<p>I would go to The Hotchkiss but thats just me, I know it has a bit more " lade back community".</p>
<p>Laid-back*</p>
<p>Izzy we got the same prob!!!</p>
<p>Hi 2010 class, I have created a thread to share your Revisit Experiences and Decisions 2010.</p>
<p>[thread=894983]Revisit Experiences - Decisions 2010[/thread]</p>
<p>hotchkiss- laid back? since when? i’ve heard that it’s like a pressure cooker, and now it’s “laid back”… why is everything so contradictory on the internet?!</p>
<p>My son is a first year student at Hotchkiss. He has found it neither laid back nor a pressure cooker. So far, he has found life at THS balanced well among the atlhletic, social and academic ascepts of school. Hotchkiss has been so much better than he ever dreamed it would be…so far.</p>
<p>Hotchkiss Hotchkiss Hotchkiss… 
</p>
<p>I dunno though, I might be a little biased cause as you can probably see from my location status, I’m GOING TO HOTCHKISS THIS FALL!!! EEEEEEKK!!! </p>
<p>Haha sorry… just had to get that out… the fact still amazes me every time I think about it. 
:)</p>
<p><em>EDIT</em> Oh, sorry guys! I just realized that I had already posted my opinion on this thread a little while ago, and therefore this post was sorta unnecessary… oh well. ;)</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is definitely moving up on my list as I consider a new list of schools for my daughter who will apply next Fall. It is remote however. When we stopped by recently, we couldn’t get any cell coverage…is that a real problem??? I would want my daughter to be able to call home.</p>
<p>Also, we learned thru mutual friends, Choate has a Kennedy attending now, so the legacy continues.</p>
<p>Lots of Choaties it looks like attend Georgetown. Is it the public service influence or something else? Do as many Hotchkiss grads attend Georgetown or elsewhere? Is there a real difference in matriculation stats between the two?</p>
<p>Redblue…, glad to hear that THS is moving up your list. It is a remarkable school in so many ways. (Note: My son is an upper mid there and absolutely loves it.)</p>
<p>As for cell coverage at Hotchkiss, it can be spotty, especially in some of the buildings. Whenever I lose cell coverage inside a building while at THS, I have always been able to get reconnected by walking outside. As for phones for students, I think that each student can obtain through the school a land line for his/her room. So, phones shouldn’t be a problem. </p>
<p>As for Hotchkiss and Georgetown, there seems to be a strong tie here. For the years 2007-10, Hotchkiss has sent more grads to G’town than any other college: 23. That said, other top schools have taken almost as many THS kids during these years as Georgetown: e.g.,
Princeton (22); Yale (20); Penn (18); NYU (18); Brown (17); Columbia (16); Dartmouth (15); and Williams (15).</p>
<p>I think Choate’s appeal are it’s suburban location and the laid back atmosphere (if you like it). Hotchkiss feels far away and a bit cold, but it has bigger endowment (per student at least) and richer alums. Otherwise the two schools are really on par.</p>
<p>I believe that the weather year round in Lakeville, CT is not too dissimilar from that in Wallingford, CT. As for college enrollments, Choate and Hotchkiss are quite similar. See <a href=“http://www.matriculationstats.org%5B/url%5D”>www.matriculationstats.org</a>.</p>
<p>Hey, Is it true that Choate took away Facebook priv. due to bullying issues? Also heard they are getting a new headmaster. I found that a lot, as in more than 12, of the teachers left the school this yr. This raises some concern. I asked Hotchkiss how many teachers leave the school on average, answer-2 or 3 is normal.</p>
<p>As for the THS head of school, he is magnificent. His name is Malcolm McKenzie, a Rhodes Scholar from South Africa and former head of schools in Africa and Europe. His touch seems as golden as his melodious English accent, from his hires (e.g., this summer, Kevin Hicks as Dean of Faculty, who was formerly an English teacher at Yale and head of one its colleges/houses) to his visiting lecturers (e.g., two Nobel Laureates in Literature last spring). A remarkable man for a remarkable school.</p>
<p>Sounds like Kevin Hicks was brought in to shake the tree.</p>
<p>Who is Kevin Hicks? What tree? please?</p>
<p>Kevin Hicks is the Associate Head of School and Dean of the Faculty. Don’t know of too many BS’s that have an Assoiciate Head of School.</p>
<p>And while we are on the topic of Heads of Schools - anyone out there have any inside knowledge on who might be on the short list to replace Shannahan at Choate? I would hope that the final announcement would come prior to the deadline for applicants to accept an offer of admission. Think that would be an important factor to consider.</p>
