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Bates College

Bates skips the supplement, which means your Common App personal statement has to do all the talking.

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Required supplemental essays

Common App personal statement

650 words

Optional add-on

Arts supplement

Testing

Test-optional

What Bates rewards

Here is the surprising part: Bates College does not require a supplemental essay for 2026-2027. There is no "Why Bates," no community question, no short-answer grid. For first-year applicants, the written application is essentially your Common App personal statement (650 words), plus the short activity and honors fields everyone fills out. Bates also offers an optional arts supplement for music, theater, art, dance, film, and creative writing, but that is portfolio material, not an essay.

That absence is the whole strategy. When a school asks you nothing extra, it is telling you that the one essay you already wrote has to do all the work. Bates is test-optional (and has been for thirty years), highly selective at roughly 15 percent, and known for reading applications closely and holistically. So the bar for your personal statement is higher here than at a school where a strong supplement can rescue a generic main essay. This page coaches that personal statement as if it were a Bates essay, because for Bates, it is.

01A real human voice. Bates built its reputation on reading students, not test scores. Admissions officers here are practiced at hearing whether a sentence sounds like a teenager or like a consultant. Plain, specific, honest writing beats polished and hollow every time.

02Reflection over event. Bates rewards essays where the interesting part is what you made of something, not the something itself. A small moment you actually thought about will land harder than a big achievement you only narrate.

03Values you can see in action. Bates talks constantly about community, equity, and engagement. They want those things shown through how you treat people and problems, not claimed in abstract nouns. Behavior on the page, not vocabulary.

04Intellectual curiosity that is genuinely yours. With no academic supplement to lean on, your curiosity has to surface inside the personal statement. The students who stand out sound like they would keep asking questions even if no one were grading them.

Essay prompts for 2026-2027

1 prompt for Bates, each broken down with annotated examples.

Common App Personal Statement (the only required essay for Bates)650 words

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (One of seven Common App prompts; you choose one and respond to it.)

See all 1 prompt and get a read

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Add your GPA, test scores, and profile to estimate your odds at Bates and build a balanced list.

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Deadlines

Early Decision INovember 15

Early Decision IIJanuary 10

Regular DecisionJanuary 10

ED I notificationBy December 20

RD notificationBy April 1

Cost

Sticker price$85,370

Avg net after aid$26,658

Meets full needYes

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Explore Bates

How to get inAcceptance rate, the GPA and SAT profile, and what Bates weighs most Supplemental essays1 prompt, each broken down with annotated examples Cost & financial aidAverage $26,658/yr after aid · net price by income + calculator InterviewDoes Bates interview? Format, tips, and practice The Bates Reader ProScore your draft against Bates's exact prompts

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Bates FAQ

What is Bates's acceptance rate?

Around 15 percent for the Class of 2029, from roughly 9,960 applications for an enrolled class of 496. Bates is highly selective and has been test-optional for three decades, so the written application carries real weight. At Bates, a strong application essay and a well-balanced school list matter alongside your grades and test scores.

What supplemental essays does Bates require?

Bates requires 1 supplemental essay on its application. On EssayLens each prompt is broken down with annotated examples, and you can get a free admissions-style read of your draft against the exact prompt.

How much does Bates cost?

Bates's published sticker price is about $85,370 per year, but the average family pays $26,658 after financial aid. Your net price depends on your family income; use the calculator to estimate yours.

Does Bates require SAT or ACT scores?

Bates is test-optional: you can apply without SAT or ACT scores, and strong scores are just one factor among many when you do submit them.

When are Bates's application deadlines?

Bates's application deadlines are Early Decision I November 15; Early Decision II January 10; Regular Decision January 10; ED I notification By December 20; RD notification By April 1. Add Bates to your plan on EssayLens to track its deadlines automatically.

Campus photo via Wikipedia.

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