Upcoming Cate & Thacher Visit

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

<p>We are off to visit both schools in 2 weeks. With the "Polar Vortex" on it's way to us here on the East Coast, I'm really looking forward to this trip ;-). For all of you Cate/Thacher parents on this board, do you have any hotel recommendations? We arrive at LAX late Thursday night, then have Thacher interview Friday morning, and Cate Saturday morning. I was hoping to stay somewhere close to both schools and not change hotels. Ventura? I'm open to all suggestions!</p>

<p>Thanks so much...</p>

2

<p>Hi, GMC2918,</p>

<p>I am go glad to be able to give you a tip on hotels. (I am a new Thacher parent.) </p>

<p>Given potentially heavy north-bound traffic on US-101 on friday morning, I wouldn’t recommend you to drive all the way from LA to Ojai. I would rather stay in Ventura.<br>
It takes about 25-30 minutes to Thacher. </p>

<p>To Cate which is in Carpinteria it takes approximately 30-35 minutes depending on the traffic situation. (Oh, it’s Saturday for Cate. So the traffic should be no problem.)</p>

<p>On Friday after the Thacher interview, you may want to go to Santa Barbara which is about 40 min. drive from Ojai. Or you can stay in Ojai which is a small beautiful town with nice small galleries (and art & craft shops). Try pizza and pasta at Bocalli’s which is very close to Thacher School. (It was recommended by one of the Thacher parents here on CC.) </p>

<p>If you decide to go to Santa Barbara, try Habit burger that is gaining popularity rapidly in California. (One on the State Street is the first Habit store in CA.) State street is the main shopping & tourist spot in SB. </p>

<p>I wish you enjoy the visits to both schools and hope that your child will have a nice interview.</p>

3

<p>Hi patronyork,
Thanks so much for these great suggestions! Especially the restaurant info… </p>

<p>Yes, my plan was to definitely get out of LA and as close to Thacher as possible on Thursday night. It will be a very long day, but I think more sanity for Friday. Do you think that it makes the most sense to stay in Ventura for both nights, or to stay in Ojai on Thursday and near Cate on Friday? I’d rather just plant ourselves & not bother with having to check in and out of hotels, but maybe it would be nice for DS to get a feel for the two towns.</p>

<p>DS is really looking forward to these visits as both schools are at the top of his list. I hope that they live up to his expectations! Because we are going across the country and will only get a snapshot what these schools are really like, (unlike the East Coast boarding schools where DS has has many friends, we know no one at either C or T so have very little anecdotal knowledge) I’m trying to be smart about our weekend there. I don’t want to have to spend too much time driving & moving around, but I also want to try to get a “sense of place” for each school.</p>

<p>I’m obviously putting way too much thought into the whole thing and will most likely end up focused on finding that burger place that you mention!</p>

4

<p>Actually, Thursday night in Ventura and Friday night in Santa Barbara may be better. Obviously, Santa Barbara has more things to do and see than Ventura. Also, it is closer to Cate than Ventura by a slight margin. </p>

<p>Hotels in Santa Barbara in general are more expensive than Ventura depending on where you want to stay. There are a few fancy resort hotels but kind of too expensive. There are also several low-cost inns and mid-priced hotels, too. The best way is look up the priceline. My daughter went to the school in SB and Harbor View Inn is recommendable. It is a nice hotel by the ocean but can be very expensive depending on the seasonality. So check it out. </p>

<p>You should find Cate and Thacher different from the schools in the East in terms of school atmosphere and vibe. They seem more laid-back and easy-going while academically they are as rigorous. When we visited both schools last year for my son’s interview, we liked both schools very much. Although I am not the best person to talk about Cate in details, Thacher puts a lot of emphasis on education in conjunction with its its flagship horseback riding, famous outdoor activities and honor code. Both are small community with a close-knit, family feel schools. I hope you and your son find many good things about the schools. </p>

<p>Walk around the State street in SB and try the Habit burger if you can and PM me if you have further questions before/after the visits. Safe travel!</p>

