<p>We may be moving to NJ and are trying to find a good private school for our son who would be a day student, coming in as a Junior. Waiting for PSAT's this week, GPA around 3.4 and is a good golfer. Lawrencville's probably a major stretch but what's Peddie like? Are day students welcomed? Do they have Saturday classes like Lawrenceville? Are the kids well rounded? We looked at Hun and didn't think it would be a good fit. Any feedback would be most appreciated from those of you "in the know".</p>
<p>I wouldn't call myself "in the know," but I'll share the little I know. I think PSAT scores won't be available until December. Did you mean SSAT? </p>
<p>If your child attends a boarding school as a day student, you can expect that he/she will be at the school many Saturdays with or without Sat. classes. There will be athletic events, ec's, arts, dances etc. Your child may eventually ask to board. Because the % boarding at Hun is much lower than Lawrenceville and Peddie, it might be structured more to meet the requirements of day students. </p>
<p>Peddie is a quality school with around 1/3 day students. Around 40% of the student body is on financial aid, so the school scores high on levels of diversity. I've heard that it its easier to get into the school as a boarder than as a day student. You might confirm this with Admissions. </p>
<p>Just look on the Peddie webiste to find out if they have Sat. classes. BTW, Sat. classes are OK because there is more vacation time as a result.</p>
<p>Peddie's having an open house this Sunday November 2nd. Not sure if you'll be in the area but if so, it may be beneficial for your family to drop by. Not sure of the time; my calendar's all turned around...you can easily find out on the website.</p>
<p>You might also consider Blair Academy, although it, too, may be a reach.</p>
<p>What about Pingry or Newark Academy - both excellent schools.</p>
<p>what didnt you like about HUN? we are looking at moving to NJ too but my daughter does want to board. her tops were lawrenceville then Hun at Princeton then Peddie. I would love to know what you observed there, Blair was a maybe on the list too.</p>
<p>It is extremely competitive for day student spots at Lawrenceville. The top students from the Princeton area compete to go there, and generally speaking the Princeton area has very good public schools. It might be easier to apply for a boarding student spot, which I think that they consider the better alternative if you live more than 15 miles from the school. (which btw, in this area is at least 1/2 hour commute - and there are 8am classes...).</p>
<p>Princeton country Day school is supposed to be quite good. I can't comment on Hun or Peddie (no knowledge). </p>
<p>The Blair school is in the northwest and would not be a day option from the Princeton area, if that is where you are going to be based.</p>
<p>Pingry is in Somerset county and the students commute (all are day students) from about 99 different localities. However, I don't think it is a draw from the Princeton area. </p>
<p>Newark Academy is in Essex County, and draws from the Northern and north central areas, but I don't think from Princeton.</p>
<p>Other day schools: Morristown - Beard (Morristown), Montclair-Kimberly (upper montclair), Rutgers Prep (Somerset), to name a few.</p>
<p>Day spots at Lawrenceville and Peddie are tough to get into. Peddie only admits around 25% of the students who apply and it's very competitive and I bet L'ville is about the same admit rate (L'ville, Peddie and PDS all have more National Merit Finalists than places like Hotchkiss and Taft, so they are filled with strong kids) . Lawrenceville has more day spaces available, though ,and it's a bigger school. PDS is excellent, Rutgers Prep is also a good option to review and worth visiting as all day schools. Other in the area...Pennington and Hun offer great programs for the right kid (good academic support)...and you can go over the river to George School - a great Quaker tradition. Each school has its own feel, as you might imagine. The work at Peddie, L'ville and PDS (the three I am most familiar with) is very rigorous - great facilities and faculty and strong college placement across the board. The boarding schools who have day students offer a wonderful opportunity to have a really global education. But be prepared, saturday classes and evening expectations are part of the scene - the good news is for commuting families is that these schools don't close down for the evening!</p>
<p>11th grade day student spots are tough to come by. If you would consider having him board, that would help your case. Otherwise, you'd probably have a better chance at Pennington or Hun. Good luck</p>
<p>We talked to Pingry about the possibility of a spot opening up next year for a new 11th grader. While they wouldn't commit, it does seem like a realistic possibility given the financial crisis. We found it to be an excellent school with high standards, a very stable staff, but an extremely competitive environment. They would definitely like that your son is a golfer.</p>
<p>My admission to high school was atypical but I can tell you that considering Peddie admissions a step down from Lawrenceville is a mistake. It is an extremely tough school to get into and even tougher once you arrive. You said you were a golfer and if that is truly an important aspect of school to you I would absolutely reccomend Peddie (as someone who has played both schools courses).
