, telling you more about Boden and Williams. Then we’ll have a live Q and a on the sidebar. You can download the slides from tonight in the handouts tab, and you can also start submitting questions in the Q and a tab throughout the panel.

We’ll have some polls offers in handouts. All right, well, so. [00:01:00] Getting started. I’m excited to introduce you to our panelists. Uh, first we have Lillian who graduated from Boden in 2018, where she majored in government and legal studies. Focusing on comparative politics. Nadia will be a senior at Williams where she’s majoring in English and theater.

Next up Lillian and Nadia will tell us more about their schools starting with.

All so excited for you guys to be joining us today. Um, I feel like it’s really an honor to talk about one of my favorite places in the whole world. Um, so voting college is a small school in Brunswick, Maine, which is about 30 minutes north of Portland. And about two hours north of Boston on the coast. Um, it’s a classic small liberal arts college.

Um, you get a really wonderful experience being in small classrooms, um, with a very personal connection to all professors, because it’s an undergraduate experience only. So all the professors are there [00:02:00] to teach you. And, um, there are no TA’s or, um, or grad students who, you know, are put in place. So, um, it’s just a wonderful, beautiful campus, right by the Atlantic ocean and the experiences as individuals as you want it to be.

So, um, I, I’m so excited to be talking about.

Um, so more of an overview of voting is that we have a few notable alum. Two, I think are, are people that we would know out in the crowd. The first is Reed Hastings, um, who was the founder of Netflix. So he’s been getting us all through the big COVID pandemic. I’m sure. Um, and he’s been a really generous allotment is, is given back a lot to the college, um, and actually supports a lot of our extra achievement programs.

Um, Joshua Chamberlain graduated way long ago. Um, he was a general for the union army and is credited with ending the civil war, um, and basically accepting Lee’s [00:03:00] surrender. Um, and during McKesson is a civil rights activist who was known for being one of the big leaders down in Ferguson in 20 14, 20 15.

Um, and he runs the pod save America podcast now, um, So, yeah, those are a couple of our famous alums. Um, and we had, I actually had the opportunity to hear from both durian and read them. And, um, I was at voted myself and alarms are very involved to college because there’s a lot of pride in that. Um, but, uh, I’ll let you guys read the fun facts really.

Um, but I think the last one about Harriet Beecher, Stowe writing, most of uncle Tom’s cabin on Bowden’s campus is pretty cool because, um, we have the snow house and then you can actually see where she did the majority of her writing. So we feel a lot of pride other than that.

Awesome. Nadia, do you want to give us a little intro to billions? Yeah, absolutely. Can you hear me? I’ve been having some [00:04:00] technical issues. Yeah, we can hear.

Amazing. Okay. So, um, Williams is a really small liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Uh, the lore is that, uh, at, um, the person who gave Williams the money, uh, to pounded said that the town and the college had to be named after him as Lordy Frank Williams, thereby Williamson Williamstown. Um, so our school is private.

It’s very small. We only have about 2000 undergraduates and 56 graduate students who, who are attending our, um, graduate art program and our center for developmental economics. It is rural, um, Williams to plant in the area. So a lot of the, uh, uh, that we eat is all fresh produce. They’re largely because of that and the faculty seven to one, um, I’m [00:05:00] rather in love with the school.

Um, I’m a senior and going to be graduating this year, which is a very bitter sweet feeling. Um, because the campus community is incredibly tight. It’s very small. Um, my major only has 10 students in it. Um, so you can get to know everyone really well. There isn’t much to do in the middle of a forest. Um, so actually it provides great opportunities for students of various socioeconomic classes is to actually have a very common ground in term for that to do together because, um, campus is located in larger cities.

Um, often there’s some, um, discrepancies in the way that students can spend their time. But at Williams it’s a very, very, um, close knit and, um, community that is, um, pretty much just in the middle of the forest. So, um, Yeah. Um, my personal experiences with classes, uh, is that I have very close relationships with all of my faculty members.

Um, I have had [00:06:00] dinners at professor’s houses and I actually did a Russian senior seminar class. And we went to Russia, which probably wouldn’t happen now, but, um, Williams really tries to give students as many opportunities as they can, um, to get to know their faculty and to get them know on a deeply personal level.

Um, they even provide funding for students to take their faculty out there. Um, so, and the people really, really care about you doing your best and about, um, every single student having access to both their academic work. Um, so I am personally an English and theater major is. And, um, I am, would be glad to speak to that leader and I’ll let you guys read the contracts.

Um, uh, but we have a number of notable alums, including musician, Wayne Lee, home, Steve case, and Burnett. Um, we have the musical theater writer, Stephen Sondheim. Um, who’s a very prolific, uh, musical theater writer who [00:07:00] wrote into the woods, um, along with Claudia Rankin. Um, who’s a very famous author that, um, hopefully people have heard of, especially recently who wrote, um, plays like the white card.

Um, and so Williams generally has a history of producing a lot of, um, leading minds in both entrepreneurship, um, music and literature. And since it was founded. Um, but generally the college, uh, because of its rural location, um, is, has been very dedicated to environmental ism. Um, so a lot of sustainability is programmed into the way the college is being built and is currently, um, we have a lot of construction going on with the new science center.

And so the college has been, um, quite cognizant of student concerns and environmental concerns. So, um, Williams has been doing a lot of work, um, to partner with the surrounding community and, uh, hopefully lead the college to a greener and [00:08:00] better future. So yeah, that’s about my shorts should be Oprah Williams.