5

<p>GMC2918: We are from the east coast and did that exact same trip one month ago this week. Both were my daughters two favorites before we went and visiting only solidified her decision to apply. They are great schools and depending on which your son gravitates to more, you really can’t go wrong. I would suggest driving to Ojai on Thursday after you get in and waking up there. We drove from LA on Friday morning because we had friends in LA and we barely made it! Traffic/accident on the 101. Not fun. We stayed at the Lavender Inn and it was great-so easy. I would also suggest spending as much of the day on campus as you possible can and then spend another night there after an easy dinner on Friday night in Ojai and again, spend all day in Carpenteria at the campus. It is important to have as much substantial “time spent” on campus as you can to really try to get under the surface. Both schools did a great job with us and we walked away with what I think is a pretty good picture of each school.<br>

  • ok- getting little kids to bed- they are running all around me- hope this makes sense- gotta go! Good luck- they are great schools! Let us know how it goes!</p>
6

<p>There are home games (basketball & soccer) on the next two fridays (17th & 24th) at Thacher School. If your schedule permits, you can ask to watch the games to see the school vibe. Will be a good learning experience. I am not sure if they will offer you a school lunch that day. It would be great to try the school dining room, meal and taste the school atmosphere. If not, you can go out and try the Bocalli’s pizza, walk around the town and come back to watch the game. </p>

<p>As freshlook suggested, you will have come a long way from the east coast, so make the best use of your visit to get the school feel. You may be able to get more hands-on ideas that you might have missed otherwise.</p>

7

<p>I am becoming pretty familiar with Carpinteria and the surrounding area. Here are my picks:</p>

<p>For restaurants, I believe a favorite hangout of Cate students is “The Spot” (burgers mostly), near the beach. Lots of other good restaurants: the Siam Elephant Thai restaurant was excellent - and alot of fun because several faculty and students were also dining there on parent weekend. Zookers has excellent seafood in a more modern artsy environment. Sly’s has a cool throwback feel to a 50’s “Mad Men” type of place (steak & seafood). And there are several yummy breakfast spots - Cajun Kitchen is one I like: I think it was the best green chile omelette I have ever had. </p>

<p>Only 2 decent hotel choices right in Carp: either the Holiday Inn or the Best Western Carpinteria Inn. The BW has more character, it is where we usually go, and we always see lots of Cate parents there for parent weekend, too. Built in an old Spanish Colonial style, with a pleasant courtyard in the center (beware the astroturf). Santa Barbara has many options, and is about a 20 minute drive. Stayed in SB once, and it was very nice, but it felt much more removed from the school and the activities. We’ve only been to Ventura once for supplies on freshman move-in day (that is where the Target is). My impression: cute in the old downtown area & wharf, utilitarian sprawl everywhere else. The traffic was terrible and it took about an hour each way, so give yourself plenty of time to get to Cate if you stay there.</p>

<p>My vote (fwiw) would be to stay in Ojai the 1st night, Carp the 2nd. That way you’ll get a feel for each. But - any way you do it will be great. </p>

<p>Have fun! I envy you your nice warm California trip! Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.</p>

8

<p>Woke up to all of these great & helpful responses - thank you all so much! </p>

<p>Freshlook, I actually booked a room at the Lavender Inn for us last night, so we are obviously on the same wavelength :wink: Is your DD applying to East Coast schools as well? We live in NYC and my son didn’t want to apply to schools with “a lot of New Yorkers” so that eliminates just about everything here.</p>

<p>Patronyork, thank you for your suggestion of sticking around to see a game - that’s a great idea! As much as my son feels slightly embarrassed by it, I have found that lurking around the schools after the Admissions Office is done with us to be highly beneficial. I really appreciate your thoughts and will definitely let you know how our visit goes.</p>

<p>Ruralmama, I love all of the restaurant suggestions - thank you! Will check out both hotel options and I think just skip Ventura. </p>

