Gunnery?Taft?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I;m applying for tenth next year at Andover,Choate,St.Pauls,Taft,and the Gunnery. I havent seen much information on Taft or the Gunnery here, can anyone give me any details on them? How difficult is it to get in at them?</p>

<p>My BASIC stats are 85 percentile ssat </p>

<p>3.5-3.9 GPA?</p>

<p>Baseball,Wrestling,Football</p>

<p>Some community service work through school,young democrats,newspaper</p>

<p>Need some FA. </p>

<p>What can you tell me about Taft or the Gunnery? What are the kids/teachers like?What is the world language/English department like at both of them?Does applying as 10th make it harder to get in?</p>

<p>And finally I do need a safety school?My main interests are in english and world languages (not big on math or science).</p>

<p>Thanks for the help</p>

2

<p>Actually, I've looked at Gunnery and am interviewing at Taft in 2 weeks. I know a lot of people in the area, so I know the "scoop."</p>

<p><em>sigh</em> i hate having to bash schools, but the Gunnery is not really a good school, from what I've heard. They've had lots of hazing incidents and the like. It was very traditional, class tie and belt, which I liked, but, like I said, I've heard about some horrible things going on at the Gunnery. A lawyer in the area told me that people come in every few months complaining about something at the Gunnery. Also, they have a fairly small endowment, so I would imagine that they don't offer much FA.</p>

<p>Taft, on the other hand, is nice from what I've heard. The kids that go are well liked by people in town. It's a bit more of a laid back kind of school. I'll tell you more after my interview.</p>

<p>Keep in mind though, it's your choice!</p>

3

<p>With the exception of the Gunnery, you have selected all reach schools. It would be to your advantage to select a few more schools that are not as competitive. If you do a search of "Taft," I think you will find more information about the school. There isn't that much info on the Gunnery, so you might need to keep bumping up your thread to find people who know something about it. A few people have made some unkind remarks about it because it is not as competitive as some schools. You would be wise to ignore those comments and pursue your own interests. When you search for a few more schools, my suggestion is to look at schools a little further away from home. This might help differentiate you as a financial aid candidate. What I am trying to say is that if you live close to Gunnery, Choate and Taft, you might be in a more competitive applicant pool. However, if you are an outstanding athlete, that would probably not be needed. If you are a serious wrestler, you should take a look at Blair Academy which is often regarded as the best wrestling program in the country. Their football team is strong as well.</p>

4

<p>Ahh, I would never have imagined the Gunnery had such problems...</p>

<p>I understand Taft is a reach but does applying for 10th grade make it any harder?Same with Choate, does anyone know how many spots/applicants either school has?</p>

<p>Would NMH be considered a good safety school?I had never heard much about it before browsing some of these posts. And I'm open to other schools, preferably in the North East however.</p>

5

<p>bummmmmmmmmmmmmp =p</p>

6

<p>I just posted in the Hotchkiss thread too, but the % admissions is about the same for 9th and 10th graders pretty much everywhere. Some feel the applicant pool is a bit more competitve, making it harder, but I would not say signifigantly so (just my opinion).<br>
Ask at the schools how many new 10th graders there will be. Some of the schools we applied to listed that information on their web site and/or view book. Most add another 25-40% of the class (so if there were 100 freshman, there would be another 25-40 sophmores). </p>

<p>I would not think NMH would be a safety school for very many people. It is a match school for most strong candidates.</p>

<p>When you say World Languages - which one(s) specifically? That could easily narrow down your choices.</p>

7

<p>Do you think I could send there admissions department an email asking for applicants/openings? My interview/tour isn't till december!</p>

8

<p>We never asked how many applicants, just how many new 10th graders. Not that you can't, but we knew the approximate acceptance rate for the school overall and figured in most cases it was about the same - although be careful - # openings and # applications does not give you the acceptance rate (they always over accept).</p>

9

<p>The past poster is right, that you have a lot of reaches there, so you should have a back up whether it is a public school or whatever. Gunnery could be your safety. Their average SSAT is about 45% and they have a lot of students who are fairly good, but could do better. I have never heard any of those bad things that another poster mentioned. the kids are happy there and in most cases the Gunnery has made a huge positive impact on their lives. They have great teachers, lots of individual attention, and good school spirit. They do have financial aid, and since your scores are so high, they would be generous with you. I think you should consider it.</p>