All right. Headed back to vote in. Coming in, um, you know, many prospective students are always wondering what the academic experience will be like when you start off at college. And, um, the best thing I think about Boden is that they really ensure that you have that transition very smoothly from the high school experience into the college experience.

And the first of ways they do that is by ensuring that every first year coming in is in a first year only seminar. And those seminars are typically capped at around 10 students. And that means that you have a very intimate relationship with the professor who’s teaching the course and also with your other classmates.

Um, my seminar for example, was about public healthcare varies in the United States. Uh, but we’ve had any type of variety of seminar that you can really think of. Every single department offers one, at least one and many offer, um, quite a few. And so [00:09:00] people find this as a wonderful way to get involved early on in an academic space that feels comfortable to you.

And also you get a lot of guidance on reading, right? Research. Um, and in addition to that, then you transition right into having support full-time from a faculty advisor, from the get-go. And this advisor is typically given to you based on your initial academic preferences. And then after your sophomore year, where you need to declare your major, uh, you then get assigned to a different advisor from your major.

If it’s someone from outside the department that you were originally assigned to, and this academic advising, I think comes in really handy because of course, when you’re signing up for classes at first time, or even maybe sophomore year, you’re like, wow, I don’t really know what classes to take. And, um, because even though Bowden is such a small school, it has a really wide array of offerings.

Um, and sometimes you end up in a class like I did. I ended up in a class called rock pop and soul music, and it was an Africana studies music crossover class. And I ended up having [00:10:00] this wonderful time, um, when I was above her major, you know, and, and. That’s the wonderful thing about bone is that nothing would limit you from studying in a course that maybe you wouldn’t otherwise have chosen.

Had you not checked out the course catalog at the beginning? Um, there’s five requirements for, um, they’re called distribution requirements and basically most classes will fit into one of them. And you just need to make sure that you have a wide breadth of classes by the time you graduate. And that’s just to encourage students to really commit themselves to this liberal arts experience and, um, ensuring that you’re not only graduating with it being, you know, a master of.

The subject that you chose to pursue for your major, your minor, but also that you have a breadth of understanding of all these different types of courses. Um, and it also creates a wonderful classroom experience because you have kids in all of your classes from bunch of different majors. And so you’re not just talking to the same nine or 10 people in every single [00:11:00] class you’re in for, for, you know, your, your major, if you’re actually getting bigger Ray of ideas and voices and, um, experiences.

So I think, I think boredom is a wonderful job with that.

Yeah. So, um, when was the similar, I mean, most of our liberal arts colleges really encouraged students to, um, pursue multidisciplinary work and interdisciplinary work. So, what is actually different in that there is no core curriculum and no required classes. There are only distribution requirements, um, which differs a little bit from most other schools.

Um, so students are allowed to take basically whatever classes they want as that they have to fulfill a certain number of classes in each discipline, which you’re split into divisions. So there’s division one, which tends to be arts and humanities division two, social sciences, and then division three are hard sciences.

There’s some

change going on right now about, [00:12:00] uh, our classes is really for instance, or an English. Um, and there, I think I still actually have to take one. Um, but basically there’s a huge array of different courses you can take, but the college doesn’t want to force all students to take a specific class. It’s not where your interest lies and hopefully it’s a great experience for you to actually try something out that you might end up really enjoying and pursuing.

I know a lot of people who’ve had passions in cupboard because they were forced to take a history class and actually ended up really loving it. Um, we also have, um, you need to take a writing intensive class, um, because the college puts a lot of emphasis on the students coming out as very strong writers, um, in whatever field they’re doing.

Um, so you have to take two of those, an abstracted reasoning class, which tends to be classes associated with logic like stats. Um, and also the colleges dedicated itself to improving, um, diversity requirements. So one class you [00:13:00] have to take on is on difference, power and equity, um, which can be a class in American studies or the widgets department, which is women, gender and sexuality studies.

There are a number of classes you can take often these classes are cross-listed so you, you’re not supposed to take. For instance, the humanities class is also, cross-listed often under writing intensive. So you aren’t required to take a large number of specific classes in each one in a lot of classes think fulfill requirements.

Um, but basically the idea is that you come away from the education with a very strong background to do any kind of work. Um, the college wants to foster very strong thinkers and writers. Um, and so that you can think in basically any context, um, you can start as a science major and end up working in marketing for instance, and the college wants to make sure that you’re prepared for any kind of things thrown your way

right back to voting. [00:14:00] Um, I feel like Nadia is going to convince me that I wish I had gone to Williams at the end of this doing a great job. Um, but back to voted mild and moderate, um, Most of the popular majors are kind of what you’d expect. Um, a lot of people interested in political science. So it’s exactly what I studied as compared to politics, which was big focus on how other government structures work in other countries, outside the United States.

It led me to study abroad in Sri Lanka. And then actually I returned my senior year and did extended research in the country and then wrote my senior thesis about it. And, um, I would never have had that experience. Had I not taken that first, uh, government class that was focused on, um, politics of international justice.

Um, You know, the, the majors that are listed here, I think are just simply a screenshot of what bone has to offer. Um, the wonderful thing, as I was saying before, is that because of the way that bone encourages you to take many different classes in different disciplines, you end up having a broad array [00:15:00] of courses from many departments by the time you graduate.

Um, and it just, you know, yes, you choose a major, but typically a major is nine to 10 classes. And then you have a remaining 22 requirements classes, um, you can take into any department. So, um, there’s so much good to be said about every single department. And I ha I graduated friends who studied all types of things and they all, they just adored what they studied.

Um, and for me, it was, you know, the most popular major on campus and for others. Two people in the Latin American studies department, you know, ending up at the end with majors. And, um, it’s just awesome. I think to know that that even if you choose a major, that’s maybe not so popular, you still get to share that experience with so many different students, even if they’re not pursuing that longterm.

