I’d say there was a good social life balance, you have a lot of freedom and if you want to socialize or work all the time you can. For me it would really depend on the semester, there were some semesters where I was very busy and mostly kept to myself (which was generally seen as odd), and others where I was very social. There was one or two parties a year where the NESCAC kids would meet up and you’d often see kids from the neighboring schools at sports events. I’m a bit more introverted, but one of my closest friends was extremely extroverted and he had a lot of friends - I’d joke with him that he knew the whole school. I think you’ll do just fine if you’re more like my friend was.
Bates is a big mix of all kinds of students. There are definitely extroverted people there. There are also introverted people, creative people, outdoorsy people, sporty people, studious people, collaborative people, and every other type. There is no one type there. My own kid had a really busy social life at Bates. There are parties and all the usual college stuff. There were a good number of college-sponsored dances and parties too.
Bates obviously thought you would fit in. I suggest looking at Bates’ social media pages and using websites such as Niche and Unigo to get a feel for the college. If you aren’t able to go for a visit IRL, join a virtual student panel and ask questions. Live Virtual Programming | Admission | Bates College
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Thanks so much for the prompt reply. On the academic side, how demanding is the classwork? Is there a culture of collaboration and being nice or are the people there super competitive… Your perspective is really helpful to me, BTW.
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There is definitely a culture of collaboration. You’ll often see the library filled with teams of kids working on coursework and studying together. People are competitive but more against themselves to do the best they can than against their classmates. As far as I can recall there is no class rank published or valedictorian. There is a Dean’s List (I think 3.8 gpa for a semester) and All-Academic awards for high GPA varsity athletes, but these don’t induce competition between peers. Lots of the assignments are likely going to be where you pick or are assigned an individual prompt to write on so you won’t always get a chance to work together with your peers on assignments, but even in these cases people will tend to meet up to write their individual reports/essays.
As far as difficulty, I’d say it’s going to be a significant step up from the AP classes of high school once you get to the 300-level classes. 100 level classes are generally relatively easy. Your thesis will be a big project but you will get a lot of guidance from your thesis-advisor if you need it.
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No.
Most definitely a collaborative environment.
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If a sibling is going to be in college at the same time as you how much more aid will Bates give? I’m an older sibling, but my sister will be in school next year. Will this decrease my cost of attendance by 50%
I wish I could give more info but I don’t know much at all about FA. I suggest calling. They are pretty responsive.
We will have 3 children in college next year. Every other college acceptance (9) came with FA reflecting this dynamic. Bates is the one college requiring full pay.
Please scratch my last message. It’s incorrect. Apparently there was an issue with my son’s portal.
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My daughter was a varsity athlete in high school and chose to not to play sports in college. She is a freshman at Bates and is thriving. She has made friends in and out of class, and has now has a group of close friends. In fact, 5 of them went away for a weekend, borrowed hammers from last semester’s geology professor and went hiking. She is rooming with her best friend next year. She has joined many clubs from the tea club to the outdoor club. She made strong connections with professors starting first semester. It is wonderful to hear the excitement in her voice about what she is learning. Bates walks the talk. It is a kind school and the new president coming in has thrilled students and parents alike. Bates was first choice and has not disappointed.
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I generally agree but my friend’s son who has no interest in sports was placed with an athlete. In this case I think they were also very different people. My friends son made other friends and has decided to change roommates. It is more realist to have a roommate that one is compatible with instead of becoming best friends, but that can happen too.
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I also want to point out that the student support at Bates is excellent. One of the deans assigned to my daughter check in to see how things are going and is always there to answer questions or help with a problem (AP scores weren’t received, yet sent many months before). My child also uses him as an academic advisor instead of her actual academic advisor. The one thing where Bates fell short was their freshman orientation program Aesop: they did not carefully read the preference sheets and the leaders on the tougher hikes needed more training. Many kids spoke about how their trips did not meet their expectations or what was described. I imagine Bates will use the feedback to make corrections this year.
Unfortunately, my family was very disappointed with the student support at Bates. A year ago, our son got COVID and was moved to different housing and the runaround we got from the Bates folks was embarrassing. Thankfully, he had two parents who worked the phones relentlessly to get him squared away. And eventually, everything worked out.
However, it was clear that they had many gaps in their communication.
We LOVE Bates. Our kid is thriving, found his community, and speaks highly of his professors and the staff, so maybe this was a fluke. But it still left a terrible taste in our mouths.
Still, I would recommend Bates to anyone!
My daughter is a first year at Bates and absolutely loves it also. Professors are great, loves her dorm and kids are friendly, and is doing a club sport plus work in the community (lots of opportunities to get involved around campus). Many kids stay longer for May term instead of finishing in April!
Does anyone have insight on major differences between Bates and Hamilton? If you had to make that choice, what helped you decide?
This reply includes brief comments on Bates and Hamilton in the context of comments on other liberal arts colleges: Struggling with D21’s List. ED & ED2: Amherst, Hamilton, Wellesley, Vassar - #7 by merc81 .
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Congratulations on two great choices! My kid attended Bates. She didn’t care for Hamilton so didn’t apply. She liked the friendly, non competitive vibe at Bates. It felt homey to her. She felt that Hamilton seemed a bit more uptight.
Not your exact question, but I think that many people might agree that Bates feels more relaxed than Hamilton.
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Culture at Bates seemed better. Also, stronger athletics at least in my sport.
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hamilton might be stronger academically. campus gorgeous. extremely happy students/parents. very well run school. can’t go wrong with either.
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You probably shouldn’t overlook Hamilton’s student profile when comparing it to other colleges. To use an example not involving Bates, Its median ACT score (34) is higher than Swarthmore’s (33).