<p>I recently e-mailed the Lawrenceville admissions office about scheduling an interview/campus visit, and I was a bit shocked by what I received. Firstly, they didn't return my message for over a week, as opposed to other private schools which responded within a working day. Only when I sent them a second message - still overwhelmingly polite - did they email me back. The e-mail simply said,</p>
<p>"Sorry, those dates have been booked for quite some time." </p>
<p>They didn't care to address me in the email, or offer me any alternative dates, or suggest that I contact an alumni interviewer. Plus, the phrase "for quite some time" just made me feel completely out of place and retarded. What I'm receiving is that my application is unwanted, and they have no interest in me as a possible Lawrenceville student. Now, I don't know if I'm being sensitive or something, but it doesn't seem that a recruiting school would/should respond to applicants in this fashion. All the other schools all responded with polite, lengthy emails which felt like a human actually wrote them.</p>
<p>I hope I don't come off as whiny, but I don't want to spend 50 good bucks on a school which shows no interest in potential applicants, so I'm looking for some feedback.</p>
<p>Does anybody else have experience with talking to Lawrenceville admissions? If you do, was your experience with them pleasant or similar to mine? And do you have any suggestions - should I arrange an alumni interview by myself and continue the process, or save my 50 dollars?</p>
<p>Ditto here. We had a similar experience and decided to save $50. I think it is due to supply and demand. Mid-Atlantic region doesn’t have many BS in the area so there is not much competition from other BS. You know what happens if you are the only game in town! In contrast, NE has tons of BS and the competition makes each school respond with long, polite letters.</p>
<p>While I have no experience with Lawrenceville directly, I (a parent of a prospective student like you) offer the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you are just getting around to scheduling interviews now (it is December and the application deadlines are in a month or so), YOU ARE LATE in the process. And if the dates you are requesting are popular dates (shoulder dates for holidays?), they could in fact “have been booked for quite some time”.</li>
</ul>
<p>Think of the schools as popular boutique restaurants…they get people calling months in advance for a reservation and you expect them to have an opening when you are calling one or two weeks out (I’m making an assumption here to make a point)?</p>
<p>Here’s how you could handle this (to continue the restaurant motif): “Can you tell me what dates may be available near my target date and could you put me on a waiting list if anyone should cancel?” Some deference and humility might help: “I know I’m awfully late in this request, but I’m quite interested in your school…we’re flexible on timing so let me know when you have an opening and we’ll make it work.”</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I wouldn’t make a judgement on the school based solely on the lack of responsiveness from one Admissions Officer. Again, how many emails do you think that person is receiving right now? Nor would I do so on their seemingly terse reaction to your interview request. Additionally, I could speak to our own experience with a NE school which will go unnamed that contradicts pulsar’s assertion, and likewise have had experience with a few top Mid-Atlantics that run counter to what he states. As they say, “Your mileage may vary.”</p></li>
<li><p>That said, our family has made cuts to our “apply-to” list based on the kind of reception we received from specific schools — but only when considered in tandem with other factors. And yes, a relatively disengaged/unenthusiastic treatment from an AO/Admissions Department played a part.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Now quit your whining and work on your essays. ;-)</p>
<p>We had a similar experience with a school (not Lawrenceville). I called twice, well in advance, to schedule an interview. The first time left a message that was supposed to be returned in 24 hours and wasn’t. The second time (a few days later), talked to a live person and scheduled an interview–then had the office call 24 hours later, returning the original call and scheduling another interview. The other schools we contacted were all well aware of any calls we had made and apologetic if they hadn’t responded promptly. </p>
<p>It wasn’t a great omen. As the admissions process continued, several emails to the admissions office of said school went unanswered or were answered tersely. The interview was lukewarm. Child was ultimately waitlisted (and the way we were notified was another muddle). </p>
<p>This school gets rave reviews here and elsewhere, and we had a wonderful exchange with a coach that led to a letter of interest in son’s file–so it was all bad juju with admissions–but if we go through this process again, we won’t waste time on schools where stuff like that happens–I think it happens for a reason.</p>
<p>LLVILLE - I sent the first request at the very end of October, which I realize is already very late, considering the dates I wanted.</p>
<p>SevenDad - Yes, the dates I requested were shoulder dates, and I realize that I was naive to think I could get them, but the day after I requested interviews for all of my schools, several other selective NE boarding schools told me that they still had many interview spots available on the very same shoulder dates, and that threw me off guard when Lawrenceville responded. What I’m really shocked about is the fact that they didn’t even put my name in the e-mail. It’s like an automated response. However, I do take all factors into account, and this experience will only slightly affect my perceptions towards Lawrenceville; they’re still very high up on my list. One faculty member doesn’t represent the school, of course. (:</p>
