Radu Costinescu, from Romania – “I basically wanted to get away from the large, impersonal continental European universities and go to a fairly small place that also is intellectually challenging. Bates, according to its Web site at least, is such a place. I didn’t have a chance to visit, so I just trusted the Web designer. And I am pleased to say four years after that there is truth in advertising. I found Bates to be a great place, and I never once felt out of place.”