Um, what else do you do besides studying? I know everyone’s like, yeah, college is cool, but like, let’s talk about social life. Um, so athletics is a big part of college campus at Bowden. Um, we have a number of [00:16:00] competitive RCTs. We, uh, participate in the new England, small college athletic conference called the otherwise known as the NESCAC.

Um, I, myself, I was a rower in college, um, and it was. Awesome. It was, I woke up at no one’s going to leave. This is awesome. I woke up at 5:00 AM every day and wrote on the Atlantic. And some days it was actually snowing, but other days it was a beautiful sunrise and there’d be seals, poking their snouts out of their water.

And, um, I, I show up to class a little bit stinky at 8:00 AM, um, but just feeling joy about the athletic experience that that bone had to offer. And, um, it’s just one way to express, you know, camaraderie and team work and just get a little bit of a break from the stress that is, you know, studying and being an academic person.

So, um, I think it had to the next slide, because I know not everyone here is about athletics, but, um, oops, I’m sorry. I clicked the slide. I messed that up. Um, but [00:17:00] if you’re not like, oh, I don’t want to play sports. Like there are a hundred plus clubs that you can join at the college. Um, one of our most popular clubs is out in clubs.

That’s the, the organization that supports. Endless opportunity for exploring the outdoors. Maine is known as vacation land for a reason there’s mountains and rivers and the ocean and ponds and lakes, and just trails upon trails around trails. And there’s so many ways to get outside and get involved. Um, the outing club hosts a training program for, you know, potential wilderness leaders.

Um, they give wilderness first aid training, all those things, and it’s just, it’s a wonderful way to connect with the state that we live in for those four years. Um, and then beyond that, I mean, there’s different clubs, music, dance theater. Um, I was in a comedy group and I did the college. I did sketch comedy, so that was a little bit of writing out.

Um, and then performing two shows every year. And that was awesome. Um, and yeah, it just [00:18:00] it’s, I think the academics that book. Amazing. They’re wonderful. They’re top of their class. It’s, it’s, it’s an experience you can’t get at many other schools, but also the social experience and the opportunities to engage with students outside the classroom is wonderful.

Um, and I just made so many friends in different areas, whether it was on the rowing team or sketch comedy or elsewhere. So, um, hitting on some of these school events, traditions, and attractions, um, Boden, hello, this sounds cheesy, but, um, there’s an expectation that when you cross paths with someone up and you say hi to them, even if you don’t know them, um, and let me tell you on your worst day, it is the best thing that could happen to you is just a random person crossing Bradley’s as high.

And I think that speaks a lot to what the small campus feel is like. And also what the dedication is to community on campus. Um, we have a lobster bake, another main tradition and the fruit first dinner that the whole college eats together is outside, um, on our soccer fields and the. [00:19:00] College isn’t number one dining in the country.

Um, throw that in there. Um, they cook over a thousand lobsters for students, um, and everyone gets together and has this wonderful, joyous technic, um, which is kind of overwhelming for first years. Of course they don’t know anyone, but for returning students, it’s like the it’s the best day ever. Um, we have the Bowden Colby hockey game, if you’re big into sports, um, they, we pack the arena every year, um, and it gets rowdy and it’s fun.

Um, and there’s just, I mean, Bowden is committed to. Rigorous academics, rigorous life and just, and fun. And it’s just, you can feel that every day, um, whether it’s a college house, which is, you know, some of our social houses where sophomores live and, um, and they throw parties and they throw events for the campus, or you can feel that in the residential life team putting on big events for the whole whole campus.

So, um, it’s that community that you feel in the athletics, in the [00:20:00] theater, in the dance performances and in the comedy groups and, um, in every single event elsewhere. It’s. It’s awesome.

Yeah. So, um, I also was part of a sketch comedy group at Williams, so something Lillian and I have in common. Um, but so you can see our list of popular majors. Um, I’ll also throw in English on their department pride. Um, but generally we have a lot of pre-med students pre lost students. Um, we have, I think.

Def, definitely one of our most popular majors on campus. Uh, we have a lot of alumni that go on to work for, um, consulting firms. And, um, so that certainly is, um, I would say most of campus. Um, but one of the things that I love most about Williams is that is the fact that often may yours will be very [00:21:00] small.

Um, so for instance, this studio art major can be five students in a year or six. Um, which means that you have very, very close contact with your faculty and advisors, and even in larger majors like economics or history or English, um, professors do their best to have one-on-one interactions with you, um, and make sure that every student is advised and is helped, um, in a lovely way.

And, um, I think that generally the most exciting thing to me, especially about liberal arts, which applies to go into. Um, it matters what you major in, but what matters most is that you go to the school? Um, so often the school will give opportunities, um, that are outside of the major. So I, for instance, know a dance contract major and a contract majors, basically, where you can make your own major, um, and create your own classwork for it.

Um, and graduate with that degree, even if the school doesn’t necessarily offer it. Um, and she’s working in a neuroscience lab right now. Um, [00:22:00] so basically again, what I said earlier is that the college really does try to prepare you for whatever the workplace there’s your way. And often people, um, will find themselves in the most unlikely of situations pursuing something that they didn’t think existed after college.

Um, so I personally am not. Uh, but I know a number of people who are, I believe about 40% of the student body does take part in, uh, college athletics. And we have a range of different teams. Our C team is division one to our football team, which is division three. So we even have like a range in the kind of, um, levels of sports using can take part at, um, some are much more intensive than others.

