Bates has administered the national Higher Eduation Research Institute (HERI) Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey to first-year students since the survey began in the 1960s. The survey provides valuable baseline information about the incoming class, including: demographics, academic experiences, reasons for choosing a college, expectations of college, and long term goals.
Selected highlights from the 2002 survey:
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90.4% rated themselves as "above average or in the top 10%" in academic ability (compared to the average person their age).
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61.2% percent of respondents claimed high school grades in the "A" range (compared to 44.6% among all private 4-year colleges)
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85.2% took at least one Advanced Placement exams in high school, and 30.8% took four or more AP exams (51.2% of students among all private 4-year colleges took none).
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28.8% are over 500 miles from home; 55.0% are between 101 and 500 miles from home.
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61.6% of students considered Bates as their first choice among colleges; 57.9% applied to five or more colleges other than Bates.
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88.1% have a sense of what their probable major will be.
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60.1% indicated that the "chances are very good" that they will participate in study abroad.
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Only 8.9% of first-year students considered a bachelors degree to be the highest academic degree they would attain. There is strong interest in eventually earning graduate and professional level degrees: 35.1% Masters; 27.5% Ph.D. or Ed.D.; 13.9% medical professions; 11.9% legal professions.
