I hope you all had an amazing Christmas Day!
I would love it if people could give me insights on Hotchkiss, Deerfield and Choate. I have a few questions specifically:
- How happy are the students there, do they enjoy attending their school?
- How supportive and close-knit are the communities?
- To what extent are “hooks” (legacy, athletic recruits etc) considered during admissions?
I am actually an 8th grader doing my applications. I’ve done tours and interviews, and of course I have my own opinions. They are all amazing schools, but I just want to see how my opinions compare to others. And yes I have a legacy. Thanks!
They’re all great as you know. They are all strong competitors in sports and New England Championships. Hotchkiss has the one main school building, whereas Deerfield and Choate are more like mini college campuses with buildings throughout the campus. Choate has the Kohler Environmental Center which is like a separate campus. Choate has an outstanding new Student Center and a fairly new state of the art Math Center. The communities at both Deerfield and Choate (archrivals) are tight knit. I can only say from the perspective of Choate, the kids are fiercely loyal to one another and most of the time are happy. All schools can be pressure cookers if you allow them to be. In my limited experience having gone thru admissions with my kids twice, Hotchkiss is geographically isolated as demonstrated by poor cell phone coverage. They and Deerfield seem to weigh heavily towards legacy