Hello all, My DS is a tier one hockey player and an honors student in honors classes at a very good New England High School. We have applied to Taft, Choate, Kent, Loomis, Westminster, The Gunnery, and Milbrook. All schools coaches have shown interest. He will repeat his sophomore year. My question is how do you decide? We want an excellent academic experience and thus have prioritized Taft and Choate as the top 2 choices. We also want a strong hockey program - otherwise he would be fine staying at his local high school. Any thoughts on finding the perfect match? Thanks in advance.
At this point in the process, I’d suggest you just wait and see what the options end up being. No sense spending time angsting over which school to attend if he turns out not to get in there anyway. Revisit days are critical to the decision-making process, and for an athlete, he’ll want to have further conversations with the coaches at that point (for instance, they should be able to give some better insight at that point as to the role they’d see him playing on their team).
Agree with @soxmom. I would add that I’d always recommend the best academic option available. A sports career could always end with one injury.
Thank you - he has already met with the coaches and it appears that he will not have an issue based upon his grades, SSAT scores and his hockey/lacrosse. I was hoping to get some insight into the various opinions of how the schools rate academically coupled with the strength of the hockey team. Yes, they are always one step away form an injury. Having said that we would not be even considering the prep route if we were not reached out to as our high school is top notch. thank you
If your high school is top notch and hockey is important, you would get the best of both worlds by staying at your local HS and playing at the club level. I don’t believe any of the boarding school sports programs can complete with club-level sports just due to the constraints of the BS programs where coaches wear multiple hats and academics take first priority. There have been many threads here from elite athletes asking if they can continue playing club sports while at BS and the answer almost always seems to be no as students are not allowed to leave campus for regular practices and travel play. Choate is a school that values its hockey team, but your son would not be playing at the club level. Unless your son is looking for the benefits of the boarding experience, I’m not sure what attending any of the schools on your list will give him that he can’t get from your top notch local option and a club team.
Seems like tempting fate to assume he’ll get into all those schools, but ok, if you say so. The answer to your questions, though, is “it depends.” If you just want to know which of those schools are most highly regarded in the external world for their academics, then I would say Choate first, followed closely by Taft and Loomis, then Kent, then the other three. As for strength of the hockey program, I’m sure you can look up how each team has finished in recent years.
But if you want to know what’s the best choice for YOUR son, then it depends on what your (and his) goals are. Do you want him to get a decent education but are hoping he’ll be recruited athletically for a top college? If so, then any of the schools you named will satisfy the education point, and I’d be asking questions of the coaches or AD about the team’s recent successes in college recruiting.
And then there a huge number of intangibles to consider. How will the time he needs to spend on sports affect his academics? Is he a kid who breezes through his work and gets good grades, or does he really need to work at it? If the latter, maybe a school that’s somewhat less academically demanding might be a better fit. What kind of academic and social environment will he be more likely to thrive in? Choate, Loomis, and Taft are considerably larger than the other schools you name. Is he a big fish in a small pond kind of kid, or is he motivated by the challenge of being a medium sized fish in a big pond? Will he do better in an environment that’s a bit more tight-knit and nurturing, or is he ready to swim in the deep end (to continue the fish/pond analogy)?
Thank you for your response. Playing locally is not an option. His high school is academically challenging, yet the high school hockey team is not an option. He currently plays for a U-16 Tier one hockey team in NY and playing for the high school would be taking step down. thank you for your insight.
I don’t think I am tempting fate. Aside from making the National Development Camp, his grades alone, recommendations, and SSAT scores, (sports not included) would allow him to be a contender in any of the given schools. Based upon his rigorous travel schedule and maintaining high honors he is able to manage his work load very well and spends many hours ensuring his grades are excellent. I would prefer him to go to a Taft or Choate due to the excellence in academia. Thank you for your insight.
Hopefully you will have some acceptances to choose from (although that is not a given, by any means). At revisits, you may want to ask the coaches about the makeup of their current team. Are there a lot of graduating seniors, or is it a “young” team? What is the reality of the travel time? Also, does your son like the coaches & does he feel a rapport with them? How about the other players? Ask as many questions as possible about the realities of day-to-day life during revisits and that should help you to narrow down your options.
@Labufadora Spend a bit more time on this board (maybe look at the results from last year) and you will see that very talented students of all types, be it athletic, musical, math prodigal, get unhappy results every year. You will see that some of these students are chuck full of extracurricular activities, yet maybe the fit wasn’t there. Your son may well be accepted at all of the schools for which he’s applied, but it is never a guarantee. Admissions officers seem to know how to pick the students that will best fit their institution, and humility seems to go a long way…
I agree with @ChoatieMom regarding the superiority of (most) clubs to (most) BS sport programs. While I know nothing about hockey, I would imagine that if your son plays in a top-rated club he will not find the same level of training, intensity, skills, and competition in a BS. This certainly is true for my child’s sport. Opportunities to play club while at BS are limited and will vary between schools. Obviously, the proximity to good clubs will be a major factor. I think it is important for the child (and parents) to be realistic about these limitations and not have false expectations. Just my two cents. Best of luck to your son!