<p>Getting excited - thanks everyone!!!</p>

9

<p>That is a great idea from patronyork to stick around and see a game. Not sure if you are staying in California Saturday night, but Cate has a varsity soccer game on Saturday afternoon (the 25th) at 3 p.m. It has always been fun chatting with the other parents & faculty during the games. (Several faculty have kids that go to Cate and are on the teams, so they are among the onlookers.) Definitely a way to absorb more of the campus vibe.</p>

10

<p>Last year when we applied, we had a very tight schedule unfortunately and did not watch the games. </p>

<p>I believe that it would be as important and valuable to take part in other activities. </p>

<p>Every top school claims that it has unique and different school culture, atmosphere and goals. The problem is we as parents and the students have no concrete idea until we actually become a part of the school. It would be too late if the school of our choice did not fit. It is a very big risk factor. </p>

<p>Although the re-visit upon acceptance provides a chance to see more in depth, it is limited. An insight through informal interactions will hopefully help you understand the school culture better. I wish you all the best and let us know how they went.</p>

11

<p>Thanks everyone, for all of this fantastic advice! I’m really looking forward to the visit. I will definitely let you know how it goes!</p>

12

<p>+1 on Bocalli’s.</p>

<p>If you have time, go to a farmer’s market…and sample the Gaviota strawberry (we got them from Harry’s Berries at one of the farmer’s markets in Santa Barbara). They are so delicate that they are not shipped East, and are not the largest berry you’ll see out there…but the flavor is IMO, the best I’ve ever had.</p>

13

<p>Get a walk in on Shelf Road around 4:45 and watch the sun set over the whole Valley. It’s less than a mile long and there are benches at the peak. Absolutely beautiful. And only a 5 min drive from Lavender Inn. </p>

<p>Since you’ll be on East Coast time, Ojai Coffee Roasters opens at 5:30. Awesome coffee and you can watch the sun rise over the Topa Topas. </p>

<p>Great diner across the street for breakfast, Bonnie Lu’s. Eggs, bacon, pancakes etc. </p>

<p>And check out Bart’s Books, the only open air bookstore I’ve ever seen. Charming, idiosyncratic, inexpensive. </p>

<p>Snow tomorrow afternoon for us, but sunny and 73 at Thacher!</p>

14

<p>Santa Barbara is very fun, but even though it is pretty close and there is a Cate bus that takes them there on Saturdays, I don’t think the Cate kids get there much. DS says going to SB is an all day endeavor. Students don’t often have time for that. To most, Santa Barbara is a treat that they (and you) get to enjoy on Parent Weekend. Carpinteria is the main go-to town for Cate students.</p>

15

<p>OK all you Thacher/Cate parents - stop being so nice and helpful! It only makes me love your schools more! ;-)</p>

16

<p>Wow! I wish I had gotten information like that when we did our visits to Cate & Thacher (also probably my son’s favorites–although St. Andrew’s is up there too). We didn’t know it was Ok to stick around campus. We were there on a Friday, so we had all weekend available. We left Thacher feeling a little unfulfilled. Obviously, it was beautiful, but we didn’t get to see anything that wasn’t scripted. </p>

<p>We were on campus a little longer at Cate, but had to rush to get to our flight, so we couldn’t stay. We stayed in Santa Barbara, so we just tiny snap shots of either school. Do they both have re-visit days? if so, when do you find out when they are? We’ve got spring break (ski trip) for a week between March 10 & April 10. It’s a long trip from Texas to California, so it will take some logistics, if we get the opportunity–fingers crossed.</p>

<p>St. Andrew’s has already sent a mass email saying when the visit-backs are scheduled which I thought was very nice.</p>

17

<p>Cate has a calendar on its website here:</p>

<p>[Calendar</a> - California co ed boarding school](<a href=“http://www.cate.org/calendar/]Calendar”>Calendar - Cate School)</p>

<p>From that, looks like their 2 possible revisit days are March 21st or April 4th. Parents can choose which suits their schedule the best.</p>

18

<p>TBM - so sorry I didn’t know about your visit! I would have suggested you poke around campus, watch a game, check out the horseback riding, maybe spend some time sitting at the outdoor chapel appreciating the view, and definitely explore the town of Ojai. I hope you at least got to sit in on an Assembly. Usually they’re fun and you can get a taste of the community. If I can answer any questions after the fact, let me know. And definitely touch base with mountainhiker, patronyork and other current Thacher parents. They’ll have current news and the best advice.</p>

