Yes! The Office of Admission welcomes prospective students and their families Monday – Friday, except when noted. The office is also open on select Saturdays in the fall and spring. We encourage you to register in advance when possible, but we also accept walk-ins. The Office of Admission is open Monday – Friday, 8:30am-4:00pm.

Register for a campus visit or other on-campus events.

We have a lot going on! Click to register for any of these live, virtual events.

• Virtual Information Session: Foundational information about the college, along with admission and financial aid tips. An admission dean or counselor will be joined by a current student.
• Bobcat Chats: Casual, student-only conversations about the Bates student experience. These occur as a Zoom meeting, so feel free to turn on your camera!

A great starting point is our Ask a Student webpage. Learn about current students and find contact information so that you can reach out to them. They are excited to connect with you!

If you have specific questions about the college search process or your application, please contact your regional admission representative. We’ll also be visiting you at high schools and college fairs throughout the year! See the locations and dates on our Bates Visits You page.

• Bates College YouTube
• On-Demand Information Session
• Bates News
• Bates on Social Media
• Explore Pages

Only required application materials appear on your application checklist. Submitted optional application materials do not.

Our office takes approximately two weeks to process and satisfy all required application materials—including submitted test scores. After two weeks, if you still do not see your documents showing up as received on your checklist, please email admission@bates.edu for additional assistance.

Please visit our international student frequently asked questions page.

All supporting materials should be submitted by November 15 for Early Decision I applicants, January 10 for Early Decision II or Regular Decision applicants, and March 1 for transfer applicants. If this is not doable, please ensure all supporting materials are received as soon as possible so that we can fully consider your application. You can check what is missing from your application from your Bates application portal. Please know that during our busiest application processing times, it can take up to two weeks for materials to be reflected in your portal. Thank you for your patience.

The Office of Admission wishes all those affected by natural disasters and extenuating circumstances — including public health situations, strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires — a quick and safe recovery as you return to some sense of normalcy. We know that many students and educators’ personal and academic lives have been disrupted by these events, and we want to work with you to ease the pressures on the college search and application process. We seek to be supportive, and are eager to provide personalized guidance as needed. Please contact us as needed.

If you experience technical difficulties in submitting your application to Bates, please contact the Common Application or Coalition Application, Powered by Scoir directly.  For other concerns, email admission@bates.edu to communicate your intent to apply as well as a description of your situation. Each inquiry will be addressed on an individual basis.

Yes, it is possible to receive a fee waiver when applying via the Common Application or the Coalition Application, Powered by Scoir. If you received a special fee waiver code from Bates, and you have a specific question about how to use it, please email admission@bates.edu.

Details about application fee waivers for the Common App can be found here. Details about application fee waivers for the Coalition App, Powered by Scoir can be found here.

If you experience technical difficulties in submitting your application to Bates, please contact the Common Application or Coalition Application, Powered by Scoir directly.  For other concerns, email admission@bates.edu to communicate your intent to apply as well as a description of your situation. Each inquiry will be addressed on an individual basis.

Rest assured, we understand that many schools’ internal deadlines may not align with our own. If formal mid-year grades are not available by February 15, please have your school counselor send a progress report of your grades thus far. We look forward to receiving your grades when they become available. Mid-year grades and progress reports can be sent electronically to admission@bates.edu.

When applying to Bates College as a first-year or transfer student and completing the profile section on the Common Application or Coalition Application, applicants will see questions asking for their race and ethnicity. Answering these questions is optional. Bates College application readers do not see or use this data when reviewing student applications for admission.

Answers about race and ethnicity that an applicant shares on their application are hidden from Bates Admission during the consideration for selection. That means, when application readers review an application from the Common App or Coalition App, race and ethnicity data will not be visible as they are reading applications.

In accordance with the Supreme Court ruling, after the selection and enrollment process is complete, the Bates College Office of Institutional Research, Analysis & Planning will use self-disclosed race and ethnicity data from the Common App and Coalition App for state and federal reporting, institutional metrics, and for statistical and research purposes.  
For more information, see information provided by the Common App and Coalition App.

If you have questions that are specific to you and your application to Bates, please contact either your regional admission representative, or the Office of Admission at 207-786-6000 or admission@bates.edu.

Bates has been test-optional since 1984, and maintains that testing is not reflective of each applicant’s future success at Bates and beyond. We firmly believe in our policy and respect each student’s choice regarding the submission of test scores. The middle 50% of those who submitted testing last year can be found on our optional testing page.

Applications will be reviewed throughout the next few months, so the sooner you can get your scores to us, the sooner your application can be reviewed. Please see further details on standardized test score submission. As a reminder, Bates is a test-optional college, so SAT and ACT scores are not required!

Bates will accept both official and self-reported test scores. Please see further details on score submission.

Yes! We will consider your best section scores from different testing dates for the SAT or the ACT.

