Bates College Top Questions

Bates is an excellent school that is an intellectually rewarding challenge that fosters great relationships with professors and students and is a great place to have fun. While classes may be difficult, most professors are sure to keep you intrigued and many are just really nice people. Socially, there are so many different kinds of groups, and it's pretty common to be involved in more than one group, which is widely accepted and even preferred. Bates has great extracurricular activities, ranging from musical lessons and a cappella groups to dance and sports to knitting clubs and even a competitive eating club- the fat cats. Weekends are full of fun with parties if you're into those, or theme nights like bingo night or themed dances. The outdoors are great since we're surrounded by so many beautiful parks and mountains, even right near campus are great places to bike or run to. FOOD: Great dessert, mac and cheese is awesome, BRICK OVEN PIZZA, ice cream and fro-yo, vegan pad thai, great restaurants in the area, late night snacks at the den, sundae sundays, and great staff. Also, we do have vegetables and fruit but that's not as exciting as an awesome slice of pizza or John Corrie's cheesecake (sing for choir and you'll get at least 3 pieces). Bates is an awesome place, and if you're an awesome person who is accepting of differences, openminded, and a bit quirky, you'll have a great time here.

Bates is a small school with about 1700 students. Its the perfect place to make relationships and good connections that will last years after graduation. At Bates you're definitely not a number like some big schools, the professors know you by name, and are genuinely concerned about your success. The administration is absolutely phenomenal! They really genuinely care about you, I've gone through some crazy stuff in my life while at Bates and the administration is really good about listening and helping you in any way they can, no matter what the problem is. A big controversy on campus is the lack of diversity, there's been rallies and meetings demanding an increase in racial, geographic, and other forms of diversity. I'm please to say that Bates is taking active steps in addressing this issue, and in the time that I've been at Bates I've definitely have seen improvement in this area. One thing I will never forget is on my first day at Bates the dean of the college was up at 1 a.m. talking with me and a friend. I was shocked that the dean of the college was up at 1 a.m. having a conversation with us, but if you decide to come to Bates you'll see thats just Dean Reese for ya or like I like to call him Daddy Reese!

Although many people assume Bates is in the middle of nowhere when they hear it is Maine, it is just because they do not know Maine, or Bates for that matter. Lewiston, although it is nothing to write home about, has all the basics. There are plenty of places to go out to eat, there are bars, and all the normal chain stores like Wal-Mart. The area around Bates is not one in which students should stray off alone or even with a small group of friends. However, as long as you are smart there should be no problems. I have never felt unsafe. The fact that students do not travel off campus very much, aside from trips to Freeport or skiing at Sunday River, causes a close knit community on campus. This is very nice and you get to know people very well. On the down side, Bates is very small. By the end of freshman year you will recognize almost everyone you see, and know a good portion of their names. There are obvious pros and cons to this social atmosphere. The gossip definitely spreads quickly and sometimes it feels like there is no escape, but it is nice to see familiar faces all the time. One of the frequent complaints at Bates is the less than impressive athletic department. Our facilities are not great, especially in comparison to our opponents. Our teams, for one reason or another, are not too successful (a few teams are). Because of this, there is not a lot of fan support or school pride which is disappionting as an athlete.

On my last night of sophomore year, my friend asked me, "did you ever think you'd be this happy at college?" On my last night at Bates for an entire summer and semester (I'm studying abroad), I started reflecting on the past two years; they were better than I could have ever imagined. Something that I've noticed since I decided to come to Bates is that when I tell people I go there, a typical response is "that's such a NICE school." I think that's the best response I could get, and it's 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} true. Bates is such a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, and I think that everyone can feel comfortable there. I love the small size; I love walking around campus and constantly running into friends, being able to walk into the dining hall with the guarantee of seeing a friend, and taking classes where I feel like I'm part of the class, not just a listener in a lecture. I'd say that, especially for a small school, there's a great deal of school spirit. People wear Bates attire on a daily basis, especially when they travel to and from school (need to let everyone know that we go to Bates!).

