My daughter is accepted into Lawrenceville, Choate, Hotchkiss and Andover. We live in NJ by GWB. Any suggestions which one she should go? Andover is about 4 hours away which she does not want to go that far. She is now thinking between Choate and Lawrenceville. She is more concerned about the vibe in the school community and the surroundings of the campus. Anyone has any idea? TIA.
All great schools, so it really comes down to the best “fit” for your daughter, and how can internet strangers assess that?
School surroundings (rural, suburban etc) are not a bad way to winnow the list. Revisits, even virtual, may also help.
1 Like
You’ve given us no information other than distance has ruled out Andover. There are already threads that include discussions about Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, and Choate that discuss the school communities and campus and other features which might be the place to start.
If you want to continue with this thread, you will need to be much more specific about what your daughter and family are looking for and why she applied to each of the schools she did–especially if she ruled out one based on distance which was known before applying. All of the schools on her list are great. She has no bad decision so, unless she can be more specific about her wants and deal breakers, she might as well flip a coin; these schools are peers and more similar than not.
If campus surroundings are critical to the decision, these three schools DO vary in setting/location. Choate melds into the town of Wallingford with no walls or entrance/exit points. Students are free to wander about town as they please. Hotchkiss is in a remote location with a lake and a golf course. I understand Lawrenceville is a walled, enclosed community with entrance/exit points. None of these settings affect the quality of education at each but may affect your daughter’s happiness with her surroundings.
5 Likes
If it’s a coin toss between L’ville and CRH, being “relatively” close in NJ has some nice advantages in terms of food drops, impromptu visits, hosting kid’s friends at your house, etc.
Our family finds many Pros in Saturday classes, but some dislike them - another distinction between CRH and L’ville.
2 Likes
Have you seen any of these campuses?? If not, I would do drive throughs. I think Choate & Lville are very similar, but the campuses have very different feels. As others have said, Choate has roads running through it and is part of it’s surrounding area. Lville is self contained with walls/fencing surrounding the property (and an ultimate goal to make the majority of campus car free). I don’t even remember seeing Wallingford when we toured Choate, but Lville has main street across from campus with Starbucks, a pizza place, a bakery, a dry cleaner and another restaurant or two. Princeton is a few miles down the road, and students can uber or take the bus there (in non-covid times) on free afternoons/days.
I do think being closer to home is a huge advantage. There have been many times when we’ve wished we could just take a load of clothes or laundry home for kiddo to do on the weekend and be able to return it to her (unfortunately, we live a plane ride away). And if your child plays sports, it will be that much easier to watch her games.
But both schools are incredible, and I can’t imagine one would be a remarkably better fit for her than the other.
1 Like
I think there are some differences among these schools that may ease your family’s decision. For example, does your family want complete Harkness, as opposed to a mixed method of instruction? If so, then Lawrenceville would be the choice. However, if you don’t, then you might want to eliminate Lawrenceville from consideration.
Meanwhile, as my own family faces an even broader decision, I have spent considerable time examining the course catalogs of various schools, including Choate, Hotchkiss and Andover. The latter school’s curriculum in the social sciences beyond the history requirements is very reflective of the intellectual fashions of the day and the current social upheaval in this country. That of Choate and Hotchkiss are more traditional and less reflective of the specific intellectual interests of their respective faculties.
Meanwhile, from what I can tell I think when comparing just Choate and Hotchkiss to each other it comes down mainly to non-academic factors. From what I can tell from talking to folks, Hotchkiss is more isolated and the kids are more “scaffolded,” or watched over. The kids at Choate might be given more freedom, which can be desirable or not, depending on your kid.
5 Likes
I’m a current Lawrenceville student who’s visited Choate, and I’ll say this about the campuses: Choate’s is a lot more spread out than Lawrenceville’s, and it has some actual roads going through (as cityran said, Lawrenceville is quite self-contained, besides Main Street being right across from the school). Even then, if you’re walking to class in the morning, you’ll usually have to watch out for cars since day parents will be dropping students off, but during most of the day you don’t need to really pay attention. Some other nice things about Lawrenceville’s location are that it’s a.) very safe and b.) has many nice areas nearby—Princeton and Lambertville within 20 minutes, and NYC and Philadelphia within an hour. Both schools have a plethora of historic architecture, ugly 50’s-70’s buildings, and newer, more modernistic buildings, although I was definitely impressed by Choate’s “Colony Hall”—it looked twice as big as our KAC, and that was on top of their already existent theatre center!
I obviously can’t comment on the vibe in Choate’s school community, but as my other answers about this topic have said, the house system is a huge factor in Lawrenceville’s social life—both day students and boarders are fully integrated into it, and you will end up having your best friends within your house. It also results in some playful rivalries :). Lastly, the Saturday classes definitely help make Saturday nights more lively (speaking from personal experience, they’re my main excuse to stay there throughout the day), since pretty much everyone is around, and with unique facilities like the Ropes Course there’s a lot of activities that can be done.
Hope these answers helped—if you have any specific questions, let me know.
1 Like
Did you only look at the social studies curriculum of the schools? I wonder if you also checked both Hotchkiss and Choate’s Science/Engineering/Stem curriculum.
From the events, I understand that as Choate already did, Hotchkiss is also phasing out AP classes in their curriculum.
1 Like
Hi there. As my son is not interested in engineering, I did not look closely at that part of the schools’ respective curriculums. However, for science generally, I think all of the schools offer enough courses to keep all kids highly engaged.
2 Likes
Hi, Your reply is a great help. Thank you!
We visited all the campus but Andover twice, LOL. We agreed with what you said.
In Lawrenceville, how do students from different background interact with each other? In a high school that I am familiar, Asian kids tend to stick together, as well African American kids, etc… Even I believe Lawrenceville school will encourage the interaction, do you think kids are genuinely enjoying learning different culture and backgrounds? That is vibe we are more looking for, warm with open minds.
Hi, thanks for your reply and it is greatly appreciated!
We decided to apply Andover even thou knowing the distance from GWB, NJ, it is because if she only got accepted there then we will take on it 
I can tell you that my child’s friend group at Lville is incredibly diverse. One of the things she has complimented her friends most on is how open and accepting they all are.
2 Likes
Definitely—I have good friends of all ethnic backgrounds, and some of my closest friends are international boarders (whereas I am a day student). It’s great how inclusive and nice everyone is.
It is good to know the diversity on campus. Thanks for the reply.
If it is ok, can you also share the science program in Lawrenceville ? How do you like it and how it is compared to other schools if you have information on that. Are you more of a humanity or science student if I may ask? Thanks!
That is really good to know. Thx for the comment!
Thanks for sharing your insights on schools! It is greatly appreciated!
Comparing Choate and Lawrenceville on Stem program, I heard Choate is a much stronger in this filed. Do you have any information on this for both schools?
Hi there. I’ve heard the same as you but have no firsthand experience (or experience through a child). Good luck!
Asking which top boarding school is less strong in STEM (or insert your own subject) is akin to asking which Kardashian sister is least rich. You’re splitting hairs.
7 Likes
LOL. I told myself the same actually. Thanks for the reply.