10

<p>I'm interested in Spanish and Chinese. I take chinese with an outside program, my school does not offer it. I'd like to pursue both if possible.</p>

<p>And I'm not hugeeee on wrestling, as long as a school has a program that can somewhat compete I;m satisfied. </p>

<p>I am at my local public school now so I would consider that my safety. I;m not miserable here, but I feel like I would have more opportunities at a school like Choate or Taft. For example I would like to study a semester abroad, my current school does not offer that.</p>

11

<p>According to TABS:</a> Top College-Prep Independent Boarding Schools Directory, no Chinese at Gunnery.</p>

<p>You can use the advanced search at the website listed above to find many useful things re: courses and sports offered at your schools of interest!</p>

12

<p>Just wanted to say a few things, being that I am a student currently attending the Gunnery. First of all, with an 85 percentile SSAT cumulative score, you're in at the Gunnery. When I applied in 2006, the minimum requirements for SSAT for Gunnery was no lower than 50 percentile, so I'm not sure where the stats shown by newyorker22 are coming from (if anyone could let me know where they get this info, please let me know). Also, Gunnery does offer financial aid packages. They offer for academics and for athletics. From my understanding, there are also other merit based scholarships which you may obtain. It is my understanding that Taft is very…frugal concerning financial aid packages, but yes, they also offer financial aid (I had applied to Taft as well as to the Gunnery).</p>

<p>Academically, the Gunnery doesn't provide all of the languages provided by Taft. I had initially wanted to take Latin (don't laugh, it helps on the SAT), but settled for taking both French and Spanish (which are the only foreign languages offered here). At Taft, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish are offered. At both schools, the Language department extends from introductory language all the way to AP Language and AP Literature. Taft and Gunnery both allow for ISPs (independent study projects) in Language. If you want to study abroad, there are opportunities at the Gunnery to do so. For example, every year, we send two students from the Junior Class to study at the Woodstock Academy in India. I'm not sure if there are similar opportunities at Taft– you'll have to check with someone who goes there. I'd be surprised if there aren't, though.
The English department here is a strong one. English is broken up into strands. Freshman year and Sophomore year both explore these strands, then in Junior Year, you have the elective to take one of three strands of English: Expository (which examines the writing of essays and other expository work), Creative (which deals with poetry and creative writing) and Literary Critical (which deals with analyzing, critiquing, and interpreting text). There are APs offered for English, as well as a Senior Seminar. The Mathematics department offers courses from algebra 1 through Operations Research (a post-calculus class). The Math department offers calculus, AP Calc AB, and AP Calc BC (following the B and C curriculums for college). Science here is mostly conceptual. We also offer AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology.</p>

<p>Our football and baseball teams rock out! Last year, our football team won the league trophy (a league which includes Taft) and subsequently were invited to a game against Nobles to decide which team took home the New England trophy. Two years ago, the baseball team was ranked 1st in their league. Both teams have a tradition of excellence. The wrestling team, on the other hand, hasn't been quite as successful as football and baseball. It is not the best, nor is it the worst, and most years, it is somewhere in the middle. The school just hired a new wrestling coach who was a graduate of the Brooks school, which has had a very strong wrestling program for several years (our old coach retired from the school to pursue work in a laboratory) The school's winter athletic focus is on hockey and mens basketball, for the most part.</p>

<p>Concerning the post of bs_hopeful, the Gunnery, as far as I have seen, is a very tight-knit community with genuinely warm and outgoing faculty and students. We have exactly 300 students (we are Sparta, lol), so we're much smaller than Taft, Andover, and NMH. Because of this, word travels fast at the school. This includes gossip. I have been here for 3 years, and have seen a lot of what the school has to offer. I have only witnessed one incident which even comes close to hazing, and resulted from a misunderstanding between two freshmen which ended in a short scuffle. It was resolved the following day by the prefects and the administration. I have become acquainted with both the students involved in the incident, and both are genuinely nice individuals. Hazing and similar incidents are not the major concern at our school. IF I were asked what the biggest problem with our school is, I would say that the biggest problem is the amount of gossip generated within school grounds and the amount of people who just take it in without really analyzing what is being said. The hazing that resulted from the incident between the two freshmen resulted because the upperclassmen heard a rumor that there was a freshman in the dorm who was "terrorizing" other freshmen, and so, feeling that the environment of the school was threatened, they decided to crack down on this kid. Fortunately, nothing happened, and the next day, everything was resolved by our administration, and both students are still here, studying hard, and doing well. Both are well liked by our community as a whole.</p>