In response to anothermom2 I will say that from the princeton area it takes roughly an hour and a half to two hours to get to Blair and that is hardly a reasonable drive for a day student.</p>
<p>I know this is my first post here, so I hate to start things off like this, but I know 2 students at Hun and they say that there is a lot of drugs on campus. </p>
<p>I didn't apply to Peddie, because I already was applying to 3 other "reach" schools, but I can't see anyone not liking Peddie. If my parent's would've let me apply to one more school it would've been Peddie.</p>
<p>with all due respect, public schools like Princeton High School and West Windsor are wonderful schools--certainly as good as any of these admirable private schools, in many ways better. Every person is different and private schools are right for some, but these public schools are in the top 1 % of academically challenging, intellectually and socially interesting places. absolutely worth considering</p>
<p>while there are many very competitive, challenging, academically advanced public schools I would not go as far as to classify them (especially when refferencing West Windor and Princeton High School) as better than private schools mentioned in this thread. Saying they are in the top 1%, however, is impossible to determine because there is no comparison by newseek or any other reputable source that will analyze the merits of public and private schools combined. If you have found something to support your claim, liz7, I would be highly interested to see it...</p>
<p>(not to say public schools aren't worth considering, I'm simply pointing out that calling one better than the other is not an accurate judgement)</p>
<p>You should also consider Pennington which is right in the area. They have both day and boarding.</p>
<p>I go to Hun and there are NOT a lot of drugs. Please don’t make up stuff based on hearsay. And the Hun community is welcoming, and has a better atmosphere and feel than these other schools.</p>
<p>How can you say that it has a better atmosphere than other schools. Just wondering, but is that not your opinion as opposed to fact.</p>
<p>All schools have drugs, I do not know if some are known to have more than others.</p>
<p>Don’t diss The Hun School like that. Hun has a great faculty and student body.</p>
<p>Ranking these schools academically, I’d have to say:
Lawrenceville/Peddie
Princeton Day
Hun</p>
<p>I got in to all four of the schools you are considering (as a day student), and decided to go to Peddie. While all of the schools are great, the tour and interviews really captured the essence of the school (for me). At Hun, everyone was friendly, but the academics are not as rigorous. The sports are good, and their football team is great. PDS is a great day school, but lacks the diversity of a boarding community. Also, on my revisit with a friend, many of the students were falling asleep in class. It just wasn’t where I wanted to be, and I didn’t feel that comfortable. Since it also has a middle and lower school attached, it lacks that “high school” environment. Lawrenceville is gorgeous. They have great facilities, large amounts of land (and fantastic playing fields), and a lot of “name value”. Dropping the L bomb is impressive to many colleges. However, my interviewer seemed fake, telling me everything I did was “fantastic, great, terrific”. She kept smiling with a “deer in headlights” look, and continued to ask “what else do you do?”. After I rattled off a dozen extracurriculars, including my leadership positions in each, she kept asking me for more. Yeah…all kids have a limit.
Peddie was totally different. True, classes on Saturday (only a half day though!) seemed out of the question, but I was won over by the campus, community vibe, strong academics, and great sports. Their girls soccer, field hockey, and softball teams are fantastic. The swimming program is one of the top two in the country, and the men’s tennis and wrestling teams are great as well. Football…could use some help.
The sense of community flourished on my revisit day, and I knew I wanted to attend. Also, they have a new state of the art science center and a new history house, both of which are equipped with the latest technology (there is a genetics lab in the science center. really.) Overall, my experience at Peddie has been unbeatable, and I will be sad to leave it. Being a day student does not mean that I don’t have boarding friends. On the contrary, most of my best friends live on campus.
If your kids do go to Peddie, be ready to see less of them at home. I spend an entire day at school (7:30-10) but that’s because I eat all meals there and study in the library at night. </p>
<p>I was academically viable for each of these schools, which is one of the reasons I got into all of them. Peddie offered the most money in the form of a merit scholarship (and they have the largest endowment of the four) so I happily accepted.</p>
<p>if you have any other questions about peddie or the other schools, let me know :)</p>