Bates College
Bates was founded by abolitionists in 1855 and has never had a fraternity, a sorority, or a second dining hall — the whole college eats in one building, Commons, and that is more or less the point. The campus is a compact 133 acres in Lewiston, Maine, arranged around a quad, a pond everyone calls the Puddle, and a rock outcrop called Mount David. Every first-year lands in a First-Year Center: ten to twenty students clustered together with a Junior Advisor who is a sophomore or junior, not a staff member.
What to wear in Lewiston, month by month
This region runs from a humid late summer to a hard winter in about ten weeks. The mistake out-of-region families make is packing the whole year in August.
| Move-in (late Aug) | 56–79°F | Warm, bright Maine late summer with cool nights. Only two halls have A/C, so a fan does the work for the first few weeks. |
| Sept–Oct | 38–68°F | The stretch Maine is famous for — clear cold mornings, warm afternoons, and the Androscoggin valley turning color in early October. Jacket weather. |
| Nov–Dec | 20–41°F | Dark early, snow by late November, and wind across the open Quad. Full coat, hat, and gloves. |
| Jan–Feb | 8–30°F | The cold part of an inland Maine winter — subzero mornings, packed snow, and a campus that keeps moving anyway. Insulated boots and wool. |
| Mar–Apr | 26–54°F | Mud season, then a fast green-up. Waterproof boots for March; by late April the Quad has students lying on it. |
What Bates College lets you bring
- A real winter coat, insulated boots, and gloves — Lewiston sits inland in Maine and January runs well below freezing for weeks
- A fan for the first month — only Chu and Kalperis Halls have air conditioning, and late August on the Quad can hit the high 70s
- Rain gear and waterproof boots — Maine mud season is March and April, and the paths across campus flood
- A surge protector and an ethernet cable — every room has a wired port alongside the Wi-Fi
- Something for Short Term — Bates' five-week May term is famously outdoor and casual, so leave room for shorts, a frisbee, and a hammock
- Twin XL bedding (confirm your specific hall)
- UL/ETL power strip with a built-in circuit breaker — not a bare extension cord
- Damage-free wall hangings like Command strips — no nails or screws
- Low-draw LED desk and task lamps
- A fan, a reusable water bottle, and UL-listed electronics
- Open-coil / open-flame cooking: toasters, toaster ovens, air fryers, hot plates, electric grills, sandwich makers
- Candles, incense, wax warmers, and anything with an open flame
- Halogen lamps
- Extension cords without a breaker; outlet splitters and multi-plug adapters
- Space heaters and personal A/C units (unless your school provides/approves them)
- Hoverboards, e-scooters, e-bikes, and other e-mobility devices
- Weapons of any kind — including decorative — and fireworks
- A second appliance — one fridge, microwave, or combo unit per room, and a fridge over 3.0 cubic feet is out
- Deep fryers, toasters, and toaster ovens, anywhere on campus
- Cooking in your room at all — microwaves, bread makers, and slow cookers belong in the building kitchens
- Candles, incense, live trees, wreaths, and garlands
- Tapestries on the ceiling, and anything hung from sprinkler heads or pipes (22 inches of clearance required)
- Waterbeds, satellite dishes, private cable contracts, and any pet other than fish in a tank under 10 gallons
These come from Bates College's official housing pages and cover the essentials plus the genuinely local rules. Double-check the current official guidance before you buy — policies and renovations change every year.
Getting your room at Bates College
- 01June
Set up Garnet Gateway, then apply on HouseCat
The housing application opens in June and stays open for the month on HouseCat, Bates' housing portal. Your student has to activate their Bates email and password on Garnet Gateway before they can log in.
- 02June
Answer the questionnaire honestly and rank your FYC
The application doubles as the roommate-matching questionnaire — music, sleep, cleanliness, study habits, guests, allergies, snoring. Students also rank the three First-Year Center types. Accommodation requests through the Office of Accessible Education are due by June 1.
- 03August
Assignments post and your JA gets in touch
Housing assignments come out over the summer, and your Junior Advisor emails in August to introduce themselves and answer pre-arrival questions before you ever get in the car.
