<p>Do the townies like Choate kids? Have you heard of any problems?</p>
<p>aurelie, </p>
<p>Choate does not offer Driver’s Ed and if you’re a boarder, you’re not allowed to keep a car and drive anyways… Day students can’t even give rides to boarders so driving is typically a thing for summers.</p>
<p>2kidsnoanswers,</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve been here long enough to answer that question with much assurance, but I feel as if most of the dating is casual. There are kids who have serious relationships that last long periods of time, but most of the relationships I’ve heard of have been casual. Yeah, with boarders it’s mostly with Choate students because it would be hard to sustain a relationship with people at other schools, but for day students it might be different. The amount of drama really depends on who you associate yourself with. Being a new sophomore, I don’t hear much about it, but I’m sure there’s plenty of drama if you want to find that stuff out.</p>
<p>maddog,</p>
<p>Oh, where to begin…?</p>
<p>Of course there will be conflicts because of the socioeconomic diversity at Choate and in Wallingford. </p>
<p>Choate is interesting because it’s not walled or separated from the community like some other prep schools. Because of this, Choate students have a lot of interaction with townies, and sometimes it’s not too positive. I go to volunteer at a day care in Wallingford on Mondays, and at first, the kids were sort of scared to approach me or talk to me, and I always sort of felt like I didn’t belong. After a while though, it got better. </p>
<p>There are a lot of crosswalks at Choate and cars are required by state law to stop for pedestrians. Sometimes there can be certain drivers that resent Choaties and will honk or say things. I have been honked at once—the women even stepped out of her car and confronted me because I didn’t wave when I crossed the street. Sometimes it’s little things like that that can set people off, but most of the time there aren’t that many problems.</p>
<p>I have heard of incidents where drivers passing by will yell and throw things, but my guess is that it doesn’t happen too frequently. The good thing about this interaction though is that it teaches students better manners and keeps us more conscientious about our attitude towards others.</p>
<p>perhaps Choate should consider cameras on the crosswalk corners. Both drivers and students would behave better knowing they`re being recorded. Hey, it works in NYC :)</p>
<p>A few questions…
At Deerfield they have an annual fee that pays for all your laundry to be done and a higher fee if you want all your dry cleaning as well… it’s pretty steep. I know the dorms have washers and dryer so do most kids use those or do a lot of kids do it with a nearby service? </p>
<p>Did you receive your acceptance on the 10th exactly or was it on the 11th or later? And do you live on the East Coast or further away because that could be the reason why you got it sooner or later. </p>
<p>Thanks! Answering these questions is so nice of you!</p>
<p>There is actually a video on youtube of some creep filming choaties cross the street.</p>
<p>maddog,</p>
<p>Well think about all that wasted footage and electricity. Not so smart for a green-conscious school. ;)</p>
<p>urbangirl,</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what the fee for Choate is, but we might use the same laundry service as Deerfield… This is the website of the company if you were wondering. [Boarding</a> School and College Laundry Services from E&R Cleaners](<a href=“http://www.eandrcleaners.com/campus-laundry-services.html]Boarding”>http://www.eandrcleaners.com/campus-laundry-services.html)
Most kids I know have the laundry service, mainly because the washers/dryers are all on the other side of campus, not in each dorm. There are some that like to do their own laundry though, but the price for each washing does eventually add up…</p>
<p>Okay well I live in China so I didn’t get an actual package, they sent me a t-shirt and a flag that I got like a week later. I was notified through email by all of my schools and those were sent out and received on the 10th. I remember my parents crashing into my room really early in the morning before school (like 4 o’clock) telling me to get up and read the acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Swiss I saw that youtube. I was under the impression that it was filmed by a student. ;)</p>
<p>Really, huh I just though that it was kind of stupid/ pointless.</p>
<p>Wait what’s in this video?</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Choaties at the Crosswalks](<a href=“Choaties at the Crosswalks - YouTube”>Choaties at the Crosswalks - YouTube)</p>
<p>Well the video was uploaded by myrecordjournal, which is a news company in the Wallingford area. They were probably just doing an article or something on the interactions between Choaties and townies…</p>
<p>Thanks for all the answering 
Questions about BS keep popping into mind so I keep coming here to ask you about them… </p>
<p>How cliquey is your school? Do you get really close to some people, make lasting friendships, and do the academic/athletic pressures get in the way of these?</p>
<p>@swamped, Do you have snow days?</p>
<p>How competitive is Choate? Is there a concept of ‘ranking’? (like good students vs. bad students in terms of grades)</p>
<p>Do you know anyone involved in the capstone program? Is it very time consuming?</p>
<p>Most of my EC’s are performing arts, and knowing that Choate values performing arts will it enhance of chances of gaining admissions?</p>
<p>@swamped: What are your favorite (or the most popular) destinations in the community for students; i.e. coffee shops, restaurants, stores?</p>
<p>I am nervous about taking the ISEE and SSAT here in NYC. I don’t know what books to use: Princton, Kaplan or Barrons…who is a good tutor, costs etc. what strategies worked for you? Thank you for helping out.</p>
<p>Wow sorry guys, my bad. I’ve been busy lately and I haven’t had a chance to get back to all your questions. Here goes…</p>
<p>@aurelie,</p>
<p>I think all schools have cliques. I’d be surprised to learn of a school where everyone interacts completely freely. People tend to form friendships with people that share common interests.
