<p>thanks! :)</p>
<p>As has been said many times before on this board… SSAT scores are not an admission ticket or even necessarily a “No Vacancy” sign for either of these two schools. Both are highly selective and will reject more people than they accept many of whom have identical or worse stats than the students they accept. There have been many posts on these boards in the past explaining how the Adcoms have to build a community. You may have an 83 and play the Tuba and get an admint over an 89 who plays the flute. You may be from an under-represented state while a 98th percentile kid comes from Greenwhich CT which already has 3 other kids accepted who are legacies and can play hockey with the NY Rangers. The point is, you never know until March 10. The idea that either H or Taft is significantly easier to get into is a falacy. I know of at least two kids who were rejected by Taft and then wait-listed at Hotchkiss later to be accepted by Hotchkiss. The more important thing is that although they are rival schools… there are noticable differences in the two schools. Either one will provide a great education, but the fit is the important part. These schools have to make excruciatingly hard choices in March, it isn’t always a reflection of the student, it could be as simple as their own needs at that point in time. GL to the OP no matter where you decide. </p>
<p>Icy… I think you need to do some more research before you go stating facts and figures that you can not back up. You may know of a student that got into Taft who scored in the 60th percentile, but it would be the very rare exception and probably has some very huge hooks or ties with the school. I can assure you, the same types of admits are at all the top tier schools.</p>
<p>One more thing… according to Petersons, approximately 33% of the students at Hotchkiss receive some form of financial aid with the amount awarded being 4.1 million. Also according to Petersons, Taft awards some sort of FA to approximately 33% of the students with a total of 4.7 million. Draw your own conclusions but don’t necessariily believe arbitrary postings on these boards.</p>
<p>Karatedad: One of my sources is Taft’s published material in it’s full page ad in Peterson’s; another is students who have applied to these schools, another source = educational consultants, and the prep schools’ college placements. Karatedad, I don’t know where you get your info., but mine is real, accurate and reliable, and, unlike some poster, I have no direct relationship with either school other than rating their college placements. So Karatedad, where do you get your stats? Certainly not from Peterson’s or Taft. Additionally, I do original, independent research that is furnished to each prep school during a comment and verification period, and I have never received even one objection from the dozens of prep schools rated in objection to my methods, sources or results. Taft, for example, placed an ad in Peterson’s for several consecutive years now, which states that “The minimum percentile score accepted is generally 50” on the SSAT. Karatedad, It appears that your son is a Taft day student. I want to let you know that I believe that Taft is a fine school.</p>
<p>Go Taft! Taft is deffinetely the better choice ;)</p>
<p>Icy said “So Karatedad, where do you get your stats? Certainly not from Peterson’s or Taft” </p>
<p>Icy, which stats are you acking me about? I don’t understand the question… the only stat I gave was in the second post and it was a direct copy and paste from Peterson’s website which I acknowledged in the post. </p>
<p>Both schools are great. I do a have a S who started Taft this year, but my opinion is still not formed. I had 2 D’s who attended other preps as day students and as you research my posts, you will see that I have definite opinions on those.</p>
<p>As far as coming up with college admissions information, my experience is that none of the schools will give you enough information to come up with an emprical evaluation. Do you know how many kids from Exeter are legacies? Do you know who at Hotchkiss is a large donor or has development potential for a school? </p>
<p>The thing that I took objection to in your post was your determination that kids should consider Hotchkiss with X percentile and Taft with X percentile scored on the SSATs. How you made the jump for what you qutoed from the Peterson’s book to what you posted is beyond me. Furthermore, it is not a discussion that I think really adds anything to the board in general and therefore I am finished on that subject. Suffice it to say that it has always been my opinion, and you can read all of my posts, that the deciding factor in looking for schools should be fit. How hard admission is shouldn’t be a key factor. Prestige shouldn’t be the key factor. I would encourage kids to at least try for their dream school but also to find schools that they can see themselves at that are better fits with their admissions profile at the same time. The admissions decisions are mysterious at best. One needn’t look further than last years crop of applicants on this board. There were students who were so well qualified who got waitlisted and rejected from schools where you would have thoght they were clear matches. All we can do as parents is encourage our children to try their hardest, enjoy and celebrate their successes with them, and most importantly, be there to help support them and keep them grounded when they fall short.</p>
<p>Amen to that, KarateDad.</p>
<p>here is my biased opinion. i think that hotchkiss people are more level headed, down to earth and overall more friendly than tafties. we are better at sports ex. lacrosse, we have a pool..etc. and we also won taft day!!!
hotchkiss is a little bit harder to get into in my opinion and more challenging academically but its definitely worth applying to. (:</p>
<p>i agree with hopeful…I’ve dealt with both as a big ten alum…and Hotchkiss students were a lot nicer than Taft students when I dealt with them</p>
<p>The best thing about Hotchkiss kids is that they are modest, and never proclaim themselves better than anyone else. They also never make wildly oversimplified general statements. That’s why they’re the best.</p>
<p>h-o-p-e-f-u-l:</p>
<p>You neeed to clear room in your inbox!!!</p>
<p>Taft Taft Taft Taft Taft</p>
<p>Hotchkiss Shmotchkiss!</p>
<p>Hotchkiss is generally regarded as a top or elite school, but taft isn’t.
Taft is one of the ten schools that use common application forms. If you compare their college matriculation and SAt average, it becomes clear. Most of the ranking system shows Hotchkiss at the top 8 ranking while Taft is ranked around 15th. They are sports rival. That does not mean that they are academically rival. Sorry to Taft fans. But we need to give the correct information to the students who prepare for next years admission. But taft is a good school, too. But Certainly Hotchkiss is more difficult to get in simply because its is more competitive and better. I am waitlisted in Hotchkiss and I got admission from taft. However, my parents and I decided to go to other BS that is closer to my home.</p>
<p>Thanks for checking in…</p>
<p>this is an old thread :]
i inquired about both, but i applied only to Hotchkiss because someone told me that Taft does not accept many Korean or Asian students~</p>
<p>aspirant, im korean and i got in hahaha</p>
<p>hope?
:] lol</p>