Um, I know a number of people in women’s hockey, um, and they all love balancing their schedules with doing sports practice together, um, along with, um, academics and because athletics is such a huge part of the Williams campus. And because it is very rural, um, a [00:23:00] lot of people find that part of their extracurricular time goes to just hiking around the area.

Um, and just doing outdoors things, even if they aren’t necessarily part of a team, um, or want to be a part of a team, uh, Always exciting. Um, and there are even fun things like ice skating club. So if you really don’t want to, um, enroll as an athlete, there are still really great ways that you can participate in kind of, um, a more active culture.

Um, and, um, yeah, so I think that covers athletics, but in terms of other extracurriculars, Williams has a lot, um, and 400 plus groups. And so, um, which really just allows you to do anything you want. We have a step team. Um, we have, I think, 12 different acapella groups. Um, we have including one that only things, Disney songs, so really Williams students just get [00:24:00] together.

And if they want to have a good time and be creative, they’ll do it. Uh, so you know, some clubs will be. Only like two people together versus, um, I’m the artistic director, co-artistic director of our student, um, our one student theater group on campus, and we have a board member, a board number of about 16 people.

Um, so some clubs can be quite large. Um, so there’s really something for everyone, which is always really exciting because one of the great ways of finding your community on campus is through these very fun activities that you can do with people. I remember this club has now closed down, unfortunately, but a few years back, we had an acapella group called the Elizabethans, which just saying Elizabeth in choral music, dressed in Elizabeth Elizabethan robes.

Um, so really if, even if Williamson offers something currently, um, I know a freshman, who’s now creating an archery club because it wasn’t offered before. So Williams really does try to support all student groups, [00:25:00] um, and provide enough funding for them to do what they want. Um, it’s just exciting to be on a campus with such a diversity of interests.

And I think that that’s really what, um, brings the campus together is that you will go to an acapella concert and the next day we’ll go to a sports game and then the sports people will come see all of your performance things because you came and saw their sports. And it’s this really great community, um, created from just wanting to support each other and the kind of, um, endeavors you’re doing and that totally can exist, you know, cross majors to, for instance, my, um, improv group has a lot of economics majors, a lot of division three majors, um, that usually don’t perform, but I’ve found that that’s something particularly exciting to them.

Um, so we, I think, um, our traditions cover that a lot. I really love that steam tunnels are on here as a school tradition, uh, because Williams has a lot of folklore built up around [00:26:00] it because it’s the second oldest college in Massachusetts after Harvard. Um, and one of them are the steam tunnels, which is this secret basically network of Tundra, tunnels that go underneath campus that you technically aren’t allowed to visit, but some students have made it their tradition to break into.

Um, and there’s a lot of other really quirky things that, uh, people like to do. Like mountain day, I think is one of our most well-known ones, uh, where one day in October, the president of the college says that all classes are canceled on a Friday and everyone goes up the mountain to drink apple cider donuts, um, and just like listen to groups perform.

And that’s a really, and it’s just to celebrate autumn and it’s a big part of the Williams experience because. Um, you never know which data will be, but everyone tries to place bets on which they, they can’t, they can actually not do homework, um, because they won’t have courses. But, um, yeah, I think that illustrates pretty well.

That Williams is just kind [00:27:00] of a community. Academics are hard, but people try really hard to support each other. And one of the best things about the college are the students. Um, and I have met people that have been some of the most unbelievable thinkers and dreamers I have ever met in my entire life.

Um, and it’s the college tries to provide opportunities for you to keep meeting new people throughout your four years. Um, we have our spring break trips, which are basically, uh, courses that, um, have a trip component in them. Um, so for instance, I went to Russia for free paid for by the college for my senior seminar class.

And a lot of other classes have basically. Um, trip’s built into them, which students can go at no cost, um, which are really fantastic because you also get a bond closer to people in those classes and get to experience different countries, um, in different places. Great. All right. So next [00:28:00] Lillian, Nadia will tell us about why they chose their respect of schools.

But before that, here is a question for all of you. So are you planning to apply to either school, school or for both schools? What is that?

So a poll should be popping up on your screen and then after most people complete that poll, I’ll close it and guys will be able to see on everybody else’s response.

Alright. Looks like most people are still deciding,

waiting on two more people. Okay. Um, what let’s close the poll really fast. So looks like most people are deciding about which schools to apply to. Um, let’s go on to the next side,[00:29:00]

if I were think back to this time last year, not last year. Oh my gosh. Um, years ago when I was applying to vote in the first place at this time of the summer, I also did not know if I would apply. So for not, not there saying, Ooh, maybe I should know. Just remember you have many, many weeks to decide. Um, I just won’t say quickly.

I mean, you can read my quote. Um, I grew up in the south side of Chicago. I felt pretty far. And when I came to meeting for the first time, but I think the way that I was embraced by the community and Boden, um, when I was a perspective student was just really incredible. Um, and. It has not let me down from that first expectation and that experience.

So, um, the college was wonderful. It was immediately welcoming. I was able to study so many different things. Um, and I have a lot of appreciation for the community that supported me when I was there and continues to support me now. Um, I’m in the process of applying to medical school [00:30:00] and the boat in college advisor still provide support to me as often as I might need it.

And that’s something that’s really special about a small college like Boden. I’m sure Williams offers similar opportunity where once you graduate, it’s not like you’re just into this great unknown abyss. It’s actually, you have an ongoing relationship with the college, um, and to be an alum two years out and know that I still have this wonderful, deep connection with people and the place.

And just the whole experience I think is really meaning.

