Bates is a small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine with 1,800 students and a multitude of opportunities. The college has become immensely popular. In 2010, the acceptance rate was over 30%. Today, the acceptance rate is about 13%. The college isn’t wildly different from what it was just 15 years ago, but the increase in popularity (and subsequent decrease in the acceptance rate) can be linked to a dramatic rise in the number of applicants to well-respected colleges of all kinds across the country. As the acceptance rates at Williams and Dartmouth decrease, Bates, which was historically a target for a student aiming for Dartmouth, is impacted as well. The bottom line is that the college has always been awesome, but now it’s a tougher one to get into.
Something that isn’t tough, though, is the admissions process. Bates is really clear about what they want from students. They have minimum academic distribution requirements, which you should absolutely review asap (see page 16 here), but they also test optional — and have been since 1984. This means that you don’t need to submit a standardized test scores if you don’t feel your scores are representative of your academic potential. Only 28% of first-year applicants who enrolled in the fall of 2023 submitted either an SAT or ACT score, but it is still worth trying to get a strong score. This is especially true if you believe you can get above a 1475 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT. If your highest score is below 1420 or 32, we don’t recommend submitting it to Bates.
This post isn’t about the SAT, though. It’s about the supplement! Well, sort of. Bates doesn’t actually have a supplement. They don’t request nor require that students who are applying complete prompts in addition to the Common App essay. However, there are ‘supplemental’ things we highly recommend interested applicants do to increase their chances of admission. Here we’re going to clue you in on what you need to know to increase your chance of receiving a letter of acceptance from Bates.
If you’re considering Bates but aren’t sure where else to apply, contact us. We help students create their ideal college list.
Bates doesn’t have a supplement, but there is something super important that they do take into account when reviewing your application: your level of interest. This is often referred to as ‘demonstrated interest’, and, while most top universities and colleges have removed demonstrated interest from their criteria when evaluating applications, Bates has doubled down on it. While volunteer experiences or an alumni relation are “considered,” the “Level of applicant’s interest” is “Important.”
Ultimately, this means that, parallel to completing your application, you need to be letting them know that you are really serious about Bates. There are three key ways that you’re going to do this.
Visit
First, you need to visit. If you can’t visit in person, you absolutely must sign up for a virtual visit. Not visiting, either in-person or virtually, is basically like saying “I’m not that into you,” before you’ve even applied. You can visit virtually by doing their online campus tour, but what you really need to do is to sign up for one of the webinars that requires registration. Use the same email address and phone number to register as are affiliated with your Common Application account, as this will help them track that the you who went to a virtual webinar is the same as the you in your application. Bates also does a variety of college fairs throughout the year, but most are clustered in the northeast.
Request an Interview
After you apply, you’ll also be able to request an alumni interview. They don’t call them “interviews,” they call them conversations — but functionally the are still interviews. These are optional, and they aren’t available to everyone. If there isn’t an alumnus available to interview you, you won’t be given one, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t like you as an applicant. This doesn’t mean you should skimp out on trying to get an interview, though. You need to at least request one, because even requesting one shows that demonstrated interest we mentioned earlier.
If you do an interview, you’ll need to prep. Lucky for you, we have resources for that.
Letter of Demonstrated Interest
The last thing you need to do may be the most important. Bates doesn’t have a supplement, which means that you don’t have a place on the Common App to talk to them directly. So, you need to create one. Once you’ve submitted your application, we highly recommend that you write a letter to your regional admissions officer emphasizing your interest in Bates and illustrating for them how you’ll embrace, and contribute to, the community.
This letter will be an email, not snail mail, and needs to be written formally. Draft it in a document outside of your email account, and give yourself time to edit and adjust before pressing send. This is like applying for a job, so you definitely don’t want any spelling mistakes. Below, we’ll break down how the email should be structured.
Subject Line
In the subject line you need to include your full name, the name of your town/city and state, and the class you hope to be a member of. For example, “John Doe — White Plains, NY — Prospective Member of the Class of 2029.”
Opening Paragraph
The first paragraph should be short, only 3-4 sentences. The entire email will be short, but it’s good to start with something really clear, and really human. Give your name, location, school, and state what you hope to major in at Bates. You should also say that you’ve have already submitted your application. This will prompt them to look up your application, which is a good thing. The more eyes and minds from Bates on your application, the better.
Help Them See You There
Next, you want to write a short paragraph that helps the reader to imagine what you will be like as a Bates student. What will you major in, and why? Are there specific courses you’re excited about, or a professor you’re hoping to study under? What about clubs, or academic organizations? Are you thinking of joining a sports team as a walk-on, or is there an athletic club you are considering? This is the place to help them envision your Bates experience, and it’ll also help you envision it, too! Doing this writing also helps prove to the admissions officers that you know Bates well. You didn’t simply apply because it’s easy (no supp, no SAT/ACT), but because you really love the college.
Close Out Strong
This email should be short and sweet — and definitely no more than 350 words. Transition from envisioning your future at Bates by highlighting one or two things that you have coming up that you are excited about, but that couldn’t get on your application because they haven’t happened yet. For example, if you’re planning on competing in a mathematics competition in a month and you’re training super hard for it, let them know.
Sign Off
Last thing last, you need to sign off. We light a “Sincerely,” a “Respectfully,” or something similarly formal.
Bates is easy to apply to, but not easy to get into. With a 13% acceptance rate, the competition is steep. To stand out, you need to let them know that you care, and that Bates is a top choice for you. To make the biggest impact, apply ED and do everything we listed in this post.
If any of this is overwhelming, email us. Helping students get into their dream schools is quite literally our favorite thing to do.