Would love to hear opinions on these two schools and how they differ in both reputation and reality
Don’t know much about Loomis, but judging from the two schools relative college placement records and SAT scores, Hotchkiss appears to be on a different league. Our DS applied to Hotchkiss and was impressed during the revisit day with Hotchkiss’ excellent academics and beautiful campus.
They both are great schools. I think, based on a handful of kids I know at both (so not scientifically! ) that Loomis is a bit gentler and kinder and may do better with a wider range of types/interests. Hotchkiss is careful to take kids who will do well there, not just academically but also socially.
If you have a choice, chances are good that one will feel more right than the other.
Anecdotally, our experience with the two schools was the opposite of @gardenstategal’s post. We went to revisit days at both, and my daughter asked if we could leave the Loomis one before it was even over. She was very turned off by the interactions between the students that she witnessed during her time with her student host. She liked her host perfectly fine, but felt that the girls seemed cliquey and not supportive of people with differing interests. That may or may not be accurate, just one kid’s gut reaction, but we left, and she’s been extremely happy at Hotchkiss these last two years.