Hello all - my daughter got accepted into the hill school, loomis Chaffee and the episcopal school. She is not into sports so for us it’s not a differentiator. She is very academic, loves theater , public speaking and Mock trial . She wants to Pursue law and is good with math and science. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make the choice
Hi! I also got into the Hill school but ended up choosing Loomis,
I’m a captain of the debate/public speaking team and I participated for the first time in theater in this past term so I’d be open to answering any questions you may have!
Hello - thanks for the response . I wanted to understand how you made the choice . What drew you to loomis over hill ? The hill traditions and small campus are endearing . However the writing program and classes at loomis seen to be very attractive . Thanks so much for the willingness to help
My son is a 3rd form at Hill and loves it. His interests are different than your daughter but from what I have seen from the theater group, the program looks fantastic and the students LOVE Mr. McGriff. If you haven’t already, i recommend reaching out to admissions to get time to speak with him.
honestly, hill was my safety and so I wasn’t at a big loss when I chose loomis. but I think for me I wanted a more open dress code and a school that had a bigger emphasis on humanities vs. STEM. the amt. of rules at Hill also made it a bit of a factor for me, and they just didn’t appeal to me overall as much as LC did.
but LC does lack a few more of the traditions schools like hill have in # so if you really want a traditional school that has all of these rules and traditions then go for it
Also, I’m not conservative, and Hill from my experience and what I’ve heard/seen tends to lean a bit more on the conservative side due to its history
mental health at hill is also something to consider, i withdrew due to multiple reasons, this being one, but many people in my dorm were really unhappy with the schools job in making sure it’s students are happy. hill has a pretty good speech and debate program, i did it. it’s abt 1.5 hours a day, every weekday with tournaments on weekends. my roommate did theatre. it’s a very intense program, a large commitment socially aswell. i can definitely agree with @foxrye on the fact that hill is very strict w rules. sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the bad. feel free to ask questions if you have.
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Thanks so much @lilyesh and @foxrye - my daughter’s first choice is hill . She likes the traditions and the strict dress code and the family dinner . She is just worried about the classes . Loomis has a better writing program and the center for self and she looked at how the computer sciences program syllabi was customized for STEM vs non STEM.
It basically is boiling down to the Hillacademics and writing programs and the speech and debate program . If you both or @lindquik could weigh in on the academics and the rigor I would be very grateful. She really wants to hone her writing and humanities side and wants to make sure she chooses right .
Thanks so much all
Yes The theater program is what she loves . We are midway between the schools so distance is moot point . Thanks so much for the advice though . It is important for us . Can you please weigh in on the academics and the teachers ? Are they challenging? She wants to understand the writing programs as well
The biggest thing we have been happy with at Hill is how inspired our son has been by his teachers. He seems challenged but also empowered and supported by his teachers. It seems like the teachers will follow the students lead for what they want to achieve.
For example, My sons English teacher has been at the school for decades and he allows “unlimited” reviews/edits up until the deadline - if a student wants to turn it in when due and accept the grade, great, if they want to revise/rewrite with his feedback along the way 10 times, great. I can’t say that all English teacher operate that way but can say that all my sons teachers for all subjects have been very responsive/supportive when he has gone for extra help - but the student needs to be proactive and seek it out if that makes sense.
My son hasn’t done it yet but it seems like a lot of upper students work with a faculty member on a “self study” on a topic which they have an interest. It really feels like students are empowered and supported to make their academics as challenging as they want and are not limited by just what is offered in the course book - which is plenty challenging on its own.
There is a dedicated writing center but i don’t believe my son has used it much as it is not his interest and he has gotten what he wants/needs from his English and History teachers. It is worth asking the school about. When we were deciding last year, we found Hill to be very responsive and open with information on everything we asked.
My son hasn’t felt that the rules are overbearing in any way but I understand that depends on the individual. He loves the traditions and has a lot of respect for his teachers, coaches etc and for him, it inspires him but again, that just speaks to that Hill is the right “fit” for him. I hope this helps and I am happy to answer any other questions and feel free to PM me.
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Will you be able to go to the revisit days?
You have great schools to choose from, and if your daughter is able to attend the revisit days then there’s a good chance that one of the schools might just feel ‘right’. You’re doing all the right things in exploring things upfront on this forum. See if you can make a point to seek out the theater and debate teachers when you’re on campus.
My kid managed to go on an official tour at Hill before Covid shut things down, and was very impressed with how well organized it was (better than the HADES school tour they went on a week later!). Loomis was a last minute add for us, so we didn’t manage an in person tour.