19

<p>Just wanted to give you all a brief update on our Cate/Thacher visits this past weekend. Thanks for the terrific recommendations - we tried to do as much as we could! We did stay to check out the games at both schools, although DS felt a bit uncomfortable and didn’t want to linger too long. We stayed for lunch at Cate, and went to Boccalli’s for lunch near Thacher.</p>

<p>Anyway, after seeing both schools and spending an extra day in Santa Barbara, my son looked at me and said “Why would anybody NOT want to go to those schools?” They are now his top favorites, by a long shot. I’ll admit that I feel the same way. What I found really interesting however, was the fact that they felt very different to us (in terms of vibe, not necessarily points on paper) yet my son would be hard-pressed to say which one he liked better.</p>

<p>I’d love to know if our impressions seem accurate, to those of you who are parents at the schools? Because virtually nobody applies from where we live, I don’t really have much to go on.</p>

<p>Thacher: definitely got a more outdoorsy, sporty vibe. Kids seemed funky, sophisticated and smart. After presentations by both Bill McMahon and Mike Mulligan, really felt confident about Thacher’s philosophy - that they practice what they preach. Loved the honor code, horse program etc etc etc… Felt very New England-y but without the old school elitism.</p>

<p>Cate: felt more diverse, international. Maybe more New York to Thacher’s Boston? Less clear about their philosophy, yet same fantastic programs and an equally impressive outdoor program. Maybe more “open” and real-world than Thacher.</p>

<p>I will say, as much as I try not to let this impact my impressions too much, the Cate admissions process was far more welcoming. My DS felt a bit stressed at Thacher - on edge. He had what he considered to be a “tough” interview with Bill McMahon and he thinks that he didn’t do so well. The logistics seemed tough, with lots of families and coordination - not a lot of room to get off of the Admissions track.</p>

<p>We loved seeing a Tuesday talk at Cate, and my DS really appreciated the chance to sit in on a class. At Thacher, the assembly was fantastic - so happy to be able to witness that - and the extra talk from the head of school was really valuable as well.</p>

<p>So, just my ramblings. I think that my DS would choose Thacher over Cate, primarily because of the “challenge yourself, leap off a cliff” mentality. That’s really who he is and what he’s looking for. However, I think that he felt more at ease at Cate. An interesting side note is that he felt that Cate was MUCH more diverse and international than Thacher. The numbers don’t really support that, and I personally didn’t feel that way (I thought that they were equally impressive) but he was very conscious of it.</p>

<p>Anyway, thoughts, comments, whatever welcome! Thanks again for all of your great advice!!!</p>

20

<p>Great to hear back from you, GMC2! So glad you had such great visits! </p>

<p>Here are my impressions from Cate (keep in mind I am seeing this mostly through the lens of my son, though. Although I’ve chatted with other parents quite a bit, too.) I’ll just ramble on a bit, and hopefully you get something you didn’t know already!</p>

<p>At Cate they really strive to teach the kids “balance” in their lives, and stress learning for purely for the joy of learning. There are required seminars in both freshman & sophomore years that discuss not just study skills, but life skills as well, talking about a wide range of issues: depression, communication, empathy, etc. It isn’t emphasized in just those classes, either - we have seen this communicated again and again from teachers and advisors. My son is super-driven and tends to get rather lopsided into the academic realm as well as stressed, so I really welcome their attempts to help him try to mellow out and “balance” a bit! (There is even meditation offered…although getting DS to go to that would be quite a challenge!)</p>

