<p>Oh how I miss Lville, college just isn’t the same.</p>
<p>Hi there! I will actually be visiting Lawrenceville on Tuesday with my siblings (maybe you will be my tour guide!), but I wanted to ask you about the theatre department. How much importance does the arts have at Lawrenceville, and what is the level of productions there compared to other schools like Exeter, Andover, Loomis Chaffee, etc.? Thank you, I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>I was wondering whether Lawrenceville has a study abroad program? I thought they did but I cant find it on their website.</p>
<p>There are international programs ranging from one week excursions to term long experiences. The programs are also usually focused on either language/cultural immersion, academics, or community service. Students have the opportunity to spend a whole term away at the Island School in the Bahamas. They can also spend a month during summer break learning French while living in Angoul</p>
<p>Hi LTG, and thanks for being so generous with your time!</p>
<p>Could you talk about the house system a little more? Not being familiar with house systems beyond Harry Potter, where it seemed to promote divisiveness and competitiveness between houses, I’m curious if it turns out that way in ‘real life’, and if not, why not. If you are in one house, do you feel a little less close to those in other houses?</p>
<p>Also, are the tour guides free to talk extemporaneously (and honestly) about the good, bad, & ugly, or are you told what to say and made to feel that you have to be a cheerleader all the time? After all, no matter how great the school, no school will be the right fit for everyone.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, as a tour guide, we never receive any explicit instructions that would compromise our integrity or honesty. We are free to extol all that is great about lville, but we are not prohibited in anyway from informing prospective students about the drawbacks of our school. With that being said, the tour guides at Lawrenceville do their jobs out of their love for the school; tour guides are neither paid nor given any special advantages. We do this out of our free time and do not really receive any tangible benefits other than the feeling that we are helping the school. So, like you said, Lawrenceville is not the right fit for everyone and it is the job of the tour guide to provide impartial information so that students and families can make informed decisions.</p>
<p>Now, on to your question. I think the house system is just the right blend of competition and solidarity. The competitive nature of the system comes from the long standing rivalries between the circle (boys) houses. This is usually manifested in house football competitions. Other than that, competition between houses really isn’t a major dynamic at Lawrenceville. Also, being a member of a house does not preclude you from having friends in other houses. At dinner, you’ll always see that any given house pod in the dining center contains a mix of students from different houses. In fact, many of my close friends are actually from the house that is the archrival of my house. If I am not mistaken, in Harry Potter the students are sorted into the houses according to their character traits, abilities, and/or interests. At Lawrenceville, the composition of the houses is basically homogeneous in the sense that they all contain a mixture of different kinds of students. There is no athletes house or a house stocked with 4.0s. Rather, each incoming class for a house is chosen with the intent of creating a diverse group. However, some houses do have their own cultures, but that is attributed to the traditions and legacies of the house rather than the students. All in all, each house is definitely close-knit, but there is ample opportunity to meet other people through sports, clubs, etc.</p>
<p>Great answer, thank you! If you had to guess, why do you suppose the house system exists at all? Is it a way to break down the school into smaller groups that are easier for new students to assimilate into? </p>
<p>Do you think the ‘culture’ of a given house influences the members to any great degree? I was talking to another student at another school who referred to a given house as ‘laid back’, for example (this was not at L’ville), and it made me wonder if the kids assigned to the house became more laid back to live up to the reputation.</p>
<p>Being 200 years old, Lawrenceville, like many other top boarding schools, maintains a firm hold on tradition. The house system has existed at the school for around a century; It was even featured in the early 20th century novels of Owen Johnson. You can even see the house system implemented in top universities like Yale’s 12 residential colleges. Anyways, the reasons for having houses are many. First off, houses are a key ingredient of the social life at lawreneville. Houses usually hold both exclusive and all-school dances in addition to other events some of which may be specific to each house. Additionally, houses are just what they appear to be, homes. Houses provide boarding students with a surrogate family. The two housemasters provide parental oversight, the prefects give guiding advice like older brothers/sisters, and the other housemates become life long friends. Houses provide another aspect of identity to a student. As for house culture rubbing off on students, it does happen to some extent. For example, Woodhull house is renowned for their especially tight cohesion. Incoming Woodhull students quickly become a band of brothers. However, in my time as a student, I have also seen houses completely change their dynamic. For example, Kirby house was once the “party house” of the school. Now for the past two years, it has hoisted the Chivers Cup awarded to the house with the highest GPA. So, houses have certain traditions that are bound to rub off on you, but it is up to the student to make the house what it is.</p>