Bates is a really great school, mostly because of the other students. Coming from far away I worried that I wouldn't make many friends, but it was easy to meet people at Bates. The first year center I was in really helped with this. Getting involved is the best thing to do at Bates. I love all of my extracurriculars (even though I sometimes feel like I'm still in high school). Still, my most valued time is just hanging out with friends. There's not allot of school pride at Bates, most people don't really care that much.

Bates is very small, claustrophobic environment where you see the same boring and uninspired people on a daily basis. Furthermore, unless you are from the east coast (ie., a Masshole) you will be thought of as a freak. Not only do the rich kids from Choate and St. Andrews not like you, but the school does nothing to try and get a more well rounded student body. It is not terribly interesting to go to school with a bunch of rich, white, trustfund babies from Mass who only care about getting completely stoned out of their minds.

People often go to Bates because of the friendly people--Batesies routinely go out of their way to make new people feel at home, or to teach someone a fun skill. This of course is a self-perpetuating characteristic of Batesies, since friendly people will want to come to a school with friendly people.

I love the student body at Bates. Students, for the most part, are very friendly and approachable. Because it is such a small school, there is a sense of community that I have yet to encounter at a bigger school. People often call our school "Bates High School" for it's small size and your inability to attend the school and remain just another face in the crowd. Secrets don't stay secret at Bates, but the close-knit aspect of the school is one of its most endearing qualities. People complain most frequently about the long winters in Maine--the wintertime brings a lot of snow and a low of cold temperatures. If you're not from New England (or even if you are), this can be hard to adjust to. If you're into skiing, though, or if you love a snow-covered landscape, winter can be a great time of year. Bates's administration is very easily accessible and very helpful, from what I've experienced. Batesies love Bates. Though there may not be a lot of school spirit in terms of sports teams (Bates doesn't stand out in the world of athletic competition), most Bates students love the school and will be happy to talk about how much they love the school and why.

When I tell people familiar with Bates' setting that I go there, the first thing they ask is, “How do you like Lewiston?” Lewiston is known as the grittiest of Maine cities. I mean, this is Maine, and even it's grittiest is still tamer than plenty of bad neighborhoods in college cities. I feel completely safe walking around by myself during the daytime. At night, I don’t stray far from campus if I’m alone. Lewiston was actually one of the things that made me want to come to Bates. Lewiston is real. Every college campus has great security, so it's nice to be able to have a few minute walk into town that can immediately rattle you back to reality. I really wanted to go to school in a city, but I knew that it was more important to me to attend a small school. With Bates, I was able to compromise these two desires (small school, real--but small--city.) Sometimes you'll hear students complain that Bates is too small. While it's true that gossip gets around pretty quickly and you can almost always find a familiar face in a crowd, that's one thing you have to think about when considering a small school. And, of course, on the flip side of having a small student population is the small class sizes and individual attention you get from professors.

Bates is far from any large university, and I've felt the social claustrophobia that comes from a student body only 1700 strong, but my initial apprehensiveness turned into a deep appreciation for the close bonds that Bates allows. By and large, the friends from my freshmen year are still the closest I have at Bates, but I'm still always meeting new people. The town in which Bates is located, Lewiston, doesn't offer the same amenities a place like Boston or New York does. In fact, Lewiston, a college town to an old (est. 1855) and prestigious undergraduate college, remains second to its twin, Auburn, which lies adjacent across the Adroscoggin River. That in mind, Bates has plenty of opportunities for local volunteer work. However, the tucked away little restaurants like Little Dan's BBQ and She Doesn't Like Guthries are like secret treasures not uncovered before the end of your first Bates semester.

Bates is really small, but it's small in a really good way. I graduated from a high school of 1,600, which is only about 350 fewer than Bates, and they feel about the same. You'll probably know or know of just about everyone in your class after a year, but it isn't cliquey like high school. Because of classes and extracurriculars, friend groups have a ton of overlap, and I was making new friends and meeting new people (even if I already knew who they were) throughout my whole first year. Also, the food is great.

