While I have already committed, I thought it would be interesting to hear from others what drew them to Bates. Maybe we can even help some of the people still deciding 
For me, a lot of it came down to the academics and athletics. I felt that both would be a fit for me, not too over or underwhelming, but just enough to challenge me and provide me with important opportunities. While I love Maine, being seven hours from home was not originally the plan. However, I liked the emphasis on community involvement and the campus atmosphere at Bates, vs some other colleges I visited. People seemed friendly, and I felt that having Lewiston nearby, while definitely not the quintessential college town, would provide more opportunities for community involvement and projects (despite originally looking for a more rural environment).
Anyone else?
I am a parent, but I will give my perspective on why my D chose Bates. Basic factors: She wanted to be around smart, motivated students who were friendly and not overly competitive. She loved the idea of Short Term. She liked the reasonable proximity to Portland, which is a city she had visited before and likes. (Fun fact: Bates provides regular free shuttles to Portland and Freeport, which is a neat little town with excellent shops and restaurants. There are also regular shuttles to Boston for day-long trips, $20.)
She wanted a good blend of students. Bates students are a mix of outdoorsy/urban/arty/athletes/preppies/geeks and others. She was worried there would be too much emphasis on athletics, but this hasn’t proven to be the case. She is not interested in sports at all. The ratio of guys to girls was good too.
She REALLY liked the fact that there was no Greek life. She knew that Bates has a history of being inclusive, so that appealed. She knew that Bates is a top Fulbright producer. She was pretty sure the academics would be strong enough to be challenging but not overly intense. So far, she has definitely found that to be the case.
For parents: As far as we were concerned, we liked the active alumni network and the career center, which seems to be pretty good at helping kids with stuff like creating resumes, and providing internship and job opportunities. I am not sure we would have been happy for her to go there if we hadn’t been satisfied with that. We are impressed with the Purposeful Work initiative. We think Clayton Spencer is doing a very good job. She has raised $120 million for the endowment over the last three or four years. That is important. She is incredibly well-qualified and has an amazing pedigree. Google her.
D is really enjoying herself now. She got involved in a particular club right from the start. She has done some volunteering. She goes out in Lewiston, which has some decent restaurants. She and her friends have been to Freeport and Portland several times. She made Dean’s list. There are fun events on campus. The other day she played with baby goats and alpacas as one of the stress-relieving activities on offer (it’s Finals Week.) I haven’t asked her, but I think she would say she made the right choice.
Another parent here.
My S is graduating in May. Bates was not his first choice, or perhaps even his second. But it fit the profile of the kind of school he wanted to attend, and he chose it over our highly-rated flagship state university. He wanted a smaller liberal arts school outside his home region, and the tuition package offered by Bates made the cost comparable. He has been very happy there; in hindsight perhaps it’s the best choice he could have made. He is seriously interested in ethics, and the vibe he found at Bates fit his values. Between his double major in math and philosophy and his campus job he didn’t do much volunteering, but he did head up a club for 3 years and found his chem-free tribe very quickly. He’s an outdoorsy nerd. His friends are athletes, theater geeks, musicians, and tabletop game lovers. He came from something of a pressure-cooker STEM high school environment, and has found the academics challenging but managable. He is a southerner with family roots in New England, so he knew what he was getting into with the winters.
I also have to credit the career center at Bates for a remarkable performance with him. S is an excellent student with a good work ethic, but he is not adept at selling himself, and I was concerned he would be resorting to his regular summer job at a residential boy’s camp after graduation–there seemed to be a lot of thought and talk but no action on the job hunting front. However, in his senior year he has used BCDC and listened to their advice. They helped him with his resume and made some directional suggestions for the job search, and he attended several recruiters’ presentations on campus. At the one he liked best the student group was small, and he ended up having a preliminary interview right then. He submitted his resume, jumped through a few other hoops, was invited for an on-site interview, and was offered a position, which he accepted. It’s a great first job for him. I cannot imagine, given his inexperience and temperament, that this would have happened at a large university; I think he would have been lost in the shuffle. Bates gave him just the support he needed. And although the College did not offer a computer science major (I believe it does now), his academic background apparently was more than adequate; he’s going to work for a tech company. So as a parent I’m impressed.
Clayton Spencer was new when S matriculated, and I agree she is doing a great job. She’s used to running with the big dogs and appears to be taking Bates where it needs to go.
Hi. Congrats on choosing Bates! I’m an alum and my son was accepted ED for the fall! 
I remember when I was doing the college tour with my parents in the 80s - we visited the idyllic Middlebury, Bowdoin, Mount Holyoke, etc… When we got off the exit in Lewiston I clearly remember thinking, “NOPE! Not going to Bates!!!” Lewiston was not my idea of the “college town” that I had in mind. But I obviously changed my mind.
I applied. Once I was accepted, I stayed overnight at Conn College (tied with Bates for my top choice) and immediately wanted to leave. (My host and her friends were so cliquey and unfriendly. It was like I was back in middle school! No offense to anyone at Conn College - this was just my experience 30+ years ago.)
