First-year students are students who have never matriculated at another college or university. Students who have taken some college-level work while enrolled in secondary school should apply as first-year candidates. Early Decision 1 Application Deadline: November 15. Early Decision 2 Application Deadline: January 6. Regular Decision Application Deadline: January 6. Bowdoin automatically waives the $65 application fee for students who are applying for financial aid or who are first-generation-to-college (neither parent graduated from a four-year college or university).

Any student who has been enrolled in a degree-granting program must apply as a transfer student. Transfer applicants should submit the Common Application by the March 3 deadline. Bowdoin requires both high school and college transcripts for admission as well as the College Report and two academic evaluations from faculty at your current institution. Transfer admission to Bowdoin is extremely competitive. We generally receive between 150-200 transfer applications, and we admit five to twenty candidates. Bowdoin offers a fall transfer program.