<p>Newark Academy is not as rigorous as other 2 schools. It is harder to be different at Delbarton. If your kid is an all American kid, then he will fit in at Delbarton. One thing to consider with Pingry’s college admission stats is many students are recruited athletes and there are a lot of legacies to top tier colleges. If you strip out of those applicants, then Pingry’s stats may not be as impressive. On the other hand, it maybe the case for any school.</p>
<p>Most private schools are small. It is important for your son to find a school where he would feel comfortable in. My kids graduated from a private school in NJ, and each one has its own vibe.</p>
<p>Weatherby - I wish your son a speedy recovery! </p>
<p>And I apologize if I, too, made unwarranted assumptions. It appears I was a bit testy, also. Lordofthering’s recent posts show a genuine interest in finding the best possible placement for his/her son . . . so I clearly jumped to conclusions I should not have, for which I am sorry.</p>
<p>Thank you all for keeping this thread alive. I will be sure to come back in first or second week of March when NA and Pingery admission result arrives to talk more.</p>
<p>I wanted to answer D’yer Maker and rodney’s comment</p>
<p>@Rodney
I did not realized that my 99% statement will be taken literally as commented by you. It simply shows my confidence in my son and what he is capable of. He indeed received admission in his 5th grade to NA but we did not accepted due to financial commitment. Out of all three schools, we know NA the most due to my son’s friend’s parents as well as we going to interview to NA twice.</p>
<p>@D’yer Maker
No, he is not excellent Athletic kid but he is Excellent in Academics with excellent grade in his current grade/ISEE, also he is good in Music and Average in Sports (Soccer/Tennis/Basketball).</p>
<p>I’d like to respectfully disagree with oldfort’s comment about the rigor of the Newark Academy curriculum. Unlike the other two schools you’re considering for your son, lordofthering, NA offers the IB (or “International Baccalaureate”) Program. The curricular strength and rigor of the program is hard to contest, especially because it’s standardized by IB graders outside of the school. Students can choose to take 3 or 4 higher level courses, which are often (but not always) harder than comparable AP classes. I’ve yet to meet an NA student or Alum who was an IB diploma candidate (and I know plenty) who was not significantly challenged in High School.<br>
As someone who is very familiar with all three schools, I would actually argue that NA is just as rigorous as Pingry and slightly more so than Delbarton. It is important to note that, at NA, AP options are available to all students - including those who choose to pursue the IB diploma. A course-load rich with both AP and IB courses will absolutely “look good” to selective colleges, although I agree that this might not be the best measure of a Prep school’s ability to meet a child’s needs.</p>
<p>Your best bet would probably be to speak with parents of current students and recent grads - they have the most up-to-date information about each of the schools, and probably some useful insight into the social and administrative workings of the institutions. Please do not base your decision off of Ivy League matriculation percentages: the college process is extraordinarily complex and unpredictable, and none of schools your considering are going to make or break your son’s ability to gain admissions into the selective universities anyway.</p>
D2 is doing the IB program at her new high school because it is the most rigorous program. She feels it is too rigid and not as challenging as her old private school’s honors courses. The book she is reading now for her IB HL senior English class, she read it in her sophomore honors English, and the discussion was deeper in her sophomore class.</p>
<p>A good way to do a comparision is by looking at each school’s profile - SAT scores, AP scores, and college acceptance. As someone who lived in NJ for 15+ years and had kids at private schools, I am familiar with the reputation of the schools in NJ.</p>
<p>Pingry is at the same level as Lawrenceville, I don’t think the same could be said for Newark Academy. Again, fit is going to be important for your kid.</p>
<p>I joined this discussion late, but I suspect that I live fairly near the original poster, and I am somewhat familiar with all three schools (although I know more people who attended or send sons to Delbarton). They are three very different schools. Delbarton is very strong academically (often outperforms Lawrenceville in standardized tests), but it also has a powerful, “alpha-male” culture, and I know that neither of my sons would have fit in there at all (the elder stated that emphatically after attending their summer sports camp when he was 11). Neither of my sons considered any single-sex schools when applying, and so your son should weigh that - especially if he is interested in theater, or other extracurricular activities that benefit from co-ed environments.Newark Academy and Pingrey are both excellent schools, as well. I recommend that he re-visit all (presuming he is accepted at all three) in the spring, in order to get a better “feel” for their relative strengths. Travel distance is a very valid concern, as well, especially once your son is old enough to drive, because many classmates will come from as far away - in the opposite direction - and that means a lot of driving. Good luck!</p>
<p>Lordofthering: i do hope that your friends also told you that 9th grade admissions at NA are very different from 6th…let’s hope your son’s stellar academics are enough to have him admitted…</p>
<p>It is time for decision making:
We received Newark Academy Result today and my son got accepted in Newark Academy.</p>
<p>So far, he have been accepted in Delbarton and Newark Academy. We are still waiting for Pingry but due to distance regardless of the result, we are not likely to consider it. It is between NA and Delbarton.</p>
<p>I will post with our final decision in next couple of days.</p>
<p>Here is our status as of Today for my son’s high school:</p>
<p>1) Applied in Delbarton (10 Miles Distance), Newark Academy(15 Miles Distance), Pingry(30 Miles distance)
2) Accepted in Delbarton, Newark Academy and Waiting list for Pingry
3) Final Decision: DELBARTON. My son’s one of best friend who is going to the same public school now, also, going to delbarton as well.</p>
<p>I am hoping we are making right decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s insights and support.</p>
<p>@lordofthering - Congratulations to your son. It’s great that he has a friend that will also be attending. I’m sure he’ll end up meeting lots of great kids, but it’s nice to start off already knowing one person.</p>
<p>I love this image - good to keep in mind when you’re making a big decision:</p>
<p>Good luck to littlelordofthering! Here’s to having good choices…and making a good decision.</p>
<p>(And mountainhiker’s picture is so apt for young people trying to sort things out. Sometimes the hard part about choosing a school – or college – is not finding a great one but giving up the other great ones.)</p>
<p>I’ve loved that Mary Engelbriet drawing for years. You can do a google search for “mary engelbriet don’t look back” and find some books and posters with the image.</p>
<p>Look at the Washington Post 2013 High School Challenge Index for New Jersey. Among the private schools Newark Academy, Pingry and MKA have released the challenge index numbers. Among all schools in New Jersey, private or public, that have released its numbers Newark Academy is the most challenging school in New Jersey. Pingry is ranked 4 and MKA is ranked 28.</p>
<p>Some of the reasons why Newark Academy is the most challenging school in New Jersey is</p>
<p>1) Many students finish or start AP Calculus in their freshman year
2) Many students do AP US history in their sophomore year. They do it in one year instead of 2 years like most schools
3) There are always a couple of students that do both chemistry honors and physics honors as a sophomore
4) There are always a couple of students that do either AP language as a sophomore or senior language as a sophomore
5) There are students who do IB Physics HL and IB Chemistry HL as a junior.
6) Many students take AP english as a junior
7) NA has the strongest music program. The competition jazz band has competed in two national contest in the last two years. And has been the state Jazz champion in the last 4 or 5 years.
8) The math department always offers either differential calculus or multivariate calculus every year.</p>
