Revisit Days Made the Decision Harder

Prep School Admissions
1

I narrowed my Revisit Days down to three schools, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, and Choate.

Here are my observations.

Deerfield:
This was my first revisit and I really enjoyed it, the people were incredibly nice to me, likely the most friendly of the three. I didn’t really get to see the campus so I have no idea how it compares to the other schools (if someone could fill me in on this), but the buildings I got to see were okay, nothing amazing. I like the size of the school population wise and I hear their crew team is pretty good, which is my sport. My big thing is debate and Deerfield has the worst debate team of the three schools, yet nonetheless, a good team. Although it’s a turn-off for some, I really like the sit down meals and I thought the food was amazing, the best by far. I also really like the dress code, I come from a uniform school and I think that allowing people to wear any suit of their choice ensures that everyone looks good, yet still has some level of creativity within how they express themselves. I am large into economics, politics, and government in general and in comparison to the other schools, Deerfield is really lacking in these subjects, although some level of them do exist. (I have done years of advanced economics and they suggested I do independent study, I don’t know much about that though.) Another thing on this subject is I don’t think there are any political clubs either. Their school newspaper also seemed a little archaic in comparison to the other two.

Hotchkiss:
This was my second revisit and I really enjoyed it too, the people were not as friendly, but no one was rude or anything like that. I got a tour and I thought the campus and the location were stellar, although people say it is somewhat isolated, the lake was great and the view, especially from the auditorium were outstanding. The size was also good at this school as well, but something that really bummed me out was that they actually do not have a crew team. They told me I could start one if people were interested, but then my ability to do the sport I love would be dependent on me finding people, finding a coach, and finding funding for the whole team, I am not sure if I will be able to juggle this with the struggles of already coming in as an 11th grader. I said earlier my big thing was debate and Hotchkiss is known for debate, so no problem there. There are no sit down meals and the food was okay, but nowhere near as good at the food at Deerfield. The dress code is also existent at this school, but my guide told me that they were very relaxed about it, I don’t know how I feel about that. As I said, I am large into economics, politics, and government in general and in comparison to the other schools, Hotchkiss had a decent number of these courses and I was impressed with the catalog. They also have many political clubs and I really liked the Hotchkiss Record, I thought it was pretty good.

Choate:
This was my last revisit, and to be honest, I wrote Choate off before I had a chance to visit. This was a mistake as the people at Choate were the perfect amount of friendly although I had a really small sample size. I got a tour and I really like the location, but I don’t really like the fact that there is so much construction going on, or the fact that they don’t even have an auditorium that can seat the entire school. The size was a bit on the larger side, but it didn’t bother me as much as I expected. The campus was also a bit spread out for me. Choate also has a pretty strong crew team. I said earlier debate was my thing and Choate doesn’t have a Hotchkiss Debate Team or a Deerfield Crew Team, but I really sensed balance between the two. There is a once a week sit-down meal, but I didn’t get to eat in the cafeteria, or even see it for that matter, so I have no idea what the food is like. There is a collar required dress code, but my guide told me they were even trying to abolish that. Honestly, this lack of a suit required dress code actually bothers me more than it should, I know it shouldn’t be a deciding factor, but I can’t help overthinking it. As I said, I am large into economics, politics, and government in general and in comparison to the other schools, Hotchkiss had just so many of these courses and I was beyond impressed with the catalog. Choate also had the most clubs, and I enjoyed their newspaper the most.

Sorry for the long post, really conflicted, any input helps.

2

I’m making the decision between Hotchkiss and Choate and it is proving itself to be much harder than I expected. Yes, the revisit made the decision even harder. One was always the goal, but then I found the other. I continue to be torn, but I am I’m inching closer to my decision. What was your impression of the new Hotchkiss headmaster? I’m also into the humanities and thought his recent experience could create some interesting opportunities. Choate food is standard, but the dining hall is stunning. Good luck and please share your decision when finally made.

3

Go somewhere where you can do what it is you do. If you really like crew, and especially if you think you might want to continue to pursue it in college, do not go somewhere that doesn’t offer that. It sounds like you enjoy the formality of Deerfield which is reflected in their dress code.

4

My daughter interviewed and toured at Hotchkiss and I had the same feeling about the lack of friendliness even amongst the staff. Left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe Deerfield has the worst debate team now but you’re not there yet. Maybe you can make a difference :-). As far as clubs many schools are open to allowing students to start a club. I think it odd that you didn’t see much during your revisits. In both of my daughters revisits she went to classes, ate meals in the dining hall, had a tour and watched performances etc. Best of luck to you but Deerfield is the winner in my book.

