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Lawrenceville School

School rating 4 / 5 by

2500 Main Street Lawrenceville NJ 08648 United States
Boarding
9th to PG
Day
9th to PG
Gender
Coed

Academic

Lawrenceville School review by .

The whole Harkness table methodology at Lawrenceville School is definitely a plus for the humanities and history side of things. The history teachers are really into experiencing/discussing history, rather than memorizing it. The history department is by far the strongest all around: for APs (Advanced Placements), for a general learning experience. For example, all the US history teachers just did a workshop at Princeton. And they stay involved. Ranked on down, from best to worst, the departments go: English, Language, Science, Math, then the Arts (though they're mostly in their own category). The English department and the language department once again have the benefit of discussing as opposed to lecturing. Spanish class was one of the first classes in my life I've actually looked forward to at Lawrenceville. Lawrenceville is definitely not the school for an extremely talented artist looking to do big things with their talent. It's one of those big fish, small pond things. Though if you care enough or are passionate enough about your talent, you can use the resources the school has to make it better (more on that in extracurricular activities). Again, because of the Harkness table, classes can only be a maximum of 14. I've had only one class that size in my entire career there. The workload definitely depends on the classes you take, but if you follow college counseling's advice, be prepared for a decent amount as the grades go on...about almost an hour a class by senior year. But the School weans kids off of middle school academic mentality into a college mentality very effectively, with the three hardest freshman fall classes becoming pass/fail for that term. Faculty are always accessible...they will be your history teacher, house football coach, and then housemaster all at the same time, so you will quite literally see some teachers (and their families) at least 5 hours a day whether you want to or not. And quite often teachers have students into their homes for cookies and discussion on history or to show a great history movie. Lawrenceville School's academics is definitely learning-oriented...some classes designated "Honors" are made to prepare for the AP, but they often go above and beyond the requirements of the AP teaching more thoroughly, rather than factually. The student body isn't really competitive...as a matter of fact one will notice that a student that seems to be just an athlete or an artist or a socialite is actually quite talented academically, and very humble about it. I haven't started college yet, but I feel like the difficulty of an academic course load can only go down from Lawrenceville's junior and senior years.

College Counseling

The college counseling office sends out mass mailings about every year...in sophomore year basically telling....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

The school doesn't necessarily recruit, but I believe that it's much easier for scholar who....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The house system is the coolest residential thing about Lawrenceville...basically it's like the Harry potter dorms (it was based off the British model). Instead of living in a dorm, students live in a house of about 40 or so other guys or girls. Each house has its own unique appearance and its own rivalries and traditions. This is where the closest friends are made. The dining is pretty awesome...mostly because there are so many options available. Our executive chef just started his own company that now runs the schools dining...sustainable fare. Everything is basically bought fresh, and local. All the buildings are....

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