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Alumni
Review #5, Class of 2002 |
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| College
Enrolled |
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University of Chicago |
| Home
Town, State (Country) |
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new york,NY |
| Years
Attended Boarding School |
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4 |
| Activities
During Boarding School |
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literary magazine, squash, unicef, a bunch of other things that didnt really matter |
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| 1.) What do you think makes your school unique relative
to other boarding schools?
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| choate reminds me of the dickens quote: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...the spring of hope, the winter of despair. in short, choate provided me with wonderful relationships with my peers and teachers and an amazing academic career. however, i felt at odds with the administration and felt that they typecasted students based on appearance. i felt there was a lot of red tape and that somehow if daddy was rich (and believe me, there are a lot of rich daddys at choate), then everything would be ok. and plus, its hard to be thrown into an environment where you have to share a room and all that stuff at such a young age. do i regret going to choate, not at all. would i do it again? well, that question is a bit harder. |
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| 2.) What was the best thing that happened to you in boarding school? |
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| you grow up a lot going to boarding school. you become more worldly, more mature, maybe a little more arrogant. but these are good things, because boarding school prepares you for the social interactions that you will have when you and all the other prep schoolers are the ceo's and cfo's of large organizations. |
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| 3.) What would you have done differently during your boarding school experience? |
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| i would have branched out more, both with students and faculty. maybe i would have done another sport, i would have kept more of a mainstream profile. |
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| 4.) What would you never want to change about your school? |
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| the faculty because they really care about the kids, and the academics in general. |
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| 5.) What things could be improved about your school? |
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| [] choate needs to work on better college placement a bit more still. improve some of the facilities. get form deans who actually like their students. |
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| 6.) Do you have any final words of wisdom for visiting or incoming students
to your school? |
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| toms has really good bacon,egg, and cheese sandwiches. live in a small dorm, find some teachers and befriend them. |
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| 1.)
What did you like best about your school’s academics? |
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| choate offers a wealth of classes and independant study options (i basically took whatever i wanted my senior year), especially with the senior english electives. the majority of teachers do seem to care about the students and their work, which is also nice. but expect to work more in high school than in college. its also nice how you only have to take 2 yrs of history total while you're there. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the academics in your school? |
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| there isn't much choice as an underformer - basically languages and arts are the only things you can choose from. but i guess these things make you more well rounded. but i liked the academics a lot. |
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| 1.)
What did you like best about your school’s athletics? |
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| after they renovated the gym, i guess that was nice. but i wasnt a huge sports fan, though i played squash. there are nice squash courts. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the athletics in your school? |
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| the athletic requirement sucks for non athletic people - wayyyy to much athleticism. the hockey rink is also in bad shape. the hockey team is favored and held to the status of demigods. |
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| 1.)
What did you like best about your school’s art program? |
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| the visual art classes were really nice, though some people say the teachers play favorites. perhaps that is true. but the art center itself is a really nice building. classes with mr. bradford are nice. especially sculpture. the theater program is also supposed to be good. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your school’s art program? |
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| i really dont have any complaints...maybe how the "weird" kids were favored in the acting classes |
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| 1.)
What did you like most about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| some were good, some weren't. there were a lot of pretend clubs or clubs that suddenly came into action right around the time when the senior presidents of such clubs were applying to college. but i think the larger clubs were good. join one or two with some friends and you'll have a good time. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about the extracurricular activities offered
at your school? |
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| they weren't organized very well and got basically no funding. |
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| 1.)
What was the best thing about dorm life in your school? |
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| the people that you meet while living together in a dorm really make the choate experience worthwhile, probably moreso than any class or grade. i lived in both big and small dorms, and in small dorms there was really a great sense of camraderie. and because everyone has homework until like 2am, you bond in the middle of the night and can act all silly. its also nice how there are 2 phone lines and 2 ethernet lines per room. senior housing is nice too. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about dorm life? |
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| a lot of the rooms are small, and its virtually impossible to get a single. the lottery system (run by the beloved administration) is really frustrating and a pain in the ass. you also can't really switch rooms except for dire circmstances. |
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| 1.)
What was the best thing about your dining arrangements? |
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| choate has a beautiful dining hall and the food isn't half bad - esp. at breakfast. the large round tables maximize student interaction and provide a nice place to eat. |
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| 2.)
What did you like least about your dining arrangements? |
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| dinner is somewhat of a questionable meal - steer clear of the hot entrees. brunch isn't open late enough on sundays - it should close at 2:30 instead of 1, in my opinion. the meals also get somewhat repetitive, if not recycled into the soup. |
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| 1.) How welcome did you feel by the other students when you first
arrived at the school? |
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| i guess it was really fun at first, but then i think i closed myself off to too many people my freshman year and it was harder to branch out later on. but i dont think homesickness was a problem for most kids and people found their clique. |
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| 2.)
Describe the level of diversity and integration of students in your
school: |
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| choate is a relativly racially diverse school, though much less so socioeconomically (though this is probably the case at most boarding schools). among my closest friends, i dont think there was that much diversity, and i think a lot of social groups organize themselves either by race or socioeconomics |
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| 3.)
Describe typical fun activities you did on a weekend: |
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| well i lived in new york so i went home a lot, especially as i got older because i thought the social life was boring at school. there are sac dances or mall trips, or you can jus hang out. though if you do sports, that takes up all of saturday. |
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| 4.)
What was the town like? |
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| town used to be considered main street which has about 4 restaurants and a cvs, but the cvs closed. [] there used to be a kmart but that closed too. its good if you sneak a car onto campus, or have day student friends with cars. go into new haven, its not that expensive |
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| 7:30 AM | wake up | | 8:00 AM | honors journeys and quests | | 9:00 AM | ap french | | 10:00 AM | free period - take a nap | | 11:00 AM | post-modernism | | 12:00 AM | lunch | | 1:00 PM | marine biology | | 2:00 PM | ap statistics | | 3:30 PM | sports practice | | 5:30 PM | dinner | | 6:30 PM | hang out in dorm or elsewhere on campus | | 7:30 PM | homework in room | | 9:00 PM | break, get food from vendors | | 9:45 PM | resume homework | | 12:00 PM | finish homework | | 1:00 AM | hang out in dorm, maybe watch tv in the common room...bed | |
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| 12:00 AM | wake up | | 12:30 AM | brunch | | 2:00 PM | hang out in someones room, maybe go to town | | 5:00 PM | do homework | | 6:30 PM | dinner, probably order in | | 7:00 PM | waste lots of time doing nothing, wander around town | | 11:30 PM | check into dorm, hang out in dorm, maybe do some reading for class | | 2:00 AM | bed | |
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