I stayed overnight at Bates the next weekend and people were so friendly and warm, said “hi” as I walked across campus, etc… I loved the inclusivity and the lack of frat culture. I chose Bates. I had only been to Maine once (aside from my campus visits), I didn’t ski (still don’t!), didn’t like lobster (still don’t!), but I fell in love with the place, the people and with Maine.
I graduated almost 30 years ago, yet Bates is still a huge part of my life. Some of my best friends are still Batesies. I am part of a huge community (dare I say an extended family?). I am still in touch with professors. When I visit campus we are greeted warmly by staff, faculty and students and I feel like I’m coming “home”. I will second what others have said about the alumni network - it’s great. Clayton Spencer has done an amazing job. I love what the college is doing to knit together the Bates-Lewiston community.
My son chose Bates because it is friendly, down-to-earth, outdoorsy. He loves Maine. Like you, he originally wanted “rural” for college, but ultimately decided that Bates was right for him. He wanted an inclusive and nurturing school where he could try many different academic and extra-curricular pursuits. He’s interested in science, debate, travel opportunities, Outing Club and the new computational program. I think he’ll really enjoy it! I’m sure you will too!
@Lindagaf Could you talk about your daughter’s AESOP experience? What did she do and did it help her make friends?
Also, how has her roomate and dorm experience been?
@PetitManan , wow, my D could be you! Not into skiing or lobster-- she is nuts, haha!
@hopeful1660 , so many kids have such different dorm experiences. Your experience will be unique to you. Bates chooses roommates. Most of the time they get it right.
D has had a neutral dorm experieince. She and her roommate are neither friends nor enemies. They coexist. Her main group of friends are mostly roomies though and I get the impression they mostly live in one dorm. She was asked to be in two different suites for next year, but has chosen a single. Probably the best thing, as she is very private and quite shy. I personally think she should have joined one of the suites, but it’s her choice.
AESOP is very popular. As far as I know, kids seem to really enjoy it. My friend’s D is a sophomore, loved her trip. My D didn’t choose the right experience for her, and she didn’t have a great time. But I think that was down to her. She should have chosen the art trip, but didn’t want to seem wimpy, lol. She chose to go camping and hiking, which is not really her thing. It was a “roughing it” type of trip. I saw pics of several of the various trips, and it seemed that kids had a great time.
She talks to kids from that trip, but they all have different friends. You are going to find that the kids you hang out with at the start of the year will probably not be who you hang out with at the end of the year. My advice for AESOP is to choose the trip you are genuinely most interested in.
@Lindagaf Re skiing and lobster - LOL. Also, great advice on AESOP. Another informative post!
Mine did the AESOP camping and roughing it. Real moose appeared. The range of options keeps growing. And D1 does like lobstah, but neither skied (or sailed) during college. Neither ran off often to Portland (or Maine Mall or Freeport- but maybe because the family spends time in Maine, they’re familiar with all that.) But they both did do various things with Bowdoin. For both of mine, freshman roommates continue to be BFFs. First year, both were in a quad in an older dorm, no problem.
I asked them recently, if they were happy with their choice. Both enthusiastically said yes. I so very much agree with Lindagaf that students are a mix, in many ways. We believe, for both, their community engagement was a plus in post-grad life.
Just a great, spirited school. And good food, lol.
Yay~ thank you all for your great responses Hopefully the information in this thread and some of the others can help those who are still trying to decide.
Has anyone out there had or know of any experiences related to Bate’s purposeful work program and their extensive community involvement? How about the senior thesis? Maybe even some short term experiences? These are all quintessential to the Bates experience and I know I would sure love to hear more about them.
Thank you all once again!
I don’t know the PWI, which started recently, but mine were Bonner Leaders, a college community service program supported by the Bonner Fdn. Bates was an early affiliate. You apply sometime between now and summer, they look for past service experience, and there’s a stipend. Check it out.
The overall engagement opps, aside from Bonner, were one of the factors in their choice. Through the Harward Center, kids can work with or alongside various orgs or the city.
D2 did a project for her thesis, working with a community group, assessing a program. D1’s thesis was academic. It’s a choice you make with faculty advisors.
For both, their service during college gave a post grad leg up. I can explain, if needed. But it also enriched them. It’s really what you could call “priceless,” for kids to whom service matters.
So much more to say.
Bates wasn’t initially on our radar. It was the GC who pushed it. One visit (not until mid fall of sr year,) and D1 and I were blown away by various points. We had that moment when we looked at each other…
S double majored in math and philosophy. Fall semester he wrote his philosophy thesis–supervised by an advisor in the department with whom he met weekly. Spring semester for math he chose a senior seminar, for which he did many presentations, both solo and in groups. It seemed to me from his description that the seminar was designed to be something like a graduate-level course. Both were positive experiences.
Short term: he did three, the maximum number allowed. The first was a class nicknamed Math Camp, highly recommended for math majors. He never regretted it, although it is one of the most intense short term classes, and felt it helped prepare him well for the rigors of the major. For the short term coming up he was asked to join a philosophy class for seniors that will look at redesigning the philosophy thesis process. He is looking forward to that beginning in under a week. The one year he did not do short term, he was able to visit a friend on the west coast and begin his summer job a few weeks earlier.