<p>Hey everyone, I graduated from Lawrenceville last year (Class of 2006), and am willing to field any questions about Lawrenceville or boarding school life in general.</p>
<p>Oh, hi!! I'd love to have questions answered.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of applying, but I'm not sure yet.</p>
<p>How would you characterize your boarding school experience? Please rate:</p>
<p>Academics (levels of work, excellence):
Preparation for College/Life:
Dorm Life:
Sports:
Overall Experience:</p>
<p>Did you consider your experience worthwhile? What was your favorite part?</p>
<p>is it hard to get in as a senior? is it normal to enter as a repeat 11th grader?</p>
<p>i dont think so my friend applied 2 weeks before school started last year as a senior and he got accepted in 3 days</p>
<p>PurpoisePal, most students enter in 9th and 10th grade. Admission to new students in 11th and 12th grade is usually a function of retention (they replace students who leave school or are expelled). Lawrenceville had an acceptance rate of 21% (348 acceptances / 1643 formal applications) for entrance in fall 2006. I don't believe the school breaks down acceptance rates by grade.</p>
<p>bearcat, I have never heard of such a situation. If true, that would be extremely unusual, as the school has strict application deadlines. Application deadlines are in January, and decisions are made in March.</p>
<p>it happens sometimes.....
one of my friends at hotchkiss did the same thing ...except that he applied late april as a freshman, waitlisted and in</p>
<p>olivia567-- In terms of academics, Lawrenceville is what you'd expect. Your grades are in direct proportion to the amount of effort you're willing to put in. Teachers are extremely helpful and more than willing to put in the time and effort to help you when you need it. Workload is maybe a couple hours a night initially; this ramps up significantly your junior and senior years with college admissions looming on the horizon. Lawrenceville essentially prepares you for success: most importantly it teaches you how to read and write at a college level or higher, and how to critically analyze and construct arguments. Being surrounded by ambitious, intellectual, and high-achieving go-getters fosters the same characteristics in yourself, preparing you for environments (i.e. college) where these are valued and necessary to succeed. I was a day student, but one of my greatest experiences at Lawrenceville was the house system. You will end up feeling like you are living with 35-40 of your best friends. The key to Lawrenceville is balancing this feeling with academics and other commitments. Drugs (mainly pot) and alcohol are prevalent (as with any boarding school) if that is your scene, if not there are many who choose not to indulge. Most sports at Lawrenceville are extremely competitive, and time commitments are long but rewarding. There is an athletic requirement each trimester, if you choose not to be involved in interscholastic sports, there are other ways to fulfill this requirement (i.e. intramural "house" sports-- house football for men is a long and well-respected Lawrenceville tradition). Overall I loved it, and I wouldn't be surprised if retrospectively I will think that Lawrenceville shaped me as a person more than any other experience in my life; if there is one caveat to this, I feel like perhaps I should have boarded.</p>
<p>PurpoisePal- I'm not sure, but I think it is harder. Repeats are definitely not uncommon-- two of my best friends were a new junior and a repeat sophomore. In addition, we had over 10 PG students last year.</p>
<p>bearcats- Again, it's possible. A girl I know applied and was accepted to Lawrenceville only a week or two before the start of her senior year.</p>
<p>Good luck to all.</p>
<p>mommaslilinjun- i have several questions for you.</p>
<p>first of all, i know very little about boarding/prep schools. im a sophomore in high school looking at boarding schools for several reasons. i am very smart, but my grades havent always reflected it. i have a 3.2 at a very competitive private high school in oklahoma. </p>
<p>my first question is: is lawrenceville very understanding towards add/adhd students? i have somewhat sturggled with this at my very structured private high school, and im wondering if lawrenceville, or really prep schools in general, would be a better surrounding for this? pertaining to this, what are the class sizes like? and is there a lot of one on one attention? because i think that would help me a lot.</p>
<p>my other question may seem silly, but what is the basketball/sports in general like at lawrenceville? i am looking for a school with a strong basketball program, because i am a fairly high level player and am hoping to play division 1 or 2 college basketball. will i be better off at lawrenceville than i would at a regular high school? you may not know the answer to that, but thank you for helping.</p>
<p>lol sorry i went on so long, thank you</p>
<p>edit-- sorry, one more question. i am just now really starting to look at prep/boarding schools. is it pretty much too late to apply for next year, especially since boarding school is just an idea for me right now? and also, could i redo a year if i go to lawrenceville?</p>
<p>Just curious- do you know Dominic A. A. Randolph and how did you find him as headmaster?</p>
<p>i just realized im actually just going to make a new thread, most of my questions dont have to do with lawrenceville. forget my post, lol sorry.</p>
<p>haha yes, I know Dominic Randolph very well, he was my humanities teacher freshman year, and did duty in my house. He isn't Lawrenceville's headmaster, he's assistant headmaster; the headmaster is named Elizabeth Duffy. As for Dominic Randolph, I love the man, he's one of the most insightful, funny and interesting people I know. Even though he's in a high administrative position, he will stop to talk to you in the hall, or you can stop in at his office and usually talk to him whenever.</p>
<p>westchestermom, i guess you're wondering because you heard about his appointment to head riverdale country school (just extrapolating from the fact that you're from Westchester). i'll say that he appears to be the hands-on administrator at Lawrenceville; Head Master Duffy is perceived to be more involved in fundraising and alumni relations. he was in charge of overhauling the curriculum a few years ago as Dean of Studies, and then they basically created the position of Assistant Head Master just for him, a position he used to overhaul the schedule yet again for next year. He is a very thoughtful, kind, intelligent person, so if you're wondering whether you think RCS will be a better school after his appointment, I'd guess so. </p>
<p>I have to say, though, that my roommate this year is taking his class (his only class) on images and words and finds it absolutely abominable. But he's retarded, don't pay attention to him.</p>
<p>Thanks mommaslilinjun and madeinusa817 for your feedback about Dominic Randolph. And yes, I was curious because of a connection to Riverdale Country School- I have a child applying there and a child graduating. </p>
<p>The current headmaster has done an excellent job in his ten years at RCS. I haven't had much contact with him, but he has overseen much expansion and improvement of the school. Naturally, people are a bit nervous about change. Mr. Randolph's resume is amazing and very interesting. It's nice (and reassuring) to hear positive things about him from students who have day to day contact with him- because it's your opinions that count the most. (As for words and images, hmmm... sounds like it could be an interesting subject!)</p>
<p>My sons classmate is one of the students who interview all 4 candidates. According to my son, his classmate likes Mr. Dominic Randolph the most. Of course this piece of information is not particular useful. Nevertheless I think Mr. Randolph had an impressive interview few weeks ago. Especially the students involved like him very much. Perhaps it is part of the reasons why he got the job.</p>
<p>I've known the man for five years, and if I know him at all, he'll be a great headmaster.</p>