I would vote for Pitt, cheaper, great town, excellent school.
No, I don’t know much about Maine and that’s why I have been doing some research about Bates. And I have just learned that It takes precisely 2 hours 19 minutes to reach Boston on I 95. Sorry for the 41 minutes difference.
About travel distances, I see that it takes 44 minutes to reach Colgate from I 90’s exit at Canastota, NY. A slow drive, admittedly, as it’s not all at highway speeds but through small towns and farmland.
About what’s “nicer”, well, that’s a word I seldom use since it doesn’t convey much meaning. Different strokes for different folks. I find the rolling hills around Colgate and the surrounding areas beautiful and restorative. You should visit sometime!
I am sure thay Bates’ and Colgate’s merits will be readily appreciated when applicants do their research too and I wish them good luck with their college searches!
Academically both Colgate and Bates are very similar. I live in Upstate NY and spent quite a few years in Syracuse in high school and then again as an adult. I am very familiar with Colgate. It is quite isolated and there is very little to do off campus. Also, driving in the winter to get to Syracuse (if there is anything there that might attract you or get to the airport) can be problematic. Winding country roads to even get to the Thruway or to Utica (and there is literally nothing in Utica, either.) Lewiston even has a lot more going for it - not that it is all that fantastic either. But there are several nice restaurants now and the kids also go a lot to both Freeport and Portland. The college has buses you can sign up to take to both (and to ski areas) and a lot of kids have cars, too. They also have buses that go to Boston on the weekend, iirc. S is at Bates and he has had a great 4 years there. He has friends at Colgate who love it there, too.
Both Maine and Upstate NY have beautiful wilderness areas and they are both great locations for kids who like outdoor activities of any kind.
They’re both great schools, they’re just different.
Some of the basic differences-Colgate has fraternities and sororities. Roughly half of sophomores, juniors and seniors are involved in greek life. Bates not only doesn’t have frats and sororities, it never has. Bates prides itself on having a history of egalitarianism, having admitted women and African Americans right from the start. Colgate is bigger and has Div. 1 sports. Bates has strong sports for Div. 3, but if you want a big time football culture Colgate is probably more your place. Colgate gives out athletic scholarships, Bates gives only need-based aid. My feeling is that someone who visited both would have a gut reaction as to which was the best fit.
Thanks for the responses, everyone. Bates was actually the one school I applied to without visiting - however, reading more about it has gotten me thinking it may well be the best fit. My parents seem to think Colgate is clearly the better school, as they’re focusing largely on the alumni network/postgrad success - can anyone speak to how Bates and Colgate compare in these areas?
Neither Bates or Colgate are in big cities or near big cities, but I don’t think it would be worth it to turn them down for BU or Pitt. Maybe Pitt would be reasonable if finances are an important factor, but apparently they’re not.
IMO Hamilton is a nicer town than Bates’ town, but I didn’t visit Bates or its town, only saw pics. I visited Colgate and loved the campus; it was definitely one of the most beautiful campus I’d ever seen. And Hamilton is very pretty as well. I didn’t apply though because I hated that greek life was such a big deal.
Bates is more progressive and it probably has more diversity, as someone stated.
May I suggest you look at the 2 schools’ websites and then at the Princeton Review rankings of what does/does not impress.
My take is that the Colgate website is more comorehensive, sophisticated snd dynamic and that maybe this reflects positively on the energy level there. It gives ready access to information that is especially compelling when you are keen to know what’s what.
The Princeton Review also depicts Colgate favorably apart from the hard liquor reference. And there is no mention of the Greek scene at all which suggests to me that the comments/concerns about its purported negative impact is overstated. Remember that there are 8 Greek houses and that freshmen cannot affiliate until sophomore year to live in them
Continuation…
and/or simply associate with them until junior year when most students spend a semester off campus. Also, assuming that there are 70 members in each, that’s only 560 members for a campus of 2950. And what students do/do not do at Greek functions remains up to them.
I note some unfortunate views of Lewiston while the colgate.edu site explains clearly how Colgate and Hamilton actively coordinate developments for the mutual good. Examples are the resiting of the Colgate Bookstore from the Hill and the new art center by world-class architect David Adjaye to downtown locations.
Again, visits are crucial and, as the previous poster said when he/she commented on Hamilton, it’s up to you to decide.
Good luck with your selections!
“Neither Bates or Colgate are in big cities or near big cities,”
Boston is only 2 hours away and Portland is 30 minutes. In addition, the pop of L/A is approx 70,000.
“My parents seem to think Colgate is clearly the better school, as they’re focusing largely on the alumni network/postgrad success - can anyone speak to how Bates and Colgate compare in these areas?”
