CC has been a wealth of knowledge for which I’m so grateful. We just were notified that our child was accepted for 9th grade at: Hun (day, FP); and WL at PDS (FP). She currently attends Montgomery Twp.
We are trying to decide whether to push to get her off the PDS WL or just accept Hun. On paper Hun and PDS seem very comparable academically and for college matriculation. Can anybody offer any incite to help us decide between the two schools beyond the obvious boarding vs. day? She does not play any sports.
Also from the area… I agree that the schools are comparable. I have friends at both and they all love their schools. I would have to say Hun is more athletic while PDS is more academic, but both excel in both categories. Not many kids board at Hun, so it’s not a huge factor. I was accepted to both last year, actually, but the finances weren’t in my favor for the long run. For me, personally, PDS would be the first choice. There are just so many interesting people there with interesting ideas to offer. Hun is great too, though, I’ve noticed their environment seems to be a little more friendly and relaxed, but that might just be me. Hun has a pretty cool history, too! If your kid likes the school, they’ll have a wonderful experience. Good luck w everything!
Hun is really underrated. I think they have been hurt over the years by proximity to Princeton, Lawrenceville etc . It’s a lovely school and much better academically than people realize. I also think it’s a good place for someone to really standout. You can be a star and shine at a less “hot” school but maybe have a better ranking and standing than some place higher up the food chain.
I agree with the others; not a big enough difference to make the effort to get off the WL. I think the social environment at Hun might be a little less stressful too. Many more of the kids are starting there in 9th grade whereas a lot of the PDS kids have been together for years. Over the years, I’ve heard grumbling about the politics at PDS – if you’re “connected”, your experience may be different (as in less good!) than if you’re not. If you’re on the WL, I’m suspecting you’re not connected. Hun is very much a day school with a small group of boarders (vs. a boarding school), so it’s not so different from PDS in that way except that it has a little more diversity as a result of that group of boarders. I’d wager that you’ll go to the admitted students day and not look back.
We had this decision years ago with acceptances to hun, pds, stuart, peddie and Lawrenceville. Lawrenceville was out. Too competitive. Suited my oldest. Not this one. Peddie, she just did not connect with. Stuart was too small and about to change guards, so it came down to Hun and pds. Hun seemed a happy, conservative, lovely school. Lower stress culture, dress code, more diverse academic student population. Pds seemed a more liberal and competitive academic place, though kinder culture than lawrencville. We chose pds believing it was the more academic, progressive school. Can never know if that was correct, but it was a strong four years with excellent teaching standards and programs. The academics where very aggressive. At times I remember wondering if it was worth it and had we made the right decision, but it worked out. I had heard pds was “elitist” and I was concerned about that and what that meant exactly. Have to say, I never experienced any such attitude or behavior in students or parents in the four years we were there. Hun’s matriculation list has improved over the last few years quite a bit. I think the leadership has improved, stronger candidates are choosing it to stand out and athletic admissions are quite strong. When we first moved to the area years ago, Hun and Pennington were linked together as good college prep schools with less rigour and special academic needs programs. Hun has pulled away from Pennington now. You can’t go wrong there.
@smashmonkey, I wanted to add something that as a the parent of a senior who has been watching kids apply and choose colleges, I hadn’t appreciated 4 years ago…
Don’t read too much into those matriculations. An athlete or a legacy or a URM will get into places that a better student who is not an athlete or legacy or ORM will not. If you can be “tuition-blind” for college, your options will be different. than if you need financial aid or will find an $80,000-$100,000 merit scholarship at a “lesser” school enticing. (If you anticipate graduate school at some point, that can be quite compelling). Without knowing the details of how those choices were made, the data is really incomplete and probably shouldn’t be used as more than rough guide for the quality of the school.
Thank you everybody for the responses, please keep them coming. From reading online and talking to parents there is much agreement with what everybody has been saying on this thread. Hun certainly has many positives. One of the biggest is that our child liked Hun the best of the schools we visited. I think it was the “culture” there. Personally I liked there is a school house system with 4 houses and a competition for a trophy (like Hogwarts!). Hun revisit day is next week!
@lastkid4college I also heard Hun seems to have better support for students who may not be strong academically. Or for that matter those with learning differences - something noticeably absent from PDS and many other private schools.
@gardenstategal You’re right, we’re not “connected” at PDS. We also heard the same rumors about drama at PDS. I agree with your point about college matriculation, and we’re only looking at the data generally. Interesting to note that at least one of the PDS college counselors worked previously at Hun and agreed that both schools are very comparable academically.