Bates College

Bates College has some of nicest people I've ever meet. Everyone holds the door for each other and is eager to help each other in any way. The best thing is that because it has no frats or sororities, they're aren't cliques like at other schools. I would feel comfortable going to any of the parties on campus and not feeling left out. People at Bates usually have some attachment to the outdoors or some sort of athletic pursuit. BUT academics are most certainly the top priority at Bates. People go to the games, but if you are looking for a school which idolizes its athletes or are die-hard fans of their sports teams, Bates is probably not the right school.

Every professor i've had so far has been amazing. They all are very helpful and really want to make sure your doing well. You will not fall through the cracks at Bates, professors will know if you miss class. The campus is also just beautiful in the fall! It looks like the classic new england college. It differs from the other NESCAC schools I visited in that it seems much less snooty and WASPish. There are preppy people here, but they are.nt the typical ones. There are also outdoorsy, hipster, hippy, and skater people too. What unites us is our friendliness, our commitment to learning, our quirks, and that we enjoy the winter.

Food at Commons is ridiculously good! they have every cereal you could want and make your own omlette a vegan bar, fresh baked goods, brick oven pizza... etc. It really makes it hard not to gain the freshman 15. Also everyone eats together in commons so your sure to see people you know there. Another cute thing is that people write their comments/questions/requests for Commons on the napkins and pins them to a wall. Commons then replies to these napkins.

Basically Bates is awesome, I couldn't imagine being at a different school.
The only negative I can think of would be some people might not like the small school or the surrounding town. Also although the students are all interesting and nice, they are mainly white and from the middle-upper middle class.

1st Year Female -- Class 2012

Individual Value: A+, Surrounding City: D+