I haven’t seen a thread for this yet so I decided to start one! Who is considering applying to Bates this year?
DS is definitely applying to Bates which is at or near the top of his list. We are disappointed not to be able to visit campuses as planned because of the pandemic. DS would be a supported athlete if he applies to Bates ED, but it seems crazy to apply ED to a school he’s never visited. Though, we’re reading everything we can find about Bates and have yet to come across any negatives.
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@CocoaTiger , I don’t think you will find anything negative. Might there be a school he likes a little more? Possibly. But Bates is a great choice.
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We are impressed with the level of enthusiasm for Bates, and it seems to be a terrific fit for DS. He also has a former team (crew) member already at Bates, and while they weren’t close (two years difference) it is at least a friendly face he knows there who is able to answer some questions.
We live in both Seattle and Houston, have never visited Bates - or most of the colleges on DS’s list, for that matter. We had planned a marathon college tour of New England schools over mid-winter break in February, but a family emergency canceled that trip. Then COVID hit.
DS’s pre-read was very positive, his numbers falling within the upper tier of Bates applicants. DS would be almost certainly admitted if he applies ED as a supported athlete, but RD applicants are not supported and of course the odds of admission fall precipitously… Aargh.
@CocoaTiger Have you asked if your son’s application would be supported if he applied ED2? Maybe it would be helpful for him to have extra time to make up his mind. It would be a shame to give up the support and the significant ED advantage. From what I remember Bates usually takes more than 50% of their class ED 1 and ED 2. Your S may have an additional edge applying as a male from the PNW and/or TX.
FWIW my D20 applied RD to Bates last fall, she was WL’d with a 4.0/1460 SAT. Bates took a few kids from her HS ED1 and ED2, and she knows a few kids who were offered spots off the WL. (She got into Williams, Haverford, Middlebury, Vassar, and Colby, among others, but I don’t think her WL was yield protection, just the vagaries of holistic admissions.) She didn’t take her WL spot.
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Bates has a good crew program. At a certain level, there is a good chance that he’ll have to make a decision without visiting any school. Their short term at year end works really well for rowers.
It’s hard to know what the future will bring, but having that “in” for ED is quite meaningful. . He’s lucky to know someone there to get an inside perspective. I’d be tempted to go for it.
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@gotham_mom Yes, the application would be supported if apply during either ED1 or ED2 rounds, and we are grateful for the bit of extra time.
Thank you for sharing your D20’s experience. DS is applying with a 3.984/1420 SAT/32 ACT, and while his scores fall within the Bates upper tier of applicants, they are in the “lower half of upper tier”. We don’t take RD admission for granted at all, at any of the colleges on DS’s list.
@gardenstategal You’re right, we will have to make a decision without visiting and from everything we’ve read, Bates is thankfully a school to which we could feel as comfortable as possible doing so. Past generations applied to colleges and attended without ever having toured, I tell myself, but they also weren’t entering into a binding contract with a cost of ~$75K per year, heh.
DS has 10 colleges on his list representing a mix of small- to large-size schools; D1 vs D3 vs club crew schools; big reach vs small reach; all in New England region aside from our state flagships (UT-Austin and UW-Seattle). The more we research, the more Bates and Hamilton bubble to the top with D3 rowing, strong pre-med support, expressed community feel and satisfaction, and likelihood of admission. Bates holds the lead for DS as his first “favorite” and he knows someone there; I give the edge to Hamilton primarily based on campus size and isolation (we are in a long-term pandemic after all). DS would be a supported athlete for admission at Hamilton as well, and the Hamilton coach has wooed us parents too, not just DS. DH agrees both Bates and Hamilton look amazing for DS but he can’t help rooting for state college tuition and isn’t yet fully on board with the ED route at any school.
Thanks all for the advice.
Sigh, I had posted a lengthy response with greater detail and now it has disappeared. Apologies, as a forum newbie I obviously goofed somehow. To summarize:
@gotham_mom Yes, DS would be a supported athlete for both ED1 and ED2 admission cycles, not RD.
@gardenstategal You’re right, we will have to decide without visiting, and thankfully Bates is a school to which we could do so as comfortably as possible.
DS has ten colleges on his list representing a mix of small, medium and large schools; D1/D3/Club crew schools; big reach to small reach; all in the New England region except our two state flagships (UT-Austin, UW-Seattle). Bates and Hamilton bubble to the top as favorites for D3 rowing, strong pre-med support, and expressed community feel and satisfaction. DS would be a supported athlete for admission at both.
