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Our daughter has been accepted to both Greenhill and Hockaday. We thought the hard part was getting the acceptance letter, but choosing between the two is really taking a toll on us. Which to choose, what to right in decline letter. Right now it boils down to:
1) Which of the two has better performing arts? She loves to sing and memorizes whole songs by listening just a couple of times. Same with story books. She also loves dancing and play acting so a school with a better arts program will probably be it.
2) She is not very sportsy. She hated soccer, refused to get in pool for two weeks at aqua-tots - only sport she liked was gymnastics. We would love for her to learn any sport but in a fun way with absolutely no pressure. Which school would best suit that?
3) Would choosing Hockaday impact chances of her younger brother later getting into Greenhill if they have a decline on record from the family. I am putting this last because I would like to believe her brother should get into a school on his own merit, but am not sure if the selectors are not petty enough to have it weigh against him. This also now magnifies what to write in decline letter bearing in mind that the brother might apply there.
4) In terms of academics it seems to be pretty even or not much difference to worry too much about. The question is what the prestige factor amounts to. Obviously Hockaday is far more renowned/prestigious whatever you want to call it and as much as we would love to say name isn’t that important, will we regret it down the line if we let this opportunity pass. This and third point really pull us in opposite directions. This time it’s like we are using sibling to get the young brother in rather than by his own merit.
We have read online about the schools and visited but haven't had a chance to hear from those with kids or friends with kids at the schools, so any advice is deeply appreciated.
Our daughter has been accepted to both Greenhill and Hockaday. We thought the hard part was getting the acceptance letter, but choosing between the two is really taking a toll on us. Which to choose, what to right in decline letter. Right now it boils down to:
1) Which of the two has better performing arts? She loves to sing and memorizes whole songs by listening just a couple of times. Same with story books. She also loves dancing and play acting so a school with a better arts program will probably be it.
2) She is not very sportsy. She hated soccer, refused to get in pool for two weeks at aqua-tots - only sport she liked was gymnastics. We would love for her to learn any sport but in a fun way with absolutely no pressure. Which school would best suit that?
3) Would choosing Hockaday impact chances of her younger brother later getting into Greenhill if they have a decline on record from the family. I am putting this last because I would like to believe her brother should get into a school on his own merit, but am not sure if the selectors are not petty enough to have it weigh against him. This also now magnifies what to write in decline letter bearing in mind that the brother might apply there.
4) In terms of academics it seems to be pretty even or not much difference to worry too much about. The question is what the prestige factor amounts to. Obviously Hockaday is far more renowned/prestigious whatever you want to call it and as much as we would love to say name isn’t that important, will we regret it down the line if we let this opportunity pass. This and third point really pull us in opposite directions. This time it’s like we are using sibling to get the young brother in rather than by his own merit.
We have read online about the schools and visited but haven't had a chance to hear from those with kids or friends with kids at the schools, so any advice is deeply appreciated.
Kiotic - how old is your daughter? Is your acceptance at the preschool/lower school, middle school, or upper school level? I think that makes a difference in a number of your questions.
Both schools have great performing arts programs. I would give the edge to Greenhill, in part because it is co-ed and in part because they have Terry Martin as their head of fine arts (former WaterTower theater artistic director, a quick google search will net you his accolades.) In addition, Hockaday tends to be more conservative with regard to play/musical choice than Greenhill. IMHO, this gives Greenhill students more opportunities to perform in pieces/plays/musicals that are more representative of the theater world at large, thus improving their resumes if they go on to pursue theater at the next level.
Sports are probably a wash. Both schools require you to do something "athletic", but there are options like yoga and dance available and if you are in the upper school musical, you can use that as a PE credit. To be fair, neither school is a sports powerhouse, but both have a few sports in which they excel. If your daughter doesn't care about sports, she'd fare just fine at either school.
I think when you are deciding between these two schools, it is important to think about how you feel regarding co-ed vs. same sex education. Also, do you ultimately want your children to be at the same school? I don't think a decline will automatically disadvantage your son (we have plenty of friends with kids at both schools), but you do need to have a good answer when you apply for your son why you believe in co-ed schooling for him but single sex schooling for your daughter.