<p>Hicks came in as Faculty Dean because the slot was open and he was highly qualified. The prior Dean of Faculty left Hotchkiss during or at the end of last school year in order to become the headmaster of a private school in N.M. I fail to see how this hire by THS of Mr. Hicks is the part of some “shake the tree” agenda. Maybe I’m just a little too ill informed, or Sarum is just a little too cynical. I tend to think the latter.</p>
<p>Madaket- if you go on the Choate website, the public announcement was made two days ago They are all fine schools. No reason to speculate on personnel matters that we know nothing about.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the phone service at Hotchkiss. All students have a landline with their own # and VM. Cell service is spotty but once you realize that none of the students are walking around tethered to cell phones you realize that this is a blessing in disguise. Since the school issues Macbooks to all incoming preps, you will be able to Skype, call the landline, leave messages…no problem. The spotty cell reception seems to still be enough to text with occasional slow delivery but that helps discourage a lot of the needless chatter that can distract a student from studies and from simply living in the moment.</p>
<p>I don’t think it really make sense for anyone to argue that one school is “better” than another. Both Choate and Hotchkiss would be on a short list of the top prep schools in the country. Both will have an outstanding and dedicated faculty. Both schools send numerous graduates to the top colleges in the country, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Brown, Williams, Amherst, Stamford, MIT, Columbia, etc. Both schools have facilities that rival some small colleges. </p>
<p>Of the two schools, I can really tell you the most about Choate, both because I went there as a student in the 70’s and because I have a son who started as a freshman and will be graduating this year. So rather than telling you why I think Choate is better than Hotchkiss, I will instead explain why I think Choate is a great school and leave it up to the original poster to decide if he thinks it sounds “better” than Hotchkiss, at least for him.</p>
<p>First, and foremost, I think Choate genuinely has a warm, friendly and inclusive atmosphere. It has a very diverse campus, with lots of international students. Yet, there don’t seem to be a lot of cliques. My son is somewhat introverted and a little bit of a math/science nerd. Yet, he has been super happy at Choate and has lots of close friends. </p>
<p>Second, in my view, Choate’s location in Wallingford is a big plus - although you may have to dodge a few cars on the way to class. You are only a short walk away from the train station, restaurants, a grocery store, a movie theater, and a Walmart. New Haven and the campus of Yale are a 20 minute train ride away, NYC about 2 hours. It is really nice to be able to get off campus once in a while.</p>
<p>Third, Choate has a very diverse offering of courses. My son is pretty strong in Math and finished calc. his junior year. Choate offers a number of advanced math courses beyond calc. It also offers a wide variety of science, history, language, english, and arts/music courses.</p>
<p>Fourth, Choate has state of the art facilities. For example, it has the PMAC, a state of the art performance center designed by I.M. Pei. It has a beautiful new science center. It has an indoor pool, an indoor hockey ring, brand new athletic fields, a fairly new running track and the winter ex, which is filled with exercise equipment. It offers dozens of sports, from archery to yoga.</p>
<p>Fifth, Choate has an interesting assortment of dorms. Some of its dorms are very large (like Mem. House where most of the freshmen boys live). It also has a bunch of very small houses, where only 10-12 students may live. It has modern housing (the school built two brand new dorms two year ago). It also has some very old and quirky dorms that have a lot of character. It has singles, doubles and some triples. In short it offers a wide variety of dorm choices.</p>
<p>Sixth, it has a pretty active foreign exchange program. Kids can do a term abroad, in Rome, in Paris, in Spain and (I think) in China.</p>
<p>However, ultimately it really is a question of fit. (I know this is a cliche, but it really is true). Different schools will appeal to different kids. The best way to use this site is to try to develop a feel for each school based on the posts you read. And to also pay attention to who is posting. I have an admitted bias in favor of Choate, as both an alumnus and a parent. But I have tried to give you at least a somewhat objective basis for my conclusion that Choate is a great school. And my information is based on personal experience. You should be wary of those posters that either praise or criticize a particular school when they clearly don’t know very much about it.</p>