Bates College Top Questions

As I said a large majority of students are white. I am not religious and I never felt uncomfortable going to this school. Many of my friends did go to church, temple etc but it was nothing that made me uncomfortable. This school was founded by abolitionists therefore its a very welcome school in the sense of freedom of speech, religion etc. Most students were casual clothes. During the fall you will see girls wearing a variety of clothes from dresses to sweatpants. Guys were about the same from khakis to sweatpants. During the winter you have to bundle up so its rare to see dresses. Its a relaxed school. You can dress up and wear high heels if you want of you could wear uggs/flip flops and its totally acceptable.

I feel like all types of students could fit in at Bates. It is a very open and accepting environment. Students don't fall into one click, but rather there are many different types of students. The campus is not very racially diverse, but there are many international students. A lot of students are from the northeast but you will find that people really do come from all over. Some of my closest friends are from California, Paraguay, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Sri Lanka. Students are pretty politically aware and active. This year I attended a caucus for the democratic party and a huge number of bates students were there to support Hillary and Obama. Students are predominantly left.

Rich, white, liberal elitists from just right outside of Boston dominate because the College has got to make money somehow. However, the Admissions office is working hard to get diversity on campus, but a lot of minorities and poor kids still feel sort of marginalized on campus(can´t help the lack of cultural capital one has compared to upper white liberal elitists)...You see the tables in the dining hall form out by class and race as well as the typical college arquetypes: the awkward geeks (quite a lot of them), the rich white kids and jocks, and the articulate academic assholes. Most of us look like we care, but we really don´t do much of anything when it comes down to it because we know we don´t have much say in the academic or real world. No one´s going to leave and become a famous alum (our most famous alum is one of the Gumbels) or get really rich (just look at our endowment compared to the rest of the NESCAC), but people use their education in their life for the most part and are happy for it.

Bates students are a pretty chill bunch. The socioeconomics of Bates' student body certainly looks nothing like that of the US but this is a systemic problem not something I fault Bates for - but still something that needs to be fixed! As I said before, students are generally very friendly and welcoming. I had the opportunity to become close friends with people from all over the world. My sophomore year, my close Korean and Japanese friends cooked all manner of foods that were completely alien to me but, after some persuading, I have become quite a fan. If you go to Bates and want to hang out with people like you, you will prbably manage. If you have an open mind and seek to learn about people who are nothing like you, I'm also sure you will succeed - I did. Politically, Bates is definitely left leaning but there are very active student groups on the right as well. I have friends from all over the spectrum but I suspect the lefties feel better accepted.

Although ethnically Bates is relatively diverse for only having 1800 students, socio-economically everyone is generally the same. Because everyone tends to be in the upper-middle class there are oftentimes conflicts with the town of Lewiston people who tend to not have a lot of money. As a result it is always advised to not really leave campus to walk around, especially at night.

students are casual, even going out on a friday night. groups of friends seem pretty diverse. bates offers a lot of different kinds of people with different backgrounds. studnets seem to be pretty financially secure, although there are a lot of job opportunities on campus for those who need extra income. politically, there are roughly an equal number of left and right students. bates republicans and democrats are active and heard on campus.

In general, Bates students are very open and accepting of anyone regardless of background. However, because of recent tensions between Minority students at Bates and the 1 or 2 percent that make the "in general" necessary in the first sentence, there is increasing cynicism on campus. That being said, Bates students are really pretty funny. I can think of at least 10 people I know well that could be successful comedians. Students at Bates are more than likely liberals, from New England, and want to change the world.

Bates students are predominately white, upper-middle class students from "30 minutes outside Boston" who want to make a difference in the world. They don't tend to flaunt their wealth, but you can still tell who is wealthy and who is not by whether or not they work a campus job. The college is looking to change some of this, primarily to make the college more economically and racially diverse. The college used to have a "granola" feel, with wonderful students who did not fit the typical popped-collar image. This group has dwindled in the past few years, but those who are still there are a vibrant part of the active campus. We have a strong LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, Advocate) society who is determined to question the stereotypes. They are not obtrusive, but quietly affect the mindset of students through example. It is not a very religious campus, but those who are find support with the multi-faith chaplain and are accepted regardless of their religion. The center of student life is the on-cmapus dining center "New Commons." It is the heart of conversation. The meal plan is: eat as much as you need, enter as often as you want, just don't take any food out of the building. It is a warm environment and the commons workers are the most delightful, consistently joyous people on campus!! The tables are set up to include as many people as possible. There are certain "areas" of students (athletes, quiet ones, eclectic groups) but they are not set and tables are a fluid intercourse of students joining and departing tables. You can sit there for two hours and sit with several groups during that time.

Bates is not hugely racially diverse but are at the moment pushing for greater diversity. That being said i have many friends from different religions, races and differing socio-economic. I would imagine that black students would feel most out of place because they are in the greatest minority. You will find white middle and upper class as the most prevelent.

Batesies are pretty accepting of all types of people. LGBT are embraced... especially with "Lick it", a *cough* interesting dance before Gala. There used to be more distinction between "types" of students in Commons... but now everyone is smushed together. But there are definitely the jocks, the artsy kids, and the sciency kids on campus. The PreMed kids are scary.