Bates is a smaller school which has its pros and cons. People get very acquainted with one another. There is a lot of school pride especially in sports games against Bowdoin or Colby. Most people don't go off campus unless it is to ski, hike, go out to dinner etc. Recently, they have been completing campus renovations so there will be a lot of new facilities. The bates "puddle" or pond is one must see about Bates. It reflects campus buildings and hosts events such as the winter puddle jump and the senior pub crawl.

Bates is however you want it to be. You can be a loner, or you can get to know everyone you meet. Making friends is very easy and most people are friendly and easy-going. There is a lot of respect and appreciation for diversity (since there isn't a lot), whether it's racial or sexual or another. It's very well-respected and well known, and academically it is superb. Labs and classroom equipment are state-of-the-art, the professors for the most part are extremely good and it's easy to get to know them. What's great about Bates is that the student body is small, and you can make friends with everyone or form your own "big happy family" with the people you love the most. Regarding Lewiston, everybody hates it. There is no "main street" you can walk down, no cute bookstores and coffee shops, nowhere to walk to that is worthwhile, no nice bars or clubs - Lewiston is pretty much dead, so we go to Freeport or Portland or Boston every time we get the chance. A lot of people fail to adapt to Bates because of this - there exists a very real "Bates bubble" where we are all kept apart or shielded from Lewiston, whether it's on purpose or not.

Bates is just really fun. All the kids are pretty friendly and it's a good place to go. If you need to get anything the Lewiston has mostly anything you need. There is alot of snow though so you better be prepared for it. The biggest problem at bates is it seems as if the faculty don't care that much about the sports making it hard to get good athletes to come here.

The best thing about Bates is the sense of community. Bates has one dining hall with a very open floor plan so students interact with each other and the commons staff. Each of the offices on the campus are very student friendly and foster a strong sense of community. Additionally, the close relationship students build with each other and professors in the classroom helps to improve the campus's sense of self. Also, the extremely active student government and relationship between the administrators and students helps to provide the campus with the feeling of a small town.

It's hard to think of anything outrightly bad about Bates. Everyone has their petty complaints. I have one friend who loves travel and he thinks we are too far from any big city. I have another friend who absolutely hates Lewiston. Some people wish that cars weren't aloud on campus. Others think that people study too much. A few of my friends hate the cardio room in the gym or think our athletic facilities aren't up to par. One friend wishes the library was open 24 hours and another wishes it would close earlier on the weekends. I have a group of friends who aren't athletes and they feel like athletes separate themselves from the rest of the campus. Athletes sometimes feel the administration doesn't support their efforts. A lot of my friends want a place for public art on campus. Sometimes buying books can be a pain. The requirement to write a thesis can be stressful. Classes can be overwhelming. Professors can be demanding. Winters are long. But think about it, when you gather together a diverse group of 2,000 students onto a small selective college campus in central Maine and ask them what they don't like, you'll probably get a lot of answers. To be frank, all of these can be issues for any student while they're at Bates, but if the pros can outweigh the cons, like it does for all of the aforementioned students, than none of really matters at all.

Close community. Get to know the professors, classmates, friends quickly. The school is small but if that is what you are looking for its perfect. Bates is definitely not in a college town. Lewiston-Auburn has fun bars (the goose, the pub, gritty's etc) but for day time activities its lacking. Biggest recent controversy was at my graduation (08) 2 black students ranted about how the white community raped their families and ignored them on campus. NOT TRUE... the two speakers had switched their speeches and decided to bash the white people at the school. This is not bates. it was very very very out of the ordinary and sucks to have to leave the school on that note. Their speeches definitely spoiled many peoples graduation. Bates administration is awesome. They definitely watch your back and very supportive. My grandfather died my sophomore year and Bates was very understanding and allowed me to take some time off to go to the funeral, visit family, etc. There is a lot of school pride. The sports games are big at bates (relative to the population size). Also, there are countless opportunities to help the communities and participate in on-campus activities. Our "commons"- where we eat is new just this year. It is so beautiful and really brings the students together. You never feel lonely.

