Lawrenceville vs. Peddie?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
21

<p>I have more questions to ask, before I forget ;)</p>

<p>Is Peddie “cliquey”? Is the food good? Is it nurturing or competitive? What’s the dress code at Peddie (examples?)? Is there any chance that people could “slip” through? Is Peddie very diverse, or is it somewhat diverse?</p>

<p>If a student or a friend knows you aren’t doing so great, do they try to help you out? Tutoring and such? Are people “always there” for you? Is it better, in your opinion, to be a day or a boarding student? Will you experience more as a boarding student?</p>

<p>I think that’s all for now :)</p>

22

<p>Boarderkid—I think you have so many questions because you really do not have the one answer you want most (that you are admitted) at this moment. Watufani has given excellent responses to your questions. If you search, you will find many responses like Watufani’s. You will find that I asked many questions like yours not so long ago!</p>

<p>Once you get off a waitlist (and that would be incredible if you got off both L’ville and Peddie and were given the opportunity to choose), you should see if you can revisit on your own as the revisit was very important for our family. I am not sure if you can do this, but I hope that you get off ASAP and get a little time to decide…</p>

<p>I knew my daughter wanted to swim for Peddie (the coach is amazing as is the program itself), but we needed to know which school (George, Lawrenceville or Peddie) would provide her with the best 24/7 learning community. By 24/7 learning community, I mean the place where all of the following would be happening:</p>

<p>•Classes: challenging classes with small call sizes that engender discussion, etc.
•Relationships: strong and healthy peer-to- peer learning/bonding as well as the learning that occurs in the presence of teachers/advisors/coaches as well as between the adult members of the school community
•School Community: engaged students in academics, community service, athletics and/or arts as well as engaged adults
•Living Environment: supportive yet brings about independence over time (good adult to kid ratio in dorms)
•Opportunities: possibilities opened because of proximity and support for new interests</p>

<p>We went to the revisits open mine-minded (but I knew she was leaning toward Peddie). We went to L’ville first. After the L’ville revisit, she was all for L’ville for several days, even through the George School revisit. But then, we went to the Peddie revisit. She turned over all that she knew about the three schools for several hours after our last revisit (she did so over some excellent Vietnamese food)—at some point in the meal—and after much intense discussion, she said, “I’m going to Peddie.” That was it. Her mind and heart came together via her “gut” (again full of some very good food—so she was in the right state of mind—satisfied) and it all seemed so clear to her. </p>

<p>I needed a little more time. In the end, when I look at my list from above—and the painful thought of my daughter living away from me in 5 months—it became clear for me as well that the best place for her was Peddie. I need my D to be at a school whose focus is on the kids that are there, at that moment. I guess what I am saying is that I let go of my metal concept for each school and embraced the reality of which would be the best place for my D.</p>

<p>This may not help you Boarderkid, but I felt better getting that out! GOODLUCK!</p>

23

<p>Sandwindsun, thank you so much for posting this! I will definitely show my parents your post, as I think it will help them too if we ever get a chance to revisit (if I am admitted, hopefully).</p>

<p>Speaking of waitlists, when do decisions come out and how?</p>

<p>Did your daughter apply as a boarding student for all three schools?</p>

<p>Again, you have helped me a lot through your post! If I am taken off the waitlist, I will definitely consider the four bullet points you have stated in your post. Thank you so much for helping me (and my family) out!</p>

24

<p>Boarderkid,</p>

<p>I am happy that my post made sense to you! I do not know anything about how waitlists work. GemmaV is on CC quite often, and she is an Admissions Officer. Maybe you can ask her…</p>

<p>My daughter applied and was accepted as a boarder to L’ville and Peddie and as a day student at George School. </p>

<p>I wish you a swift ride off the waitlist and into the school that fits you!</p>

25

<p>Thank you for the kind words, sandwindsun! I will be checking in with both schools in a few days, just to see whether they will turn to their waitlist or now. I haven’t gotten any calls or emails yet, so I’m still waiting!</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>Watufani, I don’t know if you’re still watching this thread but last night I had a strange dream and therefore new questions arose. <em>laughs</em> How close are roommates, usually? Do roommates ever do their laundry together and each chip in half of the washing/drying price? And how are roommates chosen? Does Peddie give you the name of your new roommate in advance?</p>

26

<p>bump bump bump</p>

<p>Thought I might everyone know that Lawrenceville’s waitlist is closed, so now Peddie is the main goal :)</p>

27

<p>I have a question!
At Peddie (and every other boarding school, really) do PG year students fit in well? Or is it awkward because they will only be there for one year?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>and good luck with Peddie, boarderkid!</p>

28

<p>From what I’ve heard, Peddie is a welcoming environment. So, PG students probably do fit in, but I’m not sure. I only applied as a freshman for Fall 2009.</p>

<p>Thanks :slight_smile: They’ll be letting us know about the waitlist status in June!</p>

29

<p>Ahh, these are really good questions. Bump.</p>

<p>For the dress code, my tour guide said your clothes have to be in good shape (example: no ripped jeans), no blue jeans, and no logo tops (except the Peddie logo, of course).</p>

30

<p>ermmmm, isn’t this from last year?</p>

31

<p>I found this article through my google news filter- and although this thread is a bit outdated, I thought I’d share my insight. Inevitability this question is asked year after year by a new group of high-school-bound students, as I remember considering the same question ten years ago.</p>

