With deposits due in less than a week, I am feeling the pressure to make my decision soon. I have narrowed the choices down to Hotchkiss and Taft.
While my family’s opinions, rankings and my own personal feelings prior to revisit day pointed strongly to Hotchkiss, I felt much more comfortable at Taft while revisiting last week. Hotchkiss students seemed to lack the same warmth and camaraderie that Taft students had. Do you think this observation was accurate or just a reflection of the small sample group I met during revisits?
In the head vs heart debate, I understand that many CC users suggest to “go with your heart” but the investment is just too large to make a decision based on gut feeling alone. I would really appreciate to hear anyone’s insights on the two schools, and your thought process when you made your decision. All answers are greatly valued. Thanks!
@LaxPrep they are both great schools, pretty much equivalent reputation wise We know several kids that are at Taft and Hotchkiss right now or have been through both. Taft kids definitely seem warmer and more passionate about their school and each other. and just more laid back. Hotchkiss kids we know are more social status conscious and cliquey. So I think your gut feeling seems like what we have observed.
In most cases I wouldn’t hesitate to, but in this case since my opinion is only based on 1 revisit day I’m having trouble justifying going with my gut.
Thank you for the comment. Your views seem confirm what I observed unfortunately. Honestly, I am exaggerating the distinctions to help myself make a decision but there was definitely a noticeable difference.
I will be attending Hotchkiss in the fall FOR SURE after my revisit day. I found the people to be so warm and inviting. My revisit day host introduced me to all of her friends and I felt extremely included. They were super nice and casual, it wasn’t forced. When I was walking around alone, random students would walk up to me and offer a hand in case I was lost. The people there seemed not cliquey at all, and even described themselves as ‘non-cliquey.’ I watched my guide mingle with several groups throughout the day and am excited to be able to do that next year. As for being social status conscious, I think that stereotype stems from the dress code. Since the code is in place, everyone dresses nicer than normal in sometimes pretty expensive items. If you have anymore questions about my impressions and feels about Hotchkiss, just message me or leave a comment, etc. I’m super excited to go next year and hope that you’ll feel the same about wherever you choose to go!
In my daughter’s case, she strongly refused revisits in deciding between A and B, articulating that she doesn’t want to be emotionally swayed and end up making an illogical decision based on unreliably small sample data.
We also visited both schools, but had the opposite impression. The kids at Taft seemed more stereotypically jock/preppy, while the kids at Hotchkiss seemed more laid back/diverse/artsy/warm. I was very surprised - we did not expect to like Hotchkiss as much as we did (unfortunately, we were not as lucky as you were to get a spot). I think this means that the impression you get on a visit will be heavily colored by who your tour guide is and what you see/hear/feel during that limited snapshot of a school.
This post actually inspired me to join after being a long time lurker. (Laxprep: I’ve been following your plight for the past two years and am anxiously awaiting your final decision.) We are facing a similar head vs heart decision with NMH and Loomis.
DS2 is at Hotchkiss and I have a nephew at Taft. My son has flourished socially there and often comments on the inclusiveness and warmth of the school and that’s how it seems when I visit. They have great school spirit and I think both schools exhibit that spirit when they compete against each other. The Hotchkiss – Taft rivalry is great. Another poster in another thread mentioned pervasive political correctness and a lack of leadership at Hotchkiss. To be sure, it is a transitional year at Hotchkiss but the new head seems like a good fit and any suggestion that the school is suffering from an identity crisis seems wholly unfounded. My nephew has had a great experience at Taft as well. The schools share far more similarities than differences. I think any concerns about the schools’ relative remoteness are inconsequential. There isn’t much in Lakeville beyond a handful of restaurants (but the surrounding countryside and farms are gorgeous if that’s important to you) but Millerton is only a few miles away and the school runs regular busses on the weekends. Taft may be in a town but the area immediately surrounding it isn’t really the most exciting for students. My son loved Taft but he’s a musician and Hotchkiss has an edge there. Otherwise it might have been right at the top of his list. I really don’t think there is a wrong decision to be made here.
Head vs. Heart: We were in a similar place with our daughter. These are much closer than you think in terms of “head” so go with your heart. Your head will follow immediately and you won’t look back.
In terms of these two schools specifically, which our daughter got into–I agree with @Frydaddy in terms of impressions, but again, a very small sample size. FWIW, as a parent, I would have preferred to visit Hotchkiss aesthetically and just stare down the hill at that lake, but as student, both spots are stunning.
Thanks everyone for such thoughtful responses! While I am still torn, I will continue to research the two schools over the next week and will hopefully reach a point where I am confident in my decision.
@Frydaddy it’s an honor that my story has inspired you to join! If you need any advice or insight on NMH vs Loomis feel free to DM me! They are both truly great schools.
Taft tends to have the better lacrosse team yet it may end up hurting me, since I would probably get less playing time at the better program. (Of course this is relative…all founders league schools have amazing lacrosse programs)
@LaxPrep Both DS2 and my nephew play lax. I think that your assessment of the lacrosse teams might be right. Taft fields a Thirds lax team. Hotchkiss only has Varsity and JV. DS2 reports that they need D-poles so if you play defense there’s opportunity there.
My daughter is a 9th grader at Hotchkiss, and she was just saying to me this past weekend that the thing she loves most about Hotchkiss is how non-cliquey and non-status conscious it is. When she was choosing between schools, the most important attribute to her was that the student body have an inclusive attitude and that there not be any one particular “type” of student (i.e., not a jock or preppy culture, where kids feel they have to dress or act a certain way to fit in). She specifically chose Hotchkiss because she felt it best fit that mold, and so far she feels that it’s lived up to her hopes.
@Temperantia, I hope your daughter had a good revisit day! I was there for the parent lunch, and it seemed like there was a really great positive energy. I also enjoyed meeting Craig Bradley, and had a chance to chat with for a little while, which was very enjoyable.
@soxmom, Yes, a great revisit day. She was paired well with her student guide. We are revisiting Kent on Friday and then up the road to Hotchkiss for a recital and dinner with DS1 (who is at Kent), DS2, and DD.
It is truly difficult to make a decision based upon the revisits because you always have a risk that the first impression can change in either direction. At the end of the day, you need to rely on your gut feeling and yet nobody knows if it turns out correct. So, you need some ‘luck’ component. School A looks warmer and more friendly than School B to someone but it can be totally opposite to another. So, instead of trying to take into account everything and analyze, believe in the power of ‘force’ and pick the one that your heart tells you to go.
@LaxPrep , I had a couple of thoughts as I read your posts and the responses…
You really can't make a bad decision with these two schools, so try not to let the weight of the decision ruin your excitement about what the next 4 years will bring.
It IS possible to come to the wrong conclusion based on one visit because there is some randomness involved in who you meet. With that said, my sense is that most schools go out of their way to minimize this risk by exposing you to a lot of students while you're there.
What is inviting and inclusive to one person may be off-putting to another. If a group of men were sitting smoking cigars and talking about boxing and pulled up a chair and invited me to join them (and even offered me a fine Cuban cigar), I might be able to recognize the kindness in their invitation, but I still wouldn't really feel like I was included. You should trust your gut on this -- what others have found reflects their truth, which may not be yours.
If you met with a lot of athletes -- especially ones that are on a team together --, remember that team members always have special bonds with each other that as a non-team member, you won't share, and that can feel a little bit like exclusion. That may or may not have had an impact.
I’d trust my gut. I’m also certain that wherever you go, you WILL fit in and have friends. Looking forward to hearing what you decide! Good luck!
and pick the one that your heart tells you to go.