Lawrenceville

[Anonymous]

My 10th grade public school son got a random email from a coach at Lawrenceville encouraging him to consider the school for his sport. He's happy at his public but he wants to learn about Lawrenceville. I know little about Lawrenceville, other than it is a prestigious, co-ed, boarding school in New Jersey.
Can anyone share impressions or experiences?
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Have you searched the prior threads on this forum yet or even performed basic web searches on the topic? That is a better place to start than starting a new thread.

[Anonymous]

What sport? Entering a boarding school as a junior would be tough especially if coming from a public HS that may or may not match the academic rigor of prep school. The PP is right there is plenty of information available on line about Lawrenceville and I am sure the coach would be happy to put you in touch with other families who have kids there and play the sport. Again the catch would the junior year entry point. Standard entry would be 9th or 10th depending on the boarding school.

[Anonymous]

I went there a lifetime ago! Boarding school is not for everyone, but I really liked their house system (you live in and identify with a house a la Harry Potter), small classes, and college counseling. I wasn’t a big athlete so that was a downside for me but it sounds like not for your son.

[Anonymous]

Also I am the pp and I entered as a junior. Definitely there were fewer of us, but maybe a dozen or more. Not a big issue.

[Anonymous]

I would double check that he is being recruited to start as a junior. Many students, especially athletes, repeat a year upon entering boarding school.

[Anonymous]

I went there in the 90’s. My good friend still lives in the area and is considering sending her kid. She reports it still has the same reputation of being an academic grind and also that the coaches are known for not doing much outreach, at least not among the local schools, for sports recruiting. This kind of tracks with your kid getting recruited from out of town.

FWIW, I did love it at the time, though I think it contributed to my being a workaholic as an adult. It definitely felt like you could never do enough there and needed to constantly achieve. This may not have been the case with athletes at your kid’s level, and they may not have felt as much academic pressure, so YMMV. I was not an athlete in any meaningful sense, though they make everyone do some sort of sport bc they don’t have PE.

One downside with the house system and the overall cushiness of the facilities and experience is that college can be a bit of a letdown afterward, or at least just doesn’t feel like much of a new, exciting experience. I was just pretty underwhelmed at college, by both the school and the people. At the time, Lawrenceville did a great job of getting lots of different students from around the world. When I ended up with other typical UMC kids at a small LAC I was bored by it all.

Another part of the experience is that there are people there with truly obscene money. I did not even fully appreciate it or understand it at the time. There was a guy who was 50th or so in line for the Saudi throne, someone who came from Italian aristocracy, etc, plus just people whose parents were famous and rich in a more normal American way. There were also kids who come from truly sad family circumstances (dead parents, cold and unloving parents) who happen to have money, and this is why they end up at boarding school. I knew more people with mental health issues there than anywhere else later (college, law school, adult life). This is probably a boarding school thing generally. And most people did not have issues, to be clear, and were just overachievers.

BUT still, it was a formative experience for me. Most of the teachers were great. My writing and critical thinking skills were developed there, not in college. You get a lot of autonomy on that campus, and I assume it’s still similar, and kids can easily take a public bus into Princeton and also further afield to NYC if they want. You feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself, and the alumni community is really active.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grade public school son got a random email from a coach at Lawrenceville encouraging him to consider the school for his sport. He's happy at his public but he wants to learn about Lawrenceville. I know little about Lawrenceville, other than it is a prestigious, co-ed, boarding school in New Jersey.
Can anyone share impressions or experiences?
Thank you!

OP go check it out if you would consider it for your son. It's a very strong school academically and, depending on the sport, can launch your kid into a higher-level of college than he might otherwise have.

[Anonymous]

Try the College Confidential forum for prep school admissions. Great resource. You will get the inside perspective from both parents and recent grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went there in the 90’s. My good friend still lives in the area and is considering sending her kid. She reports it still has the same reputation of being an academic grind and also that the coaches are known for not doing much outreach, at least not among the local schools, for sports recruiting. This kind of tracks with your kid getting recruited from out of town.

FWIW, I did love it at the time, though I think it contributed to my being a workaholic as an adult. It definitely felt like you could never do enough there and needed to constantly achieve. This may not have been the case with athletes at your kid’s level, and they may not have felt as much academic pressure, so YMMV. I was not an athlete in any meaningful sense, though they make everyone do some sort of sport bc they don’t have PE.

One downside with the house system and the overall cushiness of the facilities and experience is that college can be a bit of a letdown afterward, or at least just doesn’t feel like much of a new, exciting experience. I was just pretty underwhelmed at college, by both the school and the people. At the time, Lawrenceville did a great job of getting lots of different students from around the world. When I ended up with other typical UMC kids at a small LAC I was bored by it all.

Another part of the experience is that there are people there with truly obscene money. I did not even fully appreciate it or understand it at the time. There was a guy who was 50th or so in line for the Saudi throne, someone who came from Italian aristocracy, etc, plus just people whose parents were famous and rich in a more normal American way. There were also kids who come from truly sad family circumstances (dead parents, cold and unloving parents) who happen to have money, and this is why they end up at boarding school. I knew more people with mental health issues there than anywhere else later (college, law school, adult life). This is probably a boarding school thing generally. And most people did not have issues, to be clear, and were just overachievers.

BUT still, it was a formative experience for me. Most of the teachers were great. My writing and critical thinking skills were developed there, not in college. You get a lot of autonomy on that campus, and I assume it’s still similar, and kids can easily take a public bus into Princeton and also further afield to NYC if they want. You feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself, and the alumni community is really active.

Spot on
- a fellow Lawrenceville alum