Bates College is a highly prestigious member of the Bowdoin-Colby-Bates consortium of private liberal arts colleges located across Maine. And if you’ve stumbled across this admissions blog, chances are you’re smartly considering applying to Bates via their Early Decision I or Early Decision II rounds. Guess what? You will have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble by demonstrating your interest in attending Bates by applying in an Early round.

Let us explain. Early Decision is a binding process through which highly enthusiastic students apply to their top choice school (in this case, Bates). Admissions officers prize these applicants because they improve the yield rate, or the proportion of admitted students who end up enrolling. What’s more, Early Decision students are typically quite knowledgeable of the resources and opportunities their ED school has to offer, and those who really play their cards right articulate these specifics on the application. These factors come together to form what we at Ivy Coach call the Early-round admission boost, which is an undeniable factor that benefits Early Decision applicants across elite schools.

Bates College Early Decision Acceptance Rate Over 20 Years

As the Class of 2030 continues along what is bound to be a highly competitive admissions cycle, let’s review the Early Decision acceptance rate data at Bates across the last few decades:

Admissions Cycle	Bates College Class Year	Early Decision (ED I + II) Acceptance Rate
2025-26	Class of 2030	Not Yet Published
2024-25	Class of 2029	Not Published
2023-24	Class of 2028	41.73%
2022-23	Class of 2027	47.79%
2021-22	Class of 2026	58.09%
2020-21	Class of 2025	46.30%
2019-20	Class of 2024	42.44%
2018-19	Class of 2023	45.07%
2017-18	Class of 2022	48.40%
2016-17	Class of 2021	50.32%
2015-16	Class of 2020	45.80%
2014-15	Class of 2019	42.11%
2013-14	Class of 2018	43.35%
2012-13	Class of 2017	45.92%
2011-12	Class of 2016	42.80%
2010-11	Class of 2015	48.35%
2009-10	Class of 2014	47.65%
2008-09	Class of 2013	45.54%
2007-08	Class of 2012	41.57%

Breakdown of the Bates Class of 2030 Early Decision Admits

Looking at the chart above, it’s clear that the Early Decision rate has remained relatively consistent at Bates since it began reporting this data. If anything, the last few cycles have brought more variability than one might expect, with the Class of 2026 actually producing the highest ED acceptance rate on record: 58.09%. The last two cycles on record produced ED acceptance rates in the 40% range, while the overall acceptance rate for the same period has clocked in at approximately 13%.

We’re still awaiting the Class of 2030 data. We don’t know the specific ED I or II acceptance rates, nor the number of applicants in either category. Turning to the cohort admitted before this year, according to the Class of 2029 Profile, the yield rate for the most recently admitted students was 34%. Ivy Coach would safely venture to say that this figure would have been much lower had there been no Early Decision applicants!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance Moving Forward for Deferred or Rejected Bates Applicants

If you were deferred or rejected for admission to the Bates Class of 2030, there’s still hope for your college future. But acting now is essential for turning this ship around and securing admission to Bates or another school, so act quickly!

The first step is to fill out our complimentary consultation form. For deferred candidates, we offer a PostMortem application review and assistance in crafting a powerful Letter of Continued Interest. For rejected candidates, we provide a PostMortem application review. Our team of former elite college admission officers can even assist with Regular Decision applications, but we can’t put the cart ahead of the horse. This assistance comes after evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your application and then equipping you with a singular hook to strategically pivot to your remaining Regular Decision schools.