<p>Concerning the lawyer, and his remark about the town of Washington constantly complaining about the school, I will say this: the Gunnery is located on the top of a hill overlooking Washington Depot. If we want to do anything out of the ordinary, we have to get permission from the town to do so, and the town seems determined to refuse almost every time. Whether this means hosting the Volleyball Championships or trying to host our first night football game, it is almost always an uphill battle with the town. It isn't that the Gunnery residents are bad citizens (far from the truth), but rather, that we are a boarding school located in a town where people prefer for everything to remain as it is: calm, quiet, and still. Anything out of the ordinary always causes a stir with the neighbors. One example: the townspeople filed two complaints recently: one being against allowing our school to hold a half-time show at a night football game, because they felt that loud music at eight o'clock on a Saturday evening would be too disruptive for them. Another example: one of our neighbors (who lives on the same road as the school) claimed that the school vans in the parking lot blocked his view of the landscape, so we had to relocate vans that had been in our own parking lot, on the Gunnery campus, to another area. As for the view of the landscape, this was in the VanSinderin parking lot, located right next to two things: a dormitory and a very dense treeline, behind which were several faculty houses and another rather large dormitory. One can't see anything scenic from behind the parking lot, yet our neighbor, whose house was behind the fence separating the Gunnery from their home, had to file the suit. Unfortunately, they won the case.</p>

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<p>Concerning newspapers, the Gunnery has several that I know of…</p>

<p>The Highlander: The school's student newspaper. It is similar to a typical newspaper. It describes recent events, profiles a faculty member, and reports recent athletic contest results. One may either subscribe or download it from the school's English MOSS page.</p>

<p>The Stray Shot: Our literary magazine. This magazine is published annually, and includes some of the finest works submitted to the English Journal year round.</p>

<p>The English Journal: Available online, the English Journal contains student, faculty, and alumni works submitted to the English Department.</p>

<p>On The Go- the magazine sent to all alumni and parents. It features student and faculty profiles, gives a basic idea of upcoming events at the school, and keeps parents and alumni in touch with the happenings of the school.</p>

14

<p>Also, the Gunnery has taken major steps to increase their college placement, in my opinion.</p>

<p>Here is their college acceptance list for 2005, 2006, and 2007:
College</a> Acceptances</p>

<p>Here is their matriculation for the class of 2008:
Gunnery</a> News</p>

<p>I was really impressed by how much the school's list improved in 2008, and was better in my opinion than some other school's lists that I have seen.</p>

15

<p>1JOA6L6, excellent response! Way to stick up for the Gunn. People tend to be more critical of Mr. Gunn's School than not, especially in regards to Taft.</p>

<p>As far as college placement, the previous poster makes a great point. Gunnery has really worked hard to increase their senior class placement into better schools. So far this year, we will have students attending Williams, Bates, Bowdoin, Trinity, Vanderbilt, and Skidmore (I believe it was Skidmore) in their respective classes of 2013. Last year we placed students at notable schools including University of Virginia, Duke, Virginia, Colgate, Brown, and Bates. </p>

<p>Really, the college placement comes down to the individual, especially speaking as a transfer student. If you have the right test scores and grades and are taking hard classes (as the essay-post mentioned, the Gunnery DOES offer many challenging AP Classes), colleges will recognize that.</p>

<p>A parent asked my once why test scores appeared to be lower at The Gunnery (by that I assumed SAT scores), to which I could only respond that most students come from private middle and elementary schools which, unlike public schools in Connecticut, are not required to perform standardized testing. Sophomore year of high school in the state of CT mandates that every student take the CAPT tests, requiring that every student pass in order to graduate. Also, speaking from my years in one of the best public school systems in New England (including my Freshman and Sophomore years at the high school level), the teachers used scan tron sheets for almost every test. This constant practice with bubble grids within a specified time arguably prepares students better for standardized testing, as it acts as a more realistic imitation. That was just my opinion, as a current student.</p>

