Medical, law school acceptance rates high for Bates graduates

Bates’ acceptance rates for medical school are significantly higher than the national average. In fact, 80 percent of Bates students and alumni who applied to medical school in 1999 were accepted, according to a survey completed in September. Nationally the acceptance rate for medical schools during the same period was about 37 percent, said Lee Abrahamsen, associate professor of biology and chair of Bates’ Medical Studies Committee. If one counts veterinary, dental, nursing and other health-related graduate programs, the acceptance rate for Bates graduates is 84 percent. The Medical Studies Committee works with the Office of Career Services to create job-shadow and internship programs for students exploring an interest in medical careers with health professionals throughout the Lewiston-Auburn area.The committee also provides letters of recommendation for the medical schools, along with essential advice on what the medical schools will be looking for in applicants.

Bates College’s acceptance rates for law school also are significantly higher than the national average. In 1999, 86% of recent graduates and seniors who applied were accepted and 100% of Bates seniors who applied were accepted. The national average was 69%. Among the schools Bates graduates are attending: Yale University, Cornell University, N.Y.U. and the University of California Berkeley.

“Law schools want students that can write well and have some critical thinking skills and it’s hard to think of a better place to learn those things than at a liberal arts school, Margaret Imber, chair of the Legal Studies Committee at Bates College, said.

Faculty advisors at Bates often encourage students not to go to law school right out of college and to instead get a broader sense of the real world before applying. “Very few people are born lawyers,” Imber said. “The best lawyers are those who can connect the law with something else that they’re passionate about.”