LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates College will sponsor its annual Maine Day program for Maine high school students, parents and guidance counselors Friday, Nov. 10, on the Bates College campus. Last year, more than 125 people participated in the day-long program, intended to expose local students to the varied the fields of study and special programs offered at Bates as well as answer questions about the college admissions process. To register call the Bates College admissions office at 207-786-6000.

Participants will meet with the Bates admissions staff from 8:30 to 9 a.m. in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, College Avenue. Karen M. Kothe, assistant dean of admissions at Bates, will then discuss the application essay from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Students not scheduled for admissions interviews will meet with Wylie Mitchell, dean of admissions at Bates, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. in the Muskie Archives. Tours of the campus, admissions interviews, classroom visits and departmental office visits will be available from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants can meet with a panel of Bates students in the Muskie Archives from 10:50 to 11:45 for an informal question-and-answer session.

Leigh P. Campbell, associate director of student and financial aid, will conduct an informational session on financial aid options for students from 1 to 1:45 p.m. in Muskie Archives. A coaches reception for students interested in competing at the college level will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on the second floor of Merrill Gymnasium.

Participants are invited to tour the Bates College Museum of Art from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the George and Helen Ladd Library which opens at 7:30 a.m. Bates has a long history of educating Maine students, including former U.S. Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie. The 146-year-old college is ranked among the top 20 national liberal-arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Placement in Bates College's class of 2004 was among the most coveted collegiate distinctions in the country with 4,240 high school students applying and 471 accepted.