You get EXTREMELY close with friends especially in a boarding environment where you see each other every single day. Academic pressures might get in the way sometimes when you have to force yourself to do work instead of hang out on Sunday afternoon, but generally it’s very easy to make friends. Athletic teams add to the ability to make friends—some of my first friends were made on my fall sport team.</p>
<p>@maddog,</p>
<p>Boarding schools rarely have snow days. Our last one was 7 years ago, and we’ve only had four in 32 years or something like that. We did have one snow day a couple weeks ago, but this year is a bit special because it’s our headmaster’s last year and he wants to be a bit lenient if you can understand. That day was also a record-breaking snow day, and we got about 2 and a half feet of snow. Andover had a snow day too last week. Can’t say the same for Exeter, they got more snow than we did and the deans emailed the students telling them they were planning to have school even in the event of power loss (yikes).</p>
<p>@vivsters,</p>
<p>Choate is a very competitive school and sometimes you’re forced to run against your own friends for an officer position. I’m hesitant to say that there’s a ranking system, but having a good GPA and extensive involvement in extra-curriculars gets you respect. Also, kids who don’t have good grades are typically athletic recruits or are legacies. Towards some people, there’s a “wow, how’d you get here” mentality, but everyone’s here for some sort of a reason, I guess.</p>
<p>@maddog, </p>
<p>Yes, I know a couple seniors involved in Capstone. From what I know, it’s extremely time-consuming, but worth it if you have a passion in a particular area. For example, one of the seniors is going to Cornell for hotel management (Cornell has the best hotel management undergrad and post-grad programs in the country), and she’s taking a Capstone program emphasizing economics. Capstone isn’t the only specialty program worth mentioning though, if science is important to you, we have this thing called Science Research Project and you basically construct your own topic and conduct experiments and do research over the summer with a professor at a university.</p>
<p>@BronxKid,</p>
<p>Well, that depends. Which performing arts, how involved are you, and have you spoken to the different directors of the performing arts? There are many extremely talented and brilliant students here who excel in the performing arts so I don’t think I can really say anything about your chances.</p>
<p>@kraordrawoh,</p>
<p>There are a couple really nice restaurants right around the corner. I particularly like Mr. D’s, which is a candy shop. They sell bubble tea and make great cupcakes. Archie Moore’s also has AMAZING wings, and Half Moon’s penne alla vodka is to-die-for. </p>
<p>@filmalife,</p>
<p>First year I applied, I took the SSAT without any help, and got a 2190 (89th) but then was declined/waitlisted at all the schools I applied to. The next year, I got a tutor who used all three of those books for me, actually, and I managed to get a 2378 (99th) on the SSAT. I don’t remember specifically how much it costed, but I think finding a good tutor can improve your score by so much.
You shouldn’t be worried though—as long as you get a decent score, the SSAT/ISEE isn’t worth fretting over. I’d recommend someone to you, but unfortunately I don’t know any good tutors in New York.</p>
<p>what were ur chances of getting in?
And also, what grade r u in?</p>