<p>ImCrazy, in truth, I’m not quite sure what your message said to which I replied. I did my best, however, to make sense of what you said and then reply. I thought you deserved a response. My mistake.</p>
<p>Alright?..I mean if you can’t read that’s not really my problem.</p>
<p>I like Hotchkiss. I have relatives who have gone there and my kids have good friends who are very happy there. However, despite its reputation on CC and the HADES acronym, it has never been considered “the best boarding school in the nation” by people in the boarding school world. It is a fine school, parents are thrilled by the attention their kids receive and the advisee system, and I’m sure that your son will be very happy there, and will get a great education there too.</p>
<p>Biohelpmom mom I would agree with you that Hotchkiss is not considered THE best school in the nation. But then again NO school is considered THE best in the nation. You intimation however that Hotchkiss "has never been considered [one of] “the best boarding school in the nation” is absolutely false. There is a reason everything from the the ford car to the mars bars to the US dollars you buy both of thoes product with, are produced by companies controlled or owned by Hotchkiss alums, it is because it is one of the greatest schools on earth and the creativty it spawns has led it to produce the captains, titans infact, of industry for years now. And for thoes of you who so easily dismiss people who do not get into the IVY league as faliures I will highlight two recent Hotchkiss alums that single handely founded a whole new restaurant chain (COSI) that went to Hamilton <a href=“http://www.observer.com/node/42170?observer_most_read_tabs_tab=2[/url]”>http://www.observer.com/node/42170?observer_most_read_tabs_tab=2</a></p>
<p>As you can see the lessons one learns at Hotchkiss are far and these guys are recent graduates. For you to come on here and have the gall to represent the boarding school community at large and make assertions that run counter to 100 years of histroy is disconcerting at the very least. And I am not so easily swayed (fooled would perhaps be a more appropriate word) by your proclimations of love at Htochkiss when your actions on this site have repeatedly shown that your primary intention is to pull the school down at every oppertunity. You have a history of spewing anti-hotchkiss vitriol on here (i.e the deabte argument we had which has hardly grounded in reality) so I almost considered not posting this but I feel that people may believe you particualy in light of the recent hype over the alleged SSAT drop.</p>
<p>Now unlike some of the Hotchkiss fans on here I am not going to brush aside the SSAT drop, on the other hand I am not going to suggest that standards must be falling and the school is in decline or any sort of dooms-day scenario like that. I will however say that if indeed this drop is true and can be confirmed then there must obviously be good reason for that. We have a new admissions officer this year and I am not one to pretend that I know more about admission that them. The people in charge of admissions are professionals (the current head of admission comming from Deerfield) and I am sure there is some reasoning behind their choices -economic or otherwise. All schools have their peaks and troughs but for thoes of you who fear the worst - stop, Hotchkiss still is and will always be one of the best schools in the nation. Notice that Exeter and SPS have hid their average SSAT results - had Hotchkiss done the same none of you would be worrying so much so I would go so far as to commend them for their transparency. So don’t be so quick to judge Hotchkiss when the full facts are not apparant. You do not even know what numbers you are comparing Htochkiss to. Furthermroe when Hotchkiss’ SSAT was 93% none of you suggested that deerfield was a far inferior school because its SSAt languished in the 80s. Nor did any of you slight SPS when its SSAT was likewise (and as far as we know still is) dangling in the “dungeon” of having an average SSAT score in the 80s - oh the horror. </p>
<p>Hotchkiss is far more than a bunch of numbers - numbers are important, but so is community, internationalism, creativty, and the other things that make Hotchkiss great. be that as it may, I do not wish to take part in the battering some have done of certain individuals who have brought up this topic. Some parents have a right to be concerned and have the right to inquire why things that have happened have happened. However i would question whether CC is the best place to do so - perhaps you would be better served contacting Hotchkiss and asking them yourself ? (though I would highly advise you against doing so). I have decided not to contact the admissions office - if any of you think or wish to you may do so yourselves. With that I bid CC adiue as school is starting and I ahve more important things to do now as I prepare for my final year and the great enigma of college.</p>
<p>i think this might be the nutttiest thread on cc.</p>
<p>Agreed…</p>
<p>Actually, I was responding to Toombs51, and my main theme has always been that there is no such thing as “The Best,” although in the past other posters have stated that much more eloquently than I have. My children have all gone to Big 10 New England schools, and I’m happy that it has been “The Best” for them. That’s all that really matters.</p>