The students are the best part about Bates. They are all really friendly and enthusiastic about being at Bates. Most students are genuine, engaging, and caring. Since the student body is small, you really get to know most people in the school at least by their face. You do not see many strangers on campus. You also become very close with the people in your grade. I think this is a great size for the campus because you still meet new people each year, but you are not overwhelmed by a huge student body. You never get lost in the crowd. The big spots to hang out on campus are commons, milts, and anywhere outside when the weather is nice: the quad, football field, etc. The town of Lewiston is not too exciting and I don't think that students go there often. However, there are some nice restaurants if you want to go out and people take many trips to Walmart and Shaws during the week. There is a lot of school pride. A lot of students go to the school events, like sports games, plays, dance performances, concerts, etc. People are very eager to get involved and support their friends in activities. One experience that I will always remember is the puddle jump, a winter event in which students jump into the frozen pond. It was an exhilarating experience in which many students attended and cheered each other on. It is definitely an experience that all students should try at least once before they graduate.

Bates is just the right size in my mind as most people know or know of each other but you can always meet someone new...If you want to get off campus, it´s easy to escape or find a friend to drive you down to Portland, Boston, or the other big two private colleges, Bowdoin or Colby. Also, the Bates Outing Club has a lot of hiking and climbing trips if you want to get in touch with nature... Not many people want to escape into Lewiston, town-college relations are bad, but what can you do about elitists who are out of touch with the working class reality?... There are plenty of opportunities to do community service-learning though, and it´s a shame most people don´t get to know Lewiston for what it is and appreciate it. Bates admin is out of touch, The Turtle rarely comes out(except when Amandla, the black organization on campus led a diversity demonstration), but her husband is known for walking her dogs on campus... People from the rest of the country don´t know what Bates is(master bates or motel bates jokes are common), but up northeast, it´s well known. Bates pride is up to the student, as for me, I know it´s one of those schools that gives a great education, but no one´s going to confuse it with Bowdoin, Colby, or upwards.

The best thing about Bates is undoubtably the strong, supportive community created by students on campus that extends well into the alumni base. Batesies are generally friendly and welcoming and I recieved exceptional support from alumni when I reached out to find a job and prepared to leave Bates. Students refer to campus as "the Bates Bubble" since it often seems like its own wonderful little world and, on many occasions, felt like another life when away on break. Batesies spend most of their time on campus or out enjoying Maine's wilderness. The surrounding towns are small but offer plenty of nice restaurants and simple pleasures like movie theaters. Bates' culture and activities have also evolved around its small town locality over the years so there is always plenty happening on campus. That said, Lewiston and Auburn have changed radically just in the time I was a student there and may soon offer many lively spots for students to visit. A final seperate thought, Bates values social responsibility, community service, and environmental sustainability a great deal which is reflected in many aspects of campus life and institutional policy.

Bates is a very good and highly regarded school. It took some time getting used to my Freshmen year just because I came from a close knit family and was not used to being away from them. However now I absolutely love the school. The only problem that I would say that I do not like about Bates is that it is a very small school (~1800). For me, that was the size of my high school, and in some aspects (socially) it can sometimes still feel like in high school. However for many of my friends size is not an issue with Bates because their high school classes were only 50, 60, 70 people so for many people Bates seems bigger then it really is. If people are looking for a "college town" then Bates is not it. Bates is a secluded on campus type of school because the area the school is located is not very safe for kids to be walking around at night. There are also no stores or college age kids really in the area. The only stores around are a Shaw's grocery store and a Walmart.

Bates is very community oriented. By going to Bates you make connections with people without even having to meet them or getting to know them. Food is awesome. Students party pretty hard on the weekends and work really hard during the week. if you're not a partier you won't feel left out. A lot of marijuana on campus, almost everyone smokes.

