Taft and Athletics?

Prep School Admissions
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<p>Okay, so let me get this straight: I am not your go-to, sporty gal. In fact, I am probably the polar opposite; but then you pipe up with, "Well, look at love and hate! They're opposites, too, and see how similar they are?" No. Just...no. I am not sporty-I'm that girl who mills around, tries to slink behind an imposing set of bleachers or "ignore" a teacher to avoid chin ups and high jumps.</p>

<p>When I first heard of Taft and how "artsy" of a school it was, I was enamored. Art has always been this secret pleasure that I would turn to when math equations became fuzzy. I've been taking ceramics for two years, and I used to take drawing classes from first to fourth grade. I've also dabbled in dancing for a year, and orchestra for five. :D</p>

<p>But when I had my tour a few weeks ago, I was left with a slight bitterness. A disproportionate chunk of the tour was spent lingering in the athletic facilities, and we never touched upon the Art Center at all (to this day, I am still in the dark about the full breath of Taft's Art Program.)</p>

<p>So was I disillusioned with visions of ebony pencils, scattered haphazardly over lovingly used sketchbooks? The person whom I was touring with was someone who was playing basketball, in track, baseball. Also, my tour guide was an athlete.</p>

<p>Thoughts and comments are appreciated! </p>

<p>Disregarding the athletics, Taft seemed like a really welcoming school. When we were walking in between classes, a jovial buzz of chatter would cushion us in a pillow of contentment. Taft really seemed to stress community, and I loved that! The Taft Houses, the Math/etc. Tables...I just had a great experience, aside from the lingering thought that maybe it didn't "fit" as well as I thought it might.</p>

<p>Hope to hear otherwise! :)</p>

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<p>My daughter is a Taft student. Your experience was probably dependent on the tour guide. My daughter is not artsy. She is sporty and a musician. But we got a big tour of the art department and spent time talking with the instructor (who hugged her). </p>

<p>There really is no way for a tour guide to know your interests unless you tell them up front. The students are all volunteers and don’t have access to your files.</p>

<p>Other than that - the reason my D enrolled is because of your last paragraph - you could just “feel” how nice the people were by watching student and faculty interaction. And we were lucky because our tour guide was chatty and introduced us to people as we walked by. You won’t be disappointed if you get accepted. Actually, you can opt out of one sport each year in order to pursue something else (volunteer work, theater, etc.) The music groups travel during spring break and so do the dancers. My d ended up doing activities that weren’t normally on her radar and had a blast because of it.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Exie! The tour guide not having access to the files explains a lot…Wow, your daughter’s tour guide sounds really outgoing. Mine would use engaging anedoctes, and it really livened up my overall Taft experience.</p>

<p>I believe my tour guide said something like that as well-that you could make music “your official extracirricular” But I’m glad to hear some confirmation!</p>

<p>Your daughter seems to be having a lot of fun at Taft :slight_smile: It’s nice to hear that Taft students are encouraged to try new things!</p>

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<p>@Golden–it’s worth keeping in mind that boarding schools–like many high schools–place premium of resources and focus on athletics. Usually in the boarding schools this is NOT to the detriment of the kids who have other interests, though. My DC is not a prep school athlete, but has found happiness and success in extracurricular programing like Model UN and other political/social endeavors. Some of DC’s friends are heavily into drama, and there is much support for that, too. And some friends are athletes. </p>

<p>I think you should contact an art teacher at Taft. DC is not there, but we looked, and were shown a quite groovy art studio as part of our tour, even though it is not DC’s interest. So there is some factor of luck of the draw to the tour. </p>

<p>But seriously, who else but elite prep schools can invest in $100,000 shells (for crew) and squash courts? If you absolutely abhor sports culture, most (but not <em>all</em>) of the top boarding schools will present you with some challenges. Athletic competition and an active, healthy lifestyle are part of the preppy ethos! ;)</p>

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<p>;-) I’ll definitely keep that in mind, PelicanDad! Thanks for the advice.</p>

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<p>My friend at Taft is an artsy girl and she loves the school.</p>

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<p>Really? That’s great to hear! What does she do (ceramics, pottery, visual art, etc)?</p>

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<p>I think she’s taking Drawing & Design.</p>

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<p>Nice~! Design sounds interesting-never tried it, though.</p>

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<p>When we went to Taft, the guy who took us around was really rah-rah, team spirit, sports are great, etc. I play soccer and like sports, but I really want to focus on dance and he didn’t even take us to see the studios, and obviously knew nothing about the dance program. When we got back to the admissions office for the interview my mom asked them if anyone else was available who knew more about the arts and dance who could take us around again. They were really nice about it, and found a girl who was in chorus and art. She was completely different and gave us a whole new tour. She had a lot of friends who dance so she could tell us more about it. Both of them were nice and loved Taft, but after we went around with the second tour guide I realized it was awesome and I hope I get in!</p>

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<p>Haha, I’m imagining a person jumping around with a uniform and pom-poms now (red and blue, of course!) But then…your tour guide was a boy. Nevermind. :P</p>

<p>Looking back, I should have asked the admissions for help. It sounds like you had a better experience than I did-but it’s nice to hear some reassurance about the art aspect of Taft.</p>

<p>You’re applying, too? I hope we both get accepted!</p>