Dorms range from the spectacular to the squalid, and obviously, the higher your housing lottery number is, the better your dorm will be. The newest accommodation is 280 College Street, which is equipped with singles and doubles, a kitchen with an oven and stove, as well as a fireplace lounge for concerts or studying. Mostly first years live here, but there are also sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well. The Village is a popular cluster of suites, which house mostly juniors and seniors, and some sophomores—if you’re lucky. John Bertram Hall has big singles and doubles in the basement, although it makes for an awkward dynamic because most of the rooms are four-person suites, so it can be hard to mingle. The kitchen has an oven, and you can often smell chocolate chip cookies wafting through the air on weekends. JB has the reputation of being a party dorm and the “jock” dorm, so it’s noisier and dirtier than designated quiet dorms, such as Adams. However, Adams is usually filled with people who got bad lottery numbers, so it’s not uncommon to see parties there and music blasting out the windows upon occasion. First-year students should avoid Page and aim for Parker, though both are good places to make long-lasting friendships. Other students choose to live in houses on Frye Street, which are charming, but small and out-of-date. Houses are available to upperclassmen as well, and these range from the beautiful Moulton House and well-equipped Frye Street Union to the small and cramped Frye House, Davis House, and Leadbetter House. The rooms in Leadbetter are large, though, since only five people live there. Since the house doesn’t have a television or laundry machines, residents get unlimited keycard access to Davis house, next door, which allows them to branch out.
The best part about housing at Bates is the wide variety of options available to students—or at least to students with good housing lottery numbers. There are suites, quads, doubles, and singles in both dorms and houses. Themed houses, such as the Russian House or the Fine Arts House, allow students with similar interests to live together. Since these theme designations change every year, students have a greater chance of living in a themed house that really interests them. There are all-female and all-male houses, chem-free and quiet dorms, and big party dorms, like Rand and Page. It can be difficult to get a single if you have a poor lottery number, and students are sometimes put on summer placement, but everyone who wants a room at Bates will have one, even if it’s a forced triple in Page Hall.