Bates is a very fun school, the classes are fun, the parties are fun, the students are fun. This is not to say that Bates is a huge party school, we take our academics very seriously, its just that the environment of the college lends itself to not take many things too seriously. We do party though, and if the night is right, we party like Division I Football Players. Most people at Bates love Bates, the only major complaint is the town of Lewiston, which has be reemerging as a cultural center in recent years, and is starting more and more to mesh better with the college. Lewiston is nicely situated about 40 minutes from everything (Portland, Freeport, the Beach, Great Skiing, Colby, Bowdoin)

Bates is a home away from home - with all the good and bad that implies. The good is your friends become family, the staff are family, and the professors can become just that close. The bad is tensions do arise, just as in a family. It is a small campus that tends to become isolated (especially during the cold winter months!) from the rest of the world unless you make a concerted effort to expand your bubble and participate in the Lewiston/Auburn community. That closeness means you know everything about everyone, and they know everything about you. In reaction, most students -over half - spend at least a portion of their junior year abroad experiencing a new envrionment. This makes the campus more dynamic with a wide range of experiences. Everyone has a unique and interesting life story to tell that shapes the culture of Bates. In recent years there has been significant racial tension and complaints that Bates is not as welcoming to non-white ethnicities. Personally, I never found this to be the case. But in response to these concerns the administration is making a concentrated effort to expand our diversity. Bates is in a transition period where they are defining how we want the college to look in the next 50 years and the students are happily included in this process. The biggest complaint I have is the Bates Apathy - in an effort to accept everyone and PC, controversial topics are shied away from in daily conversation, though often discussed in the classroom.

Bates is a small liberal school with fantastic teachers, intimate campus, with diverse interests. The size is right for the right kind of person who is social but content with being a big fish in a small pond. Bates has a great reputation in the Northeast but outside of that people seem puzzled and do not recognize the school by name. Lewiston is not much of a college town, its a rought old mill town, with a few bars and a couple dance clubs.

There are so many opportunities to do research and push your education to the next level. The size is perfect-- but for people who don't want to see their random hookup ever again, Bates might not be for you; you WILL see everyone in the new commons (which is AMAZING). I feel like there isn't a lot of school pride, but nevertheless if you go to an athletic event to support a friend, roommate, or classmate, you will not be alone. Little known fact that we do indeed have a college alma mater and other Bates songs; people just don't KNOW them. Bates is definitely lovable for such events as the Puddle Jump, Senior Week, Harvest Dinner, Gala, and the high study abroad rates.

On the whole Bates is an excellent institution for anyone who wishes to be treated as an individual and not just a number. The people are top notch and extremely friendly. There is a social stratification mainly dependent on athletics. However, there is a place for everyone. Lewiston, despite all its bad publicity isn't so bad. Its a little shady at times but I never feared for my safety. One experience I will always remember is my experience on Bates' AESOP freshmen orientation trip, where I climbed Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest point.

Bates is struggling to find itself and is, at the moment, failing in some pretty major ways. While much of the literature gestures towards a film program, there is none - and this is a trend that confuses prospective and current students alike (Bates also claims to have a 'diverse' campus with 'well rounded' students due to Gen Eds though needs to deeply rethink what these words mean). I think many people in the Bates Community realize its confused identity but have trouble pin-pointing it. I graduated yesterday and still don't know if I can locate the problems, though I am certain that they are widespread. Among its biggest problems, for me at least, is its failure to encourage exciting, creative thought and support it in meaningful ways. Most professors, I've found, just let me do my thing - which is a great alternative to a monochromatic treatment of students - but problematic in that is does not create a community of the more intellectually curious students.

One of the best things about bates is the FOOD. Students are known to spend hours lounging at Commons, the one dining hall for the entire student body which was just rebuilt this year. Commons features delicious brick oven pizza and a vegan bar that is to die for. Except for occasional shopping trips and meals at portland and freeport, students rarely leave campus. Which is good, because Lewiston is not exactly a bustling metropolis. However, it does have a fair selection of good restaurants, movie theaters and a bowling alley. There are always plenty of activities going on at Bates during the weekends that students do not feel compelled to leave. I feel like I missed out if I leave Bates for even one weekend night. Batesies are friendly and there is a strong feeling of community.

