Bates College Housing

Hi all,
I was looking at the housing options and most of the housing options are coed. Does it mean that there are guys and girls on one floor or does it mean that it is single sexed on each floor?
Thanks

Also are the bathrooms gender neutral?

It usually means rooms of men and women mixed on the same floor. In most cases the bathrooms are designated single sex but at the beginning of the year the floor will vote on making the bathrooms gender neutral. If anyone’s uncomfortable with mixed gender bathrooms they can secretly vote no and the bathrooms will remain segregated.

In my experience kids get used to gender neutral bathrooms pretty quickly and everyone is respectful of each other’s space, but there are plenty of options for housing. The single-sex housing at Bates is nice if you’re uncomfortable with sharing bathrooms.

Bates also has gender neutral housing for upperclassmen. That means you can choose to room with someone of the opposite gender if both of you have chosen that option. Note-this option will never be forced upon you. The people in question have to apply to gender neutral housing together.

Back when I was at Bates many years ago we had coed floors but we often had two bathrooms on the floor so one end was men’s and other was women’s. My boyfriend lived in Smith, which was the main freshman dorm, and it was coed by floor. If it’s anything like my daughter’s college they will have a vote and if anyone is uncomfortable with coed bathrooms they just designate one men/one women. Don’t worry!

Last year and this year, both my daughter’s dorms were mixed sexes on all floors, and single sex bathrooms. It may vary from dorm to dorm. My daughter’s next door neighbors are guys.