I have this big dilemma of choosing between these two great schools and I’m looking for some insight that might help me decide. Both schools use the “Harkness” method and have Saturday classes. Many other aspects of prestige, ranking, sports, and ECs (other than sports) are also on the same level if I’m correct.
I’m an Asian American female who is from a southern state. I’m going in as a 10th grader (Lower for Exeter and Third Former for Lawrenceville). I will be a boarder and I’m interested in crew. I will continue to compete in the cross country and track too.
I’m revisiting both schools soon, but I’m not sure that one day’s gut feeling can help me determine which school I can fit in better.
Some questions I have are:
- Which school's kids are generally happier? How is the workload? Some people on CC say Exeter is a pressure cooker and kids there like to complain about their workload. Others say Lawrenceville is a party school, which I hope is not true.
- How easy is it to make friends in each school as a 10th grader?
- Which one is relatively less competitive academic wise, which one is relatively easier to get to top 10-15%? Which school is easier to maintain high GPAs?
- Which one is easier to balance between academics and ECs (suppose I'll be on a sports team each season, in the orchestra, in student council and in two or three clubs like debate). I read some Exeter kids don't do sports, they are solely focused on academics.
- Lawrenceville's college matriculation to top colleges (top 10, 15 and 20 U.S. News) are better by a few percentiles than Exeter, is there any explanation for this? I used 2015-17 data from both schools. Is this caused by a higher percentage of Lawrenceville students having ties to those schools? I understand this one is hard to figure out. I have no hooks, no legacy, and I can only get into top colleges on merits. In this sense, which one school is better for me?
- In terms of college counseling/college placement service, which school's is more helpful?
- Which school is easier for an Asian American female to standout given the same level of effort?
- Which crew team is better or stronger? I can't seem to find much crew program details and team results for Lawrenceville, but the girls coach won a World Championship as a member of the U.S. National Rowing Team
- Which school's alumni network is stronger?
- I'm a full pay but by no means we're rich. My dad replaced his 18-year-old van only because it was totaled, my mom is still driving her 2003 Camry. My dad didn't want me to apply for FA because it would have negative impacts on admissions. So he is depleting his savings for my tuition. Lawrenceville's tuition & fees are about $13000 higher than Exeter's, why it is costing so much than other elite boarding schools? If I fall in love with Lawrenceville, how can I convince my dad to justify the much higher tuition considering two schools are not much different from each other?
I’ll start revisiting schools this week, so if anyone (current or past students of these two schools, and their parents) has any comments that might help with my decision, I’d really appreciate it.
The cost difference alone is enough to justify choosing Exeter over Lawrenceville.
A “Third Former” is a 9th grade student. “Fourth Former” is a tenth grade student.
Lawrenceville places an unusually high number of students at Princeton. Probably due to athletic recruits, pre-screened URMs & sons & daughters of Princeton profs & administrators–but I don’t know for certain that this is the case.
Lawrenceville has less academic pressure than Exeter.
I wouldn’t put too much weight on college matriculation or trying to figure out which school is going to be easier for you to stand out in. Both schools are going to be rigorous and appear to have students having similar academic profiles. I imagine that the type of student who will be successful at one will be successful at the other, and you won’t know where you will fall on the academic spectrum until you get there. Also, there’s more to college matriculation than just your academic profile. Lawrenceville and Princeton are very close to one another, I suspect that there are a good number of Princeton faculty kids at Lawrenceville, and both Exeter and Lawrenceville will have a number of kids with hooks. Regardless, you will likely have good college options from either school and you shouldn’t overly concern yourself with the college chase. The school’s overall matriculation stats don’t speak to how competitive you as an individual will be to colleges, and I can’t imagine the name of one of these schools will give you an edge the name of the other. Colleges admit applicants, not schools. You’ll have to judge fit for yourself, as it’s very personal, but as a parent paying full freight, I agree that price difference is meaningful.
It would be interesting to know your numbers (SSAT score & GPA) & why you think that you were admitted to each school.
To which schools were you admitted, denied or waitlisted ?
I think that your Dad’s strategy to not apply for financial aid had a greater impact on your admission to Lawrenceville than to Exeter as Exeter is much richer & awards more financial aid.
The primary reason that Exeter is less expensive than Lawrenceville is due to Exeter’s enormous endowment.