<p>Sports and “outdoorsiness” are quite pervasive at Cate. If you got an impression that Thacher was more so…wow! Freshman are required to participate in a sport each trimester. They can cut back a bit as the years go by (not sure of the exact schedule of “cutting back”.) For the fall sport, they can choose the “outdoor” program, which includes surfing, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing & camping. (Also football, water polo…a couple of others. See web site under “athletics”) Soccer is a winter sport at both Cate & Thacher (which I find cool, being from colder climes.) DS liked this alot, since he could participate in both soccer & football, whereas here he had to choose between the two. Cate always does really well in athletic competitions, heading off to the regionals for many of their sports. It is quite competitive to get onto the varsity teams - especially for soccer. But they have 3rds so that anyone that wants to can play. Every fall Cate has “Outings” week, where everyone heads off on a huge backpacking trip (required, but seniors can visit colleges instead if they want.). Every few weekends they also offer a special outdoor outing, such as a hike to a hot spring or an ocean kayaking trip. And most weekends they offer something fun like learning how to paddle board or surf - for anyone who’s interested. </p>

<p>Cate is also very commited to community service. There are several required community service days. There is a competitive 5K grant offered for the best “service” idea (the winners usually head off to some remote village in a far-flung region.) And there is a trip down to a border town in Mexico twice a year as well (this is optional). Last time it was pouring concrete for an elementary school. (Dicey area, I know, but they take good care of the kids. Wouldn’t be in their best interest to lose any!)</p>

<p>His living quarters have been amazing. He has had singles every year, with the lovely balcony complete with hammock (you have to supply your own hammock or bean bag chair). Balcony is also where smelly sports clothes can get conveniently dumped, and not smell up the room. This might be a drawback for kids who would actually like to have a roommate. They do switch off every few years - sometimes freshman girls have roommates, and sometimes freshman boys. Oh - and be forewarned - there is NO Laundry Service Available! </p>

<p>Every Thursday is a formal dinner & convocation (a guest speaker or a performance). The kids take turns being waiters. With no laundry service, the required suits tend to get rather um - grody - by the time break rolls around and we can get them cleaned! Cate prides itself on serving local foods. The salad bar looked great to me. I’ve heard several complaints though, including from DS, that the food quality has taken a general downturn. How was your lunch? The parents weekend food is alway wonderful, but I don’t think we can go by that as they are putting on their best face for that! (Mmmmm - the final parent weekend brunch is really amazing!)</p>

<p>Son absolutely did not want to go to Thacher (didn’t even visit or apply) because of his perceived notion that it would be alot like where he grew up. We have alot of horses, cows and plaid shirts where we live :). He is now of course enmeshed in the intense Thacher-Cate rivalry, so its hard to get any unbiased Thacher info from him. But fwiw, he does feel like Thacher is more a country vibe, and Cate more a city vibe. Not that he is the best judge.</p>

<p>Academically, it has been very challenging, like most of the schools mentioned here. This year as a junior he’s taking all honors & advanced classes, which were not available at local PS. Advanced classes are what used to be “AP” classes, but like many schools, they have for the most part stopped “AP” at Cate because they found it limited the curriculum. After they finish the advanced classes, though, they are ready for the AP exam. And then some. Oh - and they offer Japanese! (I feel bad because in a previous thread from last November a poster was asking which schools offered Japanese, and I had no idea that Cate actually did.) </p>

<p>There is a required arts curriculum as well. DS had to participate in choir, which was less than enthused about. He ended up really loving it! And, the choir director coaxes out some really beautiful music from what can’t have been a totally musically inclined class. In freshman year they are required to take a combo class that encompasses visual arts, performing arts, and choir. They have a wonderful band director, who likes to encompass world music (and crazy instruments) into the orchestra, as well as hitting some nice classical numbers.</p>

<p>And finally: everyone has always been extremely friendly and warm to us at Cate, both faculty & other students. I do love the “international vibe”, and it does not seem clique-y at all. My son (caucasian) has good friends from Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the Sudan.</p>

<p>Drawbacks? For us it has just been the usual boarding school riff: missing the child, the sanity of paying the BS price, etc. It has been interesting being exposed to some of the extreme wealth (ie, “here is our new jet” posted by one of his friends on FB.) As far as drawbacks specific to Cate that you wouldn’t encounter anywhere else, I really can’t think of any. It has been a great school and your son is right - who wouldn’t choose one of these schools!</p>