I am a parent of a son who is a student/athlete applying as a repeat freshman to Taft, Kent, Loomis Chaffee, Westminster, Choate and Milton Academy. Can anyone be so kind to tell me the positives and negatives of these schools; the cultures, the academics, the athletics? Thanks so much and good luck to everyone on March 10th!
It would be more efficient to wait until March 10th.
Also, wrong forum. I think you want the Prep School Admissions forum on College confidential.
I would think these questions would have to have been answered before the application, no? How did your son decide to apply without knowing some of these basic things? This type of question comes up a lot, and it just dumbfounds me that anyone could complete the arduous application process and not know what kind of schools they applied to. Even if you weren’t able to visit all of these schools (and maybe especially if you couldn’t visit), I would think that basic website and school handbook research would give you a good idea on each of your questions. How did your son choose these schools?
I only have experience with Choate and can tell you that the school fields some pretty strong teams and is full of school spirit. Some think that Choate has a jock culture; there is some of that. We found the faculty and administration to be outstanding and supportive and the student body to be warm, smart, and a bit sophisticated. The academics are top-notch. Not sure you will get significantly different answers for the other schools.
If you don’t know, Milton has a large day student population compared to other boarding schools if that matters to you.
My child is also a student athlete and we looked at all if these schools as well. We did not warm to Choate, Taft or Loomis. We loved Westminster and Milton, despite the 50% boarding. In the end it doesn’t seem to matter there. It is still very diverse and still feels like a boarding school. Please feel free to pm me if you have sport specific questions.
Not sure why the curt response. We in fact visited, interviewed and researched each of the above mentioned schools while also communicating with the coaches. In addition, we have spoken with parents of children who attend these schools. Unless you are actually in attendance, it is nearly impossible to get a sense of the culture, and by the way a “handbook” or website simply doesn’t cut it. I was hoping to get a perspective from a student although maybe there is another sight that I can need to be looking on that is more positive and informative.
Thank you Center. We will wait to hear on M10 and although thoroughly researching and talking to multiple friends, we believe that the revisit day will be crucial. I was really as I said trying to get a feel for the culture of the school as they can vary so much. Hope that your child is happy and thriving.
@elranchero Actually I didn’t really answer your question specifically. It’s hard to do so as they are all so similar yet so different. If you are unsure the revisit will certainly be crucial. I would say that Westminster and Milton seemed the most laid back. Taft and Choate seem more heavily hyper competitive. Loomis as well but less so.Kent is more of a mixed bag. Anyway, good luck with everything. My kid was fortunate to spend a day at two schools and it was really a wonderful opportunity.
I can chime in for you about Loomis. MY DD is a sophomore. Athletics are VERY important at Loomis. Varsity teams are top notch in many areas…Boys Basketball, Girls Hockey, Girls Voleyball, Boys Soccer, Boys Lacrosse to name a few. I find the school to be very warm, inviting and nurturing, It feels diverse both racially and socioeconomically. Academics are rigorous. My daughter came from a small gifted school with incredibly rigorous academics. While she feels prepared at Loomis, she certainly has to work very hard to get good grades. She LOVES all her teachers, advisors, coaches and other adults at Loomis. She has made great friends. The only thing she doesn’t like is the food. Hope this helps and good luck to you on M10. Please feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
@elranchero, my dd is applying as a 9th grader this cycle too. We started out with very little BS information and zero experience. I found it helpful to use CC’s search function with each school to read past posts. Some are very old; not that they aren’t helpful but things do sometimes change over time. I agree with you … culture is almost impossible to gauge via a tour but visiting schools in combination with reading these perspectives makes me feel a little more informed.
@ChoatieMom FWIW, my dd is very much trying to avoid a jock culture, and didn’t feel that at Choate. Certainly not compared to many of the other schools we visited like Middlesex, Hotchkiss, and Lawrenceville. It’s very hard to get a true sense of a school in a couple hours but Choate is also big enough that I would think there’d be a place for everyone.
Another interesting thing at Choate was they had a poster up in the cafeteria that mapped out where on the gender spectrum students identified. Obviously the majority were under male and female, but there were also some in-between. It was later explained to us there’s a student movement on campus to make the dress code (which is already pretty casual) more gender-neutral. This gave us a sense of where the student body lies in terms of progressive vs. conservative.
We asked another BS (in MA) if the same kind of thing was going on there, and they looked at us like we had 10 heads. Apparently at that school the kids are perfectly happy with conventional gender definitions.