<p>Otherwise, I can't see why a student couldn't attend the Gunnery and get just as good an education as a student at Taft. After all, it's all what you choose to make of the experience. A student who excels in difficult classes at the Gunnery could conceivably be better than a student who slacks at Taft, so to attempt to generalize the two schools would be nearly impossible, as there are always exceptions to the "rule" (this is not to take away from the fact that Taft is widely recognized as a great school, because it is). The bottom line is that you can enjoy yourself at either Taft or the Gunnery and receive a great education, but that all depends on you.</p>

<p>If you have any specific questions about The Gunnery, feel free to message me! I'd be more than happy to answer anything questions you have. </p>

<p>Oh, and the Gunnery Boy's Hockey Team beat Taft at Taft in the Quarterfinals of the New England Championship :) Just thought I'd throw that out there...</p>

16

<p>Several students who have attended The Gunnery have good things to say about their experience there. It is a small, close-knit community with caring teachers. The ambiance is quaint and inviting. The baseball team is top notch, and the coach is an experienced stand-up guy...the coursework is what you make of it. College matriculation has improved and if you work hard you will have many attractive choices. The Gunnery is definately a school to visit and consider if it is the right fit for you, as it has been for many fine student-athletes.</p>

17

<p>Although true that the coursework is "what you make of it", this is not in the traditional sense. I'll explain myself.</p>

<p>What you make of it usually implies that people are not going to help you very much, and therefore you have to find a way by yourself. This is not the case here at the Gunnery. At Gunn, we have several online databases open to us and two libraries. Your teachers live on campus or nearby and are more than happy to volunteer their time and knowledge. All you have to do is ask.</p>

<p>You're allowed to take as many courses as you want, provided that you can fit them into your schedule, which allows for six academic classes (seven if you're a senior, because freshmen-juniors take one block a week for writing lab, and there are special classes that sophomores and juniors must take to graduate, such as public speaking, which meet twice weekly).</p>

<p>My freshman year, I took an Honors Geometry course, Biology, English Honors, and History Honors. However, even though I spoke two languages fluently before arriving here, I still decided to take not just one foreign language, but two! I made the commitment to learning the languages, and the school responded by teaching me.
Outside of my classes, I also took private music instruction. This gave me seven classes. I also did three sports in the meantime.</p>

<p>If you want to challenge yourself academically, you may, and you will find that people will help to push you along the way. If you decide not to challenge yourself very much, the no one will condemn you for it (unless you slack off in those classes you do take, in which case you will be assigned proctored study-hall times during the day and in the evenings). This is how the coursework here is what you make of it. You work hard at all times, learn as much as you can, and take courses which reflect your ability/ambitions.</p>

18

<p>tconn30 wrote</p>

<h2>"Oh, and the Gunnery Boy's Hockey Team beat Taft at Taft in the Quarterfinals of the New England Championship Just thought I'd throw that out there..."</h2>

<p>That was one great game!</p>

<p>Gunn Hockey= 4th place New Englands 2008-2009</p>

19

<p>The phrase "what you make of it" more closely implies that what you will gain from academic or athletic experiences results from the amount of work and effort you put in. This doesn't necessarily imply a lack of academic support from teachers. Characteristically, prep schools have a smaller student to faculty ratio and foster an environment in which help becomes abundantly available. This is the case at the Gunnery, as you and I both know, being current students. Trust me, compared to a public school, you spend much more time with your teachers (and have a much different relationship) and have easier access to help at any given time of the day than in a public school system. This is not necessarily a fault in public schools because, for many students, the assistance is not necessary; it's simply an important part of the prep school experience (and one that prep schools pride themselves on).</p>

<p>When I said that it's all what you choose to make of it, I simply meant that regardless of the levels of classes you take or the level of athletics you compete at, no matter where you are, what you take away from your experience depends entirely on how hard you are willing to work and how much effort you are willing to put in. It all depends on the individual.</p>