- 04August 27
Arrive between 8 a.m. and noon
First-year arrival day for the class of 2030 is Thursday, August 27, 2026. Students check in at Commons for an activated ID and a room key (or a PIN, in Chu, Kalperis, 96 Campus Ave, and 10 Frye St.), then meet their family at the residence hall, where there's plenty of help unloading. Meal plans start that day.
Where you'll live at Bates College
First-Year Centers
Every first-year lives in a First-Year Center — a cluster of ten to twenty first-years led by a Junior Advisor, an upper-class student who moves in with them, runs programming all year, and sits with the group at meals through orientation. On the housing application you rank three kinds of FYC. Every house and hall on campus is mixed gender, and first-years are always assigned a roommate; singles come only through an approved accommodation.
A large wood-frame house on College Street where 30 first-years live in a substance-free community — carpeted doubles with built-in closets, a microwave-and-sink kitchen, and a quieter remove from the middle of campus. First-years only.
Three small houses of about 30 first-years each. Frye sits next to the Ronj, the student-run coffeehouse; Milliken is steps from the Quad; Small House is a modern rebuild of the president's house at Frye and College. All doubles (Small also has singles), all with a fridge, microwave, and sink.
The two newest residences on Campus Avenue, home to 133 and 110 students. Both are air-conditioned, have elevators, full kitchens, and single-user bathrooms on every floor, and open with an ID tap plus a PIN instead of a key. First-years occupy the second floor of each; Kalperis also holds Post & Print and the College Store.
The larger halls where most First-Year Centers sit. Adams (165 students) and Page (131) look out over Lake Andrews; Gillespie (152) has a fireplace lounge and a patio grill; Parker faces the Quad and the Hathorn bell; Rand pairs house-scale rooms and high ceilings with hall amenities. None are air-conditioned.
The Bates College move-in checklist
The “Shop” links are Amazon affiliate links — a purchase may earn AllDorms a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Bedding6
Bath5
Laundry4
Storage & organization6
Desk & study4
Electronics6
Cleaning5
Kitchen — within the rules5
Health & meds4
Clothing — see the seasonal guide7
Move-in day go-bag5
Your items
Anything you add saves on this device.
Lewiston logistics, sorted
How to send a package to a Bates student
[Virtual Box #]
Bates College
65 Campus Ave.
Lewiston, ME 04240
One dining hall, no Greek life
The calendar ends with Short Term
Lewiston & around
Downtown Lewiston & the Bates Mill
A ten-minute walk down College Street: Kennedy Park, the Bates Mill complex of restored brick textile mills now full of restaurants and offices, Forage Market's bagels, and a Franco-American city that Bates students have spent 170 years being part of.
Auburn & the Androscoggin
The Androscoggin River splits Lewiston from Auburn, with a riverwalk, falls, and Simard-Payne Park connecting the two — the site of the Great Falls Balloon Festival every August, right around move-in.
Range Ponds, Bradbury Mountain & the ski hills
Range Ponds State Park and Bradbury Mountain are both twenty minutes out for swimming and hiking; Sunday River is about an hour and a quarter northwest, Sugarloaf about two hours, and Bates runs an outing club that has been organizing the trips since 1920.
Portland & the Maine Turnpike
Portland is 35 minutes south on the turnpike — the jetport, Amtrak's Downeaster to Boston, and the best food in the state. Boston is about two and a half hours. Most first-years don't bring a car and don't miss it.
Where to stay near Bates College
Inn at the Agora
~5 minLewiston's only boutique hotel, downtown in a restored building minutes from campus, with suites that work for a family. Small, so it goes first.
Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch
~1 mileThe closest full-service hotel, right on the Androscoggin in Auburn with an indoor pool and free parking — the practical move-in base.
Hampton Inn Lewiston-Auburn
~10 minA newer chain hotel near the mall and a cluster of restaurants, a short drive from campus and easy to get in and out of on a busy weekend.
Bates College gear & gifts
Bates College — links & contacts
- Office of Residence Life: reslife@bates.edu
- Phone: 207-786-6215