Also, I don't think Hockaday is "far more renowned/prestigious" than Greenhill - at least not in this day and age. The schools are quite different, but both are incredibly well reputed. There have been people on this board that have compared St. Mark's, Hockaday and Greenhill to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in terms of competitiveness and reputation. Would anyone ever say "we have to send our kid to Yale because it is so much more prestigious than Princeton?" Perhaps. But if those are your choices, it's really splitting hairs. And totally a first world problem... Congrats on your daughter's good fortune and good luck with your choice!
Last edited by Waterdragon8212; 03-15-2018 at 06:50 AM..
Kiotic - how old is your daughter? Is your acceptance at the preschool/lower school, middle school, or upper school level? I think that makes a difference in a number of your questions.
Both schools have great performing arts programs. I would give the edge to Greenhill, in part because it is co-ed and in part because they have Terry Martin as their head of fine arts (former WaterTower theater artistic director, a quick google search will net you his accolades.) In addition, Hockaday tends to be more conservative with regard to play/musical choice than Greenhill. IMHO, this gives Greenhill students more opportunities to perform in pieces/plays/musicals that are more representative of the theater world at large, thus improving their resumes if they go on to pursue theater at the next level.
Sports are probably a wash. Both schools require you to do something "athletic", but there are options like yoga and dance available and if you are in the upper school musical, you can use that as a PE credit. To be fair, neither school is a sports powerhouse, but both have a few sports in which they excel. If your daughter doesn't care about sports, she'd fare just fine at either school.
I think when you are deciding between these two schools, it is important to think about how you feel regarding co-ed vs. same sex education. Also, do you ultimately want your children to be at the same school? I don't think a decline will automatically disadvantage your son (we have plenty of friends with kids at both schools), but you do need to have a good answer when you apply for your son why you believe in co-ed schooling for him but single sex schooling for your daughter.
Also, I don't think Hockaday is "far more renowned/prestigious" than Greenhill - at least not in this day and age. The schools are quite different, but both are incredibly well reputed. There have been people on this board that have compared St. Mark's, Hockaday and Greenhill to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in terms of competitiveness and reputation. Would anyone ever say "we have to send our kid to Yale because it is so much more prestigious than Princeton?" Perhaps. But if those are your choices, it's really splitting hairs. And totally a first world problem... Congrats on your daughter's good fortune and good luck with your choice!
Seconding Waterdragon’s points. Would also add that enrolling your daughter in Greenhill will automatically make your son a “connected applicant” (assuming he is not already). Statistically, this doubles his odds of an acceptance.
Kiotic - how old is your daughter? Is your acceptance at the preschool/lower school, middle school, or upper school level? I think that makes a difference in a number of your questions.
Both schools have great performing arts programs. I would give the edge to Greenhill, in part because it is co-ed and in part because they have Terry Martin as their head of fine arts (former WaterTower theater artistic director, a quick google search will net you his accolades.) In addition, Hockaday tends to be more conservative with regard to play/musical choice than Greenhill. IMHO, this gives Greenhill students more opportunities to perform in pieces/plays/musicals that are more representative of the theater world at large, thus improving their resumes if they go on to pursue theater at the next level.
Sports are probably a wash. Both schools require you to do something "athletic", but there are options like yoga and dance available and if you are in the upper school musical, you can use that as a PE credit. To be fair, neither school is a sports powerhouse, but both have a few sports in which they excel. If your daughter doesn't care about sports, she'd fare just fine at either school.
I think when you are deciding between these two schools, it is important to think about how you feel regarding co-ed vs. same sex education. Also, do you ultimately want your children to be at the same school? I don't think a decline will automatically disadvantage your son (we have plenty of friends with kids at both schools), but you do need to have a good answer when you apply for your son why you believe in co-ed schooling for him but single sex schooling for your daughter.