I cannot speak for Colgate but can relate my son’s experience. He is graduating in May and was accepted into a exec training program at a major corporation in Boston. Boston is a place where employers know Bates and the caliber of the students coming out of Bates. In addition, the corp already has several Bates alum working there. My S contacted all of them and they were very helpful. He also contacted a recent graduate’s mother who works at this company in a high position and she was extremely helpful (she reviewed his resume and directed to him articles about the company in business journals he should read before interviewing, etc.) The corp. had 2000 applicants for the program, 1000 were interviewed and 30 were chosen. Imo, I think coming from Bates helped him get an offer. He also talked with several alum who have start-ups in Boston and alums in DC regarding jobs (he is a poli-sci major, so Washington was always on his radar.)
My S also has a job in the Career Dev. office and it does a very good job from what he told me.
This is not to say Colgate’s network isn’t as strong as Bates. I am sure it is. If you plan on staying on the east coast employers know both schools. On the West Coast, I’m not so sure. Both my nieces graduated from top LACS not on the east coast (midwest/mountain) and both moved to SF after graduating without jobs. Employers were clueless as to their colleges. They know Berkeley, Stanford and the other UC/CSU schools.
@Markham,
I never said frats and sororities are bad. They’re not my cup of tea, but for plenty of kids Greek life would be a plus. According to the university “One third of all Colgate students belong to a Greek organization.” That would place the Greek population at close to 1000, or around 45% of the sophomore, junior and senior class.
^^ “the schools are in the most selective category”
Source?
@DocOc97,
Here’s the Bates post-graduation information. 6 months after graduation 99% of Bates grads were settled into a job, fellowship or grad school. Scroll down for the lists of employers and schools. Employment is distributed over a wide variety of fields, with education being the most popular, but places like Google, Credit Suisse and Analysis Group (which all recruit on campus) are also represented. Graduate institutions included Harvard and Georgetown Med Schools, Stanford and Cornell Law Schools, Yale Business School, the PhD programs at Dartmouth & UVA, Masters’ at Penn, MIT, Columbia, etc.
http://www.bates.edu/career/class-outcomes/
Adding the list of CDIP’s (Bates’ Career Discovery Internship Program).
http://www.bates.edu/career/files/2014/09/CDIP-Sponsors-by-Industry-Index-2014-15.pdf
Collegeparentnew,
Hamilton to Syracuse takes less than an hour and that is my time-honored personal experience after many trips there and the airport. If you want to go on highways (this odd preference has come up before…) you take Route 20 west to LaFayette and Route 81 north. Otherwise it’s shorter via Manlius. How do you figure 90 minutes? It takes 2 hours 15 mins from Cogate to Rochester. Maybe there’s some confusion there.
I would also like to draw your attention to the Finger Lakes which run off the same Route 20. Gorgeous, too. And then there are the Adirondacks - Lake Placid hosted the ECAC Division 1 hockey championship 2 weeks ago where we lost in the Final to Harvard- starting about 10 miles north of Utica!
Sue22,
I believe the colgate.edu page on Greek life is incorrect given the numbers of members times houses I supplied- 8 X 70 = 560 and no where near 1000. So I am seeking clarification now. I did not say you suggested there was anything wrong with Colgate’s Greek system. Rather that the presumption that it is overwhelming or somehow negative on the part of applicants who may not have visited/have the facts leads me to question whether sufficient understanding of what it delivers is fair and balanced. That’s why I have focused on the topic.
Good luck with your college searches!
Ps- needless to say, I will report back on Greek membership when I hear from the Colgate Res Life Office.
Good luck with your college searches!
“I imagine that the endowment affects the amount of student aid available given that apparently Bates is very tuition dependent for its revenues.”
I don’t know if that is true. Bates is extremely generous. My son’s package (grants not loans) was way more than we expected given our EFC (9K/yr more to be exact.) Going to Bates was less expensive for us than our state publics (SUNY)
Regarding selectively - it’s difficult to get into both schools - both schools have extremely similar student bodies academically. One will get an excellent education at both schools and be among students who are academically one’s peers.
The two distinguishing characteristics are location and vibe. Colgate is definitely preppier and there is a large Greek presence and location - urban vs rural.
I can’t speak for Colgate regarding student competitiveness or lack thereof, but Bates is known for it’s collaborative atmosphere.
And the food is wonderful. 
I think the OP needs to look at which school, between the two, is a better fit for him/her as academically they are equal.
If a large urban school is more appealing then OP should be deciding between BU/Pitt.
Are all Greek members at Colgate required to live in a house? In any case, I’m not sure it matters for the OP’s purposes. The reality is that Greek life has a presence on the Colgate campus but not on the Bates campus.
Bates awards more FA/student when you look only at need-based aid. Colgate awards more/student when looking at athletic scholarships (which Bates doesn’t have) as well. It sounds like the OP has already received FA letters with equal awards from both schools, so now in addition to weighing BU and Pitt, it’s down to fit.
And yes, the food at Bates is wonderful!
^ My only reason to post was because you initially used the specific language of USNWR, which officially and most recently categorized Bates as “more selective,” not “most selective,” as is the case with Colgate.
And USNWR ranks Bates at #19 and Colgate as #22, so Bates must be a better school than Colgate.
/sacrasm off.
^ Either you respect precision or you don’t.