<p>Firstly, trying to rank two of the top prepatory boarding schools in the country is much like trying to rank harvard vs princeton- in any given year one school may produce more future nobel prize winners, have better job placement %, or have higher average SAT scores of matriculating students- but trying to decide which is the ‘better’ school ultimately comes down to which is the best individual fit, in my opinion. I have seen some sites which aim to rank schools based on placement in Ivys+Mit/Stanford, well what about the significant portion who go to top notch liberal arts college (i.e. Williams, Swathmore, Amherst…), or who go to U.S. military academies, or who take full scholarships to top tier schools like Georgetown and Duke? And even if matriculation was the most important variable for your decision- what about 5/10/20+ years down the road… does matriculation to college strongly correlate to future success later in life?</p>

<p>Here’s why I chose peddie over lawerenceville:</p>

<p>1- Peddie is committed to being on the cutting edge of education. They established the principio project, one of the first laptop programs for students, and they have recently built a state of the art science facility covering diversified fields of study with state of the art technology and infrastructure. In my opinion, this foresight into the next 5-10 years of education will help you be better prepared for those years (undergrad/grad) where you will get a jump on your peers who’s h.s. did not have to foresight to see where the future will be and get their students and early jump. *This notion of getting an advantange on peers, though opportunistic circumstance has been popularly identified as the defining characteristic of great personal success stories by Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, 2008).</p>

<p>2- Peddie truly looks to bring in a diversified student body, not jump in terms of ethnicity or race, but a diversity of backgrounds and cultures- where each student is specifically ‘picked’ to add something different to the salad bowl (peddie inside reference) as opposed to the melting pot concept elitist schools often seem to support.</p>

<p>3- It felt right! I could have gone to another top boarding school (being fron NJ however I quickly narrowed it down based on location), but peddie felt like a place where I could thrive given my personal attributes, moreso than at lawrenceville. At the end of the day I think fit/feel is most important, because it is not about which school has more students going to your dream university in a particular year, but rather where you can be the most comfortable and have the best experience and opportunities over your next four years. </p>

<p>Remember ‘rankings’ change, perceived reputation is a poor method for making a proper h.s. decision. If you don’t believe me, track down the group students from my major (B.S. Applied Economics, Cornell) with who joined the #1 ranked I-bank, Lehman, most of which took their offers their only because it was the ‘highest ranked’ investment bank at the time.</p>

<p>best wishes and luck to prospective students & parents with their decisions!</p>

32

<p>Hey! As a student at lville and once (believe it or not!) an applicant who was choosing between numerous schools such as you, I decided I’d help you out a bit! Of course, I can’t speak for Peddie but I can speak for lawrenceville:</p>

<ul>
<li>Does lights out mean you HAVE to sleep? Are there any consequences if you are awake after 11:00? (for juniors) Do you have internet after lights out?</li>
</ul>

<p>lights out typically means, well, LIGHTS OUT. but theres ways to get around it, altho internet turns off at lights out. however, i’ve had my share of late nights and you usually always regret it at 6:30am the next morning!</p>

<ul>
<li>Does the school network block any sites? facebook? myspace?</li>
</ul>

<p>i think the only blocked sites are like chatroulette and other inappopriate ones… but we’re not too strict on that.</p>

<ul>
<li>Is the gym available for use throughout the day? One of the problems at my current school is that the basketball players always “take over” the gym, so everybody else who isn’t interested in basketball can’t play anything else. </li>
</ul>

<p>we have a fieldhouse, and about 3 i think basket ball courts. also, if uve visited, ud know theres a big court in the middle of the field house. it’s big enough for like 10 individual basketball games to go on at the same time so it can’t really be “taken over”!</p>

<ul>
<li>How do you do your laundry? How much does it cost per load?</li>
</ul>

<p>Personally, I’ve applied to laundry service which is when i pay a certain fee at the beginning of the year and they pick up my dirty laundry once a week and return it. I also get dry cleaning service the same way. sometimes tho, i’ll forget and have to manually do the laundry which is 75cents for a wash and 50cents for dry.</p>

<ul>
<li>Is there such thing as riflery, wall climbing, fencing, or ice skating?</li>
</ul>

<p>We have about 3 rock climbing walls (and not just the ordinary, i’ll assure you!), and they get quiteee difficult! We have our own “ropes course”, which has some really sweet outdoor rock climbing. There’s also a top fencing team, great hockey teams, and our own ice rink, which is well maintained and easily available.</p>

<ul>
<li>Is there a “public” piano for the one who doesn’t take music class to play?
Of course! We have a million practice rooms in our music building, which personally is one of my favorites, and each room has at least a grand piano. So about 25 pianos in JUST the music building? :)</li>
</ul>

<p>When I applied, I got my Peddie acceptance on the 9th. I was choosing from schools such as Choate and Milton when I decided on Lawrenceville, and I am absolutely sure I made the right choice. Peddie’s a great school, and I’m not going to put other schools down and act all elitist, but personally, Lawrenceville is a better well-rounded school. I believe Peddie’s a good school for athletics, but to be honest, Lville has some amazinggg athletes as well, including tremendous facilities, faculty, and students. </p>

<p>If you have any more questions, dont be afraid to ask! Good luck! :)</p>

33

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<p>It’s so weird… I applied to both and felt exactly the opposite. I guess different schools really do suit different people.</p>

34

<p>exactly. i guess poeple sometimes percieve different things than others. lawrenceville is in not in any way “stuffy” and we are NOT wrapped up in our own world. those things, which are again completely false at lville, cannot even be picked up on a tour anyways if it were to exist at a school.</p>

35

<p>i know this is old… does anyone know when ill expect to know who my roommate is? do i find out on the first day or with my schedule (when does that come by the way?) or at orientation? and also how long is POCO?</p>