Also, I don't think Hockaday is "far more renowned/prestigious" than Greenhill - at least not in this day and age. The schools are quite different, but both are incredibly well reputed. There have been people on this board that have compared St. Mark's, Hockaday and Greenhill to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in terms of competitiveness and reputation. Would anyone ever say "we have to send our kid to Yale because it is so much more prestigious than Princeton?" Perhaps. But if those are your choices, it's really splitting hairs. And totally a first world problem... Congrats on your daughter's good fortune and good luck with your choice!
Thanks Waterdragon, great info.
She got accepted into Kindergarten.
Great tidbit on the Hockaday play/music program, never thought of it that way. I will look up Terry Martin but your information has really cast Greenhill in good light.
The sports information is pretty much what we thought. We just wanted to be sure that if she doesn't develop interest down the line, P.E. can have a substitute that she likes. So their being able to use music for P.E. credit is reassuring (though as you said, its at both schools so that's a tie).
As for co-ed vs same sex, we are not too concerned about that. A lot of talk on boards is about how Hockaday excels at producing highly confident girls. I haven't seen anything on a comparison to Greenhill girls' confidence. I bring up the confidence aspect because it is very openly touted at Hockaday and many all girls schools for that matter so maybe there is something to it. Am not even very sure what the exact definition of "graduating highly confident girls" is as compared to what I guess is normally confident girls from the other schools but if it is tangible and measurable then am willing not to overlook it.
As for the "far more renowned/prestigious" part, I got the phrasing of the sentence totally wrong. To fix it, I should have placed the quotes like you did and removed the word obviously. And also I think for Hockaday the long history and tradition of being a top school is quite undeniable and so is probably labeled as prestige. With that being said, the point I meant to make was:
Would the name factor (i.e. the alluded to status/prestige/long tradition/history) that is generally given to Hockaday give an advantage to a student over one from Greenhill if all things were equal when applying to college?
Your answer gives me confidence that it would be a toss up in that situation.
I would enroll your daughter in Greenhill because it's an excellent school (Hockaday is too) and I've done the two kids at different private schools. I don't recommend it for logistical reasons especially if both you and your wife work. Have you compared pick up and drop off times along with the school calendars especially considering the distance between the two? What if both kids have a special performance the same night at the two schools? Who do you choose? How are you going to take family vacations if the schools have different holidays? When you have more than one kids the choice of school for one child affects the other child more than you realize. Her going to Greenhill doesn't guarantee your son gets in but it makes it more likely. I know as a parent you want to choose the best school for each child but if you can get both your children into a school that will make them both happy then I recommend you do that.
My kids loved being at the same school. Whenever my sons were close to their siblings' classrooms they would pop in to say hi to each other. Their friends knew their brother and my kids love that. They loved the fact that if their sibling had a performance during the school day they were allowed to go see their sibling perform. When big brother was on the basketball team his little brother loved that when attending the games he could cheer on his brother and his school too.
Seconding Waterdragon’s points. Would also add that enrolling your daughter in Greenhill will automatically make your son a “connected applicant” (assuming he is not already). Statistically, this doubles his odds of an acceptance.
Thanks MONAVIS.
That is a really big advantage, especially after what I know now having gone through the process. Our worry was that we could develop a "negative connection" to the school (i.e. the record shows that we turned them down before).
But we just received the letters from the schools in the mail and I don't believe anyone could write such beautiful acceptance and invitations invitations to first parents' meeting and still hold even a single bad bone in their bodies
Thanks again.
I would enroll your daughter in Greenhill because it's an excellent school (Hockaday is too) and I've done the two kids at different private schools. I don't recommend it for logistical reasons especially if both you and your wife work. Have you compared pick up and drop off times along with the school calendars especially considering the distance between the two? What if both kids have a special performance the same night at the two schools? Who do you choose? How are you going to take family vacations if the schools have different holidays? When you have more than one kids the choice of school for one child affects the other child more than you realize. Her going to Greenhill doesn't guarantee your son gets in but it makes it more likely. I know as a parent you want to choose the best school for each child but if you can get both your children into a school that will make them both happy then I recommend you do that.
