hey guys! Anyone else on here class of Choate 2024? If you are id love to talk to yall!!
Not 2024, but I’ll be entering in as a sophomore for the class of 2023!
Hi, I’m a class of 2024 at Choate as well! I’d be happy to talk about the school with you or anyone else, with the exception of personal information. I’m seriously so excited!
I am going to be a class of 2024 as well!
I was going to write more, but it will end up similiar to what @ursulaisnotevil wrote.
Hi! I am a current student of class of 2023! Ask away.
Wow ok so I’m going back to CC nearly a year later and wow I’m a completely different person now. Even though Choate is pretty challenging I’m glad I’ve signed up for the experience!
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What does your day look like? Any free time or is your sport or extra interest/art your free time? How much homework and study do you have a day? Week?
Thank you very much! I have quite a few questions if you are able to answer:
- Are the classes Harkness based? If so, how are the grades based off? What percentage coming from discussion participation, what percentage from homework, and then exams (if there are any)? If a student is shy in participating in the discussion, is he/she at disadvantage?
- For the concentration programs, can you participate 2, or you’re only allowed to participate 1?
- For Freshman, if you are assigned with some roommate that are not nice, what is the process of asking to switch roommate?
- How far is the walk from Dorms to classrooms, is it safe in general? Is the campus open to all, or there is gate checking incoming visitors?
Thank you so much!
My kid is also interested in Choate. From the information we gathered, I can say that there is no gate or some sort of border that separates Choate from town/visitors/outsiders. In one virtual event, it was stated that a student can only choose one signature program to concentrate.
I would love to hear any additional details about Choate.
Nice of you to return, @ursalaisnotevil. I’m glad you’re enjoying your experience.
@Jane90, I’ll let current students give current details for most of your questions, but I can give some info on 1 and 4.
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Choate is not a formal Harkness school like Exeter but uses the Socratic, discussion-based approach for most classes. Exams, homework, and class participation are all figured into your grades, but most students are new to round-table instruction and have to learn how to participate, so no worries. You’ll be a pro eventually.
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The Choate campus is not huge but you will walk a lot. “How far” is not a question that can be answered other than to say that you will walk to every building at some point but how far that building is from your dorm will depend on which dorm/house you live in which, most likely, will change every year. Some classes will be in the same building, right next door, down the street, or across campus. The year our son lived in Hill House, he had a room at the top of the stairs to the dining hall which was very convenient for breakfast and access to faculty offices but not as close to other places he needed to go. What was farther for him was closer for others and vice versa. Don’t worry about this; exercise is good for you.
There are no gate checks because there are no gates. The campus is open and borderless. Choate considers the town of Wallingford to be part of campus and, in normal times, students are free to wander around town as they wish, although I’m sure there are COVID restrictions in place now. When our son was there, he often walked to Walmart, grabbed an ice cream at Mr. D’s, enjoyed a meal with friends at Archie Moore’s and other restaurants. Yes, it is safe in general, but the usual common sense precautions apply.
I’m sure all kids are very busy at BS but do students still play, or have time to play… video games like MineCraft, etc?
When we toured Choate a couple of years ago they had just opened the mind-blowingly awesome student center that had a dedicated video game room.
There was not a school we toured that students didn’t play video games.
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No, the classes are not Harkness based, but Humanities classes do use the roundtable method. I’d say that grading really depends on the individual teacher.
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You can participate in 1 Signature Program over your Choate career or two if you include Term Abroad. (You could do ARC and Term Abroad, but not ARC and JFK.)
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You can’t really ask to switch a roommate as far as I know, but if it’s an identity issue (homophobia, racism, xenophobia, etc) I’m sure there are accommodations.
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Choate is an open campus. I’d say that it’s pretty safe, although there was a concern about poc after Biden won, but better to go out with at least one person if you are going into town. Walking in campus isn’t very far, but as @ChoatieMom said, you will end up walking a lot.
Trust me… we have time (or make time) to play video games. If you know where to look you’ll find other Choaties to play hypixel and stuff with.
We go by a block schedule, so you’ll have 2-6 classes each day. You start out with a lot of free time in between, but it gradually gets filled up with homework, club meetings, hanging out with friends, etc.
The biggest challenge of fall term is most definitely time management, since most kids entering Choate are receiving nearly complete independence for the first time in their lives. We have mandatory study hours at night, but it’s been relaxed due to covid. The amount/difficulty of homework depends on the level/amount of classes you are taking. Someone taking 5 classes with no honors is most likely going to have less work than someone who is taking 6 classes with some honors. However, if you utilize your teachers, advisors, and deans, you will have an easier time juggling everything.
I’d say that the most-challenging required class for 3rd form year is Physics… most people face some struggle since it’s a lot of new concepts at once.
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Thank you so much for all of you for the very helpful answers!
Just one more questions, there probably are a lot of students from New York area, do they go home during the weekends? Would the students from other far regions feel lonely during those 3-day weekends when students from nearby states go home for the long weekends?
The Choate campus does not empty out in any meaningful way on weekends. Most kids stay on campus.
Well they haven’t let us go off campus this year due to the pandemic, but I’d imagine that nearly everyone stays on campus. I do know that you can go home for the weekend if you want.
Can you please elaborate on #4? What do you mean concern about POC?
Basically, there were some salty Trump supporters that sent hate emails to the school about wanting to harm POC (mainly black) students. I don’t think much happened though, they were mainly empty threats.
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