🏠 Bates College — Parent Guide

🏠 How housing selection works at Bates College

guarantees on-campus housing for all four years and requires all students to live on campus. Bates has a tight-knit ; most students remain on campus all four years.

First-Year Housing:All incoming students are assigned to a residence they arrive on campus. Assignments consider lifestyle preferences from the housing questionnaire but students cannot choose their specific building. Freshmen are typically placed in dedicated first-year halls or floors, while some buildings are all-class-year.

Room Draw:After first year, students enter an annual lottery-based room draw each spring. Students receive a random lottery number within their class cohort and select from available rooms during their assigned time slot. Seniors draw first, then juniors, then sophomores.

Small Campus, Tight Community:With a relatively small student body (approximately 1,800 undergraduates) and a single, walkable campus, Bates's is especially close-knit. Most students know their neighbors and well across class years.

Special Housing:Bates offers a Small Living Unit (SLU) program — small groups of 3–6 students can apply to share a cluster of rooms as a self-defined community. Applications are due in early spring.