<p>Hi I'm a new sophomore at Taft and would love to answer any questions about it here. :)</p>
<p>By “new sophomore” do you mean that this is your first year at Taft? I’m applying for my junior year (I’m a sophomore, too). So did you apply anywhere else? What made you choose Taft? What do you think made you stand out as an applicant? What’s your favorite thing about Taft? Is it clique-y? Do all the kids there play sports? I’m not against playing sports or anything, I just don’t currently because of transportation issues. What kind of classes are you taking? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Yes, this is my first year at Taft and I entered in grade 10. Yes, I applied to Choate, Andover, Exeter, and Lawrenceville. I got into Taft and was waitlisted at Choate. Honestly, I would have gone to Choate if I was moved off the waitlist, but now that I look back, I’m glad I didn’t, so, I didn’t really choose Taft - Taft chose me. </p>
<p>I think I was a pretty “regular” applicant. I play volleyball, piano, and saxophone. I am good at school and did well on my SSATs, but I didn’t really stand out. </p>
<p>On the matter of it being clique-y… I would say yes and no. There are a few girls who are very very cliquey, but they are still polite to others. But really- EVERYONE here is nice. I think that everyone has a little friend group and I don’t know anyone who just has no friends or is completely anti-social. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief… not everyone plays sports. At all. I know plenty of people who choose to take an independent study instead of doing a sport, or do the play. If neither of those choices appeal to you, you can do a fun sport that does not require a lot of commitment, or weight training to stay fit or yoga/aerobics. </p>
<p>I am currently taking:
Jazz Ensemble
French 2 Honors Accel
AP Calc BC
Honors Mid-English
Historical Civilizations and the Modern World (it’s pretty much world history)
Honors Physics </p>
<p>I’ll be happy to answer any qts about my classes too :)</p>
<p>Did you come from 9th grade at your old school? Because I am currently in 10th grade and I kind of want to repeat because I feel like it is a super hard transition as a junior? do you know many repeats? Also did you come from a private or public school?</p>
<p>I came from a public school and I was a freshman before I came to Taft. Repeating is very common… sometimes I feel like there are more repeats than non-repeats… haha 
</p>
<p>Also, sophomore year is the most repeats because many people don’t want to start a new school junior year.</p>
<p>okay yes that is exactly how i feel! what other schools did you apply to? and how did you manage getting recs because i feel like I’m missing something, i don’t think I’m attacking it most effectively hah. Like did you just send one specific personal rec to all of your schools? (not having to do it for each)</p>
<p>I applied to Choate, Lawrenceville, Exeter, and Andover. I sent a common rec to Choate, Lawrenceville, Exeter and Andover, but I sent a different rec for Taft because theirs was a little different.</p>
<p>how is the town like? do a lot of kids go out to town often? how do you like the campus? Is the food good? lol I’m sorry I have so many questions…
Do you know if they have a good creative writing or writing program? Plus how is dorm life like?
okay I think I’ll stop here, thank you!</p>
<p>The town is very safe and nice. There’s a lot of dress shops, nail salons, hair places - I guess for our annual formal! There’s also Marshalls, Adams (grocery store), starbucks, dunkin donuts, two great breakfast joints, and Rite Aid. Lots of kids go to town - I personally go every weekend </p>
<p>The campus is beautiful - I love it. The campus is pretty small compared to most other schools, but I like it. You don’t have to walk very far between classes, which is especially beneficial when there’s a lot of snow on the ground. Also, there are no public roads cutting into the middle of campus, which is great. </p>
<p>The food is very good. It can get a little repetitive at times, but Taft is considered to have the best food… haha. The only bad part of this is when you get upset when you gain weight because you can’t stop eating… </p>
<p>We have a writing center that is open 6 nights a week. There’s a teacher and a student who helps others with their writing. My English teacher is great and I’ve definitely seen my writing improve while I’ve been here. </p>
<p>The dorm life really depends on the dorm you are in. I can only speak for the underclassmen dorms, but they are both very close, but still different. There are two: Mac and Congdon. Mac is more laid-back and the kitchen/common room is nicer. Mac is considered to be very close-knit. Congdon is generally considered to be stricter, but the rooms are nicer and there are more singles. There are a lot of school activities that help bring the dorms together. We had our first annual scavenger hunt this year and there’s recycling contests, and lots of other things. It’s a lot of fun :)</p>