Graduate schools and prospective employers are rightly impressed by this rigorous accomplishment. The five-week Short Term in spring is also distinctive to Bates. You study one course intensively for the entire term, which can sometimes take you off campus or even abroad, depending on your choice of study. Your work in the lab or field really has the chance to flourish with such concentrated focus. The laboratory work integral to most science courses is intended to teach and hone research techniques.
Labs tend to be open-ended, which gives a realistic sense of the way science is conducted.
Rather than perform prescribed lab exercises that require a specific result within a specific time frame, you may actually help design a lab exercise, which may take a month, or several weeks, or even a semester or a year. The method and the critical skills you've used are just as important as coming up with answers. Dedicated professors value the opportunity to know their students well, which often leads to lifelong professional relationships. Students become familiar with faculty members' own special-interest research and in many cases are able to participate in those projects. Bates students also have the advantage of access to the best possible scientific equipment.