Hi! Originally my family and I were all for Lawrenceville and it was our No. 1 school due to location and overall like for the school. However now that M10 has passed I have also been accepted to Andover, in addition to Lawrenceville ( Waitlisted at Groton, Choate, Exeter). Both have offered almost equal financial aid and have offered me an equal Davis scholarship for college. We are trying not to get Andover’s prestige to affect our decision. What are some key differences in the schools?
These schools are equally prestigious, so you can go back to evaluating based on what matters to you.
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I’ve been in touch with a bunch of current Lville students, when I shared my results most suggested I go to Andover. Its common for people to dislike their school but even those who do like the school are saying I can’t say no to " the best school in the country".
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My family turned down Andover. Lots of kids do.
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My D heard that a lot when she turned Lville down for a school considered much less prestigious in these parts. From parents as well! She was adamant that she belong at the other school.
She thrived and is at a higher ranked college than her 5 friends who chose Lville. I am not suggesting you choose a school on college results. I am pointing out that being at the right FOR YOU school matters most.
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Ours too. And our kid was a legacy.
When deciding between schools, my kid spoke to two kids at Andover who mentioned “I’m only here because my parents made me attend once I got in”. That being said, I also know three current Andover students who are extremely happy there.
We were happy with our kid’s M10 results. We took a couple of ‘back up’ schools off the potential list, and then let our kid lead the way on which school to ultimately choose to attend. We were worried that every time there would be a hiccup or bump in the road at school that WE chose, it would be ‘our fault’ because we MADE them attend.
There are happy kids at every school. Equally, there are unhappy kids at each school too.
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My son went to Lville. Worst decision we ever made. I know many liked it, but it clearly was not a fit for him. Honestly, the leadership is so bad, I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. If you have not already, google the national media about Lawrenceville from April/May 2023. That was not a “happens at every school” type of incident. It was a reflection of how toxic the management team is.
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Wow, that was my first time reading about this situation. That is so sad 
The bullying leading to a student’s suicide at Lawrenceville was a tragedy which should have been prevented. Unfortunately, Andover has had issues with suicide/attempted suicides for various reasons including academic pressure.
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My son was Lville class of 2018. He was in a similar situation (choosing between Andover and Lawrenceville), and ended up at Lville.
The current headmaster has quite tone deaf, as pointed out above. But even when my son was there, the squash program was undermined for no particular good reason. The headmaster didn’t meet with parents and showed no sympathy for our concerns.
But I don’t think this is unique to Lawrenceville. Each boarding school will have its own set of issues. Some good, some bad. While Lawrenceville helped my son grow, he probably would have been fine if he stayed at the local public school. The house system at Lville does seem to engender some school spirit.
Andover is a great school but note that it is considerably larger than Lville. Almost like a small college. It also seemed to have more of a sink or swim attitude. But I also found the environment warm and welcoming.
I surely wouldn’t choose for prestige’s sake alone. That is somewhat meaningless when it comes to college admissions. In fact many colleges are looking away from the traditional boarding school feeders.
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Don’t choose on prestige. Go to revisit days and see which you feel is a better fit. We went to revisit days last year and my son chose Andover over Exeter based on feel and fit. Both excellent schools. My son loves Andover and he is happy there and feels the community is what makes the school. You will be fine no matter where you go if you were accepted at these schools. They all have great resources, but ultimately it is what you make of it while there that will determine your happiness.
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Personally, my daughter is at Lville, loving it. The school has made a huge investment in mental health and the kids are feeling it. I think there are huge differences btw Lville and Andover (happy to share you can DM me). Really it is about finding the school and heartbeat that best fits you. I highly recommend revisit days.
Where did you end up going? Do you ever regret the decision?
their kid goes to Hotchkiss, and iirc they love it.
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I’m used to attending smaller school. I currently attend the same K-12 school since Grade 0 (Kindergarten??). As a whole my school has 800 people. Higher grades have around 80 people per grade. I’m a bit worried that Andover may be too big for me which correlates with the sink or swim attitude.
First of all, congrats! I am a 2023 alum of Lawrenceville. Don’t go to Andover because you think it’s more prestigious; the lifestyle at both schools are very different.
What specific comparisons are you looking for? The general impression I’ve gotten from my interactions with Andover students, both while in HS and college, is that it is very cutthroat—much more so than Lawrenceville, which is suprising. I also felt a bit of a superiority complex from some of my interactions, but I wouldn’t generalize that too much.
I personally absolutely adored my time at Lville and would not trade it for anything else. Even though my class went through pretty much everything terrible that could happen to us (Covid, May 2022, etc.), I mostly look back fondly on those days.
I do agree that Murray is tone deaf, but the rest of the faculty makes up for it.
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Superiority complex from the Andover students? Side note: starting to lean back in more to Lville because part of me wants to go to Andover just to say I went to Andover.
I think it’s cooler to say I turned down Andover
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In what ways do you think he is tone deaf?
I know two people from my year who both turned down Exeter and now go to a HYPSM school, so don’t worry about matriculation!
I had to interact with him a lot as a result of my student leadership positions, and I felt that there was a lot of CYA mentality in what he was often telling me. He is very nice and knows a lot of our names, but when bad things have happened, I have not really appreciated his responses.