Phillips Exeter Academy has the largest endowment of any US boarding school on the mainland at over $1 billion dollars. Exeter awards financial aid to 47% of its students.
Lawrenceville’s endowment is about $372 million. Lawrenceville awards financial aid to 25% of its students.
When broken down by “endowment per student” (EPS):
Exeter is #2 in EPS at $1,065,000 (second only to St. Paul’s School which is at $1,400,000 EPS).
Lawrenceville has an EPS of $454,768 & ranks at #16 in terms of EPS.
There is a thread on “Boarding School Endowments” with lists on page 1 & on page 3 that may be of interest to you.
If you are from Atlanta, is Westminster an option ?
Boarding school tuition (includes room & board) at a few of the top US boarding schools:
Lawrenceville School–$65,920
Deerfield Academy–$60,480
St. Paul’s School–$58,155
Phillips Andover Academy–$53,900
Phillips Exeter Academy–$53, 271
That makes Lawrenceville about $12,649 more per year for a full pay student.
I do not believe that consumers get more for their money at Lawrenceville than at Exeter. The difference is due primarily to Exeter’s vast endowment of $1.15 billion dollars.
P.S. Exeter, Andover, St. Paul’s School & Deerfield Academy were chosen for the tuition comparison because they have the top four largest endowments among US mainland boarding schools.
I don’t know how helpful this will be, but if you visited both, think back to how you felt while touring each campus. When I went to both places, Lawrenceville gave me the right “vibe”. I also think that the interviewer and tour guide are representative of the culture at the school. It seemed like Lawrenceville was more laid back, but maybe too relaxed. Exeter seemed to have the right kind of academic and extracurricular focus. Make sure wherever you go is affordable for your parents (and thank them either way because paying full tuition anywhere is difficult). I got wait-listed everywhere including Exeter and L’ville , so I’m okay with taking your spot 
but Good Luck wherever you choose!
@Sporty Student21: Read your results = waitlisted at 8 elite prep boarding schools & denied by one. How frustrating that must feel after all the work put into applying ! Why do you think this happened ?
Publisher, my Dec. 2016 SSAT was 99% ( V94, Q99, R99) with both Math and Reading as 800, but my mom was not ready to let me go so I didn’t apply for BS. My Dec. 2017 SSAT was 94% (V91, Q99, R81) with Math as 800, I took it without much prep as I was very busy with all the high school stuff, clubs, sports, music, volunteering, you name it. I spent more time on ECs than on academics.
My GPA was not perfect because most of my classes were either AP or honor classes, I did have two Bs. I was taking high school honor classes in my 7th and 8th grade, My math was two years ahead and was the most advanced class I was allowed to take. Both my middle school and high school are among the top in our state.
I have strong leadership skills and experiences. I think my teachers wrote me good letters. I poured my heart into my essays and those were my best writings. All my interviews were very good and I kept contacts with the AOs. I also have email exchanges with coaches because my cross country PR would put me into the top half of most schools’ teams.
I have unique achievements (state representative kind of thing) I won’t mention due to privacy.
I have offers from two other acronym schools. The schools waitlisted me are Andover, St. Paul’s, Hotchkiss and Groton. No rejections. I didn’t apply for safety schools as my current public high school is good.
Westminster is a day school in Atlanta, I only want to go to top boarding schools.
The Westminster School in Atlanta is easily among the best day schools in the nation. Gorgeous campus & a very healthy endowment of $275 million. Great college placement. But it is a day school & not a boarding school.
It is difficult to pick for another between two such outstanding boarding schools as Exeter & Lawrenceville.
How well do you handle academic pressure ? Exeter’s environment is primarily about academics & lots of self imposed & school imposed pressure to excel. You need to visit while school is in session & judge for yourself. (As an aside, Exeter’s setting is great–although the gym building was very unattractive when I last visited several years ago. Lawrenceville is beautiful & that area of New Jersey is impressive. Try to visit Princeton during your Lawrenceville revisit.)
As best I can surmise from your brief posts, you were admitted to the two best schools for you. It should be easy to decide after revisits.
Congratulations !
@LightSailor Being a top 10-15% seems not easy for both schools. If you dare to challenge yourself, comparing these schools is meaningless. Go grab your chair at PEA!
It is not about daring to challenge myself or not since I’m competitive and can perform under pressure.
