Lawrenceville vs. George School

Prep School Admissions
21

@panpacific, There are kids from every kind of background and the school is generous with FA. The school has had a commitment to diversity of all types, including SES, for longer than most as it is important to the school to live its Quaker values. Those values are at its core and what make the school quite special. With that diversity comes a diversity of opinions about what to do with one’s life as well as how to do that (including where to go to college.)

It is hard to say how many “poor” kids there are because there are a lot of things baked into the culture to create equality. It’s not clear who comes from money and who doesn’t. Formal events are not so formal; every student works on campus, etc., With that said, it is accepting and safe enough that a student may share details that suggest hardship ( lived in a shelter, was a refugee)

There are students at George who set their sights on competitive schools and they attend them. Hard as it may be to believe, this is not what all students aspire to. Students have opted for paths that I would not have wanted for my kid, but have been right for them and happily endorsed by their families. (This is a rich topic for another time!) Most families and students are quite private about their college applications and acceptances, in part because financial situations create different options.

With 50% of the students getting FA, odds are that more than 50% are choosing colleges based on affordability. 80% of the students last year were accepted to schools that were “most selective”. (Roughly the same as Mercersberg).

It appears that not all of them attended those schools, and I don’t know how decisions were made.

As for the BCCC students, of whom there must have been at least 5 (which is about 2 a year), I know only one. He did not end up there because he didn’t get into a “better” school, or even for finances, but for personal reasons.

22

@gardenstategal Thank you for sharing your knowledge about George School. I asked that question in response to CaliMex’s comments regarding how high achieving students choose to go to community college out of financial considerations. It sounds like George School is typical among many BS that have diversifying their student bodies as a high priority.

23

@panpacific, I would agree that most BS are trying to be more diverse and most are making progress.

I would say that George is less typical in that at most schools, the expectation is that students (and especially ones from diverse backgrounds) will conform to the cultural norms of the school; at George, the expectation is that every student will play a role in creating them. The difference between inviting someone in as a guest vs as a member of the family. The latter approach is indeed challenging to institutions with long-standing traditions, especially ones that connect donors to the school because endowments are what make SES diversity possible. In this regard, being a school built on a set of faith based values is helpful.

Which has now brought us full circle to the beginning of this thread…

24

I have no personal connection to either school, though my cousin’s child is graduating from George School this year. My cousin deeply believes in the school and her child had a positive experience overall.

I would agree that GS and Lawrenceville are different–but a lot of that difference depends on the perspective of the viewer. While GS takes its Quaker roots seriously, and there is undoubtedly a special vibe on the campus, it is still essentially in the same business as Lawrenceville–that is, preparing students for admission to competitive colleges.

Yes, Lawrenceville might have a somewhat more freewheeling feeling about it, yet I’m sure there are plenty of people at Lawrenceville who would have found happiness at GS, and vice versa. The fact remains, however, that there are significant differences in the culture of the two schools, and each individual has to decide between them according to his or her preferences.

Simply put, for all of its virtues, not every student is apt to find the atmosphere at GS a congenial one. My cousin’s child, for example, who is unquestionably of a liberal orientation, found that political correctitude could sometimes be pushed a bit too far for that child’s tastes. Indeed, some students who would find a comfortable place among the, say, HADES schools, might find the air of righteousness and earnestness at GS a bit constricting.

But that’s not to say that GS doesn’t have its issues. According to my cousin, the boarding students tend to take the Quakerism more seriously than the day students, who are often drawn to the school more for its quality academics than for its Quaker orientation. Consequently, there is an element of the student population that is not quite in step with the predominant vibe.

In fact, GS recently had to expel several students, as I understand, for promoting a competition that was surprisingly similar to the “Senior Salute” of St. Paul’s fame. Indeed, the students at GS took it even one stop further, awarding top points for the contestant who was able to capture his experience on video. Fortunately, this competition came to the attention of the administration early on, and there were no reports, to my knowledge, of any victims coming forward.

There’s no substitute for on the ground observation. Reputations don’t always tell the whole story. Visit the campuses with an open mind and take your own readings.

25

Based on what I’ve heard, this shouldn’t be a difficult choice, should it? L’ville is everything “stereotypical” of a traditional prestigious boarding school (outside NE, you cannot find a more representative example really) while GS is - Not the above but what @gardenstategal and @DonFefe described up thread. If what you like and want is clear to yourself, then the choice is clear.

26

I forgot to mention that this year’s matriculation stats might not be representative of GS patterns over recent years. I won’t go into why I feel this way, but I suspect that next year one would be apt to see matriculations to the most competitive colleges more in line with past years.

Apparently there is less Ivy fetishism in the air at GS–indeed, my cousin’s child had to shake off some mild mockery over the notion of applying to an Ivy school. That alone would seem to distinguish it from a lot of places.

L’ville vs GS: vive la différence!

27

We visited both and found them very different. Reasons already discussed. Lawrenceville more typical competitive and sporty preppy prep school. George is a Quaker school with vibe driven by Quaker values. George is a very accepting school and also seemed very liberal, based on comments we heard from students and some observations on campus.

Academically, George offers both IB and AP. Lawrenceville has its own system and I don’t believe offers the AP classes though kids can choose to take the exams.

28

@DonFefe Do you have the 2016 matriculation data for GS? What @SevenDad posted eArlier was the 2014-2016 culmalulative I think.

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@panpacific No, I’m afraid I don’t have that information. I have only anecdotal reports. I wish I could offer more.