<p><a href=“http://thebatesstudent.com/mambo/content/view/1140/0/[/url]”>http://thebatesstudent.com/mambo/content/view/1140/0/</a></p>
<p>An article about which disadvantages Bates faces while being examined by the most influential college ranking. Bates is awesome! Do you think it is underrated?</p>
<p>not at all. the admissions selectivity is much easier than several schools ranked above it.</p>
<p>Yeah, Bates selectivity is actually going down. The year before last it was 28%, last year it was 30%... I wonder what it was this year. But, still Bates is more selective than several schools that were ranked higher (colby, hamilton, grinnel...).</p>
<p>It has a really small endowment.</p>
<p>That's ultimately the main reason it is rated so low. You know if you read the article.</p>
<p>Just to let you know... Bates is ranked at #21. Which, obviously, is an awesome rating when you are looking at how ever many liberal arts colleges there are in the US. But I say "so low" because within Bates' peers (the NESCACs mostly) the rating seems low for such an outstanding school. I think the biggest surprise is that Colby ranks just above it (at #20). I guess it's only cause Colby's endowment is larger, otherwise I can't see how Colby is ranked higher.
I think everyone admits that the USNEWS rankings are seriously flawed, but they are so influential (you know it, they are) and Bates is completely misrepresented at #21.</p>
<p>what is Bates' endowment?</p>
<p>The difference between #21 and #20 is probably a very small fraction of a point. I've always considered Bates and Colby along with Hamilton, Trinity, and ConnColl to be very similar in selectivity, educational quality, and student body. I guess I just dont see why anyone should be surprised to see Colby and Bates ranked so closely together. Is Bates really that much better than Colby, Hamilton, Grinnell or any other school the article sites?</p>
<p>nescac schools based on admissions stats:</p>
<p>Amherst- 1443 SAT, 31 ACT, 19% acceptance
Williams: 1421 SAT, 32 ACT, 19% acceptance
Bowdoin: 1400 SAT, 25% acceptance
Tufts- 1405 SAT, 30 ACT, 28% acceptance
Wesleyan: 1400 SAT, 32 ACT, 28% acceptance
Middlebury: 1349 SAT, 30 ACT, 24% acceptance
Connecticut College: 1390 SAT, 28 ACT, 32% acceptance
Bates: 1342 SAT, 29% acceptance
Colby: 1352 SAT, 29 ACT, 38% acceptance
Hamilton: 1348 SAT, 36% acceptance
Trinity: 1303 SAT, 27 ACT, 39% acceptance</p>
<p>I think those rankings are all wrong anyway. who cares what they say? But, yeah, I think Bates is a better school than it is made out to be by US news. Do you think your college search would be different without US news rankings?</p>
<p>Don't know where those Conn Coll #'s come from. According to PR, their SAT is ~ 1315 & acceptance rate is 35%.</p>
<p>gellino- those numbers are from the conn website, barrons guide, college prwlr, and usnews.</p>
<p>US News reports 1325 for Conn Coll, their website reports 1390 for ADMITTED students - not matriculated students. I have never seen any numbers for Conn Coll higher than 1315-1325. They share the NESCAC SAT basement with Trinity</p>
<p>"In selectivity, Bates receives 23rd place. Yet, the College's 30 percent acceptance rate would appear to be more selective than Hamilton's 34, Colby's 37 and Grinnell's 51 percent, but all three are rated more selective than Bates. All four institutions have comparable SAT scores and class ranks for their admitted students. The parity in test scores and class rank would appear to tip the balance toward Bates, but the U.S. News formula marginalizes Bates' low acceptance rate; weighting it as only ten percent of the selectivity rank and merely 1.5 percent of the overall rank. Surprisingly, the rankings highlight low acceptance rates as a "key criteria in judging schools."</p>
<ul>
<li>in selectivity, sat/act scores make up 50%
bates 1270-1420 avg.~ 1345 (optional, therefore would likely be lower if required)
colby 1280-1430 avg.~ 1355
grinnell 1290-1490 avg.~1390
the acceptance rate makes up 10% because schools like grinnell and uchicago are self-selected. lane college(tn) with 14% vs swarthmore with 25%?</li>
</ul>
<p>im not going to argue the merits of conn college on the bates board, but i can assure you, i have only seen a 1390 SAT and ~32% rate (+/- of course depending on year) in describing conn over the past 10 years (such as when conn was ranked 24th in 1998/99). and in personal research as well as close contact with admissions counselors at high schools and various grad school programs (and i have personal contacts with quite a few), conn is always grouped together with these new england schools: trinity, bates, colby, colgate, hamilton, vassar, barnard, regardless of the subjective usnews rankings.
if you would like to discuss this, please start a thread on the conn college board instead of hijacking the bates thread</p>
<p>sorry not to dwell on this topic, but i just wanted to add that the 2006 usnews ranked conn as the 26th most selective LAC.</p>
I have no ideas why Bates is ranked so low. Bates College is a prestigious, academic rigorous NESCAC, with a ton to offer. I think its main issue is its endowment. But that is increasing by the year. I have no idea why Colby is ranked higher than Bates. I believe that list to reflect the endowment and not necessarily the academic rigor or social prestige. Bates should certainly be in the top ten of those rankings. If you look at the difference between Bowdoin and Bates their acceptance rates are of a difference of 3 percent, RD admit rate of 17.8% and 14.9%, and the endowment. I feel both are top tier.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please use old threads for reference only. This one is over 9 years old!