Unless things have changed, not until you open your room door.
Hahaha…perfect! It’s like Christmas on Labor Day.
In terms of school tradition, what are the main sports for boys and what are the main sports for girls? and are they the kind of sports, as hook for admission (or for being recruited), what about the other sports?
Do they work through the admission office or through the coach(es)?
Welcome and good luck to all new Choaties. You have a fantastic school and a fantastic community! Try not to let fear keep you from making the most of your education and being your best self. Don’t be afraid of college admissions. Just do your best and college admissions will take care of itself. Take some risks and reach out to introduce yourself to someone new every day. It’s the fastest way to make friends and be comfortable in your new home away from home. Don’t be afraid to try new things and try to take advantage of all that’s there. Don’t embarrass yourself or your family. Think before you act and make you and your family proud of your actions. You’ll want to look back on these days as some of the most stimulating for growth and one full of scholarship and fellowship. Don’t do anything that prevents you from walking in Graduation. Make yourself worthy of your family’s sacrifices that allowed for this wonderful opportunity. Don’t be scared, be fierce! And above all be yourself, because no one else can.
And enjoy all those phenomenal new facilities! Choate is a gorgeous place to spend a few of your young years. Be mindful of that beauty.
hey everyone! I know that the results came out last week and I wanted to say congratulations to everyone who was accepted!! let me know if you have any questions–this thread is still active!! 
Thank you @Penguins75! I do have a couple questions.
- Do you know when placement tests come out? What do they look like/consist of?
- What is the dorm composition at Choate, and is it possible for entering sophomores to get a single?
- Is it possible to get off-campus internships/research positions?
- How's the food?
- Does the workload allow for ample extracurricular time?
Hi @CavsFan2003 ! I will answer in the same format that you asked the questions.
- The placement tests come out after you have decided that you will attend choate. I believe that you should expect them some time in early summer, along with a copy of the student handbook and the course catalogue. The placement tests are for math and for language. you simply fill them out like a normal test and send them right back to the school. These tests, along with your teacher recommendations and current grades, will determine your placement in a language and math course. Do not stress about them. You already finished the hard part which is getting in!
- Since I believe that you hinted that you are going to be a sophomore, sophomore dorms do not contain only sophomores. Instead, they have both sophomores and juniors. The biggest for a soph/junior dorm has about 40 kids, while the smallest has about 20. There is a senior (or several) in each dorm that acts like an R.A. to make sure that you are alive and help you out, and there is a dorm advisor that lives in the dorm, as well as other advisors who do not live there, but do nightly duty there. There are generals rules that apply to each dorm, which you can look up in the student handbook online. That being said, each dorm has its own dynamic and own way of functioning in terms of rules depending on the house advisor. Dorm dynamics also vary in terms of the way that guy dorms are and girl dorms are. By that I mean that girl dorms are composed of only girls and guy dorms are composed of only guys, so peer interactions within the dorms are going to be different depending on the gender lol.
Also, it IS possible for new sophomores to get a single, but I strongly urge you to consider having a roommate. Analyze the pros and cons of having one and not having one. Going to boarding school is a risk, and so is having a roommate randomly selected for you, but in the end, they both might just be worth it.
- It is possible to get off-campus internships/research positions, but you would not be able to do a sport during that term and you would have to get special permission. Furthermore, you would have to get the internship on your own.
- The food is pretty decent. People complain about it, but people complain about the food anywhere because we are teenagers and its insistuitional food. I personally think that the food is a lot better than at other schools and there is a wide variety to choose from.
- The workload does allowed for ample extracurricular time.That's not to say that the workload at Choate is by any means easy, because let me assure you, it is defiantly not. Will it be hard sometimes to juggle both, of course. But is it possible, totally. I would say that most students on campus do a TON of extracurriculars and manage to get great grades at the same time. It really comes down to learning time management and how to effiecently use your free blocks during the school day.
Let me know if you have any more questions and congratulations on your acceptance!!!
Hi, I’ve been waitlisted at Choate (EXCITED BUT FEARFUL), and I just have a couple of questions:
- In your opinion/experience, how likely is it to get off the waitlist? If any of you were waitlisted and have experience regarding the situation (whether or not you were accepted), PLEASE TELL ME YOUR EXPERIENCES, it will help so much.
- By when should I send any new updates/supplements to my application for the waitlisting process?
- How should I submit my new, updated grades? (email? should I or my school send it? etc.)
- Where should I send my updates/supplements for the waitlist application?
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Before I begin, I wanted to say congratulations for surviving the application process! It isn’t easy, but trust me, you are about to embark on an incredible new chapter in your life.
- Like any competitive school, it has become increasingly difficult to get off the waitlist at Choate. While I know it is exciting to even be placed on the waitlist, don't put all of your eggs into the metaphorical Choate basket, and seriously consider the other schools that accepted you. Allow yourself to fall in love with them, and if Choate works out, then great, but if not, that's ok too because you found another school that you'd be happy at. That being said, it isn't impossible to get off of the waitlist. I actually know of two people in my grade who were accepted off of the waitlist, but please keep in mind that I am a senior and a lot has changed in the world of admissions since I was accepted in 2015.
