The daunting decision: which college
5/16/2007 12:00:00 PM
By Chris Todd
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How special is The Blake School's senior Katharine Chute?
Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth admissions officials provided part of the answer to that question.
All three Ivy League schools pursued the prep hockey star/National Merit Scholar finalist with considerable vigor.
Chute led Blake to a Class A hockey state title last March and was later named Ms. Hockey, AP Player of the Year and Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year.
She visited all three Ivy League universities and liked all of them. The decision, she admitted, couldn't have been more difficult - or stressful.
Chute added that she was undecided until a few hours before the May 1 signing deadline.
A couple of weeks earlier, Chute said she started leaning a bit toward Harvard.
On May 1 in the afternoon, Chute chose the nation's oldest and arguably the most prestigious, well-known university in the U.S. She'll leave for Cambridge, Mass. in August.
"In the end, Harvard had the best mix between hockey, academics and the campus," Chute said May 13. "It was a difficult choice to make. All three had great things to offer. I really didn't make a final decision until late in the morning on signing day."
Schools began sending letters to the Chute residence in Wayzata during Katharine's junior year.
Starting on July 1 of 2006, coaches began calling with their best sales pitches.
"It was a huge relief after I made the choice, like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders," she said. "At that point, I knew I could move on and start to get excited about going to Harvard."
A forward, Chute played as an eighth-grader on the Blake team that won the 2003 Class A state title, and gained honorable mention to the 2003 All-Tri Metro team.
Five years later, the Bears are back on top of the girls' prep hockey world, thanks to a group of players that Chute described as having "amazing team chemistry.
"My first state tournament was a great experience, but this past year's state championship has really been special," she said.
"I really wanted us to win another championship so the players on our team this year could experience it first-hand," she said.
The soon-to-be Blake graduate was asked last week how many goals and assists she collected her senior season. As is typical of so many top-notch prep athletes, she couldn't name the stats from off the top of her head, but gave it a good guess anyway.
"I think I had 78 points as a senior, but I'm not exactly sure on that," she said. "I have no idea how that breaks down between goals and assists."
Counting section playoffs and state tournament games, Chute did indeed finish with 78 points, 40 goals and 38 assists.
Chute had to deal with high hockey expectations for her and the Bears from day one of her senior season.
Blake was ranked first in Let's Play Hockey magazine's pre-season poll, and ended the regular season in the top spot.
With those types of expectations, and while simultaneously dealing with the recruiting process, Chute had an awful lot on her plate during the past eight months. She handled those hurdles as if they were tough math questions on a perfectly-scored SAT test.
"It was tough making a decision between her top three, because she really liked all of them," said her dad Edmund Chute.
Leaving home for college is one of life's crucial passages for many, but attending college halfway across the nation and to a school like Harvard can be a daunting proposition.
Anyone who has ever left home for college can usually remember the emotions of moving into that first dorm room.
If history is any indication, Chute will make the transition without a hitch. But she won't be the only Blake student attending Harvard next fall. One of Katherine's friends, Claire Richardson, an all-state cross country and track runner, will also attend Harvard.
The soon-to-be Harvard students were both standout runners the past few years on the Blake cross country team.
With No. 1 runner Richardson and Chute leading the way last November, the Bears took second place at the Class A state meet.
Already at Harvard is former Hopkins hockey standout Kathryn Farnier, a freshman on this year's Crimson team. She and Chute played together on recent summer teams and during hockey camps.
"The fact that Claire is going to Harvard was just one of the many factors," she said. "Mainly, I just felt it was a comfortable fit for me overall. I met the players on the hockey team and they were all very welcoming."
By playing hockey at Harvard, Chute will most likely have a shot at making the Division I Frozen Four and winning a national title.
Under current coach Katey Stone, the Crimson have made the NCAA Hockey Tourney each of the past four years.
By choosing Harvard, Katharine could have made things a little tense around the Chute home. Her father is a Yale grad, but has no problems with his daughter attending archrival Harvard.
"I think both my wife and I want Katherine to be comfortable with her choice," he said. "I'm sure she is, so we are, too."
Reprinted with permission LakeShore News
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