<p>Personally, I feel that the title is pretty self-explanatory. But anyways. If any of you have a question about Choate, feel free to post it here! I'm sure there are other threads like this that have been posted before, but I feel that it would be a lot better for all you applicants to get some more up-to-date info. So ask!</p>
<p>what is your favorite thing about Choate so far?</p>
<p>what’s your daily schedule like? in general 
like what do you do when classes end etc :)</p>
<p>what is your favorite thing about Choate so far? </p>
<p>Hmmm. Um um um, I’m not really sure if I can pinpoint one thing I like most about Choate. But one of the things that I really do like about Choate is the activities that are offered here are very strong and competitive, but they are also inclusive of people who want to try out new things as well. That’s something I didn’t experience at some of the other prep schools.</p>
<p>Ummm…how are schedules like. Let’s see. At Choate, we have a rotating block schedule. So essentially, each class is assigned to a block. (We have blocks A-H.) They don’t all meet on the same day though. Essentially, you have a different schedule every day (you get used it quickly though.) Some good aspects about your schedule is that you might get an early out (We essentially have seven periods in a day, so if you take five classes, all in a row, then you get two periods free, and school is over for the day. Thus an “early-out.”) I like those. I, and many others, also like sleep-ins. Those are when you have free periods for the first hour, or maybe even the second hour of school. You have an opportunity to sleep in during those. <3 them! As for what I do after school? After school, I have sports, but if I have an early out/free period, I work on homework. Then after sports, I eat dinner and then do extracurricular activities, and then study hall.</p>
<p>What’s the general social scene there? How’s the arts department?</p>
<p>How often do you go into town? Do you ever have time to do so?</p>
<p>What is the course load in Choate? Do students carry normally five or six?</p>
<p>How much free time do you have everyday? And who are your closest friends? People in your classes, your roommate/doormate…teachers??? XD</p>
<p>Wow…I am SO sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. (This was midterms week, hahaha.)</p>
<p>Anyways…</p>
<p>The Arts department at our school is AMAZING!!! We have an amazing arts center, the PMAC, which is where pretty much all the arts classes are held. (There’s some exception, but overall, that’s where you have the arts classes.) We have visual arts, music, and theatre. As a freshman, you have to take an arts class, so you can take one of the three. There are intro to visual arts, Acting 1, Music fundamentals, and I think stagecraft 1? Yup. Additionally, you can be more involved then just a class. Our theatre department has plays every term. I think this term, it’s Macbeth and Pride & Prejudice. Anyone can tryout for a play. And if you get a part for the play, you do that in lieu of sports for the term. Also, we have music ensembles: Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra, Band, and Jazz Ensemble. (I think we also have a couple of choral ensembles too.) If you’re musical, you can try out for them. (Maybe you can do even multiple ensembles!) As for visual arts, I think we have advanced electives in a certain mode of art. Oh, and we have the Arts Concentration Program. I’m not sure the exact details, since I’m a freshman, but it’s a program for upperclassmen in which they focus on a median of art of their choice. The art programs at Choate are very wide, varying, and extremely well. If you’re an artist, you should definitely look at Choate.</p>
<p>Okay, what is the normal course load??? Well, most freshman have five courses. However, you can take a sixth course. I know a fair amount that do so, but I believe for third formers, it’s mostly for people who wish to study two languages. </p>
<p>Um, how is the social scene around Choate? That’s a pretty broad question, but I’ll try to do my best to answer it through the various other questions. Let’s see. On Friday nights/weekends, a LOT of people go to town. The town has some pretty good restaurants in the area. Some favorites are Mr. D’s and Half Moon Cafe. Also, there’s a new frozen yogurt restaurant in town. I haven’t been there yet, but my friends tell me its good.</p>
<p>All the seniors tell me as a freshman that I have LOTS of free time. I would say that’s true for the weekends, but for the weekdays, I disagree. I always have homework every night. I think if you learn how to manage time well, you can do your homework at Choate with relative ease in a comfortable interval of time (i.e. no cramming.)</p>
<p>Hmmm. Who are my closest friends? My closest friends are people whom I meet through various activities: clubs, sports, events, etc. I’m really not sure how to answer this question. I think that pretty much everyone at Choate is pretty chill here. NO ONE should really be scared of being all alone. I would say you really find a niche of people that you are friends with, but you aren’t restricted to a clique. I think at Choate, most people are floaters. So you really shouldn’t scared of any rules or barriers. Just be yourself, and people will appreciate you for it :))</p>
<p>oh my gosh! i remember you from last year’s batch of applicants. 
