<p>Hello,
We are in the process of looking for a private school for 9th grade for my daughter who is currently in middle school. We are located pretty much equidistant from PDS and Pingry. Visited both schools. I know a lot of kids in PDS but not so many in Pingry. At the same time , from my research it seems like Pingry has a higher academic standards than PDS. We are looking for challenging academics, good athletics , good AP choices and great college placement. My daughter is interested in pursuing science track into medical field (for now :) ! </p>
<p>Pingry did seem a bit less diverse than PDS with the student body.</p>
<p>Considering lawrenceville too, but it increases our commute to 45 min and more expensive (almost one and half times).</p>
<p>Would love to hear some feedback and suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks Sue. My daughter is in 7th grade. What’s the best time to take SSAT ? Any time line that’s more recommended than others in this search ? We are first timers </p>
<p>Have her take the SSAT for the first time in the spring of her 7th grade year. It won’t count for applications to 9th grade but it will give you an idea of the kinds of schools at which she should be looking and whether she needs to do formal prep work for the 8th grade SSAT.</p>
<p>For scores to send to schools she should take the SSAT in the fall of her 8th grade year. The test is offered multiple times. Like the SAT many kids take it more than once but if you’re satisfied with her scores on the first test there’s no reason to repeat.</p>
<p>^^^ terrific new science building and DNA lab at Peddie; very diverse, and generous financial aid budget that may make day tuition competitive with others; has NJ boarders, and that can be a good thing for the right kid</p>
<p>If your goal is to get into Med School, save the money for med school, and go to a good public school. That’s all you’ll ever need for medical school. NJ has a lot of good public schools. On the other hand, if your goal is to be a Philosopher, by all means go to a boarding school.</p>
<p>Here are some others to consider: Hun School and Pennington School. </p>
<p>Both have great facilities and are a bit easier to get accepted than the others above. Pingry is somewhat of a pressure cooker (I know several kids who attend), so it is good to look at a wide variety of school cultures.</p>
<p>My son is a senior at CBA in Lincroft, NJ. Cost is about $14,000 a year. He has been offered academic scholarships from 3 highly selective schools that accept between 15% and 20% of applicants. Total of about $160,000 from each school. Two of his friends from middle school are at CBA and getting similar offers. 75% of all CBA grads get big merit awards. Last year’s class of about 200 students received $30 million in offers.</p>
<p>Three of his friends from elementary school went to three different Princeton area prep schools and the colleges they are looking at are not even close to the quality the ones the CBA kids are looking at. The parents pretty much admit they wasted tens of thousands of dollars. My advice is if you live in that area send your kids to the excellent public high schools in Princeton and West Windsor, which I assume are your local schools.</p>
<p>AgilityAce is one voice. I’d add another. PDS, Lawrenceville and Pingree all do quite well in college admissions, with the edge to Lawrenceville, then PDS and Pingree close behind. Looking at CBA’s website it’s clear that their admissions process focusses on large public and private universities and on obtaining merit awards, while Lawrenceville, PDS and Pingree send more kids to selective private universities and LAC’s that do not even offer them, such as the Ivies and the NESCACs (Amherst, WIlliams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, etc.). All FA at these schools is need-based but they are very generous with it. In other words, I think AgilityAce is comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>In the end it comes down to the experience you want for your child. Have her apply to all three the decide after the revisit day(s).</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a pure comparison, so to a degree everything is apples to oranges. My point is that spending $40k or more for high school is a joke in a state like NJ. CBA has very skewed admissions to the top catholic schools but it is well known for its ability to turn out kids for all types of schools. Yes, it is probably more likely that CBA kids will go to Notre Dame, BC, Georgetown and Holy Cross over a NESCAC school but so what. CBA’s acceptance rate to these schools is 3 times the national average. </p>
<p>Your child will do no better at the Princeton area rip offs than a similar kid that goes to one of the excellent public high schools or much more reasonably priced catholic prep schools. NESCAC and Ivies still pull about 60% of students from public schools.</p>
<p>Socially, they will be much better off than being in a bubble.</p>
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however, we may look at Gill St.Bernards though.</p>