<p>Can anyone post on either school? We are looking more for culture, types of kids who attend, academics, sports, quality of life, dorms, etc. S will be going on revisits. Locationwise, Lawrenceville is closer to home and will have warmer weather but would like personal experiences about both schools.</p>
<p>Types of kids who attend: I think SPS is one of the most diverse boarding schools, and the school has really pushed this (perhaps to the point where students are mildly exasperated with the subject) in recent years. Most people are genuine, but you will find some that fit the wasp, prep school stereotypes. It takes people awhile to settle down, but nearly everyone finds their niche. Personally, I couldn't ask for more from friends. I don't think I would've found people like them if I stayed at home. We can have a good time but also love to seriously discuss things that are important to us. </p>
<p>Academics: Some things unique to SPS:</p>
<p>The core of the academic program is the Humanities department. For the first three years students take three yearlong Humanities classes (Hum 3,4, and 5) and then senior year, students typically take Humanities electives. Humanities is a combination of English, history, religion, and culture, and is thus a double-credit course. </p>
<p>The sciences are taught “backwards”: physics, chemistry, and biology. Advanced sciences are offered in all, and there are some sick electives. </p>
<p>Languages offered: German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Latin, and Greek. There is a classical scholars program (Latin + Greek) and SYA opportunities in China, Spain, France, and Italy.</p>
<p>St. Paul’s allow students to take a field as far as they want via TOPICS. Topics is a course where a faculty member works one-on-one with a student, at an advanced level. </p>
<p>Sports: Traditionally and consistently very good at cross-country, hockey, and crew. In recent years squash and wrestling have been very good. I think the student body is fairly sports oriented. Being a pretty small school, we still manage to field a lot of fairly good varsity teams. Many, many students get recruited every year for various sports. </p>
<p>Dorms: All dorms have keypads, and students know a code to get into the dorms. The keypad is locked so nobody can enter after check in. Dorm rooms do not have locks. There are 18 dorms on campus, 9 boys and 9 girls. The dorms are really your smaller family within the school community. All dorms have “vertical housing” which simply means people from all four forms live in every dorm, which I have always loved. There are typically about 30 students per a dorm. There are about 3 faculty members who live attached to each dorm. </p>
<p>Do you have more specific questions? I’d be happy to attempt to answer them.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your extensive input. How is the quality of the food? Is it regular cafeteria quality or would you rate it as better?</p>
<p>well SPS is said to have the best boarding school food
i mean its pretty good for cafeteria food
depends on what is being served though
we also have a place called Tuck where during school days (except for wed and sat) there is a free grab and go deli, where you can make a sandwich. also at tuck you can buy food like cheeseburgers, spicy fries whatever</p>
<p>I wrote this somewhere else:</p>
<p>At St. Paul’s the food is fairly good as boarding schools go. Nothing is inedible and there are lots of options. The major complaint among students is that the hot food line at dinner can be repetitive. I’ll list below what are the staples of every meal served at the upper (our dining hall):</p>
<p>Breakfast (6:30-8:00): Hot breakfast line, cereal bar, pastry bar, fruit, omelet station, and make-your-own waffles. </p>
<p>Lunch (11:00-1:00): Hot food line, salad bar, deli-bar, and dessert bar. </p>
<p>Dinner (5:30- 7:00): Hot food line, salad bar, make-your-own stir-fry (personal favorite), pasta bar, dessert bar, and salad bar. </p>
<p>A student can go at anytime when the dining hall is open. For lunch, there is also a deli-line (make your own sandwiches + apples + chips + cookies) in the student center, which is closer to the academic buildings than the dining hall. Students usually have 50-60 minutes for lunch. </p>
<p>In addition to regular dinner, we have Seated Meal, which is twice a week. The entire school (including faculty) sits down together in the dining halls, with a faculty or prefect head at each table. The tables are assigned randomly and you eat a family style sit-down dinner with the people at your table. New tables are assigned every three weeks.</p>
<p>perfect description above ^</p>
<p>This past week right before spring break was brutal, as far as food goes.</p>
<p>Generally I find the food pretty good at SPS, can get a little repetitive from time to time. Breakfast is absolutely the best meal of the day. If you guys end up going to SPS you may want to consider passing up on the extra half hour of sleep, I know its tough when we barely get any as it is. The breakfast sandwiches are like heaven. Desserts are also usually very good. There is an ice cream machine thats there all the time as well as desserts the kitchen prepares. Generally they try to switch the desserts up, except after seated meal when they serve us that dessert for pretty much what seems like the next week.</p>