5

Not sure why you didn’t get to see the Deerfield campus, but has some beautiful facilities in a beautiful setting, including some of the newer dorms, an absolutely fantastic science center and a stunning arts center (with art gallery, art studios, theater, concert hall, etc.), and a recently renovated library, they’re starting a big project now to renovate the sports facilities (hockey rink first), I agree economics is thin there (there’s really only one straight economics class and an AP part of that), but there are some politics/government type courses, including a good political theory class and a truly great Junior course called American Studies, which is an interdisciplinary course combining honors US history and English, double taught by two really great teachers, that goes into fewer topics in great depth, rather than your general AP-style US history/government class. There are also various courses on topics like the Israel/Palestine conflict, one a moot court course, and one on the politics and science of Global Water (an AP Seminar capstone course). There are also a couple political clubs in campus, but how active they are varies year by year–right now, I agree they don’t seem very active, but that depends on the kids in them in a given year. So it’s certainly not the most political Studemt body ever, it’s not completely lacking either. Still, it’s true there’s not a lot of economics offered.

6

Choate is the biggest school of your 3, so it is likely to be chock full of stuff to do. I can’t say what impact any construction is having on the student experience, but construction can be construed as a sign of vitality.

No crew is a deal-breaker for Hotchkiss if crew is your deal. That’s that.

How do you feel about the Pioneer Valley v Wallyworld?

7

Do you see yourself doing both crew and debate in the long run? Either can take you a lot of time if you are serious about it. You can of course do both at least initially, but I think you should identify a priority. It will make your decision easier. If you are determined to do both and don’t intend to be super good at either, then based on your analysis Choate is the one.

8

Two Deerfield debate students qualified for nationals this year. While the team as a whole isn’t the strongest team out there, we certainly do not lack strong debate students.

9

You likely won’t dress formally every day starting two years from now in college anyway. Choate sounds like the best balance given your interests.

10

I’d be thinking like this … Hotchkiss would allow me to start a rowing team? I’d be ALL over that. Unless you are a superb athlete (and if you were my guess is you would not even consider a place without rowing), which looks better 4 years hence? I founded the Hotchkiss crew program, or I rowed for xyz? I would follow up with them on that concept. Even if you fail at it, you have good college essay fodder. LOL!

11

Are you being serious? This isn’t like movies of yore with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. “Hey, let’s put on a show.” Who is providing the boats and building the boathouse and hiring the coaches?

Change at boarding schools (and colleges) is glacially slow. If crew is a deal breaker, go to a place with crew. The odds of a crew team starting from scratch in one’s academic lifetime hovers between slim and none.

12

LOL, Ski.

Yes, I am serious. Of course I totally agree that “if crew is a deal breaker, go to a place with crew”. But it seems to me that if it were a deal breaker, OP would already have narrowed the list.

I think it would be a fascinating project. Even if it fails, which it probably will. Putting together a business plan, soliciting donors, organizing like minded students, raising money. Yes, a total long shot. But a pretty interesting EC.

I know it’s a little out there, but it was truly what ran through my mind.

13

My personal favorite of the three is Deerfield. We (DD and I) weren’t feeling Choate on the day of her interview tour but maybe that was because it was the Friday of a long weekend and super busy. I agree having worked in bureaucratic institutions my entire career that change is hard and crew won’t happen in two years and likely not even four. Go where you can get the best mix of what you love.

14

If I recall, you’d be entering as a junior. That matters a lot. If it’s a close call, you should go to the place where you have the most options with the least work to achieve them. To me, for you, that would be Choate.

The crew team concept at Hotchkiss isn’t happening in your timeframe. They were being polite.

The academic diversity of Choate is going to matter much more to you now and next year than it would as a freshman or sophomore–realistically all of these schools are going to be very comparable at the earlier/younger years.

Hotchkiss and DA are extremely similar–because they are smaller, there will be more tradeoffs, as you found. Between those two schools, it’s a totally personal call and from your write-up, it seems like you have a lean (DA). But there’s a reason why Hothckiss doesn’t have crew, there’s a reason why DA offers fewer courses and a weaker newspaper. Frankly, there’s a reason St. Paul’s doesn’t have a swim team and Groton doesn’t have it’s own track–and it’s not because they are unaware of these activities. They are all sufficiently small that they are going to focus on servicing what they already have.

Choate is, by far, the most collegiate of these three schools.

Choate does not have as many of these tradeoffs as they have the scale and the student-body size to be able to support more activities.

The food at all of these places will be entirely adequate but no one goes to a BS for the food. Choate, in theory, has the most off-campus options you need a break. And revisit days are artificial for food anyway.

If you were a freshman, based on your interests and your traditional approach, it seems like you would prefer the Deerfield community best. But as a junior it seems like the best intellectual match is Choate. Along with Exeter, they have, IMHO, the best economics programs and focus (Fed Challenge, etc.).

15

I did miss the fact that you are going in at 11th grade (or whatever term they use at each school). That’s not even enough time to fail at a “pie in the sky” idea. At least not enough time to make it interesting, fail and then write a good essay over it. LOL

The previous poster makes an excellent point about the Fed Challenge, super program at Choate for that.

16

If you as a rising junior, I suggest you make a choice now. With the course load typical for a juniors, the standardized tests you need to take and the college application process getting started, it will be difficult to do both crew and debate if you want to get good at either.