<p>A thread for more of regulars, but to be viewed by prospectives, definitely: How does everyone like their schools? I know Internet and time may be hard to come by (I had trouble getting both ;)) but please post when you can. :)</p>
<p>Hey J! You have to tell us about Andover.</p>
<p>Choate:</p>
<p>Very great. I'm starting to get into the swing of things. The first day was great and the second and third days you're basically hanging out with all sorts of people, but so far I've narrowed it down. It's great living in a dorm with 50 other freshman girls because there are so many people to do things with.</p>
<p>The sports are great. I switched from Soccer to Volleyball on a whim and I'm on thirds, and I love it. Everyone on the team is really nice.</p>
<p>The thing is that upperclassmen really aren't that intimidating, and at big boarding schools like Choate, it's good to become friends with a lot of them because your freshman class can seem a bit limited. This is also true at larger schools, where the freshman class really is limited, because it's the smallest in the school. </p>
<p>Advice; Meet a lot of people before going to the school. I met a lot of people in my grade and others (like some seniors) and it's great being able to bridge that gap and hang out with a lot of people. </p>
<p>I like the independence of being at boarding school. You can choose what to eat; you can choose how much work you want to do; you can manage your time. It seems kind of a responsible task to accomplish, but it's fun to re-create yourself in a way and invent the person that you want to be at boarding school.</p>
<p>Choate's campus is huge so there IS a lot of walking between classes so they give us ten minutes passing time. </p>
<p>The teachers are all great. I love my English and Physics teachers best and look forward going to their classes just because they're so entertaining. It's easy to get extra help from teachers.</p>
<p>There's a lot of time to chill AND do work. On Sat and Sundays, people usually go into town or something and do homework. I'm actually starting to NOT procrastinate. After sports, which end 5-5:30, you have until 10:45 until you go to bed. "Study hours" start at 7:30, where you have to be in your room with the door propped open, studying. The Internet also shuts off then and comes back on at 6 in the morning so fun on the internet and also researching should be done after sports or during free periods.</p>
<p>You have 2 free periods a day - one for lunch and another one for anything you want. Sometimes I skip lunch and have some food in my room just so I can skip going to the Dining Hall. </p>
<p>The Tuck Shop is great. It's in the SAC (Student Activities Center) and I go there after sports instead of dinner for a quick meal sometimes. They have hamburgers, cheeseburgers, smoothies, milkshakes, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, etc.</p>
<p>The SAC also has pool, air hockey, foosball tables and TV and video games. Very fun.</p>
<p>TIME??? who has that? i'm actually in study hall right now and just logged on because i was bored- i still have plenty of homework to do.!!!</p>
<p>i ditched field hockey for volleyball, i'm on jv at the moment....i'm sure we play choate olivia. (:</p>
<p>the only thing i didn't like about this school is that there were alot of people who already knew each other- as in already had groups of friends. that was really annoying. but as long as you really put yourself out there to make friends that shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>ahhh, the freedom its great. and hotchkiss has a more flexible schedule than choate i think. tommorrow i have two classes in the morning and i'm free to do whatever i want for the rest of the day!!!! </p>
<p>oh and i'll admit that i do spend valuble homework time mingling in the student center, but my social life is a priority right up there with academics and sports at hotchkiss lol.</p>
<p>cate, sorry i haven't found time to answer your quesions- i'm on it i promise! hope this post helps. (:</p>
<p>hopeful: Sure, take your time! Don't let your grades drop coz of me!
olivia: Your pm box is full, I can't reply.</p>
<p>By the way, prettyckitty, I'm sorry for interupting this thread. :)</p>
<p>Really? I have two free periods a day at Choate and free time from 5:30 PM till lights out. But I guess maybe you're right. </p>
<p>I feel the opposite about people already being in "groups" - at first, it's hard to form a group because there are so many people to hang out with. But I'm hanging out with more selected people now.</p>
<p>Really fun -- much homework always in Greek History, and French is hard.</p>
<p>T.I.!!! I'm on Jv Vball and we're gonna play you guys i think :)</p>
<p>The first few days everyone just hung out with eachother.
You get to know who you want to know better and who you want to stay away from (lol).</p>
<p>Also, the great thing about being at boarding school is having so many people around you to depend on and who support you but also being independent at the same time. You can choose what to do with your time, you can create the person you want to be without much parental control, and you can choose what to eat and dress, etc. I feel like it gives me more individuality as a person because there's a lot of independence.</p>
<p>Also, it's a good idea to join a lot of clubs from the start and these also help you form your interests, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah like Helen said, everyone hangs out with each other and it's easier to see whom you want to be friends with and vice versa.</p>