I am not a hockey mom but BS hockey is a little different than other high school sports. If it was soccer or baseball, I’d say definitely stick with local high school and club, but for hockey, there is a strong history at boarding schools.
Here’s an article touching on that history: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-changing-landscape-of-prep-school-hockey
However, some of the best players never finish BS and move to Junior Hockey in their Junior or Senior year, or go to Junior Hockey after high school. Look at college rosters (Ivies and other top schools) and see where these kids come from - and notice how old many are!
Not on your list, but I’ve always heard Shattuck St. Mary’s in MN as being a boarding school that is a hockey powerhouse.
As @MAandMEmom said, I think you are severely underestimating the applicants your son will be competing with, especially for Taft and Choate. Straight A’s, competitive SSAT and varsity level athletics are a dime a dozen. Just check the official stats and acceptance list from 2015. Also, you cannot mistake a coaches interest as the schools interest at top schools.
So, If your son is fortunate enough to get a few acceptances on M10, I would prioritize the hockey program over the prestige of the school. The perk of a lower tier school is that he will be able to stand out academically maximizing his chance to get committed for college. (If that is the goal)
I wish you and your son the best of luck for M10 and beyond.
You might be an amazing FP students and still you might be accepted all but one school that you have compared and picked. There will be plenty of time to compare schools after March 10.
You arent really applying to the top hockey schools (Westminster is the best of your group) nor are you applying to the to top academic schools other than Choate. When you say that the coaches have shown interest, what do you mean? Is he a recruit or did you just apply and then contact the coaches. Millbrook seems like an odd choice. It is neither academically rigorous not does it have a competitive hockey program. Did your son made the national development camp for NY? You said he is at a New England High School but plays U16 in NY?
You must be in Connecticut —playing for the Westchester Express? Why wouldn’t you go to the Connecticut Jr Rangers and stay at your high school?
What I know about hockey is from seeing other kids play. Most kids I know from a young age play hockey from September through April. At boarding school hockey is one trimester (winter) sport so not as much play time. Something to consider if hockey is the main interest in high school. I agree with not getting to wrapped up in prioritizing programs until you know the options in March. Revisit days can be helpful at that time.
I also wondered why Shattuck is not on the list if hockey is the top priority.
I would ask my self these questions; What is Hockey to your child? Is it his passion, career, hobby, major EC for college admission, etc.? What are your priorities? Do you see him playing Hockey as a regular hobby if he doesn’t become a professional player? Why boarding school? What are the priorities and in what percentages?
Here are some things to consider as a boarding school hockey mom (my daughter plays but is not an elite):
Varsity players are all recruits. It is rare at a top bs for any player who is not recruited to play varsity, and very few players move up from JV to varsity (except for a few recruits who are moved down from varsity after try outs and then move back up). The best recruits start on varsity and stay there. As part of the decision process, take a look at the current school rosters and see how many players are graduating seniors, how many forwards are on the team, etc., and ask coaches at schools where your son is accepted how much ice time he thinks your son may get.
Boarding school varsity hockey absolutely can compete against club hockey- check the rosters of colleges you have in mind and you will see a good portion of the bs players are being fed to these schools, especially the LAC schools that many BS kids love. The women’s olympic hockey coach grew up at Taft and coached there as well. Players on both US Olympic teams came from prep schools.
BS hockey players do not play as long a season or as many games as club teams but this can be a big plus for some kids who love being able to play a different sport as well; some players prefer to stay in clubs to get the additional ice time.
Bs will prioritize academics regardless of what is happening on the rink. Your son will likely have a “better” peer group on a boarding school team as the kids have all been hand picked and are interested in succeeding in school as well as on the rink. They team lives together which makes the team even more bonded.
Your son will also not have to commute long distances to practices or games. He can walk to the rink and still be in his dorm in time to do his homework. Games are scheduled Wednesday and Saturday afternoons for the most part. No more 5 am trips to the rink!
Many recruited players will commit to colleges as juniors therefore what happens freshman and sophomore year will matter if your son wants to play in college. However if your son is not NHL bound, the preparation he receives in bs will give him amazing opportunities to develop other interests, and better prepared overall for college.
Here is a recent article that might interest hockey parents considering boarding school:
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-changing-landscape-of-prep-school-hockey