Your arts portfolio does not need to be complete in order to submit your application to Bates. In fact, supplementary art materials are uploaded after submitting your application to Bates and receiving a PIN (via email) for online access to your Bates application portal. You can also find more detailed guidelines as to the submission of each of these arts supplements.

Applicants may submit portfolios up until the following dates:
Early Decision I: November 20
Early Decision II: January 15
Regular Decision: January 15
Transfer Applicants: March 6

Alumni will be in touch as they become available in your area. Due to the high number of requests, we cannot guarantee an Alumni Conversation. Conversations are not interviews, and they are both optional and informational – meaning you’re not being evaluated during the conversation as part of your eventual admission decision.

We recommend starting with the MyinTuition College Cost Estimator, which just takes a few minutes to complete! Bates meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted students regardless of citizenship status. We provide more than $40 million in grant aid to our students every year, and the average need-based grant for enrolling students in the Class of 2026 was $54,504. The average federal student loan debt for Bates students who graduated in 2022 was $13,531 – less than half the national average.

If you would like to change your financial aid status before the release of your admission decision, email admission@bates.edu. For those intending to apply for financial aid, please review our financial aid requirements. The intent to apply for need-based financial aid must be indicated prior to the release of your admission decision.

Please visit our international student frequently asked questions page.

Admitted students with complete financial aid applications will receive their financial aid award with their offer of admission.

No. If you are admitted to Bates through either round of Early Decision, you will receive a financial aid package that is the same as what you would receive as a student admitted through Regular Decision. Financial aid awards are never dependent upon admission round at Bates.

Yes. Bates requires applicants who are eligible citizens or noncitizens to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to calculate an applicant’s eligibility for federal financial aid. Visit the Bates financial aid FAQ page for more information.

For more information about the FAFSA, please visit the Federal Student Aid FAFSA website. These short videos can also help you prepare to complete the FAFSA.

You can view your application status and your admission decision by logging into your Bates application portal.

You are able to reset your password using your email address and date of birth on the login page. If you continue to experience difficulties, email admission@bates.edu.

Yes, you can reapply to Bates, as either a first-year or transfer applicant depending on your previous admission decision and your current circumstances. Please see this page for more details.

You can submit your U.S. $300 enrollment deposit through your Bates application portal.

If you have any concerns about paying your enrollment deposit, please email admission@bates.edu.

The deadline* to accept your Regular Decision offer of admission is May 1. The deadline to accept your Transfer offer of admission is May 20.

*Requests for Regular Decision Reply Deadline Extensions

For students offered admission to Bates through regular decision, the candidate reply deadline date remains May 1, 2024. If a student needs additional time to evaluate an offer from another institution that has extended its deadline, please contact Bates Admission to request an extension of our reply deadline. Bates is committed to making this educational experience accessible and affordable to all admitted students, regardless of family financial circumstances, and offers need-based financial aid to eligible students.

The Admitted Student webpage is a great starting point! Here you’ll find more information about the college; upcoming events exclusively for admitted students and families; and ways to connect with the Bates community.

Please contact Student Financial Services at sfs@bates.edu or 207-786-6096.

Admitted students who wish to request deferred admission should do so in writing by June 1.  Explore our webpage on requesting a gap year, and direct any inquiries to admission@bates.edu.

Log into your Bates application portal and register your offer to remain on the waitlist. The deadline to register to remain active on the waitlist is May 1 for first-year applicants and May 20 for transfer applicants.

While we do not require additional materials for applicants on the waitlist, you are welcome to send an email with recent updates and your most recent transcript. First-year applicants should write to their regional admission representative, and transfer applicants should write to Assistant Dean of Admission Alec Morrissey at amorriss@bates.edu.

Yes. Explore our Visit Bates webpage to learn about our in-person, virtual, and on-demand offerings.

No. Bates does not rank active applicants on the waitlist.

If space in the class remains after May 1 for first-year students, or May 20 for transfer students, the Admission Committee will undertake a holistic review of applications and select applicants based upon academic preparation, involvement and impact, interest in Bates, and on occasion, financial need.

Any waitlist activity typically occurs after the universal Candidate Reply Date of May 1 for first-year applicants, or May 20 for transfer applicants. The Admission Committee makes every effort to notify active waitlist candidates by June 30. August 1 is our final notification date.

Every year is different. The Admission Committee has extended as low as zero to an average of seventeen offers of admission from the waitlist in the last five years. At this time, the Office of Admission cannot estimate how many students will remain active on the waitlist this year. On average, 743 students remained active on the Bates waitlist for each of the last five years.

Active applicants on the waitlist need to be prepared to accept an offer of admission to Bates on a very short timeline, usually within 48 hours.

Bates College meets the calculated financial need for those waitlist candidates offered admission. Please ensure that your financial aid application is complete by checking your Bates application portal.

Yes. On-campus housing is guaranteed for four years for all Bates students.

Yes. Accept one offer of admission and enroll with a deposit (usually non-refundable) by the enrollment deadline of that institution, as the timeline for your decision at Bates cannot be definitively predicted.