It is about whether the competition (due to self-imposed & school imposed pressure) among students has reached an unhealthy level at some schools. So far (before my revisit) I only heard things on CC so I have no idea what I heard is true, and I probably won’t get a clear picture of the school culture after only one day’s visit either. That’s why I’m seeking information from current & past students of these two schools, and from their parents. Because I want to enjoy my three years at the school I’ll choose, I want to keep my grades within the top 10-15% while still having time to enjoy other things the boarding school offers.
I understand the questions I posted are not easy to answer, some may not be reasonable. Thanks to all of you who have replied.
I would take the cheaper option and head to Exeter but I’m biased! One of the perks for rowers at PEA is the boat house is right there. No buses to get to practice. But it is COLD!!!
@Publisher actually in some schools,
9th grade=Fourth Form
10th grade=Third Form
11th grade=Second Form
12th grade=First Form
rather than the original british 1-upper 6
OP: I don’t think that you understand what it takes to be in the top 10% to top 15% at these schools.
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You’re right. I have no idea, that’s why I’m here to ask people who may know. Please shed some light on “what it takes to be in the top 10% to top 15% at these schools”.
Are you a current or past student at these schools, or you’re the parent? Any Exeter and Lawrenceville seniors on CC?
Honestly, it’s one of those things that if it happens, it happens; you can’t force it. Trying to figure it out how to make it happen 6 months before you ever set foot in a classroom at either of these fine schools is just folly, IMO.
If there are, they would be focused on the threads relating to their prospective colleges. But the parents tend to be a font of knowledge as well. There are PEA parents here, but I’m not sure if there are any from Lawrenceville. But I don’t think anybody here has firsthand experience with both schools.
Really, you need to reflects after your revisits. One should stand out more after that. At the end of the day, they are both great schools and comparable in just about every way. Only you can judge which is right for you. And if the difference for your family is 12K, they are the ones who will decide if they want to pay the extra money.
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You seem to be focused on graduating at the top of your class (10-15%). This is good, and it shows that you strive for academic excellence. However as others point out, this is not easy. These type of schools can fill their classes with 99 percenters on the SSAT if they wanted. The top 10% of Lville will look a lot like the top 10% of Exeter. So all of it depends upon you, and how hard you are willing to work. The workload at both schools is intense. Both schools use the Harkness method and have a similar set of expectations for excellence. The caliber of your competition will be about the same at either school, although I believe that Exeter tends to have a higher mean SSAT score.
Sports: The Lville crew rows at Mercer Park, which although only a few miles away, requires a drive. So the Lville crew kids are spending more time on their sports than the other kids. This might give Exeter an advantage because of the proximity of the rowing facilities.
Tuition: Lawrenceville tuition is indeed high. Probably due to the lower endowment and the location (near Princeton) with its associated higher cost of living vs New Hampshire.
Oh and you didn’t mention saturday classes. Is this a consideration for you? Exeter has fewer saturday classes than Lville.
Finally regarding college matriculation lists: I would suggest to completely ignore these. The admissions offices do a pretty good job at pre-selecting kids who will do well in ultra-competitive college admissions. So about half the class is filled with mega-hooked kids. The fact that Lawrenceville does better probably has to do with the Princeton connection. Many faculty kids send their kids to Lville. But since you are unhooked, don’t focus on these lists. Just focus on which school is a better fit.
@sgopal2 Thank you so much for all the information and advice!
Cum Laude Junior year is the top 10% of your class, then senior year includes up to top 15% (added to the Junior class kids). In my kids’ experience there was some subjectivity in who was elected Cum Laude Junior year. It wasn’t solely based on academics. There were a lot of faculty kids and kids who had performed a lot of service for the school. Getting Cum Laude Junior year is really a boost for your college apps, as the top 15% don’t find out til Senior year after all the college apps are already in.
Both my students got top 15%. You have to consistently work hard to get all those As and you have to be smart at picking classes where you won’t be in over your head. In contrast, For college apps, you need to show that you challenged yourself, so you are taking a mixture of honors, college prep and AP classes, but not all in the top category or you’d be straight out. Pick classes that interest you and choose the top class in areas you excel. So top 15% doesn’t just happen, but its more a matter of some strategy: picking your classes wisely AND consistently working hard.