C25 is considering a waitlist offer from College of the Holy Cross (from this afternoon), and had committed to Bates earlier this week. They are considering Holy Cross.
They were not able to tour Holy Cross in person (they had virtually researched/toured).
Thank you in advance for any perspectives, parent or student experiences, or outcome information (pre-med or business alum network/MBA post HC) you may have to share.
Both fine schools. Iād consider them to be academic peers and I know students who have enjoyed and done well at both colleges. Your studentās post-graduation success will be dependent on what they accomplish during college rather than which one of these fine schools they choose to attend.
That said, IMO fit is important ā especially with LACs. I think these schools will have somewhat different vibes with HC being a bit more conservative, having the Jesuit core curriculum, etc. Also differences in size, location between the two schools might be considered.
Is it possible to visit HC before a decision is made?
I agree with the visit suggestion however disruptive and expensive it might be last minute. We visited both and D25 liked one over the other for her own reasons. They are different and fit is important. If thereās no time for a visit, encourage your student to join a class of 2029 social media group and try that way to gauge. I also told my D25 to dig deep and look at professorsā bios on the websites and look at rate my professor.com for specific people.
HC and Bates have pretty different vibes. The dominant culture at HC is probably more āmainstreamā while Bates is a little more artsy/crunchy. I would guess that most students would feel more affinity with one. Try looking at their social media, newspapers, etc.
Not sure if the location matters much to you. While neither Worcester nor Lewiston consistently is charming, they are not the same size nor close to the same large city.
I agree that the best place is the one where you will be happiest - objectively, neither is markedly better.
Try mapping out your 4 years at each using the course catalog to see how different the academics would be considering things like study abroad, short-term, etc.
Good luck!
For pre-med, Bates is likely stronger. Bio is one of the most popular majors at Bates and Bates has a high med school acceptance rate. The science center is newly built (plus there are two hospitals across from campus) and weāve noticed so many of the pre-med students have lined up amazing internships in the Boston area for the summer.
For business, econ is popular, and post-Bates a lot of students work in finance in Boston/NY. Employers are listed on the web site.
I imagine Holy Cross has a lot of business students also. And Boston is a hub for both schools.
In terms of campus feel, I would say Holy Cross would lean more conservative. That said, from our school district, pretty mainstream kids attend both schools, from what Iāve seen in the past few years. Good luck! Both wonderful options to have!
A huge thank you for your perspectives and knowledge; this was very helpful to C25 and for us over the past 24 hours. They decided to decline the Holy Cross waitlist offer and remain committed to Bates. Thanks again!!
Thank you!! Wise advice to visit and compare the two campuses and schools. We would have visited this weekend, but C25 made their decision quicker than I anticipated. They were super grateful for the opportunity to consider HC.
My kid was deciding between Bates and Holy Cross (with Northeastern a distant third) a couple of years ago and would have been happy at either college. I was going to suggest visiting HC before committing, but since you have a decision made, all I can say is your student will love Bates! Itās a special place. Both colleges are academically strong, rigorous and challenging and will set students up for success with internships and study abroad and opportunities from a deep alumni network. These two LACās are more alike than people realize. Good luck and congratulations!
Thank you so much @HCPP20 for your thoughts and experiences with both Bates and Holy Cross. I really benefited from reading your prior posts on Holy Cross from a parent perspective, as I searched CC for HC info (and from @RPIguy91 as well). I just wanted to add in both usernames for future students considering HC and searching CC. Thanks again!
Thank you @pancake2 for the advice to look at social media pages, student professor reviews, and to look at faculty bios - they found Bates was a better fit overall. Thanks again!!
Thank you @westcoastfam! I appreciate the pre - med info on Bates, and your perspective on business at both schools, as well as fit/culture. Our C25 appreciates it too!!
Thank you @gardenstategal!! Grateful for your input and perspective!!
Best wishes!
Iām just seeing this thread, but I responded to your post on the class of 2025 page. Bates has been awesome for my daughter! She is so engaged!
An update - Our C25 had a very unexpected wait list offer a few days ago, from the University of Richmond, and since this was their favorite from the start of the college process, they decided to attend UR. Thank you so much for all of your experiences and information shared on all of the schools on this thread, your help and advice was very much appreciated, thank you!
Hi, hope you donāt mind a follow-up question maybe unrelated. My daughter is attending Bates in the fall and has not toured any of the dorms. Thereās an old Bates housing thread maybe 12 years old. We were having trouble interpreting the bathroom information about the dorms. It looks like all the bathrooms are all-gender. Not making any political commentary here but my D doesnāt want to share a bathroom with guys but doesnāt mind a communal bathroom because they always get cleaned. Do you or your daughter have any intelligence about this? It looks like Kalperis and Chu and the nicest dorms but places like Page might be okay, fun. She wants a double and just needs to understand how the bathroom thing works. TIA, and feel free to DM me because this is off-topic.
@lindagaf. I know there are other Bates families who can answer as well.
Hi. I am a parent of a Bates (rising) junior. I believe that the bathrooms in all dorms are all-gender (someone should feel free to correct me on that one), but there are some dorms with single-user bathrooms (i.e., open to all genders, but only one person at a time). They are especially common in the frame-house dorms that line the streets adjacent to campus, but it looks like some of the large dorms (including those open to first-years) have them as well. If you look at the dorm specs on this page (Housing Tour ā First Year | Residence Life | Bates College), youāll see which ones have single-user bathrooms (and which ones are full bathrooms and which are half-baths).
Bottom line - itās awkward at first, but students get used to all-gender bathrooms quickly, and people are generally courteous and discreet about sharing with all genders. However, if your student is really uncomfortable with it, prioritize the dorms with single-use bathrooms on the preference list.
Yes, all the bathrooms are all-gender, but there are single-use bathrooms available in most residences as well. My daughter shares that even on a hall with 16 or so people and two multi-user bathrooms, she was rarely in the bathroom with anyone else. Itās not at all a big deal even for people who think it is going to be weird.