Choate or Hotchkiss?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hi! I applied to 7 boarding schools, and was accepted to 6 out of the 7. Wait-listed at the 7th. Luckily, I got into all of my top 4: Hotchkiss, Groton, Choate, and Taft. My parents and I both agree I should definitely revisit/shadow Taft and Groton. But because of time I can only either revisit/shadow at either Hotchkiss OR Choate. Which one?!</p>

<p>I will be a freshmen girl. I'm from San Francisco. I do debate, mathletes, theatre, yearbook, and I play volleyball and soccer, but I'm not a huge athlete. I would like to go to a school where I could try new sports freely, though. I LOVE writing! I LOVE the arts! I am more of a liberal minded person, very loud, etc</p>

<p>I have two cousins at Hotchkiss, and I like the idea of having family there. Also, our family friends have a house nearby, so that would be good for long weekends and the like. I like that Hotchkiss has the one main building, and I like their program. Their head of school is amazing! I am just worried about the crowd. It seemed formal, cold, a little uptight, and too uppity in general for my taste. Don't know how I'd fit in there. Is it diverse enough? Maybe that was just what I saw... </p>

<p>I did a summer program at Choate and loved it! I've heard wonderful things about the teachers. I'm concerned a bit about the size. I like the thought of growing into a school, but as a freshmen it may be overwhelming. (Choate has 850 +, Hotchkiss has like 600) I like their range of courses, but for me it's a bit of a con. I have trouble making decisions-clearly-and I think it may just be tough. I like the community though, I love the diversity, and all the international students. Plus, Choate has sit down lunches which I love. Hotchkiss does not have sit down meals.</p>

<p>Thoughts??</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>I personally don’t think that 850 students is too large, and I say that coming from a previous school of about 200 kids. It took a while to get accustomed to, but I like it. It’s small enough that there’s still a sense of community, especially during Deerfield Day or all-school meetings, but large enough that you get the diversity that kids seek at larger schools. There are quite a few international students and I have no doubt you’d meet kids from lots of different countries if you were to come to Choate.</p>

3

<p>Since you spent the summer at Choate, you may want to visit Hotchkiss. My son chose Choate and Taft over Hotchkiss and Groton because he liked the feeling of the campus setting within a town. Hotchkiss is not in a town so see if the setting suits you. Good luck and congrats.</p>

4

<p>just to add a quick thing to swampedwithwork: only around 60% of the class comes in as freshman, so only around 100 students are coming into the grade with you. The freshman class gets to become a real tight-knit community and as far as i’ve heard, everyone knew everyone for that first year =) (i came in as a new sophomore, so i’m only going by word of mouth~)</p>

5

<p>hotchkiss!!!</p>

6

<p>Choate!!!</p>