My kids loved being at the same school. Whenever my sons were close to their siblings' classrooms they would pop in to say hi to each other. Their friends knew their brother and my kids love that. They loved the fact that if their sibling had a performance during the school day they were allowed to go see their sibling perform. When big brother was on the basketball team his little brother loved that when attending the games he could cheer on his brother and his school too.
Wow!
Totally blown away by your advice. Thank you so much.
The brother is still 3 yrs from kindergarten, but yeah, I see your argument, how logistics would play in. That is plenty of food for thought you've given us.
With you having kids at different schools did you ever have to go through any of the scenarios you've mentioned? Especially that conflicting performance could be a killer.
And we have seen her very proudly declare that "that is my brother" to her friends. Yes, that is another big point you've made.
Thanks again.
Yes me or my friends have experienced all of those scenarios and more. For example, in Fort Worth three of the top private schools have their Grandparents' Day events at the same time. It's a nightmare for parents who have kids at more than one of those schools. Which of the grandkids do the grandparents choose to visit? It's why I wish my kids were still at the same school. My older son needs to be at a GT school though which is why we're quite reluctantly moving him. I'm dreading the logistics challenges.
Thanks Waterdragon, great info.
She got accepted into Kindergarten.
A lot of talk on boards is about how Hockaday excels at producing highly confident girls. I haven't seen anything on a comparison to Greenhill girls' confidence. I bring up the confidence aspect because it is very openly touted at Hockaday and many all girls schools for that matter so maybe there is something to it.
Would the name factor (i.e. the alluded to status/prestige/long tradition/history) that is generally given to Hockaday give an advantage to a student over one from Greenhill if all things were equal when applying to college?
Your answer gives me confidence that it would be a toss up in that situation.
At the Kindergarten entry point, there are a lot of variables in your kiddo that are yet to be known . Who knows, she could develop a love for an unknown sport or end up hating performance art - but I totally understand trying to predict the best possible future environment for her. That said, there are typically very few openings at the Kinder level at Hockaday, while the Greenhill class more than doubles from the pre-K numbers. It's something to consider, as half the Greenhill Kinder families will be new, while nearly all the Hockaday kinder families will have been in pre-K together. I've known plenty of girls over the years that entered in Kinder at Hockaday, loved it, and never had any issues, but I figure it's good food for thought when comparing the first year experience.
I think the confidence talking point at Hockaday is mostly in the academic arena. Academically, many Hockaday girls have a good deal of confidence and are high achievers. Having only girls in the classroom fosters an environment that is rich in potential for academic confidence development - especially in subjects that are traditionally categorized as "male" areas of excellence (it's sad that this bias still exists in this day and age, but research has supported its continued existence, despite our attempts to eradicate it!) Additionally, you remove the "distraction" of the opposite sex during pubescent years and beyond (at least in the classroom, lol.) Socially, I think it is more of a mixed bag. If your daughter goes to Hockaday from Kinder through 12th grade and enters a co-ed college, it will likely be a significant social adjustment.
IMHO, I can't imagine the name factor (GH vs. Hockaday) matters much at all for college acceptances. If you look at the college matriculation, they are very much on par with each other. Both schools have connected alumni and faculty and both have good college counseling programs. Like I referenced in my last post, it would be like asking whether a company would prefer a Yale graduate or a Princeton graduate - and the only way one would edge out the other (on the basis of name alone) would be because of personal connections and/or experiences of the hiring personnel.
The scheduling conflicts are a real thing. Even with 2 kids in one school, they exist (but are much easier to manage!) Also, both schools rely heavily upon parent volunteers for many events. If you have 2 in one school, you only have to be at one place !!
Ultimately, at the Kinder level, it really comes down to your (and your family's) values. You don't know what your kiddo will be like in 5 or 8 or 12 years, so it is a gamble either way. Best of luck to you and remember, no matter what you choose, they are both amazing schools .
Last edited by Waterdragon8212; 03-15-2018 at 12:58 PM..
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Congrats on your daughter's good fortune and good luck with your choice!
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