<p>If there is an “anti-Hotchkiss movement” out there, I think it started from the name HADES. Now that the “five best boarding schools” theory was established, each of these schools is drawing scrutiny. CC users, many of whom that care are propective students/parents that are trying to decide which schools to apply to and/or attend while having little direct experience with BS, will naturally compare these schools side by side. What they can compare are mostly numbers including endowment, SAT, college matriculation (most notably prepreview ranking), admission rate, yield, and SSAT, etc. The “true experience” or more “advanced knowlege” about these schools are believed to matter more than the numbers but are hard to look into and compare. In terms of numbers, no school takes NO 1 spot on all fronts but some do look better than others. I don’t think any school is immune to this scrutiny on an Internet board. Take Deerfield, up until last year it had been consistently ranked pretty high by prepreview, and its admission rate/yield/FA are still impressive, that’s why a SSAT in high 80’s wasn’t an issue. However, D didn’t get a high ranking by prepreview this year, and if you see slide of other stats as well (SAT, SSAT, yield, etc.) in the years to come people WILL start questioning its leading position. Is this fair, or scientific? I don’t think so, but this is how the “user polls” work. In my opinion, HADES adds unnessary competition and burdens to all the schools involved.</p>
<p>I don’t see what the acronym HADES has to do with hotchkiss SSAT dropping from 93 to 83 at all. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>to say HADES are the ‘5 best schools’ is ridiculous. to say that the HADES school are among the best schools in the nation is a lot more probable/believable/realistic. groton and milton are just as good as these schools and them not being included in the acronym doesn’t make them any worse… HADES are just 5 great schools. are great schools limited to HADES? no, obviously not. </p>
<p>the “5 best boarding schools theory” is totally insane, kthnxbai</p>
<p>Hotchkiss was clearly the best school in the country (I mean c’mon, Henry Ford and the founders of Goldman Sachs went there) but now that their SSATscores suck it is clearly run of the mill at best. fif would place it on a tier with Gunnery, Proctor, Williston and Trinity-Pawling. Sorry, but those are just the statistical facts.</p>
<p>fif, to be the best school in the country, Hotchkiss would have had to have also educated the great minds at Lehman Brothers.</p>
<p>Since it’s tee’d up… Bobbie Lehman went to Hotchkiss.</p>
<p>Henry Ford II and almost all of Henry Ford’s descendants went to Hotchkiss not the Ford himself, a president of Goldman Sachs went to Hotchkiss not the founders (Goldmann existed before Hotchkiss after all), however the founder of Morgan Stanley did go to Hotchkiss, members of the Lehman family attended Hotchkiss not the founders again Lehman Brothers was founded before Hotchkiss. FIF you worked in finance I’m sure you knew that already I sense that was sarcasm. I would agree with divealive almost completely and Nodrama to a certain extent.</p>
<p>fif ftw!!</p>
<p>
I agree, but wouldn’t a highly publicized term just effectively promote that idea? Now, it’s arguable to say the least that HYP are the best universities in the world, but ask around and you’d be surprised just how many believe exactly that!</p>
<p>
The “anti-hotchkiss” didnt’ start after its SSAT scores dropped this year - ask kafkareborn. I think the prepreview ranking played a bigger role. Thanks to the “education” from Hotchkiss supporters though, people are learning a lot about Hotchkiss’ impressive record of educating the great minds of the nation, among other things. That helps.</p>
<p>No Drama- that very well may be true but the HYP acronym is recognized beyond the cc universe. Ask most prep students how they feel about HADES schools and you will find them doubled over, holding their bellies as they shake with uncontrollable laughter. It’s just the way it is.</p>
<p>Are you a parent of a current prep school student?</p>
<p>^^ True true, but if you mention any of those schools individually (maybe hotchkiss a little less than the others) and say you go to the one of the best prep schools in New England no one will be laughing. Where as it’s obvious there are some very very good school out there, that just aren’t on the same level as others.</p>
<p>Not that they should be either, it’s all about what suits your child the best, not what people consider a top school.</p>
<p>nylecoj007, I hope you are right, but terms like this do have a long term effect. I was using HYP to describe a similar phenomenon. Of course HADES won’t have as nearly a large influence as HYP, then again boarding schools are only relevant to a small number of people. The tricky part is that these schools are arguably among the top 10 (otherwise people wouldn’t buy it no matter how fancy the acronomy is), but to draw such attention and scrutiny because of this silly acronomy is a double edge sword to the schools involved.</p>
<p>ImCrazy and NoDrama- you both make very stong points, thank you. I am just pleased that we were lucky to find, apply and receive accepance to one of the “best” schools, according to our family’s intrinsic values and refined definition of “best”. </p>
<p>Okay I’m getting off this thread because it really should be more Hotchkiss content driven…</p>