<p>Which one of these two schools is generally perceived as better?</p>
<p>They are similar products. The choice gets down to personal taste and admission/aid outcomes. Go visit both and see which one has more of whatever is important to you.</p>
<h2>Below is a copy of a post I made to another Bates vs. Colby vs. other school(s) thread. Do a CC search for either Bates or Colby and you’ll find more comparison threads.</h2>
<p>I think Bates and Colby are more alike than different and that most of the differences in “feel” have more to do things like with who gave the tour or the weather on the day of the visit. While I’ve seen Colby described as more preppy than Bates I’m sure others would say the opposite.</p>
<p>My DS looked at both and I graduated from one (and absolutely loved it). Many of my friends attended the other school and I think most people would be hard pressed to find any major differences between the graduates of the two.</p>
<p>Both have strong academics, active alumni, engaged faculty, excellent grad school placement, and varied options for study abroad. They’re in the same sports league (NESCAC) and neither has frats or sororities. They jockey for position in the rankings. Bates has a slightly lower rate of admission, usually a 3-5 percent difference. Colby has a larger endowment.</p>
<p>Some minor differences-</p>
<p>Testing- Bates is fully test optional, Colby doesn’t require the SAT if the applicant submits subject tests.</p>
<p>Geography- Both are in icky Maine towns. Bates is a little closer to town, Colby a little more isolated. Colby’s a little closer to the best ski mountains, Bates is closer to Portland (unlike Lewiston or Waterville, a beautiful little city).</p>
<p>Academics- Both have strong science and economics departments. Colby is particularly known for its environmental science programs. The Bates Department of Economics ranked second among liberal arts colleges for the number of times its faculty’s scholarly research is cited by other researchers. Colby’s not far behind at #6. Colby has a computer science major; at Bates computer science is part of the Math and CS department. Bates doesn’t specifically require students to take a foreign language course, Colby does, although students can test out. All courses at both are taught by professors, not grad students or TAs.</p>
<p>Thesis- At Bates pretty much every student does a thesis. I believe the figure is 97 percent. At Colby I think only students applying for honors are required to do a thesis. While a required thesis might turn some students off, the fact that all students have to do them at Bates means that substantial support is available for the thesis writing process. Both schools have ample opportunity to work one-on-one with professors.</p>
<p>Calendar- Bates=4-4-1, Colby=4-1-4. The Winter term option offered by Colby is probably better for serious skiers, while Bates’ Short Term works better for student internships and study abroad, as it offers students the option to extend these activities into the summer break. Both will get exams over before Christmas.</p>
<p>I remember the question that helped me make my decision many years ago. It was “What do students here do on weekends?” At one school the tour guide spoke about on-campus opportunities while at the other the tour guide spoke about off-campus trips. I preferred one model over the other but I’m sure in the end I could have been happy at either school.</p>
<p>A required thesis can actually be a beautiful thing - I did an honors thesis in my senior year and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I was PhD-bound, but the process may even help people going into other fields because research is a part of pretty much every field.</p>
<p>I’m going to agree with the above and say that the two are very similar and that it’s going to come down to the feel when you visit the two.</p>
<p>Interesting. I would still be interested in hearing more though.</p>
<p>So, I am kinda leaning towards Colby, even though I love both. Here is my reasoning. I would like to study environmental science, which Colby is more known for. And I do a spring sport, so I wouldn’t be able to do much with the spring term program at Bates. Whereas at Colby I would be able to go off campus and stuff quite easily. Does this sound reasonable?</p>
<p>bump…thanks!</p>