Choate Rosemary Hall Admission Counselors

A Guide to the Choate Admissions Process

What is Choate Rosemary Hall Looking For?

Choate Rosemary Hall seeks applicants who are self-motivated and self-aware, and who can thrive in a dynamic and robust learning community. Applicants should be curious, confident, and have a willingness to explore. The application process itself is one of exploration, whereby applicants can share their interests in, and experiences with, taking intellectual risks.

Applicants should be prepared to identify interests and passions that Choate can help them to realize. Admission to the school is highly selective, with 16% of its applicants gaining admission.

Choate Rosemary Hall Admissions Counselor

What are the Central Qualities of a Choate Education?

Dynamic balance characterizes the Choate Rosemary Hall experience. Choate is looking for the skills and habits of mind that carry relevance in all aspects of school life – academic, artistic, athletic and interpersonal – and beyond. These may include perseverance and resilience; the ability to formulate one’s own ideas with originality and inventiveness; individual effort balanced with productive collaboration; self-advocacy balanced with a commitment to serve others.

Empathy is also an essential attribute in developing long-term, successful solutions to problems. Applicants should recognize the importance of dedicated engagement in service to others, including but not limited to, social justice and environmental sustainability. These skills and habits of mind provide the foundation for positive and productive leadership, contribution to society, and lifelong personal development.

Choate Rosemary Hall, an intentionally diverse, inclusive community

Choate Rosemary Hall seeks academic excellence in a community that values diversity and inclusion. Choate unites creative, passionate, and engaged young people with dedicated educators in a diverse but cohesive community. Our current students come to us from 38 states plus the District of Columbia and 52 countries; 36% are domestic students of color and 18% are international students.

Choate’s Office of Equity and Inclusion continues to build upon the impressive groundwork of the School’s Diversity Education Committee and the Choate Diversity Student Association, to develop a school-wide approach to diversity, inclusion, and multicultural competence. Since 1989, when the first Office of Multicultural Affairs was created, our commitment to diversity remains a core value of the School.

 

A Place of Many Paths

Founded in 1890, Choate has had the privilege of nurturing over 17,000 graduates, who have made the School proud of the remarkable and distinctive lives that they’ve chosen to live. Choate alumni are leaders, innovators, catalysts, and true originals. Their unique way of seeing the world reflects the School’s focus on the Life of the Mind. Choate Rosemary Hall aims to foster critical and independent thinking, deep intellectual curiosity, exploration, and a lifelong love of learning.

Students may choose from more than 300 courses or pursue one of Choate’s Signature Programs that offers an in-depth dedicated learning experience in eight areas – Advanced Robotics, Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, Arts Concentration, Capstone, Environmental Immersion Program, John F. Kennedy ’35 Program in Government and Public Service, Science Research, and Term Aboard. Successful applicants often demonstrate an interest in one of these signature academic programs.

How can an applicant to Choate stand out from the crowd?

To stand out in the admission process applicants need to give evidence that is they are:

Curious and confident, with intense passion and demonstrated excellence

Bold and fearless, with an open, engaging, and inquisitive mind

Strong and goal-driven, yet willing to explore many paths

A demonstrated world-class athletic or artistic ability or potential

What are the academic credentials of Choate's Rosemary Hall application?

The Choate admission committee looks for exemplary and uniquely talented applicants with the potential to excel. Those who are admitted usually have:

  • An average grade of “A” in their previous school year
  • SSAT scores in the 84% percentile
  • Involvement in multiple extracurricular activities
  • Very strong letters of recommendation

Examples of applicants with special
talents at Choate would be:

  • World-class talent in the performing or visual arts
  • Exceptional skills and promise in any sport; (5 female Choate hockey players went on to become Olympic medalists)
  • Award-winning science or math student; (Choate students have represented the U.S. at the International Physics Olympiad Competition)
  • Dedicated engagement in service to others, including but not limited to efforts toward social justice and environmental sustainability

This is the tip of the iceberg. For more information on how to approach applying to Choate Rosemary Hall, feel free to contact us via any of the methods below.