<p>I'm quoting the class of 2010 stats, which I don't believe are posted online yet...as an incoming junior, my app contested with six other girls, but the new freshman had a slightly easier time of it.</p>
<p>Apparenty single-sex was all the rage this past year; all the girls' schools (my sister is at Emma Willard) saw a huge jump in rejections.</p>
<p>Iris.... Congrats on choosing Westove over some other "more prestigious" schools. My D graduated 5 years ago and had a wonderful experience. I would put her classes and teachers up against any that are out there in any of the larger more well known schools. It was a nurturing, caring environment with such a great emphasis on writing, she never felt that any of her college classes which included Columbia and NYU ever met Westover standards!</p>
<p>As for Taft and Hotchkiss.... living in this area, I have had the chance to know many students who have applied to both.... many will be accepted at Hotchkiss and rejected at Taft and vice versa.... hard to say that one is "better" than the other. Bearcats... I think your analogy is poorly thought out and the fact that you and other H students need to verbalize your thoughts on the superiority of your school indicate a somewhat insecure feeling... perhaps it is that underlying feeling of not quite being up there with Choate, Andover, Exeter that makes you feel you have to put down others to feel ok! It's ok... when all is said and done you will have received a fine education and perhaps as you mature you will see the foolishness of your posts, whether in jest or not. Congratulations on your GT to Cornell... your dad did a great job with the alum and development office!</p>
<p>in terms of average SSAT, acceptance rate, college matriculation, endownment...we own taft...</p>
<p>Bearcats.... were you happy in your four years there? Did you accomplish the goas that you set out for yourself? Are you happy with the college counseling that you received and have you made friendships that will last you a lifetime? If the answer to these is yes, and I suspect they are.... then Hotchkiss was and is the right place for you. Whether it "owns" Taft or any other school is somewhat irrelevant. The rivalry is a great thing, but keep it clean and honest. I can't really say that one is better than the other, however, if it works for you that's great. There is no denying that many kids gain acceptance to H that were turned down by Taft, Andover. Exeter, Choate etc. .. So many factors to consider... same thing with average SSAT scores , does the school choose to make those targets their priority when choosing an incoming class? Or do they choose to recognize faculty children... or art skills or some other factor. The important thing is that it worked for you.</p>
<p>yes i am happy with h'kiss, i picked hotchkiss over andover, exeter, SPS and choate, (not deerfield, damn)...i was waitlisted by taft but that old admission director did tell me during my revisit trips and said, "If you visit all the schools and taft is still your first choice, give me a call and I will do whatever I can <em>wink wink</em>"</p>
<p>Taft should be on a higher level than Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>Bearcats, try to work on this insecurity at college. It won't serve you well, especially if you go into business or the sciences.</p>
<p>Thank you KarateDad, I am very happy with my decision. I work much harder here than my friends at Exeter and Trinity, for better or for worse. =3</p>
<p>"in terms of average SSAT, acceptance rate, college matriculation, endownment...we own taft..."</p>
<p>Okay, I shouldnt use the term own. But admit rate is usually the parameters people use to measure competitiveness in admissions</p>
<p>acceptance rate
Hotchkiss 20% exactly 1 out of 5
Taft 30% little less than 1 out of 3</p>
<p>information from hotchkiss website and boardingschoolreview.com</p>
<p>I am not saying that hotchkiss is better than taft for everyone.. fit is very important. I am glad I saw that when I chose my school..I am just saying..admission is more competitive simply based on raw statistics</p>
<p>Iris How many of your friends at those "other schools" are dealing with "common errors?" Polina is one of the best heads of school I have ever met and took the time to know each one of her students personally. It's true that that wouldn't be possible in many larger schools, but that is the beauty of a school like Westover. With the new buildings, their physical plant is marvelous and the traditions that they have are also lovely. I can still remember my daughter talking about the Lantern ceremony and who can beat their Graduation ceremony?</p>
<p>Bearcat....