<p>My son and I didn’t have such a problem with his interview at L’ville (the school conducted it by phone, which was, of course, unfortunate), but we did have a problem with L’ville in scheduling a tour of the campus after the interview. Because we live over 700 miles away from NJ, the only time we could tour the school was a certain Sat. afternoon. The school said that it conducted tours only on Sat. mornings. I asked it if it could handle an afternoon tour beginning at noon that Sat. Nope. No exceptions. No assistance. No understanding. Luckily, my son and I knew a PG at L’ville at that time. He arranged for us a private tour, which was probably better than any tour the school could have given. </p>
<p>In the end, we knew, with no on campus interview and no cooperation from the school for a campus tour, L’ville was a waste of time and money, despite the fact my brother was a graduate of that school. Still, the campus was lovely and we also got to see Princeton (to which my son now plans to apply next year). So, my son’s app to L’ville was not a total loss.</p>
<p>I spoke with the admissions office about this. They told me that they have been fully booked for interviews for some time. Tours are still available, but not until late january, I am sorry if my school seemed rude but I do not feel that they are in the wrong if you were too late.</p>
<p>Toombs - as with the no Saturday afternoon tour, this is because the office is closed at this time. I would not expect special treatment and for the admissions staff to stay at work longer just for you.</p>
<p>LLville, private schools can do pretty much anything they damn want, IMHO. But they always need to remember that they are in competition with other other fine schools for quality applicants, and they should, IMHO, try to work with these kids and their parents, to the extent possible, in scheduling tours and interviews. </p>
<p>Although my brother went to L’ville, L’ville showed no hint of flexibility towards us whatsoever in arranging a tour for my son. In addition, the L’ville coaches of the sports in which my son participates NEVER replied to the inquiries from either my son or me. Fine, but such approach was vastly different from other prep schools to which my son applied. </p>
<p>For example, Andover, which was a school one of my other brothers attended, bent over backwards to work with us on a tour, visits with coaches and accommodations for our tight schedule. Also, Deerfield did the same, if not more. We deeply appreciated the PA and DA responses to our concerns and will always think and speak highly of these schools for, among other reasons, the cooperation, warmth and kindness they gave us during a very busy and stressful time for us.</p>
<p>If L’ville thinks that it doesn’t have to match the polish, presence and poise of Andover and Deerfield when dealing with applicants, then good luck to L’ville.</p>
<p>toombs, Our experiences at Andover, Hotchkiss, and Deerfield were similar to yours. I think the response to OP from the school should have been better from any institution, public or private.</p>
<p>It happened one school asked us to change the schdule even when the original date is offered by them. They did not say sorry they forgot our original date was a festival day for them. When we replied it seemed impossible as we traveled across the ocean to visit schools and got the other days occupied with other schools, they did not seem care anyway.
It forced us to ask another school to change the date, luckily the other school had a vacancy for us.<br>
It seems our experience is not a rare case.</p>
<p>We were late trying to schedule interviews last year. I think it was the first week in December when we finally contacted PEA, PA, and SPS about interviews. All three of them worked cheerfully and earnestly with us to make things work out. I cannot understand in the slightest why any institution would deal with people as discourteously as the OP described. Is there really that much difference between the New England and the NY/NJ cultures? :D</p>
<p>It’s not NEW vs. NY/NJ–for us it was also L’Ville. They were cold, disinterested, factorylike, and in the end, not for us. In our experience, the admissions office (along with the tour, and interaction with classes/coaches/admins) does say something about the culture and community of the school.</p>
<p>“Is there really that much difference between the New England and the NY/NJ cultures?”</p>
<p>Do you really believe that one email from one person (probably an Administrator having a bad day) is representative of the entire population in 2 states?</p>
<p>It’s not one email, there are at least 4 people with similar experience just on this thread. If it is not the local culture, it may be the institutional culture. just a thought.</p>
<p>ditto RBGG. Our bad experience was with a NE boarding school, and I lay it all the feet of an overworked clerical/office staff person.<br>
I just had an experience this past week where I didn’t check voice mail for a few days, and caused major grief for a friend because of it. A humbling reminder that we’re all imperfect and good people are sometimes thoughtless. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, if I were you, I’d put my application energy elsewhere.</p>
<p>Our experience with Lawrenceville was very much the opposite of what’s described here by OP and some others. Then again, at another school, it was just a total mess. The correct approach would have been to identify open dates and advance the process instead of slamming the door closed and not offer up any indication if that’s the end of the discussion or not. When bad things like this happen, you should seize upon them as Providential signs to whittle down your application list.</p>
<p>Count yourself lucky that it happened in advance of paying the application fee…instead of, say, during revisits when you can’t do anything about the fee and all the time and energy invested in the application. You’d write off Lawrenceville if this happened during revisits, right? So, draw a line through Lawrenceville NOW and move on.</p>
<p>Personally, I like the place and we had nothing but good vibes…so I’m not suggesting that everyone do the same thing. Your karma may vary…but applicants need some basis for thinning out their lists of possibilities and bad karma is as good as any other reason.</p>