I ended up committing to Bates ED1 early in my senior year. It took a great deal of stress off of me having chosen a college enabling me to focus on gaining skills that would later prove useful instead of obsessing over college applications. I was a “recruited” track and cross country runner, meaning I had reached out to Bates’ track coach and he assured me after a pre-read that I would be accepted and he would love to have me on the team. As far as recruits ranked, I would estimate I was around the 150-200th ranked recruit nationally based on 3200m times - though this did improve senior year. I was also a likely admit at Wesleyan, however, the coach seemed slightly pretentious as he assured me his school was far superior to Bates in such a way that served only to dampen my interest in his school. It’s also worth noting my top pick would have been Yale, however, I wasn’t fast enough junior year to get a likely letter (ivy league version of LAC pre-reads). Ultimately, I was drawn to Bates for its laid back reputation and high regard among people familiar with the school, who to me were an important minority.
While at Bates the atmosphere paid many dividends, I was driven by the creative and academically focused atmosphere to become a specialist in my field of “vague internet stuff”. My grades did suffer at times from my focus on “vague internet stuff,” but that’s almost inconsequential as I really do not need to work for anyone else at this point. The coaching staff and training grounds were excellent and I ended up becoming an All-American. The only negative aspect is that the winters can be very rough.
I do occasionally wonder what it would have been like to go to Wesleyan, but overall I have few regrets about my college experience. These days I put in research for my family office and do the occasional favor or project for one of my internet contacts.
Go Bates!