<p>I was in the same situation as you two years ago and ended up choosing Choate over Lawrenceville =) Personally, I love Choate’s community and I didn’t really feel the same way when I went to revisit Lawrenceville. </p>
<p>Choate does have a stricter dresscode than Lawrenceville but it’s a good excuse to go shopping 
(good for a girl, eh… not so much for a boy xD but boys have it easy, polo and khakis and you’re good) I was the same as you though, tshirts and jeans all the way before i went to choate =)</p>
<p>academics/courses: Choate offers a large variety of courses (you can look at the course catalogue online) and are extremely rigourous (wellll depending on which level you’re in we have regs/adv/honors depending on which department your talking about)</p>
<p>visual arts: choate is known for its arts. if you get to visit, make sure you check out the PMAC, paul mellon arts center. end of story. xD but otherwise, if you’re really into the arts, we have a specialty program called the Arts Concentration Program =) you can look more into that on the website.</p>
<p>sports: uhm i’m not an athletic person myself, but we have thirds/jv/varsity for almost every sport and a crazy amount of fields x_x if you do come, make sure to stroll on the XC course =) its really nice. and the waterfall is pretty, too ><//</p>
<p>Food: really nice selection and very good =) heard its better than some colleges haha</p>
<p>Cliques: there are a few cliques here and there, but they aren’t hard set. Technically i have friends from the New York clique, sports clique, arts clique, “preppy” clique, other cliques that i dont know how to name… ._. </p>
<p>teachers: amazing <3 they really make themselves available to you and usually try their best to get back to you quickly. A lot of my teachers have iphones or blackberrys so they are constantly checking their email xD</p>
<p>clubs: oh god there are so many… we actually had to get a board up to regulate them ._. really fun to be in though =)</p>
<p>legacy/rich kids: there are some that you know are just plain rich, but most of the time, i can’t even tell xD i found out that one my good friend’s parent was an actress months after i met her ._. </p>
<p>Campus: absolutely beautiful <3 =) especially in spring time. My friends and I last year studied out in the field outside my dorm multiple times last year because it was just that great xD Like i said before, be sure to see the XC course and waterfall if you come~~</p>
<p>Dorms: there are big ones and small ones and you get to choose which ones you would like to live in during a lottery in spring term. Otherwise, for freshman year, everyone lives in the same dorm =) well, boys in the boys dorm and girls in the girls dorm xD also, fun fact-- mugnights <3 every week, live-in advisors bake food of some sort for the students for a sort of dorm bonding =)</p>
<p>free-time: uhmmm depends on you – course load, time management, etc. ><// sorry can’t say much more than that</p>
<p>weekend life: school makes sure you have something to do xD they have activities every weekend (laser tag, six flags, deep sea fishing ._., etc) and shuttles to resturants, movie theater, etc stuff in wallingford xD otherwise, hanging with friends is always the way to go <3</p>
<p>safety: super safe xD we have campus safety that is always patrolling around, its kinda creepy ._. haha not really~ but when i go to extra help to see teachers in another dorm that they’re on duty in, i feel totally safe walking across campus in the evening =)</p>
<p>Sorry I got lazy with proper grammer and things toward the end x_x but i hope this answers some of your questions!</p>