Bates is first and foremost a lot of fun. No matter what you like doing, you can find people at Bates who also like doing that. The campus is small enough that you can know a large portion of the student body, and so you tend to feel free to engage in activities with "strangers" because they are often the friend of a friend. Getting off of campus is easy and the Outing Club spends large amounts of money getting people out skiing, hiking, boating etc. Other clubs are very active and no matter what is you are interested in, others are surely already interested and actively engaged in pursuing those interests. Bates people are by-and-large friendly and hard-working. I transferred here and the difference between the two student bodies was astounding

Bates has a very welcoming and friendly atmosphere. The campus is small, walkable and the one dining hall allows everyone to see each other and communicate daily. I would change the fact that these new buildings are looking too generic. The great thing about Bates is its personality. It is small, so people see each other frequently and I like that. People think that it's like high school, but the academics and social life are much different - especially when going abroad is thrown into the mix!

Well, the big picture about Bates is that I'm guaranteed a very good job after college. Many college can't promise you that. This school to me is just the right size. I can definitely build the necessary relationships I need with professors. For me it's really important to be able to sit and talk with my teachers because if I'm suppose to spend my next four years at a college, seven and a half hours away from my home, then I want to get as much out of it as possible. These professors are very knowledgeable, and not using them for what they're are here for is just a waste of time. Good professors will teach you what you need to learn in class as well as in life. One thing to remember is "Life outside of school is only as fun as it is inside the place that prepares you for it." Just think about that. You're most memorable moments will be from college. What i'm really getting at is people really love Bates because of the kind of people we develop to become over our four years here. Everyone knows about Bates and if they don't I'm pretty sure someone they know has heard of us. I take a lot of proud in my school because, well this school has taken a lot of proud in me. This school will definitely do that to you. The thing i will always remember about Bates is the friends I've grown to know and love.

Bates is a small liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine. With under 2000 students, people are very close and by the end of your year you will most likely feel like you know everybody. Coming from a school of close to six thousands students, I came to bates for a change. No more crowded hallways, or overflowing cafeterias. Bates is a magnificent school, and I love it.

Best thing about Bates is the family feel and small connected student body. There is only one dining hall which becomes almost like a "melting pot" of everyone where the hippies sit next to the football jocks, the head of the spanish department has lunch with the men's soccer coach. Everyone comes together to eat, talk and be together and that's my favorite part about Bates. Being only an hour away from the ocean and mountains doesn't hurt either.

The best thing about Bates is definitely the people. When students come here, one of the first impressions that people get is that everyone here is so outwardly friendly. It's truly special, and something that you don't find on many other campuses. Bates is located in Lewiston, which is what you make of it. Personally, I love Lewiston as I find it very charming. It's obviously not the ideal college town, but I love walking among the mill buildings. Many students complain about Bates' low endowment. It's an issue that is constantly coming up. The truth of the matter is that Bates is a wonderful institution regardless of its endowment.

Whenever people ask why I came to Bates, I tell them it was because of the people I met when I went on my tour. This is so true for me now as a senior at Bates because I have met some of my closest friends among the students, professors, and employees of the college. I think it's just the right size, especially if you take some time off to go abroad which almost everyone does. Everyone sticks around on the weekend, there is always a lot going on on campus, both student and school sponsored activities. Lewiston has great restaurants, a movie theater, it's not that big but we're very close to Freeport and Portland which are great cities. There is a ton of school pride at Bates, pretty much everyone attends home games and anyone you ask 'loves Bates.' Bates has so many great traditions which also make it fun and unique including: Spring Gala, the Puddle Jump, Winter Carnival, Drop Everything and Play, 80s Dance, Halloween Dance and the Clambake. Students are also very active at Bates and we're always outside!