<p>BTW, anyone interested in Lawrenceville should view our prospectus at </p>
<p>[The</a> Lawrenceville School Prospectus 2011-2012](<a href=“http://issuu.com/thelawrencevilleschool/docs/prospectus_2011-12]The”>http://issuu.com/thelawrencevilleschool/docs/prospectus_2011-12)</p>
<p>what are the most unique features of Lawrenceville?</p>
<p>In short, it’s the house system, Harkness teaching, extracurricular opportunities, and the people you meet that make Lawrenceville unique. Refer to my other posts and the prospectus for further insight on the school. Thanks.</p>
<p>Had my tour and interview within the past few days (not saying when for confidentiallity) and I LOVE LAWRENCEVILLE! It was really welcoming and warm! I thought it was amazing!</p>
<p>I’m just wondering, what time do sports let out usually? Also, at Lawrenceville do you have to do a sport? Thanks you so much for answering all of our questions!</p>
<p>Are there any private bathrooms in the boys dorms or shared communal?</p>
<p>Sports are usually from 3:30 to 5:15 for most sports although other ones might have more erratic times especially hockey or swimming due to having only one rink/pool. Also, yes, every Lawrentian is obligated to participate in an athletic activity every trimester. This can range from a varsity sport or something that only meets 3 times a week like cycling or yoga. In fact, many varsity athletes have been known to take something new such as dance or intramural basketball during the off-season just for the thrill of trying something new.</p>
<p>As for bathrooms, there are either one or two on every floor. Each bathroom contains multiple showers and stalls. Usually, each bathroom services around a dozen students.</p>
<p>How is the food?</p>
<p>Food is pretty good usually, but if you don’t like the main offering, you can always choose one of many other options. For example, you can cook your own omelet for breakfast, or quesidillias for lunch. Also, there’s always a salad bar, deli bar, sandwich bar, soup of the day, bagels, and desserts. In addition to the options available at the dining hall, many students also frequent eateries on Main St. There’s a pizza joint, an ice cream parlor, as well as several other restaurants. Oh, you can always order delivery too. Basically, there’s food to be had at almost any hour of the day; you’ll never be at a want for food.</p>
<p>PG Year.
My 11th grade son is “young” for his grade. We are exploring GAP Year opportunities. He had considered LVille for High School, but wind up staying at his K-12 private. With the plan of a gap year, a PG year came up. I’ve heard at many schools a PG year is just for athletes. Do you believe that is true at Lville? My son is not an athlete.</p>
<p>Sounds great! Are there any specific extra-curriculars that particularly stand out at Lawrenceville? What are the students’ academic strengths, in general? I read about students being obligated to participate in sports, but are a majority of student all jocky and athletic?</p>
<p>Also, is there access to internet in students’ rooms? How about the quality of the dorms? </p>
<p>Sorry for asking so many annoying questions! :D</p>
<p>It’s true that most PG’s are here for athletics, but it is not exclusively so. In fact, I think last year or maybe 2 years ago, one of the PG’s was a finalist for the Intel competition. So yes, most are athletes, but there are also others at Lawrenceville for other reasons. </p>
<p>Extracurricular interests will obviously be different from person to person. Some strong ones are The Lawrence (newspaper), Model UN, Periwig (drama), Mock Trial, the dance team, and Tour Guides. It’s really up to you.</p>
<p>Academic strength at Lawrenceville… again, it’s highly individualized. You’ll meet people that are math wizards as well as terrific writers. I wouldn’t say that there is a predominate academic strength shared by all students. </p>
<p>It is true that all students are obligated to participate in some sort of athletic activity. However, this doesn’t have to be a varsity sport. It could be house football, yoga, dance, or even cycling. There are a plethora of options available to students. As for jocks, yes like any other school, Lawrenceville does have its fair share of very athletic students. However, being athletic is not mutually exclusive to being also very academically sound. For example, there are students with 4.0’s and 2350’s who are also being recruited to the Ivy League for lacrosse or track. Scholar athletes isn’t an oxymoron at Lville. Also, of course there are also people who are all cerebral. It really depends on you and who you want to be friends with.</p>
<p>Wifi is actually in every building on campus, not just the houses. As for the condition of the houses, they are old in a rustic sort of way rather than decrepit. Most boys houses are majority single rooms whereas girls usually have doubles. The common areas are pretty nice and they are cleaned everyday. The houses at Lawrenceville are on par with any high school residential dorms.</p>
<p>Hope that helps y’all.</p>