"acceptance rate
Hotchkiss 20% exactly 1 out of 5
Taft 30% little less than 1 out of 3"</p>
<p>I'm not sure where the statistics came from, however.... boardingschoolreview.com would not be a good source. Not all schools are willing to pay the money or give them information... I am fairly certain that Loomis and Taft do not! Many of the other schools pay a fee to that site, but I would look for that to end soon.</p>
<p>In addition, we all know that there are many ways to manipulate admissions statistics... in fact you implied that the "old director" of admmissions at Taft did that with you. I can't say if he did or he didn't and nor would I care. I wouldn't claim that one school is better than another simply based on average SSAT's or admission rate. Again, what works for one may not work for another... I have a D who attended Gunnery... a much smaller less competitve school in CT.... I would argue in many ways that it was better (especially for her) than H or T. There was a much wider range of students, a wide diversity of culture and background, day students were accepted as an integral part of the community and on and on. Many students were accepted to top level colleges including ivies and Top LAC and Universities... what I would also say is that those who were less gifted intellectually were also helped and guided to accomplish the most that they could. I'm not sure those students would have received the same attention at some of the larger schools. Who would want to be the kid with a 75th percentile SSAT when according to you the average student at some of these schools is in the 93rd percentile... four years of that can't do much for a young adult's ego. Again, if it works for you... great! GL</p>
<p>anyway, salisbury is a very fun school and has good resources, awesome campus, go visit theirr, your S probably would like it...If you are somehow in the area visiting, there are two amazing restaurants around, the boathouse or Woodland ..go try one of them... you willl like it</p>
<p>btw it's salisbury not salsbury, no offense but just to point it out since I see you making the same mistake in both the topic and the messege..it's pronounced salsbury tho</p>
<p>KarateDad, common errors quizzes are the bane of my existance! I've spent many an hour trying to decide if it's a parallelism or a case error. Oh dear.</p>
<p>But yes, Polina is an excellent headmistress. I love all the ceremonies (I went throgh Dirge this year) and I want to run for head of school at the end, just because I want to participate more in the school's history.</p>
<p>And, um, Bearcats? I got 99th percentile on the SSAT, so that clearly doesn't make me an Exeter student automatically.</p>
<p>but that puts you in the running, I got waitlisted by deerfield with a 98th percentile....</p>
<p>Iris... glad to see common errors are still around. Those English teachers are the best! Dirge... I'm not sure I remember... is that the one by the lake? Anyway, you should know that my D and her classsmates are still so tight... the friendships you are making now will last a lifetime. Again .. congrats on making a great decision... enjoy enjoy enjoy!</p>
<p>Dirge is indeed by the lake. It's the one where they try to freak out the freshman.</p>
<p>Bearcats, I was at a huge disadvantage coming from a Montana highschool. My 4.0 unweighted there didn't mean anything because it wasn't a hard school.</p>
<p>...they have great dances...lol...though I did almost get squashed. </p>
<p>I'm not too sure about the academics but it really is a beautiful school, and it's not too far from hotchkiss = middle of absolutely nowhere.</p>
<p>hmm. thank you but a few more comments about salisbury would be appreciated. I think I heard a lot about taft and Hotchkiss. My dad's friend went to Taft when it was all boys. but, well, he thinks it may be too big fo rmy brother and he's big on chapel. I am a twin and I am looking at HM, Saint Ann's, Dalton, Trevor Day, Fieldston. I thought about boarding school but am not convinced it' s for me. I am thinking about a few.</p>
<p>Salisbury: 106 year old all boys school in the northwest corner of CT. On a hilltop about 3 three miles north of the charming and affluent town of Salisbury, and about 6 miles from Lakeville and Hotchkiss School. Campus is classic NE Prep -- big white columned Main Building anchors the Quad which features two new buildings dedicated to the humanities and the sciences.
750 acre campus bordered to the east by the Appalachian Trail, also has lakefront property for the crew team. School recently grew from 250 to almost 300 and added a beautiful new dorm facing the football field to accomodate this expansion.</p>
<p>A VERY traditional school by today's standards -- in addition to the all boys student body there is a coat and tie dress code, weekly chapel (school is still affiliated loosely with the Episcopal Church), some sit-down meals, and a strictly enforced Honor Code. Mostly (90%) boarding, students come from all over the country, and about 10% are international. More preppy than average.</p>
<p>Academically a real mix -- school still serves boys who need extra attention, but will excel in a supervised, smaller class environment. At the same time, there are lots of very strong students, and the college placement bears this out: lots of Trinity, Colby, Hamilton, Richmond, W&L etc. in addition to a sprinkling of Ivies every year. Strong faculty with lots of tenure helps. Small classes, easy access to teachers, excellent Advisor system.</p>
<p>Athletically, Salisbury is the reigning NE Prep champion in Class A football, Div 1 hockey and Div 1 lacrosse. Soccer, Basketball, Squash, Baseball, Crew and Tennis are also typically strong programs. School takes about 15 PG's a year and they are almost always athletes, although as an all boys school lots of kids are athletically oriented amd many play in college. Salisbury fields as many as 5 teams per sport depending on interest. </p>
<p>Very friendly and low key student body with a nice energy -- place kind of hums without getting too frantic. Young (under 40) Headmaster who gets it.</p>
<p>Like most schools (but maybe especially a single-sex school) you have to buy into the program, and then run with it. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Agreed with a few points off i think</p>
<p>"More preppy than average."
Not really,</p>
<p>"Very friendly and low key student body with a nice energy -- place kind of hums without getting too frantic."</p>
<p>disagree lol...friendly yes.. low key? No lol</p>