Hey, I know these schools are both very similar but I was wondering what if anything differentiates them, and makes one better than the other. Any help is very much appreciated.
Just one person’s perspective. My daughter loved a few specific thing about Bates. Founded by abolitionists. One dining hall where everyone eats. 4-4-1, with the 1 being in May when it’s beautiful. She loved the overall vibe at Bates much better than Colby (for her). The info session at Bates was the best of the 20 we attended in the past year. Daughter has a friend at Colby who loves it and is very happy. We also liked but not as much - the town was smaller - not many options for a nice dinner when we tried to find something. And this is super petty BUT she hated that we had little cell phone reception at Colby and missed the call from our airline that our flight had been cancelled due to weather. While both schools are great, she is now focused on Bates for the short list.
IMHO I don’t find these two schools similar. Colby is much more remote (to me) and the campus is not among a town. The student population seems more traditional and conservative whereas Bates seems more liberal. I don’t find Lewiston charming but Bates seems less isolated. Bates feels much smaller to me. Again, just my personal perspective.
My husband and I went to Bates and I saw the mention of short term above and wanted to chime in and say that it’s a great part of Bates! May in Maine is really beautiful and taking one class then vs in Jan for most winter terms is a lot better! Not sure why so many schools do Winter Term and few do it in spring.
^^ I liked the idea of finishing the year this way rather than with a slew of exams, and it really helps spring sports teams as well.
With that said, there are advantages to Jan too. I like any school that has a “1” in its schedule, wherever it falls!