<p>Any thoughts : Lawrenceville versus Deerfield cultures? Stressed out kids prevalent at these schools? Party more or less (in general)? Stricter enforcement of rules by one than the other? Dorm life? It’s easy to learn about academics. It’s much harder to learn about culture when all you get to see is on a 1 hour tour, and it doesn’t feel comfortable asking admissions these questions! I know that’s what visit back day helps with, but you can’t see much in one day. Are you students typically honest when answering perspectives’ questions, or are you interested in “selling” the school?</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Deerfield, but here goes Lawrenceville:</p>
<p>Stress level: it largely depends on the individual tbh. We do not have a pressure cooker reputation, but I admit being constantly stressed out before tests because I have very high expectations of myself. But that’s not the majority of the population. Some kids don’t want to appear worried and stressed out in front of others (because they want others to think they have it “easy”), but I can’t really tell what’s on their minds. </p>
<p>Discipline: we’re somewhere between strict and not super-strict…if that makes sense. Students have a lot of freedom, but they also have to take all the responsibility for their action. </p>
<p>Party scene = probably prevalent among some richer NY kids, but definitely not the majority of the student body (I don’t know anyone in my circle of friends who’s into party, and I’m not). </p>
<p>Dorm life: what do you mean? The girls’ houses generally have more house spirit during interhouse events, but the boys’ houses have unrivaled traditions. It’s generally safe: there’s enforced study hall every day (hours largely depend on the house), check-in, and all that stuff. Internet shuts off at 11:15pm. Facilities are adequate. What else about dorm life do you want to know?</p>
<p>Honest or not? I’m sure it depends on the tour guide, but you can trust me on not trying to sell the school by glorifying its every single aspect. Lawrenceville, as are all other schools, is diverse and not perfect.</p>
<p>Asked my son, Deerfield freshman. Stress level, discipline, and party scene all sound identical to Lawrenceville: stress often mostly related to the individual-- how driven you are. How much time you have depends on courses you choose (honors level and. AP courses might have more work), as well as your sports and extra-curriculars. Discipline seems reasonable-- the school understands if kids make a mistake, but they’ve definitely kicked several kids out this year for particularly egregious behavior or repeated infractions. Party scene:not wild on campus though I’ve heard NY off campus parties can be. Lots of on campus stuff to do-- dances, movies, trips to town. Dorms are mostly VERY nice singles. Freshman and sophomores together with senior proctors and faculty on each corridor; upperclass dorms have no proctors. Underclass men have 7:45 PM curfew every night for study hall in your dorm. Dorms have frequent (maybe weekly-- depends on faculty) “feeds” – post study hall snacks before bed—pizza, ice cream, cookies, whatever, time to socialize. 4 weekday lunches and most dinners in fall and spring are sit-down, with your table of mixed aged students and faculty rotating every few weeks. Other meals are “walk-thru”-- go anytime and sit wherever. No Saturday classes. As MBV says above, no place is perfect, but, so far, my son finds the place very friendly, with lots of different types of people.</p>
<p>
All of these schools are ungodly difficult to get admitted into. Apply to several, and if you are lucky enough to get admitted to more than one, then you can choose afterwards. </p>
<p>No one should take for granted that they will be admitted to any of these ultra, ultra-selective schools.</p>
<p>The number of AP classes don’t matter at schools of this caliber, because the Honors classes are far more elite than generic AP-level courses, and the colleges know this from the school’s Profile that they send to the colleges.</p>
<p>Can anyone explain the Internet access rules at Deerfield and Lawrenceville? is there WiFi in dorm rooms? What kind of Internet filtering does either school have? (For instance, is there a policy about social media access, porn filter, etc, and are they jokes to hackers?). How do the schools handle cell phone usage?</p>
<p>@spoon6566
for Lville, there is WiFi in the dorms from 6AM-11:15PM (with normal filters). of course you can bypass the filters if you wanted to with a proxy. also, you can use your phone whenever you want- however, only freshmen have to place their phones outside their rooms for study hall (8pm-10:15pm).</p>
<p>EDIT: ALSO, seniors have 24 hour internet
EDIT 2: internet on saturday goes out at 1am for everyone</p>
<p>@skyworkeralan, Lville got rid of all of their APs a few years ago. In order to call it an “AP” class, Lville would have to teach to the AP test. Lville wanted to go beyond that required material and not be forced to teach to the AP exams. Because of this, most AP’s have equivalents at Lville which are harder and which after taking, kids can get a 4 or 5 on the AP exam. </p>