Yes. So, um, I think similarly to Lillian is why I chose Williams. Um, I kind of fell in love with the school. When are they admissions officer came? Um, because I can’t really explain it. And someone actually asked me, why are Williams alumni so obsessed with Williams? And I really don’t have a good answer to it.

Um, except that you are kind of stuck literally in the middle of [00:31:00] nowhere with some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. And when I was deciding between colleges, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to pursue, but Williams both allows you to pursue what you want to while also deeply challenging you to grow in other ways.

So it’s not nearly enough for you to settle for one career path in one way or one ideology. Um, you have to push yourself and you have to grow, um, And the balance between that intensity, but also the care, um, that the students have for each other. And the faculty have for the students, um, really stood out to me in the process.

Um, because I think a lot of departments, I felt like there was some disconnects between the faculty members and the students. Um, but really at Williams you also make principal faculty for life in a lot of ways, and they become a really strong, um, support for you. And once you graduate the alumni network, I’ve talked to [00:32:00] Williams alumni randomly just because I like bumped into them or we happened to be in the same field and now have this really deep connection because of the school we went to, um, which I just think speaks a lot to how much people end up loving it.

You’re kind of suffering a lot with the academics. Um, I’m not gonna lie. It’s really hard school, but it’s really, really worth it because I think when you, um, finally graduate or I went abroad and so I was reminded. As to why miss it so much is the fact that when you’re there on campus, you really are dedicating yourself to the people there.

Um, and Williams itself has done a lot of outreach work that I’ve been really impressed by, um, and is paying its students to also, um, take part in it, which is exciting to me as a financial aid student was how much financial aid the college offered and how much it offered in terms of taking part in volunteer opportunities.

I think that for a lot of schools, it was either you [00:33:00] volunteer or you do work study, um, and Williams is really committed to helping the community around it too. So I, for instance, was paid to go help out in a classroom. Um, and so the fact that the school is so committed to both serving the students and serving the community around it, um, It just moved me a lot.

And so, um, and then when I set foot on campus, I think a lot of liberal arts colleges tend to blend together a little bit. And so kind of the test is usually coming to campus and actually seeing the feel of it is right for you. Um, that doesn’t work for everyone, but for me, certainly when I came, I was pretty much fell in love with it.

Um, and not everyone can say the same thing of course, but, um, it’s definitely a very quirky, very idiosyncratic, um, little place. I mean, we’re called the purple cows. So, you know, it’s a great group of people to be a part of. So[00:34:00]

being mindful of time, I just want to say that, um, the bone application process is pretty straightforward and, um, the essay. Prompts you to read the offer of the college, which can give you a great idea of what boat and tries to offer its students. Um, there are wonderful resource resources on Bowden’s website on how to apply and what to, to include in your application, including information about if you qualify for financial aid, the waving of the application fee, and then also, um, future grant funding for your education instead of student loans is, um, Bono’s, uh, one of the first colleges to adopt this grant based financial aid program and continues to commit itself to ensuring that its graduates who won’t graduate with a debt.

So I’m also happy to talk to anyone about the application process, but I want to get ahead to the Q and a is possible.

These are the stats anyway. Yeah. Yeah. I can quickly touch on Williams. I [00:35:00] think a lot of this information you’ll find on their website. Um, I will say that an important thing to consider. Is, um, first of all, for, um, financial aid students or, um, other folks I’d really check out windows on Williams, um, because it’s basically an opportunity where the college pays you to apply to campus, um, before applications to decide if you want to dispute it or not.

I don’t know how it’s going to look this year. Um, but that’s a really good opportunity to actually get to know the school. Um, and also more than happy to talk to anyone as well about, um, the more specific applications, but ed, um, versus regular decision is certainly, um, an important choice, I think, because it is harder to get in regular decision.

Um, but also you will find all of that information on the website as well. So.

So that is the end of our school presentation, part of the channel panel. Now moving on to the live Q and a I’ll read through the questions you [00:36:00] submitted in the Q and a tab, which I don’t see any right now. So if you guys have any questions, feel free to pop them in the Q and a tab. And then what I’ll do is I’ll post it into the public chat so everyone can see it.

And then Lillian and Nadia will give you guys some answers. And also as a heads up, if your Q and a tab, isn’t letting you submit questions, double check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email, not from the panel’s landing page. All right. So my first question is Nadia, what do you plan or what do you plan on pursuing after college?

Yeah, so I am going into artistic directing, um, which basically for life theater shows. Um, so either helping run an organization or just being a freelance director, um, In my college process, I was actually deciding between, um, basically a BFA in theater, which is a more conservatory, more intensive approach and a liberal arts [00:37:00] education.

So I’m more than happy to talk about to what the differences between those and what the differences between a liberal arts education, the more specialized major. Um, but yeah. Awesome. So our next question is, is there a neuroscience major at both of the schools? There are signs is one of the strongest departments that we have at Boden, I would say.

And it’s really amazing to know that we have a department it’s so specialized, um, at a small college like, like that. Um, and the neuroscience major is both heavy on the biology side of things and also on the psychology side. Um, and I have a number of friends who graduated with neuroscience majors and it just, oh, it’s the most awesome group of people.

So I highly recommend this after years.

I believe that, um, with Williamson neuroscience program is a lot smaller than at burden. Um, so often people will concentrate in it and concentrations are basically minors. Um, so I know someone who’s graduating in [00:38:00] psychology with a concentration in neuroscience, so there’s classes offered, but I don’t believe it’s a totally separate department than, um, the psych department is, um, so related to academics, how would the double major route.

