Bates has been my #1 for a long time and when I got in I signed up for an overnight visit right away. My host was really nice but the other people on the floor told me that there were a lot of “cliques” and even labeled the dining tables with their different groups (straight out of mean girls). is this an accurate portrayal of bates?
Hmmm, that’s strange. Why would they say that? Did multiple people actually use those words? Did you see evidence of this, and did something happen that would make you think this is true? Did your overnight leave you with a bad taste in your mouth?
Bates has one dining hall. Several years ago, students voted that they would prefer to eat togehter rather than have another dining hall. They did this becasue they felt it was more inclusive and would lead to more opportunities to eat with whomever you liked and see lots of familiar faces. I am guessing that, much like a classroom, kids will eat at one table or another on a regular basis. My daughter tells me that she often switches where she eats. She eats with her boyfriend and his friends, or her best friends, she eats with her language group often ( mandatory, but those kids are now friends), she eats with other people outside of her main friend group, etc… I can definitely tell you that I don’t know of a single Bates student who isn’t proud of Bates’ dining hall. There is also the Den and the Ronj, which are small but offer a change of scenery.
I’m not a student at Bates, but my daughter did have a rough start there. It took her a while to find her feet. It was nothing to do with Bates, and everything to do with her. She complained about a lot of things, but she didn’t complain about cliques of people. Sure, she met people in the beginning that weren’t her people. That’s standard when you first start college. My D hangs out with plenty of people who aren’t in her core group of friends. It’s pretty normal.
Bates is most often characterized all over CC as being very friendly. It has a very high retention rate, which means that kids stay because they are happy. It’s not high school, if that is what you are concerned about.
@Lindagaf that’s very reassuring to hear - thank you! I have a feeling I was just paired with the wrong group of people.