congratulations on getting into choate, and i’m really really jealous. but this year i’m applying again and i actually visited choate about a week ago. i really enjoyed my tour and everyone there seems so nice. choate is actually one of my top choices now! um… some questions. do you think it would be hard for me to adjust as a new sophmore? does the campus being so huge make it difficult to get to class on time? since each class has about 200 people (versus 100 in some smaller schools) do you ever feel ignored or insignificant? i’m done thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Thanks, aaralyn! OMG, I totally remember you too:) I’m so glad you enjoyed your tour at Choate! Anyways, I’ll answer your questions as best as I can.</p>
<p>I think entering Choate as a sophomore would be relatively easy for the social aspect. I know a couple of new sophomores, and they seem to be fitting right in. To be honest, I don’t really think I can I make a distinction between a new sophomore and a returning sophomore. They’re just sophomores. I do think though, that you might get more work as a sophomore then as a freshman, so adjusting to the workload might need some transitioning. I’m not the best person to ask this question to, because I’m a freshman. I think the tour guides at Choate give their emails if you have any questions, so that might be a good question to ask them, not me:) But don’t worry about coming to Choate as a new sophomore! </p>
<p>As for getting to class on time? We have ten minutes to get from each class. In theory, it is pretty easy to get to class. Even if you have to say, walk from the language hall to the arts center, if you walk fast, you can make it in say, about seven minutes, if you do a brisk walk. But here is the problem. Sometimes, you might need to talk to your teacher about something, maybe your teacher doesn’t keep track of the time, etc. etc., and you get out of class three minutes late or so. In that case, you can just get a late note from them, and your teachers will totally understand, if you have a late slip. (They’re people too, lol.) So really, there really isn’t that much difficulty. </p>
<p>Hmm? Do I feel insignificant because of our class size? I would have to say I don’t feel that there is lack of attention given to me because of how big our class size is compared to other schools. All my teachers know me, they always have time to offer help, and my advisor and form dean are always ther to talk. In fact, my form dean in particular takes the time and effort to know every single one of us by name. Again, this is something you should ask your tour guide for more information. I’ve only been here for about little over than a month, so I still can’t answer all questions. Sorry!</p>
<p>Hi! I’m applying for the Icahn Scholarship, and I’m currently finishing up my essays, which are supposed to be 3,500 characters. I don’t know if you are an Icahn scholar, but do you know if it would be acceptable if they are up to 4,000 characters, and if I would be penalized for that? Thanks :)</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I’m not an Icahn Scholar. I think that question would be most appropriate to send to the advisors of the Icahn Scholars Program.</p>
<p>Least favorite and favorite thing about Choate?</p>
<p>BUMP tenchar</p>
<p>aaralyn -</p>
<p>I am a new sophomore this year. To be honest, it IS difficult at first to adjust. In my first couple of weeks, I only hung out with other new sophomores, but through clubs and sports, I made friends with lots of new returning students. You just need to be very social when you first come in as a new sophomore. </p>
<p>98 -</p>
<p>my least favorite thing about Choate is curfew really. Also, the dining hall could be open for more hours. But other than those things, Choate life is great so far.</p>
<p>How many students play in the orchestra? Chamber? Are they any good? I have been to several schools with amazing new facilities for music, and they say things like “3/4 of our students are involved in the music program”…but they fail to mention that actually only five people play instruments and the rest sing. Or that their orchestra master doesn’t know how to tune their own instrument. Can you tell me anything about the program there? Also how are musicians perceived? I don’t want to go to any school where talent is a social liability. Does everyone dress really casually there or is there some sort of minimum standard? I keep seeing pictures of guys in backwards baseball caps in the Choate materials.</p>
<p>Choate’s orchestra is amazing. We just watched them perform during parents week end. Their performance ended with a long well deserved standing ovation. In recent years I’ve been able to see various HADES schools performances. IMO, Choate is among one of the best. I’m not sure how many students are in the orchestra, my guess is around 50+. Correct me if I’m wrong. There are many singing groups. The chamber chorus is competitive, one freshman made the group this yr.
As for the hats, you will never see a hat worn in class or in the dinning hall but you will see shorts, flip flops and a few baseball hats even in the dead of winter. One school tradition I like is that male athletes wear a tie or jersey during classes on game day. Funny that you mentioned the backwards hats. My son also was concerned about that and the mid calf socks(not sure what it means). He feels the upper classmen tend to leave the hats at home so I guess it’s a style that they grow out of.</p>
<p>Ha ha the mid calf socks are a LAX thing. So ugly but it is everywhere. I’m really glad to hear about Choate’s music, it is consistent to what I have heard so that is good news.</p>
<p>OMG…so sorry it took forever for me too look at this thread. I think there’s actually a little less than 50 people in Choate’s orchestra. However, muf123 got it all right. Choate’s music program is AMAZING. If you’re a musician, then Choate should definitely be one of the schools you look at.</p>
<p>Um…as for caps worn backwards. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I just see couple of guys doing it. But no one wears hats in the classroom though. </p>
<p>BUMP…questions!</p>