Um, so this really depends at Williams from major to major. I, I presume it’s probably similar for most liberal art colleges, but usually majors require seven to 10 courses. Um, and as long as you complete those courses, you’ve technically completed a major. Um, and so often students will find that if they take a lot of classes into different disciplines, it makes sense to just finish off, um, taking the required courses.

So for instance, for my English and theater, I just happened to take a lot of English classes and a lot of theater classes. And so it’s not that far off from just taking the senior seminar, finishing it off. Um, you don’t need to do, you are required to declare your sophomore year, but the college wants you to take a ton of different classes before even [00:39:00] deciding, but more often than not, people end up double majoring just by seeing, you know, where their passions lie and the kind of classes they’ve taken already.

Um, and then you can only do a thesis in one week. It’s the one thing I would say about double-majoring. Yeah. I would say double majors at Bowden are pretty similar where you take the classes to qualify you for it. Um, the cool thing that Boden does offer is that if you double major, you can actually rate your senior thesis in both majors, as long as you have, um, collaboration from both of your advisors in the department.

So, um, I was a double major in an anthropology minor, and I actually had, um, a little bit of a crossover between anthropology and gov in my thesis. So, you know, it’s, it’s all academic collaboration and I’m sure even at Williams professors would be more than happy to help incorporate both your interests.

Our next question is how do international students get assisted in terms of post-graduate careers? And maybe you can apply this to [00:40:00] domestic students as well. Yeah. Um, so for Williams, the alumni. Uh, class to any student, um, and a lot of William’s grads ends up, ended up going abroad, um, or our international students.

Um, so basically the college has a career center where they provide access to alumni through this thing called east link, um, where you can reach out to people, um, especially it’s broken up by geographic area and by disciplines. Um, so you can reach out to people in your home country, or if there’s a different country that you’d like to live in the future, um, and contact people there.

Um, I don’t believe there’s a different process for international students. I think the college wants to make it as available to people that because the alumni network is literally spread across the whole world, uh, I would really doubt you not being able to find someone, um, who could particularly speak to you.

Um,[00:41:00]

I would say pretty similar at Bowden. Um, our career planning center, I know has a dedicated advisor who helps international students work with visas. And I know that’s an especially important question right now with the way the immigration and visa granting is going in our country. And so I know within Boden, we have an advisor who specifically works with students who are interested in getting the visa assurance for future jobs.

Great. So are you, oh, sorry, go ahead. Yeah. Oh, I was just going to say that, I think with both colleges and with liberal arts colleges, because if they’re so small, they will do their best to cater, um, all of their help to what your needs are. Um, and so even if a specific center doesn’t offer something yet they will.

Um, and so just something to keep in mind is that there’s someone who will always be able to help you with any specific questions you have at the, at the college. That sounds great. All right. So the next question is [00:42:00] directed at Lillian probably, but Nadia feel free to tack on anything. So are your chances of getting in higher if you apply EDU early decision?

Oh, I love playing this game. Um, I think the most important thing to think about is if you’re applying early decision, you absolutely have to go to college. Um, and for students who are able and willing to commit to that, um, who feel excited about the college and also feel confident that the college will grant sufficient financial aid to meet your needs.

Um, it’s a wonderful choice to go for. Uh, I, myself, I applied early decision. I knew boater was the one, um, and I actually got deferred and then I was accepted. Or a regular decision. So when you get deferred for those, you don’t know, basically we’re saying like, we like you, but not really sure. We actually want you, um, tell us how housing they’re going come spring.

And then in the spring I got an unacceptance. Um, and it’s, I think, you know, [00:43:00] it’s a show of excitement and then of a doozy ASM, but there’s so many students who don’t do it for reasons, as I said, financial, personal, um, emotional, you know, we, especially right now in the midst of a pandemic, we don’t know what’s going to happen one, two years from now.

Um, so I wouldn’t say just apply to Bowden early because you think it’ll help your chances of getting in. I think actually you’re going to be as strong an applicant, early decision as you would, regular decision. Um, and, and just be confident in your application if you’re not quite ready to make that full commitment.

Tacking on to that. I was, um, I’m a financial aid students, so I didn’t feel comfortable committing to any school, um, from the get go. So I actually applied to William straggler decision. It is easier I think, to get in, um, early decision just because they do fill up a certain number of spots technically in the student body.

Um, but really you should be making your choice based on what your financial needs and personal considerations are. Um, [00:44:00] as Lillian said, playing the game is complicated. Um, but you should do what’s best for you. And in the end, um, this, the way that I tend to see it as the school make a pretty good, um, decision based on like, um, acceptance in the end.

So you will end up going where you need to go. So we’re partway through the Q and a, and as a quick break, I want to let you know what you can do after the panel to get help on your college apps and get in touch with Lillian or Nadia after the. So both side missions offers two advising plans, the starter plan and the scholar plan.

They’re both monthly subscriptions where you get matched with an advisor of your choice and you get one or two hours of one-on-one advising each month. Our advisors will work with you on crafting the perfect supplemental essays for Boden Williams and your other applications. So I’m going to send over an offer and it will basically pop up on your screen.[00:45:00]

All right. And then, um, the offer link will lead you to a page where you can schedule a call with Brian Mitchell, who is in charge of Bullseye to tell you a little more. This past admission season are both side. Clients got into boat Williams and every top 25 school in the country. We’ve had a lot of great feedback about her, but.

Our clients rate us 9.8 out of 10. And that’s because our advisors put a ton of care into working with you. One-on-one through every step of your application process. So this is a really great opportunity overall. All right. And now we’ll continue with our Q and a. All right. So our next question is at Bowden, how many students get accepted do not submit their scores.

