<p>how much do athletics really matter when getting accepted to hotchkiss? im pretty unathletic, even though i run both cross country and track(im just not very good), and i know i came off unathletic at the interview. I have a lot of determination to get better and its not like i did sports that require like no effort, also i have won improvement awards and i am always listed as exceptional (the highest you can get) in attitude, sportsmanship, and coachability. I plan to train over the summer with my sister, who's the captain of the upper school varsity cross country team. How does this affect my chances? i have great recommendations, all a's, alot of really cool extracurriculars, and a bunch of awards, my parents are also immigrants and im first generation american.</p>
<p>i was wondering if anybody could give me some perspective on this. thanks :)</p>
<p>When you say that you came off unathletic in the interview what does that mean exactly...? I dont think the athletics will hurt you though since the rest of your application sounds really strong..</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is one of my daughter's first choices and we have had a lot of interaction with the coach for her sport. He was responsive to e-mails we sent last spring, invited us up for a visit over the summer where he spent 2-1/2 hours with us and have seen him at several tournaments/events since. We like him a lot. While a lot of other things to like about this school, the interaction with him has a lot to do with this being at the top of her list. Admissions hurdle is obviously high there. Hopefully he likes her as much as we like him and he can have a little input in the process.</p>
<p>biffgnar - has the coach volunteered to write a "letter of interest" or something of the sort in support of your daughter to the admissions committee?</p>
<p>He has not said anything that specific to us so if that is how the process works at Hotchkiss I guess she isn't getting any help. He has been very supportive and encouraging just nothing that specific. Perhaps we should be a bit more direct, but have been trying to strike a balance between showing interest and "selling" her abilities on one hand while not trying to come across as the "obnoxious [insert sport] parent". That seems like a total turn off generally. Also, while the sports aspect is important to us it clearly is not what this is all about. Decision and commitment to a school has to feel right even if she weren't going to play her sport.</p>
<p>Let me tell you, there are going to be people at Hotchkiss who are amazing at sports and yet there are going to be people who are not - who are out of shape, etc. You do not seem 'unathletic' - you may think you aren't talented, but you are definitely athletic, if you put that much time into a sport and care that much about it. Try to let your passion show through; they won't reject you on the basis that you aren't good at a sport. They'll want to see how you can improve. They aren't looking for super-star athletes to fill up their class.</p>
<p>Athletics are very important at Hotchkiss -- they expect to win and take great pride in it. Emphasis for girl's is in field hockey, soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse (and they do recruit). Boy's sports (and where the majority of the PG's go) are football, ice hockey and lacrosse. Of course this only means that they are doing what their main competitors are doing (Taft, Deerfield, Loomis etc).</p>