Bates is an awesome community of students who want to be free to have fun and be intellectual as much as they want. Although the administration might be a bunch of fake bureaucrats, the students overcome this.

One of the best things about Bates has to be the size--it's a small place which is home to a lot of tight-knit groups of friends, most of whom are on the lookout to meet new and exciting people. If you're looking to remain anonymous, I would say that Bates is probably not the school for you. Likewise, if you're looking to be in a bustling city, Bates is also probably not your speed. The Lewiston-Auburn area is about 60,000 people and primarily composed of blue-collar people, who are sometimes less than overjoyed to be reminded of the presence of an elite college in their midst. That said, I think that Lewiston often takes students by surprise both by being a big fat reality check for those from wealthy backgrounds, and by having far more to offer than one would initially assume. Frequent student complaints include the lack of things to do in Lewiston (I would write these folks off as not being adventurous enough), and people who are displeased with the lack of big-school resources at a small college.

Bates is a great small liberal arts school, but there are things that need to be accepted. First off, Lewiston, ME is not the greatest place in the world. It is often a bit sketchy but rarely do I feel unsafe, especially on campus. The "Bates Bubble" often gives you the sense that there is nothing going on in the world. It's hard to compare Bates to other schools since I've only been to Bates, but I think all around it's a good place to be.

Bates is a great school with wonderful facilities available for its students. The teachers, the programs , and resources makes it easier for everyone to succeed. I think succeess in life begins at Bates.

Old Commons. What a place. There was a sense of camaraderie as we all filed in, knowing that we would leave smelling like Pablo's Pizza meets white bean soup meets make your own cheesecake. Commons workers knew you by name and you knew them by name. They would rescue you when the toaster caught on fire; they would look for more green tea when the stand was out; they would never kick you out. In the morning people would scavenge for the paper: Sidekick from the globe; the Science Times from the NY Times on tuesday mornings. The comfort and acceptance of commons was epitomized by the Napkin Board. Between the insults of wilted spinach and the demand for craisins was an appreciation for what it stood: a place where all Batesies came together.

Bates is a small school that only gets smaller as you go. When you go out on the weekends, go to commons, go to the gym or basically anywhere you'll see anyone and everyone. There is no such thing as avoiding people.

Well the big picture is that Bates pretty much rocks as far as im concerned. If your looking for a place where you are intellectually challenged, and where that challenge is not a competition amongst your peers then Bates is a good place for you. If you are pretty laid back and really enjoy outdoor pursuits like skiing and hiking then Bates is a good place for you. The size i think is fantastic because its small enough to feel like home. And its facilitated by the single dining hall. One of the drawbacks a lot of people see is Lewiston. Its a very economically depressed town but slowly on the rise with a sizable Somali refugee population. But there are positives and negatives here. There isnt a lot to do off campus but the town provides a lot of community service work opportunities. Also its only 45 minutes away from sunday river. Bates people are fun, quirky and usually very interesting people to talk to, with interesting backgrounds.

The school is a nice size, you get to know most of your classmates and it is a great community. I think the largest drawback is the surrounding town, Lewiston, which is a fairly stagnant place that has been improving slowly. However, there are few places to go off-campus within walking distance (Rite-Aid, maybe?) The athletic facilities are not very nice. The food is AMAZING and we have a new dining hall that is spectacular. Bates is a very environmentally-conscious campus.

Lewiston Auburn is not a college town. Although most people can not believe it is offically concidered the second largest city in Maine it is pretty metropolitian. It is just the right size for the the area and there is not really a separation between town and college. Surrounding people will picnic in the quad for lunch and walk on campus for some exercise. When I tell people I go to Bates in New England, it is recognized but once out of that region, one will find often someone who is related or married or maybe someone who graduated from colby and Bowdoin and know Bates this way.