It’s such a small thing and it can easily be blown out of proportion when you’re looking for any tiny insight as to whether your kid will fit into a culture, but nevertheless I’ve tried to be uber-aware. Some people say “bloom where you’re planted,” but I say that’s only possible if you’re in the right soil.
I do not have any experience with the other schools, but can put in my two cents on Choate:
My DD, a 3rd former, is becoming more liberal in her social issues. The school is open minded about gender identification and other issues, but there is also a group of ultra conservative students as well. (they are vocally pro Trump) So, it has been the site of lively political discussions, from “feel the Bern” to all the other extremes. I know of a few openly homosexual students who are well accepted and, in general, I feel that there is a high level of tolerance for diversity. We attended the MLK open mic night and were impressed with the talent and passion.
As far as sports, it is important to those kids who make it important. There is a talented and active theatre/dance gang and the athletes regularly attend their presentations and performances. On occasion, there are musicians/singers who are also talented athletes, but they are rare and really admired by parents and peers alike. The Renaissance Man/Woman is definitely valued here.
My DD ran into an issue with her sports team and it was resolved and never happened again. Now, at the end of the season, the team is tight and looking forward to an away championship this weekend. Even the uber cult sports, like crew, happily accept and support new recruits. Coaches from other season sports often attend their athletes’ off season events. It is common to see teachers, AOs, coaches, and students attending the sports events on weekdays and Saturdays.
So far, it seems that If you work hard and study hard, you are respected by peers, coaches, and teachers. Hope this helps you get an idea of what life at Choate is like. Best of luck on M10. Hard to believe that it has been a year!
I’m not sure why “jock culture” is a bad thing. Choate HIGHLY values its athletes. The football team is having a stellar run and, well, hockey players will be hockey players, but as @mexusa points out, there’s room for everyone and any part of the culture a kid isn’t enamored of can be avoided. Our son was a varsity rower and also made this video for SMASS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk5xdVxqWYU
He also went in to Choate with our left-leaning values and came out more to the right. His choice of West Point is still rocking our world. But that’s the kind of transformation you see at BS. The experience stretches kids to explore their values, try on different ideas, see all sides to an issue, and actually puts them in situations where they may discover, “hey, I’m wrong on this one.” That’s priceless. Our son became a man at Choate and not just because he was taller when he came out than when he went in.
I will also say that I’m not in the camp that believes a couple of visits, talking to a few parents/students/faculty, attending a game or play, or reading the school newspaper will tell you what you need to know about a school based on two things: 1) you will only get what you saw and heard on a tiny sample size of “x,” and 2) you only have to hang here for a short while before you will see completely opposite opinions about every school. Great example is that I mention a bit of a jock culture at Choate and someone posts back that they didn’t feel that. See? Yet both opinions are valid. Our son participated in a “cult” sport, so I suppose we see sports through a different lens than someone who is either in a different sport or not sports-oriented at all. I believe that your students will experience their schools in their own unique way based on what they bring to them and what they want to get out of them. None of these schools is toxic in any way. All are uniquely able to provide a great education and stretch your kids to their limits. Our view of Choate now is completely different than it was going in–based on our kid’s journey there. The school didn’t change, but he did.
So, my takeaway after our BS journey is that you might as well pick a school for its architecture and beauty as anything else. You’ll end up just as well-served and satisfied.
BTW: I’m not saying you shouldn’t visit, talk to students/faculty, or attend games and read the newspaper. Those are valuable and fun, just don’t overrate what you pick up from those activities.
@ChoatieMom : This is very true and well said. On a personal note there are two schools, Choate and Groton, where we know several kids/people that are current (and past) students. Those individuals and their families represent much that we do not care for in human beings and as such, while we still visited, we decided against completing the application. Our visits seemed to corroborate those feelings. Was it just such a strong bias that we couldn’t get over it? Maybe. Nonetheless you are correct that these schools have a bit of everything and that one might as well focus on architecture, or location or specific offerings that suit the applicant (ballet or hockey or robotics) and not worry about the rest!
I am with you. I have the same questions and visited all the same schools and researched them. We are still not sure.
I’m curious, what school did you end up choosing? I know the parent reply date has already past for I think all of those schools. Btw, I hope you ended up choosing Westminster! It’s a really warm tight knit community. The academics are great and Simsbury is a really nice town.