<p>Is there any difference at all between the two schools?</p>
<p>well, there both in crappy towns, though waterville is marginally less sketchy...
academically, however, i'd say they're both about on par with each other. campus-wise, colby is probably prettier. i feel like colby is more preppy than bates, so i think i would have liked the student vibe at bates more, as it is supposedly more hippie-dippie.</p>
<p>Colby is definitely the prettier of the two... it may have been the prettiest campus I visited in my travels :) I actually disliked Bates a lot because it's right in the middle of a not-so-great town. Colby, on the other hand, is at least separated from it's not-so-great town. I want to say that Colby might be marginally better academically, but it's almost arbitrary the way that LACs are ranked these days. They're all amazing. Go and visit as many as you can, that's the best advice anyone is going to give you!! (Websites can often be misleading, there's no way to get a feel for the campus by looking at semi-artsy pictures of the school's most beautiful tree's leaves in fall when the reality is that it may be the only tree that looks like that and that the tree is covered in snow for the majority of the year;))</p>
<p>Well, I think Bates' campus is nicer... it's much older and has more character. Colby seemed to organized and sterile.</p>
<p>i agree that bates' campus is nicer. while it is NOT older, i do think it has more character and feels like more of a community. i also agree that colby seemed too sterile. one of the things i like about bates is that its campus is built around the city streets, so it literally feels like a community, versus colby, which is totally removed from its town. and guys, to be honest, lewiston is really not that bad, especially where bates is. there are no problems walking around at 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morning. you're in maine, you're already kinda removed from civilization - being part of the city makes you feel a little more close to civilization. plus, that extra 45 minutes to colby is a real pain - you want the drive to be done at that point.</p>
<p>I hate Colby. No just kidding. I'm going to Bates next year so I have to. In all honesty, I liked Bates and Colby about the same. I applied ED I to Bates. I loved them both, it's just that I thought I had a better shot with Bates and their philosophy really struck me. If I hadn't gotten in, I would have applied to Colby ED II and hopefully would have gotten in. Most kids who apply to the one apply to the other. Colby is also a beautiful school with excellent academics and such. Apply to both and then decide.</p>
<p>Actually the Bates campus is older than the Colby campus. Colby was originally located in downtown Waterville. Some time before WWII, Colby began to plan an entirely new campus for the current location outside of Waterville. Due to the War and the depression, the move was not completed until the early 1950s. Hence the sense that some have that the campus is a bit on the "sterile" side. This is due to the fact that most of the Colby buildings were built at the same time and are designed to look older than they actually are. Most of the Colby buildings are only about 50 years old and are built in the Georgian style. Some like that planned "pretty" look but others find the Colby campus to be sterile and to be architecturally uninteresting because of the sameness of so many of the buildings.</p>
<p>Based on what Torasee said, Colby's campus sounds like Wake Forest. Wake moved to its current location after a devastating fire, RJ Reynolds wanted a quality college in Winston Salem and paid Wake to move there. Hence Wake Forest is not located in the town of Wake Forest. All the buildings are Georgian brick too.</p>
<p>Both campuses are beautiful: the Bates campus is perhaps cozier, while Colby is more expansive and open. There are preps at both schools, and both schools have a strong, positive and inclusive sense of community. Waterville is considered quite a bit safer than Lewiston, but both campuses are very safe. But more than these factors separate Bates and Colby, or for that matter all the selective LACs in New England. </p>
<p>Colby has a more international focus and generally more possibilities for multi-disciplinary studies than Bates. The Bates curriculum is more limited in terms of creating a highly customized course of study. We found that to be particularly the case within the realm of international studies, which was our daughter's area of interest. </p>
<p>So depending on what is important to you, spend time with the course books for all the schools on your short list. Try to figure out how your four years might be spent academically. Ask the faculty how the curriculum is evolving and what new courses of study might become available.</p>
<p>Our daughter liked Bates very much, did love the campus also, and was accepted at Bates along with Colby and others, but she ultimately found the Bates curriculum to be structured in too traditional a way for her purposes. Wanting more academic flexibility , and a strong global focus, she did choose Colby. </p>
<p>My point is that most of the selective LACs will look similar on the surface, and one can argue till the cows come home about the charm of various campuses, but what is key is to figure out what suits you academically, and to do your research.</p>
<p>After visiting both Colby and Bates, I was really turned off by Lewiston, just my opinion. Colby is very secluded from Waterville, which is a plus in some senses.</p>
<p>Im not a student, but I applied EDI to Bates. I havent visited Colby, diddnt have a chance to, but I might send in an application.</p>
<p>I personally LOVED Bates campus. I havent ever felt more at home in a place in my life. Everyone was very welcoming and "out there". For once I was the conservative one. Coming from Arkansas that's an AMAZING feeling for me :)</p>
<p>I know if I get accepted into Bates I will be happier there than anywhere else, but like others have said: Thats just my preference. It really depends on what kind-of person you are and where you feel most at home in yourself.</p>
<p>All 3 are great schools, so just go with the one that your gut says is right for you and you will be fine :)</p>
<p>~Matt</p>
<p>Good luck with ED1, Matt! It sounds like Bates is perfect for you.</p>
<p>:) Thank you Momofdd!</p>
<p>Don't forget about Bowdoin! It is located in a very nice town, Brunswick and is about 10 minutes or so from Freeport and 30 minutes from Portland. There are so many more stores, shops, restaurants, theaters etc. in closer proximity than Bates or Colby although I liked both schools.</p>
<p>I know this a very delayed response to post # 8 about Wake Forest & Colby, but since I'm a Colby alum and my D is now at Wake, I can say the 2 are very much alike -- not only since they both moved/started a new campus, but also in looks. When I first took my D to Wake, I was amazed at how much Wait Chapel (Wake) looks like Miller Library (Colby). As for the comparison w/ Bates, you all will understand there is no comparison in my mind! :) In my defense, however, when I went to Colby, ( let's just leave it at "a very long time ago") there really was no comparison. If Bates is now as good as people here are saying, they've come a long way.</p>
<p>Actually, Bates is currently somewhat more selective than Colby.</p>
<p>An e-mail sent to current students by Bro gave us an overall acceptance rate of 30%-- an 8 point drop! </p>
<p>That beats Bates' acceptance rate last year, but who knows Bates' acceptance rate this year =).</p>
<p>bates as of right now has a 28% acceptance rate this yr. this is before the waitlist and stuff which colby has also historically used.</p>
<p>True, true. Thanks for the number =).</p>
<p>The Bates student body is about 10% smaller than Colby's: this probably benefits Bates acceptance rate, since the applicant pool is often the same between the two schools. Many kids who apply to Colby will also apply to Bates.</p>
<p>So all things being equal, Colby needs to accept 50 more students in any year than Bates, which may go some way in explaining the 2% difference.</p>