Bates College Top Questions

The Bates student body can not be called diverse. The student's are predominantly white, upper middle class from the New England area.

This has been my biggest issue with Bates. It is extremely difficult to "do your own thing" at Bates as the predominant culture, which can seem inescapable due to do the campus size and unfortunate location, is, for lack of a better word, fratty. Lots of PBR, D3 sports and congratulating oneself over who-can-avoid-work-the-best. While there are, of course, interesting creative people, they often get lost in the fray as there is little structure to absorb and expand them. Overall, the type of student that makes up Bates is the institution's biggest failure.

There have been some tensions and hate crimes against LGBT, although students do not come across as racist or prejudiced. Although Bates is now making significant efforts to recruit minority groups, the {4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of minority students is slim. Most minorities, international students and upper class students remain within their groups. Most Batesies are from New England. Students are active in promoting environmental sustainability.

The best part about Bates. The campus is open and friendly. The only complaint that has been made about Bates is the lack (relative to other comparable schools) of ethnic diversity, but this is an issue that admissions is actively working to ameliorate. People tend to be rich, but this is unfortunately par for course at an institution is nearly $50,000 a year. It should be noted that a higher percentage of Bates students receive financial aid than comparable small colleges in Maine (colby & bowdoin). What's more, many Bates students are working to join socially conscious fields (not for profits, social justice, education), and so the campus is not so focused on money as one might think.

Wow, where to start. My experience with the Bates student body has been tumultuous, to say the least. I am extremely bitter about several aspects. I think way too many students at Bates are apathetic and myopic, involved in their own little preppy party scene and ignorant of the greater world around them. This invests itself in evidence such as rampant dorm damage, lack of intellectual engagement, and minimal activism on campus. On the other hand, there are some wonderful students at Bates, tucked in little nooks that you have to find. It took me a long time to find my way here, but now I have great friends that I admire and respect. I would like to see more diversity here - financially, racially, sexually, politically, etc. If you appreciate these things, please come to Bates! There are wonderful, welcoming niches for you - I promise!

This is always a touchy topic for most people. Why i really can't seem to understand. Everyone is unique to them in their own little way. Of course you have certain people who want to be alike in every way, but that's cool. you'll probably find that at every school no matter where you go. Overall, the students here represent the world we live in. They're from all over. the best thing about Bates' Student body now is that we're becoming even more diverse as we speak. Times have changed, and so has Bates. Believe it or not.

Bates's student body overall is diverse but to be honest the majority of the student body is white kids from new england. Thats not to say there is not a fair share of people from diverse backgrounds ranging from kids from thailand, jamaica, or LA, but thats not the norm. Students who are use to dressing up for class and even friday nights would feel out of place at Bates. The attire is very casual, most likely a result of unpredicable Maine weather.

The student body is generally outdoorsy and athletic. There are definitely cliques of preppy and jocky types, but there is little animosity between groups. Most students are liberal and not afraid to talk about real issues.

Bates' Student Body is the best thing about Bates. We are a small enough campus that everyone feels included, we only have one dining hall so it definitely is a social center on campus. Bates students are largely from New England but it still feels diverse. The only thing that Bates students definitely have in common is that for the most part we are pretty outgoing and very involved.

Let's face it, with only 1700 kids there is not much diversity at Bates. It's a really expensive school, so there are a lot of wealthy white kids. But there are a relatively good number of international students; I've met some of them, but they do tend to stick together in a group. Bates is sort of a kooky place; anyone who isn't afraid to show the kinks in their personalities will fit right in. Also, anyone who likes their alcohol will fit right in...more about that later. Like I said, the atmosphere here is very relaxed-no one cares about being on time (we often talk about "Bates time" as being five minutes slower than a normal clock), people don't really care about their schoolwork, and most of the athletics aren't intense at all (except cross country and track of course-we're the best team on campus in my opinion!). So if you are high strung and intense (it's not a bad thing-I'm like this, too) Bates will be a difficult place for you. Also, Bates is an exceptionally liberal and secular campus...but it's also very tolerant.