When does your S have to let the Bates and Hamilton coaches know that he accepts the offer, or not? Typically those offers are not open ended because the coaches want to fill their slots before RD…meaning they will move on to the next athlete on their list if your S declines the offer.
@Mwfan1921 My understanding is that to whichever school DS applies early decision, he is obligated to enroll if accepted - and DS has an extremely high likelihood of admission with his scores and coach support. So the time to mull over the decision is before we apply ED, not after.
Yes ED is binding.
What I am saying is that coaches typically want a prospective recruit to accept, or decline, the offer of full support before the student applies ED. If coaches didn’t have a deadline for accepting their offer of an athletic slot, they would risk not filling their slots.
Edited to add: If you S is not going to accept a coach’s offer of full support at Bates, or Hamilton, or another D3, he needs to tell the coaches.
@Mwfan1921 Ah, I see. We haven’t been given any deadlines for notifying either coach whether DS intends to apply ED or not, so we assumed the deadline is the ED deadline itself. Neither coach has indicated there are a limited number of slots for supported athletes. There is no money involved nor an admission guarantee, just a coach putting in a good word for an applicant (which unquestionably boosts admission chances.)
Your S should reach out to the coaches this week. Generally, there are a limited number of slots (number varies by sport, but outside of football typical max is 2 per year) for full support athletes at all of the NESCACs.
Anything to add @politeperson @cinnamon1212 @coffeeat3 @gointhruaphase
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@Mwfan1921 Thanks for the tip and I will encourage DS to do just that.
Do make sure the coaches know when you’ve made that ED decision. It’s just as important to the school where he’s applying (so the coach can confirm that it’s real support, not soft support) and then to the others so they can make those slots available to other rowers further down the list.
@gardenstategal We certainly will, and I have to admit I was oblivious to these considerations until this forum!
The Bates coach reached out first to DS through his BeRecruited profile, and DS reached out to the Hamilton coach first through the Hamilton rowing recruiting questionnaire. DS is both a strong rower and a solid academic candidate - 3.984 unweighted GPA in all honors/AP courses at a top public magnet, plus 1420 SAT and 32 ACT benchmark scores from Fall 2019. (He’s been unable to retest in the Seattle area due to the pandemic.)
I honestly didn’t intend to derail any Bates discussion with specific recruiting concerns. We would love to hear from others who are looking at Bates now. It’s hard to know to what extent the pandemic is changing people’s plans. For example, Bates was DS’s early favorite since they reached out to him and he has a crew mate there, but as mom I lean toward Hamilton’s more isolated and spread out campus. I’m following Bates COVID plan and updates though and they are doing a superb job to date, which is very reassuring.
Hi I’m a current student at Bates College and I’m happy to hear that students are interested in Bates. I can’t imagine what the college process is like now with not being able to see the any campuses. As a Bates student I will be biased, but all the D3 schools are really great, especially in the northeast. However, I think our crew team, location, and strong community does make Bates stand out from the other schools. While deciding on applying ED or not, it is important to note that applying ED is not necessarily easier than RD. The admissions committee will look at your application the same way regardless on when you apply. I recommend trying to get an interview so you can learn more about Bates and show that you are interested. Bates wants to have students who are passionate academically and want to be here! If you have any question I will be happy to answer to the best of my ability.
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@batesiescommons , OP is a recruited athlete and has presumably had a positive pre-read, so will almost certainly get in ED.
By not applying ED, the OP loses that recruit status and the advantage that comes with it. He may even lose a seat in the boat… So his situation is quite different from that of an unhooked applicant hoping for a little bump by applying ED.
One, a couple of my previous posts that evaporated have suddenly reappeared, so I apologize for the seeming repetition.
Two, the Bates coach would like to know DS’s decision by Oct 20, for one of 8 supported athlete spots. (In contrast, the Hamilton coach says there is no deadline or restriction on the number of supported athletes with DS’s status.)
Thank you all for the guidance here, we would never have thought to ask that question.
@batesiescommons Thank you for chiming in as a current Bates student! What year are you, and where were you before Bates?
My son is applying to Bates RD ( we just cant do ED) . It is a top choice for him as it was one of the few schools we got to visit and he really liked the vibe. His brother is at Bowdoin so it would be nice to be near and he really liked their science programs.
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