- I would send in the updates/supplements as soon as you have received them. If you win an award, let admissions know asap.
3 and 4. These are both very good questions, and if I am completely honest, I am not quite sure how you should submit your grades and updates. I recommend emailing the admissions office and asking them what the appropriate protocol is to submit updates and grades for a waitlisted applicant.
Furthermore, I recommend emailing them a letter of interest explaining why it is that you want to attend Choate, and what you can provide to the Choate community.
Good luck and let me know what the answer is for questions 3 and 4!!!
Hi—I have a couple more questions, if you wouldn’t mind.
- Is it difficult to start a club at Choate? I have an idea for one and I was wondering if that's an easy process. Would I need to find a teacher to like watch it?
- Is Wallingford an expensive town? I get a $75 stipend so would that be enough to eat out like once a week in Wallingford?
- Is the school store reasonably priced? What about textbooks?
- How's the workload, like hours per night and all that? Is it a bunch of busy work or substantial assignments? Are classes more lecture based or... not lecture based?
@CavsFan2003, I can comment on starting a club as our son started one as a freshman. He had to devise a charter and a business plan that described the club’s mission and detailed all of the logistics, like how often meetings would be held, how many members the club could support, how the club would contribute to the Choate community, what type of support in either equipment or funding would be required, etc. The plan also defined a transition plan for passing the torch in a way that ensured smooth and continued operation of the club when he was no longer there. He also had sponsorship from a faculty member whose expertise aligned with the club’s activities and goals. Some clubs are very informal and don’t really require much beyond a bit of advertising and a meeting space, but others operate more like businesses and require more planning and structure.
I don’t know the exact title, but there is a person on campus who directs the clubs. This person should not be hard to find as there is a club fair during opening days. If you don’t see your idea in operation on opening days, don’t be afraid to step up and start it. Best of luck to you!
@ChoatieMom Thank you for the info!! I looked on Choate’s website, and didn’t see my club idea, but obviously I’ll pay attention during opening days.
@CavsFan2003 Just a heads up, the student activities section of the Choate website that contains a list of all of the current clubs on campus is unfortunately not up to date.
Oh, another question–are the dorms nice? Good sized? I understand there are a LOT of houses, so is it better to be in a house or an actual dormitory?
@CavsFan2003 The dorms are nice-ish. The relative niceness of a dorm is dependent on which dorm you get. There is relatively new (constructed in 2008) dorm for sophomores/juniors (They are called Tenney and Bernhard and have the same layout. I think that you can find pics of these specific dorms online.) They built one each for guys and girls, and the dorms are beautiful. These hold about 40 students each, and most new students are placed there. However, as a new student, you cannot necessarily request to be placed there. Other dorms are a little grime-y, and I am thinking of two in particular, but new students are rarely ever placed there. Furthermore, dorm size, like the niceness of a dorm, is dependent on which dorm you get. As a returning student, you choose a number that will be used in the dorm lottery, and you rank your preferred dorms, but new students do not get that option. Instead, when you fill out a housing/roommate form, they have you state whether or not you prefer a small or large dorm. The newer dorms that I mentioned above are the largest for sophmores/juniors, while the rest typically hold anywere from 20 to 30 students. I have lived in a dorm with 40 girls, 20 girls, 15 students (the KEC) and 12 girls, and honestly, I’ve enjoyed all sizes. Each dorm size comes with its pros and cons. Larger dorms mean more noise and bustle, as well as more people sharing a bathroom, which can get a gross quickly(please note that this happens everywhere, and in literally any shared space EVER). However, since you are a new student, a larger dorm gives you access to more people that you inherently have a connection with since you share a living space. The benefits of a small dorm are that you can make develop close relationships with the people in your dorm, and those people could actually become your friend group, but with fewer people, it means that you would really have to put yourself out there and hope that you like the people in your dorm(again, not liking people in your dorm can happen anywhere).
I don’t quite understand what you mean if it is better to live in a house. Could you elaborate a little more on that? The more intimate “houses,” which are still technically called dorms, can hold anywhere between 6-15 students and are only available for seniors. There is one exception of a more house-like dorm called Woodhouse(soph/junior boys), which still holds about 15ish students. However, since you can’t actually choose the dorm that you want, and instead only state what you prefer, it’s the luck of the draw! Let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi everyone! Choate just had their first revisit day today! If you have any questions after the fact,or are just nervous for the revisit days coming up, feel free to post
Hi all, my younger brother (international student from Ghana) got into Choate for 9th grade. After accepting the offer, he hasn’t really received emails for the next steps, preparation for school etc. Is this normal for Choate?
@Choatiesis I haven’t gotten anything either, if that makes you feel any better lol
@CavsFan2003 thanks for the reassurance; the only reference I had was my college process, where schools would immediately send a deluge of emails and resources for prep. He was also freaking out thinking that they may not have received his signed statement in time.
While we wait, do any Choate students/parents have tips on things to do the summer before your first semester?