<p>I would be the last person to say that Hotchkiss or any school for that matter is the best all round at everything. No school can claim that. I repeatedly say that there are areas where some schools excel and others do not. For instance out of prep schools it is clear Deerfield is the best at Lax. At Math Exeter. Likewise in debate Hotchkiss tops the list. That is not to say that one school is better than the other just that they excel at different areas. I think we should appreciate the strengths of other schools when it is clearly apparent and be proud of our own school’s strengths. It is ignorant - in my view - to claim that one school is the best all round and if anyone said that I think that would discredit their credibility. But I have been very active in the debate circuit and I can assure you that Hotchkiss is considered the best for debate and speech only (at the very least among prep schools) I never implied it was the best “all round” as in as a school - even Eton could not make that claim.</p>
<p>We all know. I applaud your school spirit, but PLEASE don’t advertise it to an extent which is considered excessive. Your posts are almost exclusively (and to an extent which is undermining the integrity of your post) about Hotchkiss and almost solely about its greatness. We know, trust me. </p>
<p>Not trying to sound rude or anything.</p>
<p>^^^Lol what? He goes to Hotchkiss, he’s here to sell and promote hotchkiss. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. I understand where kafkareborn is comin from though. You can’t fault passion for your particular school.</p>
<p>I understand. Trust me, I’ve been here for a while… Kafka is really nice and all (fun and interesting too) but he does get carried away with Hotchkiss. It is understandable too.</p>
<p>I don’t really care how long you’ve been here, I actually attended a prep school and know how it is to have school pride.</p>
<p>As it should be, the Best School is the one You are at. Hope everyone has confidence in themselves and their school. Each school has their strengths and over time (usually a short time) the strengths change. A school that was unbeatable in crew (or _________) last year may drop this year. All of these schools are great.</p>
<p>Lemons: All the schools you are looking at are great. Visit. Tour. Talk. There are subtle differences, but watch out for any advice that says only school ______ is the best at ________. Usually the ‘advisor’s’ knowledge is limited by their own experience. We all suffer from that (certainly myself included).</p>
<p>omg1 we have almosst the same preferences. except for music. but yeah this thread would be rlly helpful except for the hotchkiss fans</p>
<p>So let me see if I’ve got this right, Rad-in-Plaid96: “Thread Available; Hotchkiss Fans Need Not Apply.”</p>
<p>Boy, I’m “almosst” sure the BS’s will be falling all over themselves to get a shot at such a bright, kind, open-minded kid like you.</p>
<p>Divealive - I am sorry if you feel that my posts have been heavily slanted towards Hotchkiss. I have taken note of this. In order to rectify this perceived slant I shall author a number of posts on topics ranging from how much I love Deerfield’s Football program, Andover’s diving program, Brook’s medical program, SPS and Exeter’s math program and Taft’s creative “Bash Hotchkiss 101” class. I hope that this will reduce the “advertisiment-like” quality of my posts as I would have commented on a number of different schools - despite my knowledge of these respective school’s being limited to my competitive interaction and anecdotal evidence. Perhaps I should consider a career in politics or the advertising industry if I can make advertisments with such ease. Alternatively, of course, I could leave the aggrandizment of those other schools to people who actually attend them and only speak of the school that I know a good deal about.</p>
<p>What about Milton do you think would fit me?</p>
<p>I’m impressed by all the Hotchkiss people out there, haha.</p>
<p>I’m sure rad-in-plaid didn’t mean it offensively, give him/her a break. :)</p>
<p>CIty, liberal atmosphere, activism.</p>
<p>Oh dang!
TREATED!!!</p>
<p>Kafka,</p>
<p>Your love for your school is a credit to it. My son and I look forward to our upcoming visit, (and he is very interested in debate 
).</p>
<p>Haha - okay point of clarification - I’m impressed by ALLLL the people from ALLLL different schools! 
But on this particular thread most of the people happen to be from Hotchkiss.</p>
<p>Does anyone have examples of Milton’s activism? Or like what kind? (environmental, human rights, government policies, etc…)</p>
<p>Does anyone have more opinions on a school’s “open-ness to ideas”?</p>
<p>Another random plus would be having figure skating. I quit figure skating a year ago because of the prices, and I heard some schools had them! That would be pretty amazing.</p>
<p>General liberal arts schools, anyone? I know Andover - not really sure about the rest…</p>
<p>THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES!!! :)</p>
<p>@ kafkareborn: Oh no, that’s not what I meant at all. Sorry if I offended you :X I am certain that Hotchkiss is a great school and I don’t have anything against it so I apologize if it came off like that… Haha, no, school pride is an impressive thing, so… n__n</p>
<p>@ lemons.can.fly: My advice to you: try to get unbiased advice? Hahaha. Obviously a student from Taft will root for Taft, a student from NMH will cheer for NMH, etc etc. Hotchkiss is a great school though, so don’t doubt that for a minute…</p>
<p>Okay, so I’ll shush now. I heard a certain school (i forgot which one!) was building a new ice rink (a student was complaining about how the campus wasn’t as “pretty” as it usually is heh), so that might contribute to figure skating…i can’t remember which one, though! Sorry…</p>
<p>try to look into Middlesex for “liberal artsy”… they’re amazing at writing and the 1 person i know who is going there (okay, 1 student, i know, but still, ONE STUDENT :D) is really idiosyncratic and unique and isn’t an abercrombie-worshipper (no offense, i… totally respect that) … yeah, i’ll stop rambling. good night, and good luck !</p>
<p>Haha. For the record, I SHUN ABERCROMBIE. (Although if anybody reading this post is wearing it, I respect your choices… [in being a clone… jk. I fail at disclaimers.])</p>
<p>I was seriously considering Middlesex, but the small size kind of puts me off.</p>
<p>It’s really hard to find someone knowledgeable in the topic but not affiliated with any of the schools… any ideas where I could get some unbiased advice?</p>
<p>what would you(anyone on here) say about NMH. is it a hippie school? a nerd commune? what? i alreay know its in the middle of nowhere b/c my school plays against a school like REALLY close to it. so yeah, and also any schools that are fairly artsy. AND what about Tabor, any opinions on it?</p>
<p>Tabor is an interesting mix of people. No one group is overwhelmingly dominant, but there is a strong feeling of the old families from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Connecticut that being classically preppy, into sailing etc. But of course, as with all these schools there’s a wide diversity in it’s strong and sizable international community and don’t be fooled by any of these characterizations, no one school is entirely preppy or filled with nerds, or a jock factory, Tabor’s no different. Visiting any of these schools will show you that there’s no such thing as a Tabor Boy or a Groton Girl or an Andover Guy, each school has a different student body, but they are all great. </p>
<p>If you want more in depth info on Tabor look for the Tabor Academy Q&A thread, or feel free to message me.</p>
<p>lemons – based on your original post the best fit schools for you in order of fit are Milton, Andover and Exeter.<br>
another thing, when you are looking at schools’ websites and see their international student population, etc, remember, its probably the children of the ruling family of Bahrain, not the brilliant of Darfur. Not going to be a ton of political activism there.</p>
<p>You wonder where the princes of Jordan and the sultans or this and that went to school, and guess what, it’s NE prep! </p>
<p>While the children of such stature will not have the academic clout (or I should say, they “may” not… you never know) it gives you an insanely different experience. I would, for example, love to be friends (as long as he is not a spoiled ■■■■■■) the friend of a prince to the crown or what not.</p>