<p>I'm wondering what people's impression of Hotchkiss is. What makes it different from the other schools? There doesn't seem to be much talk about it on this forum and I'm curious if that's because people don't like it.</p>
<p>Just search against Hotchkiss. It’s one of the Schools mentioned most often on this site and there is a TON of material about it. Look up kafka, he is the biggest, baddest, take-no-prisoners Hotchkiss homie known to man. Give him a forum, and he will most certainly Hotchkiss you until you beg for mercy.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is a great school. This message board tends to become dominated by a few of the most well known schools. There are LOTS of schools that aren’t obsessed over as much here. I’m not sure why. Groton, for instance, is a super-elite school that isn’t mentioned so much. I think it’s because it is small? Lawrenceville… beautiful campus and facilities, very friendly…because it’s not in New England? Mercersburg - a REALLY nice school in a beautiful setting … all the way in PA. Kent… flexible academics and high expectations in a beautiful location … don’t know why it doesn’t get mentioned so much. Blair and NMH have a few cheerleaders on this board for very good reasons. They’re great schools.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss seems to be (like Groton) one of those “love it or hate it” kind of schools. I’m not sure why. Some kids have very specific ideas about where they want to go to school. My son seemed to be able to perfectly see himself at all but two of the schools we visited. He doesn’t fit into just one box, so he’s pretty adaptable and ended up applying to many very different schools because there was something about all of them that he really liked. </p>
<p>Don’t let the lack of obsession on one school color your opinion. Go with your gut. How you feel (or your child if you’re a parent) is really the only thing that matters.</p>
<p>Neato, you think the structure at Groton is what puts it in that “love it or hate it” category? Visiting schools with my child, we had a couple of less favorable impressions, but certainly not there.</p>
<p>Maybe so. For anyone who doesn’t know what we’re referring to, take a look at the “Guide to Groton” pdf on the website. (I think it’s under the parent section.) I think it’s the only school that I know of that still has an actual study “Hall”, meaning there is a hall with assigned desks and a monitor on a platform. It’s very “old school”. Some people interpret that as stuffy - a word I’ve heard a lot used to describe it. Obviously, since my son has submitted an application, he doesn’t see it that way. It’s a different sort of school and certainly not every kid’s cup of tea.</p>
<p>As the parent of a 13 year old, structure sounds good to me. I shudder to think of how I might have abused too much freedom when I was that age. :-)</p>
<p>Among the top schools, Andover and SPS are less structured where students have more freedom. In addition to Groton, Choate is relatively more structured.</p>
<p>Deerfield and SAS also appeared to be somewhat more structured. That said, I think some of the schools are more structured than they may appear to prospective students, at least with regard to academic performance.</p>
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with a structured study hall! When I was a senior at my boarding school I was a prefect in a 2 hour study hall for underclassmen. It was an all-boys school, and I can tell you that even with “structure” there was still an annoying amount of horseplay. Imagine how unstructured study would go…</p>
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<p>I am inclined to agree. These schools have a lot invested in these kids. They all have certain “safety nets” in place.</p>
<p>My son is a first year lower mid at Hotchkiss. 15 months ago, I had never heard of this school. The more my son, my wife and I learned about Hotchkiss, the more we were impressed by it. For example, it has a student-to-course ratio of 2.4 to 1 (same as Andover), an endowment of about $600K per student (which is one of the best, if not the best, for BS’s), and a beautiful campus (including an amazing athletic center and musical auditorium). But more that these fine text book stats, Hotchkiss almost daily exceeds our expectations in its support, care and embrace of my son. My family could not be more pleased with this excellent school.</p>
<p>What does the student-to-course number mean?</p>
<p>This ratio means that there are 2.4 students per course offered. In other words, there are about 585 students attending, and 240 courses offered by, Hotchkiss or about 2.4 students for each course available at the school. Pretty impressive, I think.</p>