So I think, you know, just how many, if you guys know how many students go test optional and they apply. Yeah. So I think this question is related to, um, I don’t know if everyone caught it on the side, but, um, Bowden is test optional [00:46:00] and it has been for a number of years. Um, and this is a commitment to that idea that the administration acknowledges that standardized tests aren’t often the best way to evaluate a student.

Um, so there’s no specific. Uh, percentage of students that they will pump that the college publishes of who got in, who didn’t submit their scores. But I will, I do know that I have a number of friends who did not submit their scores to vote in, obviously were accepted, um, and felt really happy about it and felt that they were submitting a more, more confident application.

Um, I, myself, I submitted my test scores. Um, I was happy with my test scores, but I think, um, in no way, have I ever heard an admissions counselor speak about a student who did not submit their test scores negatively, it’s just, it’s a, it’s a blank slate and it just makes them focus on your other aspects of your application and get really excited about those.

So, um, it’s a great question, but I don’t unfortunately have a percentage for you.[00:47:00]

All right. Our next question is can you be a student athlete and study in a different major for both schools? For example, can you be a cross country athlete and major in bio?

Um, I think that’s pretty much encouraged that Williams, I think from what I understand for the question is, um, can you do a specific sport and also do a major in kind of a different discipline, which is absolutely, um, at Williams, uh, you try to balance both your athletics life and academic life evenly.

Um, and so, and a lot of professors understand that. So I know chemistry majors who are also field hockey, um, et cetera, et cetera. And the school really wants you to branch out and wants you to pursue things in different disciplines. Um, so anything that’s about crossing like interdisciplinary boundaries is a definite yes.

Um, and so you just have to do a little bit more juggling as a student athlete with [00:48:00] scheduling that being said, a lot of students do extracurricular clubs, which also take up a lot of time outside of it. Um, Outside of class works. So there’s the expectation that students will sometimes, um, you know, be taking on an extra load outside of classes.

Um, but the school is there for you to, um, figure that out and figure that schedule out and do anything they can to make sure that you can meet your and what you’d like to.

Yeah. One thing that Boden does that I think is awesome is, um, they ensure that their classes all run between eight in the morning and 4:00 PM and no, um, athletic group or even club can schedule a practice or rehearsal before 4:00 PM. And so that’s to ensure that students don’t have to miss any of their class time, um, or any of their practice time or be game time.

So I think that alone is the commitment to saying June athletes, student performers, doing whatever, you know, you choose what you want to do. And you can do that in complete partnership with the things that [00:49:00] you were studying. Um, my favorite example is my freshman roommate walked onto the softball team.

And was also a neuroscience and government legal studies major and got high honors in both of those departments and she just kicked butt. Um, and it was awesome and she just, you know, she was busy, but she hadn’t time because Bowden made sure that every single aspect of the student athletes, um, schedule would work out and they do the same commitment for, you know, outing club trips or, um, theater performance, or is there anything like that?

So, um, the college is very dedicated to having a dual experience. Yeah. And Williams has equally the same scheduling, um, component as well. So. Awesome. So again, another question for both of you guys, uh, if Bowden doesn’t look at test scores, what do they look for? What kind of students do they look for?

Um, yeah, I think it’s a great question, Boden. [00:50:00] I don’t think they ever say that they are looking for one certain type of student, which I think, you know, when you’re an applicant can feel like a frustrating answer. Um, but I think what they really look for and what I’ve, I’ve heard from admissions officers that I’ve worked with at the college is they’re looking for a genuine voice coming through in your essay.

If you were someone who was passionate about violin, your whole life and your thing, the bone doesn’t care about that. And you write about one time you went to a baseball game, they would not like that. They’re looking for you talking about in your essays. What makes you excited? What makes you enthusiastic?

What what’s your eyes view? Um, and in the rest of your application, they’re looking at your letters of recommendation. They’re looking at how you’ve done the grade wise in your school and high school. Um, they’re looking at if you’ve done any extracurricular activities, what kinds of things are you involved in?

I think. It’s easy to get very focused on a standardized test score, [00:51:00] um, and really fixate on will this number get me into this college. And I think for a place like Boden for probably William too, and many of these smaller arts colleges, they want to create a class of approximately 500 students that, that meshes that feels like you don’t have a carbon copy of any single person in your, in your class.

Um, I was one of the few people from Chicago, but for me it didn’t never felt like it was a bad thing to have 500 classmates that were totally different than who I was. Um, and I think that’s, what’s awesome. You go to college to push yourself, you know, socially, academically, um, in all aspects of life. And so we can’t tell you, you know, do XYZ thing and you’ll get into boating, but if you are your genuine self and you feel.

Happiness with what you’re doing right now in high school. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s, that is the easiest way to tell that an applicant will be a great fit for a college like Boden.[00:52:00]

Yeah. And I will just second all of that for Williams. Yeah. Um, I was just going to add on that really? What matters? I think that my might might be lagging. Can you hear me? That’s okay. Keep, keep going. Yeah.

Oh no. Okay. Technology is fun. Um, I was just going to say the same thing for Williams, same thing for most of the liberal arts colleges, because they really care about who you are as a person. And I know people with perfect grades who didn’t get. I know people with way less than perfect grades who got in.

Um, I wrote my essays about unicycling, which is really weird. And, uh, looking back on it, maybe not the best decision, but for some reason, the college like that. Um, so really just let your personality loose. And [00:53:00] even the Williams is only test optional for starting this year. Um, I’m not sure if they’re continuing it into the future, they really just care about who you are as a person.

