A a parent, students apply to reaches an sometimes get in. I’m curious how hoard is it to make the adjustment from high school to college. What are the supports if you have a learning disorder? How invested is the school & faculty in student success?
Bates is an extremely supportive school. I don’t know specifically what support there is for those with learning disabilities, but my daughter’s close friend is dyslexic and gets extra test time. You can contact the college for specific advice. The tutoring center is popular and busy. They have tutors for all types of subjects.
If you attend Bates, you will have a personal adviser who will supervise the first two years until you declare your major, at which point your adviser will be a prof in your department.
Bates has a high retention rate. One of the reason is because students feel invested in their education. The profs know them. It isn’t a great place to be a slacker. Kids work hard.
Thank you for that! its reassuring to hear other student experiences! My student is an incredibly hard worker but its not without a lot of effort. My student is an excellent self advocate. I like the social climate. I think it will be the perfect match… thanks again
D2 needs a lot of extra support at Bates and is able to get it. She has prospered there. The academic support staff are also very responsive.
Excellent, just what I want to hear, thank you
Bates admissions said that there were 3 levels of advising support for incoming students. 1) an upper class person that provides RA type support; 2) a professional advisor from Student Affairs; and 3) an academic advisor who is their Freshman Seminar Professor. The first type is available at all colleges. The advising from Students Affairs is practically non-existent, and academic advising with their seminar Professor depends on the Professor.
Professors at Bates are busy teaching large classes and can’t always provide personal support. Most first year courses (except the Freshman Seminar) have enrollment limits of 39 and some enroll as many as 93 students. So support as Bates is not a sure thing. I didn’t have the same experience as others here.
@noosh58, I’d like to PM you but it looks like you don’t yet have enough posts. Rack up a few more (15 is the minimum to become a junior member and send and receive PM’s) and I can send you info on our experience with support at Bates.
@sn1920 , professors at Bates are busy teaching large classes? My D is a sophomore. Her single “large” class had 60 students, and it was in intro level class. Hardly ANY classes are ever as large as 93 (I am wondering if such a large class is even possible). Every professor my daughter has had knows her personally by name, and most of her other classes have been anywhere from 25-11. She had regular meetings with her academic advisor, who was her seminar prof. She now has a prof who advises her in her major and has already met with her a few times. Students do need to be proactive as well. They are not going to hold your hand, but they are going to make sure you are on the right track.
Are you Bates alum? Or is it your child who is at Bates? Your posts are a little unclear.
Of course, some of the academic difficulty will depend on what major the student is headed for. Most here use “reach” to mean for an admit and forget that, eg, courses in STEM can be extra challenging.
Maybe it depends on the major but 93 sounds unusual for Bates. My D was in a class of 1 last semester after the rest of the small class (6 or 7 students) withdrew after they received test grades.
She has gotten good support from her freshman seminar advisor, including for personal issues. She meets with her academic advisor regularly. She has no problems getting help during office hours and from the writing center. She now works for the ARC (tutoring) but from conversations with her it sounds like not everyone takes advantage of these opportunities.
I don’t know how others feel, but I think of Bates as a grade deflation school.
I just asked one D and she thinks her largest class was maybe 30.
@lookingforward, I agree re grade deflation. My S was thrilled with his 3.2 GPA at graduation. I think at a lot of schools that wouid be looked at as a horrid GPA. In any event, it didn’t stop him from getting great job offer with Fortune 200 Company.
S also had excellent advising throughout his 4 years.
I also agree re grade deflation. My kid works her bottom off to get high grades. She literally earns every grade she gets, and when she messes up, boy, does her GPA know it.
I looked it up 
According to the Bates Common Data Set,
CLASS SECTIONS
2-9. 155
10-19. 154
20-29. 70
30-39. 54
40-49. 9
50-99. 4
100+. 0
Total. 446
Since you are affiliated with Bates you can lookup their class schedule. Great majority of the large classes are introductory courses that Freshman have to take. Yes there are many courses with enrollment limit of 39, and yes there are several intro courses in stem and social sciences with enrollment limit of 93.
The short term that starts in April has small classes, but not Fall or Winter term so much.
When all but one of 6 or 7 students withdraw from a course, the students cannot be at fault. This reflects a failure on the part of the Professor, specially when teaching such a small class.
@sn1920, are you a current student? I did just what you suggested and found that the largest classes all year (both fall and winter semesters) had enrollments of:
*Introduction to astronomy 81
African American studies/Rhetoric - Passing/Trespassing 79
Principles of Macroeconomics: Income and Employment 73
*Organismal Biology 67
*Atomic and molecular structure lab 60
*Marine Science 58
*Modern Physics lab 58
Medieval Worlds 49
Cultural anthropology 47
All of the starred science classes have small lab sections. For instance Intro to Astronomy has 6 sections, with the largest being 15 students. There are other intro. lab science classes in departments like environmental studies and geology with small course enrollments (under 35 students in the class).
Meanwhile there are scad of classes with enrollments in the single digits or teens.
(double post)
@sn1920 I am wondering if you or your child attend Bates? In one of your posts you imply that you are an alumnus, and in another you mention your child. You joined this site on 4/3 and all of your posts are in the Bates forum and most, in some way, seem to be negative.