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I have a daughter who is a junior at Episcopal. She chose it after revisiting, feeling it had the best balance for her of strong academics but maybe not so competitive that she wouldn’t be able to do well. That has turned out to be accurate. She loves the location near Washington, D.C., and the 100 percent boarding. As parents, we have found the adult community at the school to be very supportive and available to us when we reach out. The student culture skews more conservative/Southern than the other schools on your list.
The other schools on your list were not ones on my older daughter’s list, though we are revisiting Loomis with my younger daughter in a few weeks!
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I personally didn’t find the academics at hill super challenging, but i did find that there was more work. a lot of work. i also took a challenging course load, highest level non-calc math, highest level science for my grade, pre-ap honors french, and a philosophy course meant for upper forms. i personally didn’t find the work harder than my lps, it was actually easier, but there was tons more to do. the SP&D program is a lot of time, but it tends to be unstructured. The coach as a person is great, but a lot of people complained about the way he lead debate. I found STEM at hill to be way more rigorous than humanities. I haven’t heard of anyone being big in writing there. Not any specific writing programs I found tbh.
I urge you to go to revisit days.
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I’m going to answer this in parts, partly because it’s easier to organize, and partly because I think it’ll help clarify information/compare two schools. As @lilyesh said, I strongly urge you to come to revisit days if possible.
The main thing you may want to look at is the format of the organization, the leagues, and the competitions themselves. I looked on the Hill website and I personally found some large distinctions between the school’s programs.
- Format of organization
Hill has debate listed as a co-curricular for both fall and winter terms. Meaning it’s essentially a sport for those two terms, having daily practices, etc. But does not mention any information as to whether they meet in the spring.
Loomis has debate as a co curricular only for winter term, meaning in fall/spring it’s a club. LC debate really doesn’t have team practices until winter, and that meets every tues/thurs/fri or wed/thurs. So meeting time is less (but I think depending on person it could be better to catch up on work, etc.) - Leagues
I think the biggest thing to mention here is the DANEIS debate program (debate program of new england independent schools), schools like Exeter, Andover, Hotchkiss, etc. are all under this league with Loomis, but Hill is not. which means it’s likely they don’t run into HADES debaters at tournaments.
Loomis also debates in CDA (Connecticut debate association) but Hill, obviously, does not.
There was no info on what leagues hill associated with but I’m assuming majority PA independent school debates which would include schools like Peddie, Westtown, etc. - competitions
Hill mentions they do primarily LD and PF debates
Loomis does British Parli and CX
Loomis has a better writing program and the center for self
Yes, that is true. IMO Loomis’s Norton center is one-of-a-kind and the amount of programming they do is amazing. As both someone who hosts/goes to these events they truly put effort into building community in those activities
Writing is also amazing, we have several publications that are regularly published on campus. I encourage you to check out https://lchourglass.com, https://thelclog.org, and https://www.loomischaffeeloom.com, (the LC log has not updated their archives but I have PDFs of this year’s papers if you also want to take a look)
LC also has a lot more writing initiatives, we have school, state, and nationwide/intl competitions for writing we participate in
this depends on who you are, I think for me I’m currently taking challenging classes (I have a thread on my page called “sophomore chance me” that provides specifics), and with time management it is achievable to have a full courseload and have extracurriculars. The rigor also is high here at LC, but it does vary. I know teachers who don’t assign work, but I also know teachers who assign 20 pages of textbook reading a night, but overall I would say it’s pretty rigorous.
I think then LC would be better, as Lily mentioned Hill is STEM focused, which was what turned me off when I compared it with loomis. I urge you to look into the junior year humanities paper if you need a clearer answer on how much effort loomis puts into humanities. It’s a term-long research project that culminates in a 15-page research paper on a history topic of your choosing
Loomis also offers this, it’s the ISP program. I know I want to do one at some point for food lol
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@Mercurrii, you posted this in November:
*I’m one of the survivors at loomis, ive gotten hatecrimed here which hasnt been mentioned on any of my posts but is known. LC has not dealt with either well.
Generally been disappointed with debate, AGH (all gender housing), the school’s academics, art programs (which isnt the art itself but just the programming and funding for it), ECs, and then the institution itself. The direction its heading is purely atheletics focused and that isn’t one that can support me.*
Has your experience changed for the better? I certainly hope so.
Hill debate is primarily against local public schools. no debate in the spring.
I prefer not to cross reference my threads publicly. If you have a question feel free to DM.
Yes and no. Overall it’s gotten better as I chose not to transfer for a reason, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t have critiques about how the school runs.
I think overall compared to schools like my lps, LC still offers me a lot more opportunities.
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No school is perfect, to be sure. Agree that this thread should be focused on the OP’s questions, but found your prior comments concerning and relevant when considered within the context here. Glad you have seen improvement.