<p>Thank you to you all for the posts. Another question, how much homework do you get in the different forms on a normal schedule? I read on another post that the Humanities program results in an extraordinary amount of writing assignments? One thing that strikes me is how SPS has such great college placements and the admissions are very selective, however, the SSAT average of admitted kids seems to be lower than AEDCH?</p>
<p>whynotmithoo, before this academic year I think the average SSAT was 93%. This past year it has dropped by quite a bit according to some statistics I have seen. From what I can tell the school is really pushing for diversity (in all ways) and they are accepting students with less emphasis on testing. Obviously the form that just entered hasn't applied to colleges yet. Once they do is when we'll be able to tell if it makes a difference in overall placement. </p>
<p>Third form I had around 2 or 3 hours of homework with about the same in fourth form, but with more large assignments and as a result more individual late night. Fifth form is very hard - I think I usually had around 3 or 4 hours of work. Sixth form is a bit easier. Looking back, the work I had in third form I could easily complete in half the time now. It's all a matter of experience/ growing up I guess.</p>
<p>I think I actually responded to the post on the other thread that said there was a lot of writing. I really don't think there is. I actually think there is less writing than if there was a separate English class. However, I think the writing may be more involved than in the normal English class because humanities papers usually incorporate not just literature but a variety of elements.</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight. In your view, what kind of kid would flourish in SPS? Is the life on the weekends interesting enough as I believe most kids don't go away and are pretty much on campus between semesters?</p>
<p>I believe that SPS holds classes six days a week, with Wednesday & Saturdays being half days to accommodate afternoon interscholastic athletic competitions. Lawrenceville is well known for its residential house system. Study abroad at Lawrenceville (based on info. that is now several years old) offers term abroad options in France, Spain & the Bahamas, while the SPS study abroad opportunities--other than China--are very intensive language study programs which require a nine month commitment.(SYA China is offered on both a semester and academic year options with language study optional during the semester program due, in part, to the complexity of the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language.) Lawrenceville has both day & boarding students in grades 9 through PG. St. Paul's School has 30% fewer students and is a 100% boarding school for grades 9 through 12. My impression is that the campus cultures are quite different between the two schools.</p>
<p>What is the difference in the campus cultures?</p>
<p>SPS does have Saturday classes. Admissions to Ivy's+Stamford+MIT; St. Paul's continually ranks #1. (see Prep Review, SPS #1, Lawrenceville #10). As an Alum and a parent, I am obviously biased. In my mind you can not do better that St. Paul's School. But they are both good schools. My brother chose Exeter. My nephew last week turned down Lawrenceville for Andover. Pick the school you feel the most comfortable with (then go to SPS). Cross-comparisons are difficult because most people only know one culture. My son is in his second year, loves it. Friends in all forms, won his first varsity crew race yesterday (and quite excited), does quite well academically, likes his room (better than his sister's college room), debates, is in a play and works on political campaigns. If you visited SPS, you probably went to his room in Nash,. It is the official room for visitors.</p>
<p>Thank you. My son went on the revisit to both schools. He liked SPS but loved Lawrenceville more. My husband and I both preferred SPS - gorgeous campus, no day students, very tight knit community but decided to let my son go with his gut. Like your nephew, his friend chose Andover over Lawrenceville even though his father had attended L'ville. I believe his parents thought Andover was more prestigious and a better school.</p>
<p>Hmmm wonder if your son's friend is my nephew! My nephew's father went to Lawrenceville, and his parents thought Andover was better. His friend's initials aren't CH are they?</p>
<p>SPS campus is huge, and it has really wide open campus. It is a perfect place for cross country and crew.</p>
<p>My niece visited Lawrenceville with her parents on Accepted Students' Day.
The presentation was done by the senior class. The parents felt that everyone that day was trying too hard to impress with statistics, EC's Community Service in the jungles of somewhere, etc. Facilities were out of this world, though.
The other school they visited was a better fit. A bit more relaxed atmosphere, and reputation and academics as good as, and some may argue, better than Lawrenceville.</p>
<p>I believe both of them are great school and high reputation. SPS has nicer dorms.</p>
<p>Yes, it is CH. What a small world, unless it is a coincidence! Actually, my son's friend may have used his parents as an excuse. He probably loved Andover as we hear good things about the school from everyone.</p>