My son got admission in Peddie, PDS and PRISMS. Are there students or families familiar with these schools and can you share your experience/thoughts?
Thanks!
Use the search button and put in peddie vs pds. There are a number of folks who have gone through this decision. It may give you a general sense.
If I were choosing for my kid/our family, I’d pick Peddie, but that is just me.
@TonyGrace is local and has kids at Peddie…
Thanks @gardenstategal, I am reading other threads!
@TonyGrace Please share any thoughts you have.
My son would like to focus on Math and physical sciences at high school, but eventually get into management as career. He swims for his local club, but not much into sports. And doesn’t have much interest in arts.
Also it would be great if you can share specific thoughts with respective to college admissions and kind of clubs and school support for the clubs.
I have friends whose kids recently graduated from PDS. They felt the STEM programs were weak. Their expectations could have been unreasonably high as well, but Peddie, with its maker space, etc., seems better suited in that regard.
I wouldn’t go as far as calling PDS weak in STEM, but Peddie will have more engagement and opportunities in STEM.
I am not a fan of PRISM. The school is too small and niche. On of the best things about a school like Peddie is the opportunity to explore and discover new interests. My STEM student discovered a love for History and enjoyed his English classes, in part bc he has been able to choose the theme of the class. The issue with our previous school was quantity, not quality. They didn’t have the number of students required for a robust course catalog. PRISM will have that same issue.
I would not describe Peddie as a sporty school. There is a lot of school spirit and good sport participation, but everyone is a student first. The boys swim team has a good culture and is welcoming to different talent levels. The commitment is high but does not interfere with other school activities like clubs.
There are more clubs than you could possibly join and support to start new ones. A group of swimmers started an investment club that did very well at a prestigious investment competition.
Based on what you said this is a pretty easy choice IMO, but I would suggest he goes to revisits and chooses the one he feels more comfortable at.
Feel free to DM me if you have any questions you want to discuss more directly.
Another Peddie parent here. Happy to take DMs, but as a family we have really liked Peddie so far. The STEM resources are fantastic. Sports are only emphasized as far as students want to take them. Students that are into athletics have access to top notch facilities, students that are more casual with sports can take a more casual approach. The school overall has a vibe that is very warm and accommodating, uniquely so, IMO.
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One of the reasons they do so well with revisits IMO.
Peddie has a good endowment as well. That supports every student in some way.
I would call it better than good. They also just completed successful a 80M+ campaign.
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Thank you all for your valuable advice! Looks like Peddie is better choice than PDS and PRISMS. However, my son is extremely worried that if he chooses Peddie over PRISMS, he might regret it heavily. According to Niche, it is the #2 private school in US. Although this is one of the few websites that says that and niche algorithm may be broken for such small school, there are reliable sources saying that PRISMS is extremely good for STEM. I understand that PRISMS might be a very small school with a less welcoming vibe than Peddie, but my son doesn’t seem to care about making friends or such. He seems to be focusing on getting into a good college.
HE is worried about the rank of the school? And do you really believe that school is better than all the well known prep schools out there?
You said your son hopes to go into management. Not being exposed to and learning to collaborate with a broad and diverse group of people is not going to help that. He is 14. He can get all the STEM he wants from the other schools to and also have room to grow and branch out. Just because a school so small doesn’t have kids going to a #100 college, it doesn’t mean that it has more students going to a top school.
PRISM’s matriculation is extremely strong. If you aim for MIT it’s probably a good place to be, if you can survive and excel there.
For a future management major, most likely not the best environment.
That should tell you all you need to know about the legitimacy of Niche rankings.
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If you had to choose between PRISM and PDS only, (not Peddie), what are the pros and cons of each?
I don’t think I am the best person to answer this as I simply don’t believe in a purely high stakes/narrowly academic education. I think the experience at PDS is richer and allows more room for growth and self-discovery while being exposed to a broader group of people. PRISMS is also very small and suffers from extreme lack of diversity. Regardless of the quality, there is only so much you can offer with such a small number of students and faculty.
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