The Hotchkiss School
Admission FAQs
- Is an admission interview required?
- What happens during an interview?
- What if I want to speak to a particular faculty member?
- What if I can’t come to campus for my interview?
- Is financial assistance available?
- Does Hotchkiss offer any merit-based scholarships?
- How much are tuition, room, board, and fees?
- How many students are admitted each year?
- What is the most important part of my application?
- If English is my second language, should I submit a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)?
- When should I take the SSAT/ISEE exams?
- Can I visit classes or spend a night in the dormitory?
- When should I begin the application process?
- When should I give my teachers the recommendation forms from the application?
Is an admission interview required?
Yes. All students who apply to The Hotchkiss School must have an
admission interview before the admission committee will render a decision.
On-campus interviews are scheduled throughout the year (except in February
and March) and off-campus interviews are available throughout the United
States and in many countries. Please see our Planning a Visit page, and contact our office for assistance with arranging your interview.
Back to top
What happens during an interview?
The interview is less an evaluative experience than it is a dialogue.
During an interview, we hope to go beyond the basic information (such
as grades, test scores, etc.) and focus more on the reasons behind
the boarding school search. The admission interviewer will spend time
discussing your interests, your talents, and your hopes for the future.
The interview is also a good opportunity for the prospective student
and his or her parents to seek out more information on the school. Often,
seeing the School first hand is the best way to determine if you and
the School are a “good fit” with each other. In addition,
a visit to campus frequently raises questions that an on-campus interviewer
is best able to answer. For these reasons, we strongly encourage families
to visit campus for their interviews, if at all possible.
Back to top
What if I want to speak to a particular faculty member?
When you call to schedule your interview, please let us know if
you would like to meet with anyone in particular. Often, students with
very specialized interests (music, athletics, arts, a specific academic
area, etc.) will want to speak directly to that faculty member who
oversees that particular area of interest. If we know of your interest
in advance of your visit, we will do our best to make time for you
to meet with the appropriate faculty member.
Back to top
What if I can’t come to campus for my interview?
We have a global network of alumni and parents who are available
to conduct admission interviews on behalf of the admission committee.
Please call the admission office before the admission deadline
(January 15) so we may help you with these arrangements.
Back to top
Is financial assistance available?
The Hotchkiss School has a very firm commitment to economic diversity
and we annually award over $5.52 million dollars to approximately 33%
of our student body. The average financial assistance award, including grants and loans, is approximately $28,516.
Visit our Financial Assistance pages for more information.
Back to topDoes Hotchkiss offer any merit-based scholarships?
No. All of our financial aid awards are based solely on the demonstrated
financial need of the family.
Back to top
How much are tuition, room, board, and fees?
The total cost of tuition, room, board, and fees for the 2007-2008 school year is $38,000 for boarding students and $32,400 for day students.
Back to top
How many students are admitted each year?
More than 5,000 people inquire about Hotchkiss every year. Of these,
about 1,576 will initiate and complete an application to the school,
and approximately 20% of these applicants will be offered admission.
Each year we are looking to enroll between 90 and 100 "preps" (or
ninth grade students), 40 to 50 "lower mids" (tenth graders),
10 to 20 "upper mids" (eleventh graders), and 7 to 18 new
seniors (including postgraduate students). Except in the upper two grades,
where there are slightly fewer beds for girls, these classes are equally
divided between male and female students.
Back to top
What is the most important part of my application?
The admission committee considers each part of your application
equally. Without question, we are looking to enroll students with extraordinary
character, independence, and good citizenship. These are hallmark qualities
of our students.
Certainly, given the highly competitive nature of our admission process, the majority of new students each year have grades in the A range, excellent teacher recommendations, strong writing skills, and some sort of school or community involvement. Standardized testing is used to support the other academic materials in the application.
Rest assured that each application is read and discussed by several
members of the admission committee, and that we look at and beyond the
different elements of the application to get to know each applicant's
individual strengths and personality and to determine whether this is
a good match for both the School and the student.
Back to top
If English is my second language,
should I submit a
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)?
Definitely. This is a very important part of your assessment and
the TOEFL exam will allow you to more properly demonstrate your English
proficiency. Hotchkiss does not offer any ESL support and all students
are required to be fluent in the English language.
Back to top
When should I take the SSAT/ISEE exams?
We recommend that you take the exams in November of the year prior
to your enrollment. This gives you time to take a second set of exams
if your first scores do not meet your expectations.
Back to top
Can I visit classes or spend a night in the dormitory?
As you can imagine, with over 1,500 visitors annually to the School,
it would be too disruptive to allow our guests to visit classes or
sleep in the dormitories. However, for those students who are admitted
to Hotchkiss, we do arrange a daylong class visit program in early
April. It is school policy that only enrolled students are allowed
to sleep in dormitories.
Back to top
When should I begin the application process?
We encourage families to schedule their interviews and campus visits
during the summer months as our interview schedule fills up very quickly,
especially our Saturday appointments. Applications are mailed to all
interested families starting in September.
Back to top
When should I give my teachers
the recommendation
forms from the application?
Some students, in an attempt to get their application in early,
will hand out the teacher recommendation forms early in the fall. We
recommend you do not do that simply because we want to give your teachers
time to really get to know you. The end of November or early December
is the best time to hand out the teacher recommendation forms. Remember
to give your teachers a pre-addressed envelope (don’t forget the
stamp!) and remind them of the application deadline (January 15). It
is a good practice to suggest that they also make a copy of the completed
recommendation, in case their form gets lost in the mail.
Back to top
