Bates College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine. They’re known for killer academics and an incredibly beautiful campus, but they’re also known for their incredibly strong athletic teams. Bates is a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes against Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams in NCAA D3 sports. Their teams are some of the best in not only the NESCAC, but among all NCAA D3 teams. They’re producing olympians!!! So, if you’re looking for a liberal arts education and have athletic talent, you might think that your sport could help you get into Bates. Maybe! Keep reading.
Bates has 14 men’s and 15 women’s sports, including alpine and nordic skiing, squash, and rowing. They also have all the regular sports, too. If you’re starting out on your recruiting journey, no matter which school, know that each sport has its own distinct guidelines and regulations for recruiting, including limitations on who can initiate communication through email, calls, or in-person approaches, and limits on when communication can begin during your high school career. Reach out to your sports governing body for more guidance. We’re not sports guys, so let’s go back into the whole college of it all.
So, you think you have the talent to get recruited, but could you actually get into Bates on your own? D3 schools are often elite institutions with a much higher emphasis on the student part of student athlete, and having a note on your application that the lacrosse coach loves you doesn’t erase a bad GPA. NESCAC themselves has strong opinions on this:
“All NESCAC member colleges enroll students who will enhance and enjoy the intellectual, social, and extracurricular communities our campuses provide. We seek students who are interested in the wide range of rigorous intellectual experiences offered, and value the role that extra-curricular activities, such as music, debate, theater, political action, and athletics, play on campus.”
Basically, if you want to play sports for Bates, you have to be a Bates-caliber student. Let’s talk about what you need to have settled before you become a Bobcat:
Grades
For the most recent cycle, Bates boasted a 12.3% acceptance rate. While they don’t publish the average GPA of incoming students, we can use our powers of deduction to determine that you need a pretty good GPA to get into Bates. Some third-party sites estimate you need a 3.9 or higher, and we tend to agree. Schools like Bates also are looking for these excellent grades in hard classes. A 4.0 GPA with all regular classes doesn’t hold the same weight as a 4.0 in app APs and Honors. After you’re done hitting the court, maybe you should hit the books. We agree, we are so funny.
Scores
Bates was way ahead of the Covid-test-optional wave. They voted to make admissions test-optional in 1984, but they still published the average scores of admitted students on their Class of 2026 profile. Their middle 50s were as follows:
SAT Reading + Writing – 710-740
SAT Math – 650-710
ACT Composite – 33-34
While not as high as some of their NESCAC compatriots, you are still looking at very high SAT score. We recommend scoring above the middle 50 to remain as competitive as possible, so we’d like to see some 1500s from you lot.
Extracurriculars
“Uh, obviously I need to have good grades and good test scores to get into a good school.” Wow, saucy. Sorry for trying to help. Did you know you also need to have really good extracurriculars? Like, really really good ones? Like, more than just your sport and debate club good? Well, time to carve out some time in your schedule.
You need to build a niche. It isn’t enough to say you’re interested in studying psychology. You need to pick a subfield within psychology, like developmental or cognitive or clinical. You need to dive deep into it. Maybe you do research with a professor at a local college. Maybe get an internship or do some job-shadowing. Start a peer mentoring program. Volunteer at a non-profit that provides free mental health services. Use your resume to prove to Bates that you want to study what you want to study!!
A Stellar Essay
Clear out some time during summer before senior year, because you’ll want to spend it writing an excellent Common App essay. Many students think they can write about their proudest achievement, greatest trial and tribulation, their sport, or their grandma. Like, you can do that if you want, we won’t stop you, but it’s not a very good idea. We like essays that tell small, personal stories and help reveal something about yourself to the admissions committee. Those essays set you apart from the crowd – cliche ones don’t.
Athletic Talent
Listen, you gotta have the athletic talent if you want to get recruited. Without it, this whole thing is moot. Take an honest assessment of where you are athletically, and if you don’t realistically see yourself getting recruited, we suggest redirecting your energy elsewhere. Time to hang up the cleats and maybe, idk, build a time machine in your garage or run for mayor. But, if you’re here, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Bates is a prestigious, highly selective college that won't budge on its academic standards just because you have a sub-7:30 2k. But hey, if you genuinely believe you've got what it takes, then go for it. Remember, make sure Bates is a good fit for you, and don’t just go there because they want you on their team.
If you need help strategizing for college admissions, navigating the process, or writing your essays, reach out to us today.