<p>I'm looking for any knowledge from parents who have children at Bates. Are they happy?, did they apply ED (and if so could you share their approximate stats)?, does school feel too small to your kids? Also would love to hear from any students, if they are lurking on this board. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Have you checked out the Bates forum and set the "from" box to "beginning"?
There are lots of posts and threads there, I'm sure can find what you're looking for. For some reason it was set to just three threads when I checked it just now, but there are lots more.</p>
<p>My S attended Bates for one term as a Katrina student last fall when Tulane was closed. I think I can provide one view on the "too small" question. My S never looked at really small schools and targeted a mid-sized university. The smallest school he visited was Lafayette College in PA, which is still a bit larger than Bates, I believe, and it didn't interest him much. HOWEVER, he had a great experience at Bates. Welcoming students, faculty and staff. Very attractive campus. Breadth of course offerings (imo). Classes are small, even for freshmen, and so he was able to get to know a couple of profs. He had a lot of fun there; he is not a social butterfly or even social self-starter, but he joined some informal sports (club frisbee...), attended theme parties etc.</p>
<p>He returned to Tulane; it announced a phase-out of his major and so he had to transfer. He again chose a mid-size U (Johns Hopkins). All of which is to say, even for someone with a bent away from a small LAC, he found it a great school. Had Bates had his intended major (Engineering), he would have surely considered staying there when Tulane announced the Engineering phase-outs.</p>
<p>Downside of Bates, if you are a city person, is that Lewiston is a "no there there" city. But it is reasonable distance to Portland/Freeport/skiing, etc.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the helpful information. We are going back for a second visit this weekend. I was impressed with everything I saw, but it was during the summer, so looking forward to seeing it with kids. If Portland/Freeport weren't closeby, the school would be off the list!</p>
<p>Well, I don't have a child there, but it wasn't until our 3rd visit there (accepted students day!) that S decided it was just too small for him. </p>
<p>Until that point, it was the front runner; but during that last visit just he just somehow <em>felt</em> it wasn't right. It was sad for me, as I loved the school, it was a reasonable distance from home, and my brother had gone there (years ago) and loved every minute; but it was absolutely the right call for S. </p>
<p>He ended up at a medium sized school (5500)...very happy; and now (senior year) feels ready to stretch to a larger city/institution.</p>
<p>So I say, spend as much time as you can there (and any other considered schools) and follow your gut feeling!</p>
<p>I am a sophomore right now at Bates and I don't think its too small for me. It's big enough that there are students you don't recognize and small enough that you recognize a lot of faces. It's generally a pretty great place. I didn't apply ED but the acceptance rates seem much higher then, although that's when all the athletes have to apply for admission.</p>
<p>I have to go study but if you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message.</p>
<p>You might also want to check out Bowdoin. We were there twice trying to interest D. Alas, she thought it was too small. I loved it, personally. Solid academics, renovated dorms, great food, nice town (Brunswick) and wonderful town-gown relations (I have relatives who live in the next town).</p>