And that’s going to be the most important thing, um, to basically any liberal arts college. Yeah. Great. So you guys got a little sneak peek, but we’re going to move on to some speed round. So these are going to be very quick to wrap up the Q and a session probably just about under a minute for every response.

So our first question for this round will be, do a lot of people go to medical school after the. Yes. Um,

not right away, but certainly a number of students do. Yeah.

Yeah.[00:54:00]

Oh, how diverse are both schools?

So William still needs to do better. Um, certainly, um, I believe it’s still 60% white. Um, the college is working on it, but of course it’s always an ongoing process. Um, this year, especially with the current, um, The college has started rolling out, um, programs that they’re committing to, to improving diversity on campus and support for students of color, um, and particularly black and indigenous students.

Um, but of course that’s still lacking in our hygiene higher education systems. Um, so this, you can see specific statistics that I unfortunately do not have right now. Um, but the college is trying and working for a more diverse, um, and not just a more diverse campus, but actually supporting diversity once it’s on campus.

So [00:55:00] it’s not just tokenized, um, for other students. Um, so I’m feeling very hopeful for it. And I will say that Williams is certainly prioritizing having a diversity of experiences and backgrounds, um, as much as it can. Um, so that’s an answer as short as I can give it.

I would say boating looks similarly demographic-wise um, And it is absolutely something to consider when attending a school in the Northeast. A lot of these liberal arts colleges are predominantly white institutions. Um, but in similarly to Williams has made a commitment to ensuring that student experience is one that is safe and also supportive of, um, black and indigenous students of color on campus.

Um, but also making a stronger effort to recruit. One thing I would say is. Um, we didn’t talk talking diversity. I think bona really provided a great space to not only acknowledge [00:56:00] both racial diversity, but also socioeconomic diversity. And the state of Maine, for example, um, is a, is a state that experiences a lot of different types of socioeconomic wealth.

Um, and the college does a really wonderful job with its grant program, its financial aid program of ensuring that students are not all coming from the same socioeconomic status. And I think that adds a lot of different voices to the campus. Um, about 10% of our students at Bowden come from Maine. And I think that in and of itself creates a different dynamic, which challenges, you know, general assumptions about, um, what a, uh, small liberal arts college student body can look like.

Our next question is what is the job outfit?

So I guess I’m going to interpret this question is. In a more or less normal year, what a job opportunities look like after graduating. Um, so [00:57:00] I don’t have specific stats on it. Um, I know that the Williams alumni network is certainly a huge part in getting people, um, their first jobs or help in mentoring people to those first opportunities.

Um, and also the career center helps people throughout their four years to apply for internships, um, in paid programs during their four years. Um, so even if, for instance, if you are a student who cannot work an unpaid internship during the summer, um, due to socioeconomic reasons, you can apply for grants, um, funding to be paid for it, which is really awesome.

Um, so generally Williams students find jobs, um, through using grants that the college gives them and also through alumns. Um, there are ton of other ways as well. There are a lot of, um, Fellowships offered that the college gives her graduate study. Um, and as well, like starting funds. Um, for instance, if you’re a, uh, writing or arts major, there’s, uh, $25,000 grants for [00:58:00] projects, um, and also like starting up funds that you can apply for.

So the college offer tries as best. It can to kind of provide a cushion going out into the real world. Um, certainly nothing is guaranteed, uh, but there are a lot of opportunities you can use throughout your four years to make it as smooth of a transition as you can.

I think Boden absolutely commits itself to providing students as much professional experience as they can during the four years when you’re there. And then also the alumni groups are just, they go above and beyond. I know in the recent, um, Voting alumni groups have come together and basically work individually with students who just graduated and trying to find jobs.

And it doesn’t mean that necessarily they’re in the number one first choice job, but they are being supported by that greater community. Um, which is just a wonderful feeling to have when you’re going out there. Um, I, myself, I graduated [00:59:00] vote in 2018. I was lucky enough to get a Fulbright scholarship to, uh, work in Madrid and I loved it and it was wonderful.

And, um, and in terms of those kinds of opportunities, but it also has a specific advising group that works with students to apply for national fellowships that will take you anywhere around the world. Um, so it’s not just like that traditional getting a job experience, but it’s also, you know, what’s the next opportunity are you going to grad school?

Great. Here are three advisors that help specifically with grad school. Are you going to a national fellowship? Awesome. Here’s our advisor that helps you write your essays and apply. Um, so it’s really a collective experience in it and a big push for, um, success professionally after you leave vote in,[01:00:00]

it looks like Iris might be frozen. Um, I don’t want to hold anybody past the time, but we’re really excited that you guys all got the chance to hear about Williamson voting today. And we really appreciate you taking the time to listen about our experience. Um, and moving forward, as Iris mentioned, um, you guys can reach out to bulls-eye either to directly involve, involve yourself, um, in the programming and subscribe to the monthly benefits.

Um, or you can reach out to hopefully connect with either Nadia or I, um, the next seminar that we have, um, is developing school lists. And, um, if you are a part of the, the bulls-eye membership group, then, um, you get access to this and it’s [01:01:00] something that’s important because as many of you, um, as many of you have heard, you know, we’ve seen that you don’t exactly know what is your number on college or where you’re trying to apply to.

So, um, developing a school list could be really important for you. Um, as you head out, I’m going to send out an offer, um, and check it out and make sure you check out bulls-eye. And once again, we, um, We really appreciate you taking the time to, to engage with us tonight. And, uh, and we wish you best of luck in the application process.

It’s gonna, you’re gonna end up at an amazing place, even if it’s not either of these two causes that we love so much. Yeah. And if you do end up replying, I would love to see you on campus. So yeah. Have a lovely rest of your days.