Anyone have any questions?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>So I recently "re-discovered" my CC account after not using it since notification of my admission decisions last year and I just wanted to thank all those who provided information and helped me out or comforted me during the application process.</p>

<p>Now that I'm back and I've had about three and a half months of boarding school, I thought it'd be a good idea to answer any questions prospective students might have about boarding school life, workload, stress, etc. Anything! I'm even open to random questions like what kind of music is popular or different things like that. :D</p>

<p>I know that this period of time after submitting the application and waiting for the final decisions can be nerve-wracking, some I'm here to support anyone that needs it, and hopefully to answer some big, looming questions that might be bothering you all. </p>

<p>:)</p>

2

<p>what are the weekends actually like? </p>

<p>not a very big looming question but still something i’m interested after not having gotten a very clear picture from the website.</p>

3

<p>This has been bothering me A LOT.</p>

<p>If you’re a guy, how/when/where do you get haircuts?</p>

<p>Haha it’s been buggin’ me.</p>

4

<p>what were your grades like?</p>

5

<p>Are there a fair amount of students with average SSAT scores?</p>

6

<p>What do people with braces do? Do they find a new orthodontist in the BS area or do they just only get to see their orthodontists during school breaks?</p>

7

<p>@aurelie,</p>

<p>Weekends are really chill, but it really depends on what clubs/sports you’re doing at the time. For example, most people have games/meets on Saturdays and Sundays are their days off, but for me I have no activities on Saturday, but I’m fully booked on Sundays. I go out on Friday and Saturday nights, and check-in is typically at 11 or 11:30. After that I tend to stay in and play video games with dorm bros. Sleep late, wake up late. ;)</p>

<p>@jerry,</p>

<p>I like getting my hair cut over the breaks just because it’s easier, but if it’s that much of a problem or your hair grows super fast, then you can always walk into town and go to a barber shop. You typically have a lot of free time on weekends to do these sort of things. Schools also often have mall trips and you can go there to get a haircut if you want to. </p>

<p>@patriot,</p>

<p>I ended last term with a 3.3 GPA average, coming from a 3.9 GPA average at my old school. A in Chinese, A- in English, B+ in World History and Physics, and then a C+ in Algebra II. These were all honors classes though, and I have to say I got unlucky with my teachers… I ended up moving out of Honors Algebra II into Accelerated and now I have an A, so it’s all good. </p>

<p>@Teerin,</p>

<p>I’m actually not sure. Most of us don’t talk about the SSAT, seeing that we’re already in. Of the people I’ve talked to though, the lowest was something like a 79th percentile.</p>

<p>@markalex,</p>

<p>Well it depends on what stage of the process you’re in. I just got braces when I moved here, and I’m currently going to a local orthodontist. I know a couple kids that only go to their orthodontist on school breaks, but I personally think it would be easier to find a new orthodontist in the area. In the town Choate is located in, there are like two good orthodontists offices within a five minutes drive. The health center will arrange rides for you.</p>

8

<p>Anyone else? They can be general or Choate-particular, it doesn’t really matter.</p>

9

<p>What other schools did you apply and get accepted to or declined… also, when I went to visit Choate I didn’t really think the vibe was that great, but in your honest opinion so you think the people there are nice and good friends and do you like the atmosphere? also, was Choate your #1 pick when you applied?</p>

10

<p>is it easy to get extra help from teachers or support group?
Do you play a sport?
Are you a member of any clubs/EC?</p>

11

<p>Whats your favorite part about Choate? Least favorite?</p>

12

<p>@yankeefan,</p>

<p>Alright, well. I applied for 9th grade two years ago to Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, and Choate. The previous summer, I had been at a summer camp at Choate and I had an amazing time so that sort of influenced me and made Choate my first choice that year.
I applied for financial aid, and I received a waitlist at Deerfield and denials from Exeter, Andover, and Choate.</p>

<p>The next year, I took it more seriously and applied to Exeter, Andover, Choate, Hotchkiss, Deerfield, St. Paul’s School, and Lawrenceville. I also interviewed at the Hill School, Taft, Kent, and Loomis, but I decided that they were definitely not the schools I wanted to attend. At the time, Choate and SPS were tied for first, but Andover was high up there too particularly because of the lower tuition. I applied without financial aid and I got accepted at Choate, waitlists everywhere else.</p>

<p>Yes, I realize it was probably not a good idea to not have safety schools, but for me, it was these schools or nothing. My old school was pretty decent and I’m sure I would’ve received a quality education over there as well.</p>

<p>So I really had no choice but to go to Choate, not that I’m complaining because I love the school. </p>

<p>Here’s the thing though, whenever I did tours/interviews, they were during the summer because I’m an international student and it was more convenient to do it then. I never got to see the actual students or the real “atmosphere” of the schools. Perhaps if I had been there during school, my top choices might have been different. </p>

<p>Now that I’m here, I actually love the atmosphere. It’s a nice mix of focus and fun. The classes are engaging and challenging, and students, for the most part, are nice. Of course there are the ruder, richer kids, but I’m sure they have those at every other school as well.</p>

<p>maddog,</p>

<p>Yes, teachers are open for extra help when they are on duty at their respective dorms. There are typically lots of kids at extra help, but the teacher is kind and patient and sometimes it can really help if a lesson was particularly difficult to understand.</p>

<p>I play soccer and volleyball, on both the Varsity teams. </p>

<p>I do a lot of community service. I’m also doing FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), Model UN, Choate Against Cancer, and Gold Key (campus tours).</p>

13

<p>@2010,</p>

<p>I have to say my favorite part about Choate would probably be how challenging the courses are, or the people and friends I’ve made.</p>

<p>I can already feel as if I’ve grown and matured so much in terms of work ethic (hehe, not like I’m procrastinating right now or anything…) and just overall quality of my work.
The level of work I’m doing here would have easily received stellar grades at my old school, but here they’re just meh.</p>

<p>I also love the people here, especially the guys in my dorm. They’re all really well-humored and they’re exceptionally bright by any standards, and especially for Varsity sports players, if you know what I mean.</p>

14

<p>Can you chance me under Prep Schools Chances… i believe its the first thread… :)</p>

15

<p>Sorry yankeefan, I really don’t like chancing people because it can give false hope or take hope away.</p>

<p>I’m sure you’re a formidable applicant (as most CCers are), and any school would be happy to have you.</p>

16

<p>how is the security on campus? are there guards? this one’s for mom haha but its because during my interview at one school, this sketchy fat druggie came onto campus randomly.</p>

17

<p>Yes we have community safety and they constantly patrol our school in cars. This said, our school is extremely open and often times people who we don’t necessarily want there can be wandering around… I haven’t had any problems like that or in fact seen many people not a part of the Choate community though, so tell your mom not to worry.</p>

18

<p>@2010,</p>

<p>Wow I completely forgot about the second part of your question. My least favorite part would probably be the stress and how tired I am sometimes. It’s bad at the moment, but I guess it’ll be worth it in the end. :)</p>

19

<p>Do you guys get to take drivers ed??</p>

20

<p>Hi swamped, how is the dating scene? Is it casual, or do a lot of people have serious relationships? Is it mostly with others at Choate? Is there a lot of ‘drama’?</p>