Welcome New Bates Students!

Congratulations on your admission to Bates! Our entire campus community—current students, faculty and staff—send their warmest welcome. We can’t wait to have you join us on campus at the end of the summer. The student Orientation Co-Directors are busy planning and organizing events and activities for the Fall of 2013 and we should have an updated schedule available to you online by early to mid summer. Meanwhile, you can see what Orientation has looked like in the past by visiting Last Year’s Orientation Schedule.

Orientation, which is required for all students, begins Saturday, August 31. If you are an international student then you should receive information from Dean James Reese soon regarding arrival dates and International Student Orientation. If you are a fall athlete, you’ll receive information from your coaches about your assigned campus arrival day along with information regarding your first meetings and practices.

We also offer the much beloved AESOP pre-orientation program to all incoming students (unless athletic obligations prevent attendance). You will find lots of information about AESOP on the garnet gateway and the AESOP web pages. There’s something for everyone. We want every Bates student who wants to go on AESOP to participate, and scholarship funds are available for those who qualify.

In planning Orientation we try to keep four key goals in mind:

1. To introduce students to the Bates community and its history, values, and members
2. To engage students in a discussion of the academic, residential and social life of the college and the ways they can become active members of these vital parts of the college.
3. To assist students in meeting their classmates and student peers.
4. To launch an active exploration and relationship building with everyone on campus as well as in the local communities of Lewiston and Auburn.

Here are some of the most key dates to remember:

We wish you all the best, and we look forward to meeting everyone at the end of August.