Application

Application

Off-Campus Study Application

Application to Bowdoin

There are two parts to the Bowdoin application process: First, there is a preliminary application, due by 2 November, in which you specify the period (fall, spring, or full year) in which you wish to study abroad. The full application, in which you name the program in which you would like to participate, and give a provisional list of courses that you will be taking, is due on 22 February (in 2010). Both applications are required, and both need a signature from an advisor in what will be or is your major department.

Preliminary application. This has been introduced to ensure that students begin to plan their study away in connection with their intended major early in their sophomore year, and that the College can better anticipate and manage the number of OCS applications that will be received for the fall and spring semester. We recognize that your plans to major in a particular department may be still evolving in the fall semester of your sophomore year; but the opportunity to have a thoughtful discussion with a faculty member in that department of what a major involves and how off-campus study can support it should help in the evolution of those plans, and allow you to chart out which Bowdoin courses are the most appropriate to take before you leave for your off-campus study, and even when you return. As the preliminary application notes, it is recommended that you select the fall semester if at all possible, since the spring semester tends to be more popular, and Bowdoin cannot approve all applications if the numbers received for each semester are unbalanced. At this point in the process you do not have to know exactly which program you want to study on, but it will obviously be helpful to you to have a short list in mind.

Full application. After your final decision, with your new major advisor, on which program makes the best academic sense for you, you should formally declare your major (if you are a sophomore) and complete an application form, available from the OCS Office or here in PDF, for permission from Bowdoin to study on that program. Applicants for the Twelve College Exchange (including the dual degree program at Dartmouth) need submit to OCS only the 12CX application (but note the 1 February deadline). You will need to provide the following information:

  • the program you wish to attend
  • the period of study (fall, spring, or full academic year)
  • the title and a brief description of each course you wish to take, as accurately as is possible at the time of your application
  • an indication of any courses for which you seek major or minor credit
  • the number of credits you expect to earn for each course, in the system of the host institution
  • a summary of your academic planning, explaining the connection of your off-campus study with your course of study at Bowdoin, and confirming the reasons for your choice of semester as stated on the preliminary application

Ask your advisor, in the department in which you intend to major, to review and sign your application. You are expected to discuss your plans with your advisor before the application stage; but your application should be fully complete when you ask for your advisor's signature. If you intend to double-major, you should obtain signatures from both departments, whether or not you intend to take courses in both subjects. Be prepared to have course descriptions available if necessary. Do not leave the completion of the form to the last few days before the deadline, and do not expect an advisor to sign it if you have not discussed your plans, or if the form is incomplete. You may also wish to obtain the signature of a representative of a department in which you intend to minor, if you will seek credit toward the minor for any of the courses. Once the application is signed, your department may ask for a photocopy to be left on file. You should make your own copy for your records; you will probably need the course information when you complete the program's application form.

If you are applying to study off campus before you are eligible to declare a major, you may ask your pre-major advisor to sign your form. You should have a clear sense of what your major will be, however, and should consult that department on the requirements you will need to fulfil. If you are approved, you will also need to visit the Registrar's Office for advice on how and when to declare your major.

Your advisor's signature at the bottom of the form indicates that the program and courses you propose appear to be appropriate to your course of study at Bowdoin. Your application then goes to the Off-Campus Study Office for approval. Provided that your plans are approved and that you complete your coursework satisfactorily, you will be able to transfer graduation credit to Bowdoin upon conclusion of your program.

Your advisor may also sign preapproval of major credit for specific courses, up to a total number of credits fixed by the department. Final approval of major/minor credit, as with graduation credit, will come only at the conclusion of your program, upon arrival of your transcript and, usually, upon evaluation in your department of syllabi and written assignments or portfolio.

Applications may be submitted to OCS as soon as the major has been declared in February. They are due no later than 5:00 PM on 21 February of the academic year preceding study away. (If the 21st falls on a weekend, the deadline will be extended to the first weekday thereafter.) Students who wish to study away in their sophomore year do not have to declare a major, but should observe the same deadline as upper-class students. They are likely, however, to be asked to wait for a response until courses from two semesters are recorded on their Bowdoin transcript; in any case, priority will be given to students applying to study away as juniors.

Only in exceptional circumstances beyond the applicant's control will late applications be accepted or subsequent changes of program or period allowed. As a small college that sends over half of its students to study away, Bowdoin is unusually affected by fluctuations in OCS enrollment. Once the OCS applications have been processed in early March, the College starts at once to plan for the number of students it expects to admit and have on campus for the coming year. Those plans take into account not only the OCS application numbers but also the fact that a certain percentage of those who are approved to study away will in the end decide to remain at Bowdoin. To be fair to those students who went through the advising and application process in the expected way, and to ensure that all our students' OCS plans are developed not in haste but with the full benefit of Bowdoin's advising resources, the only applications that can be considered after the deadline are those that combine a good explanation for why the application was late with a cogent academic rationale.