Bates is small, there's no question about it and we're surrounded by a struggling old New England mill town that doesn't have much to offer at first glance, so sometimes the size can be very constraining. However, most of the time, there is so much going on that you don't even have time to notice the size. It's a really supportive community of students and staff--the professors are really accessible, which is a plus. There's only one dining hall (Commons) on campus so you get a chance to see basically the entire student body at some point or another. There's a new dining hall and a new dorm, so a lot is changing and being updated around the school right now, which has pluses and minuses as any big change does. Basically, Bates students love Bates. Most people you talk to feel like they've found a great match and some amazing opportunities.

Bates is a bit small -- it's one of those schools where with one dining hall and one library, you know every single persons face, and at the same time, can have no idea who they are. When I first told people that I went to Bates (when I was a freshman), a good majority had no idea where or what it is. I think it's gradually becoming more well known. Most of the time spent on campus is either in friends room, in the library, in classrooms, or at meals. Not really much that happens in the town. The connections between the school and the town, I feel, are good and bad -- its very mixed. I think the administration has a list of about 5 different kinds of people that they accept. There isn't too much "out" people, which makes it kind of hard for someone who is looking for an extremely out and comforting environment (even though the people are extremely welcoming to everything and everyone). Ironically, contrary to the previous sentence, the biggest controversy on campus was a few years ago when there were a series of hate crime incidents ranging from homophobic, to anti-semitic, to racist--the general consensus of course was that no one from the Bates community did them and they mustve been kids in the town. I love bates, dont get me wrong. The hookup scene can be awkward, though, because its such a small school, and especially for a queer person the options are limited, which, again, makes it kind of hard.

Bates itself is a great place to live and learn. Though small, the campus is a great setting for what takes place there. Part of its appeal is that the student body is a mere 1800 students, which is great in terms of living arrangements and class sizes. Batesies tend to flourish in the environment, particularly because the campus's size means that one can really stand out in one's area of specialty. Batesies are radically loyal to their school, though that loyalty seems to be lost post-graduation in terms of alumni dollars. In terms of town-gown relations, try again some other day; there is a definitive divide between students and residents of Lewiston. Bates has a lot of interesting traditions, among them Lick-It and the Puddle Jump. The former is a dance the night before the All-College Gala, in which students wear as little clothing as possible and dance until 2 am. It's a great time. The latter activity, the Puddle Jump, happens in Winter Semester, where students cut a hole in Lake Andrews (the on-campus lake) and jump into the frgidly cold waters. I very much like Bates. As a first-year, it was important to me that I find a place where being a first-year was not a limiting factor in terms of access to activities. Bates, in its egalitarian tradition, holds that all activities whould be open to everyone-- and they stick to it. I didn't feel lost, something I feel most first-year students elsewhere do feel. When I came to Bates, I really did not know what to expect. The winters are horrible and depressing, but there are ways the college compensates for that. Bates was very welcoming and though I expected that college would bring more things to do, I soon found that Bates provides enough to do and the opportunity to create your own fun. If you're from a city, transitioning to Bates is very hard, but ultimately worth it. The people are the best thing about the school; its the people that make Bates such a great place to be.

Bates is not just a four-year college; it's a home. People don't come to Bates solely for the fantastic education. They come for the great sense of community that is found on campus. Through athletics, clubs and organizations, classes, and dorm life, a strong sense of community is formed. It seems everyone is happy to be at Bates. A fellow student of mine said that a true Batesie is never unhappy. And if they are, there will soon be a hundred friends around them helping them have fun again.

While Bates is a highly reputable school with an incredible faculty and very driven students, the atmosphere is definitely relaxed and friendly. In fact when I hear the word "college" it reminds me of some pillared ediface looming over everyone, and that isn't the feeling I get at Bates at all. I think one of the best aspects about Bates is that it knows not to take itself too seriously. There's no staunchness or stuffiness that usually is accompanied by "brick and ivy institutions". It's challenging and very engaging, but by no means intimidating. For the most part students and professors are really comfortable with each other and interact outside the classroom as well as during class time. I wouldn't hesitate to ask my favorite professors to join me for a beer, and I've enjoyed dinner at professors' houses.