What does a successful student at a top boarding school (ex. Andover or Lawrenceville) look like?

Prep School Admissions
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I’m trying to decide between Andover and Lawrenceville coming in as an 9th grader and I can’t seem to make a decision. I’ve already talked students at each school and gotten to know about student life, academics, spirit, matriculation and the campuses. What I need to do now is find which one suits me best, and what I think would help is if anyone could provide any clarity on what activities the students engage in at these schools.

What I’m really asking is, for the students that go to T15s from these schools, what do they have?

I know for both schools, a lot of the students have cum laude, but are there any unhooked applicants going to T20s without cum laude?

And I know at Lawrenceville, a lot of people going to good schools were a part of one of the five research institutes, do colleges look to make sure an applicant from Lawrenceville has this or does it not matter as long as you have some kind of substantial research? How competitive are these research institutes, and what are some other initiatives students engage in at Lawrenceville help significantly with college apps?

And at Andover, I know a lot of students do research with teachers, is this a difficult task and how common is it? And what other activities do a lot of these students participate in?

Also, I’m likely to major in business or finance, so do any of these schools provide a DECA or FBLA program?

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Hi
First congratulations on being accepted to 2 great schools. Are you able to attend revisit days for both of them as they are very different?

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A ton of grit. To do really well at either school, you need to be willing to be busy 24/7 and enjoy it. That’s the only thing each and every one of them have in common.

No. “Substantial research” experience, for that matter, doesn’t really mean anything.

Pretty competitive, but if you try really hard and show lots of interest, you should be fine. No one activity will “make or break” your college app.

I don’t believe we have either, but a lot of people from Lawrenceville end up in finance anyway after college. Most people I spoke to weren’t particularly finance-y until they arrived in college, myself included.

Like the other poster, I suggest you attend the revisit days and go off vibes—both are very good schools.

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IMO, time management is really important. Congrats, both schools are great!

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While academics at both schools are excellent, Andover is located very close to innumerable colleges. For a high school, this is not a positive. When visiting Andover we could not help but notice the number of bars and cannabis shops in the surrounding towns. This is expected in a college area, as is frat boy stuff. Not so at Lawrenceville which is neighbor to only two universities: Princeton and Rider.

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Andover is distinctly not a “college area,” nor is it close to “innumerable colleges.” It’s an upper-middle class bedroom community in the state of Massachusetts, where both alcohol and cannabis are legally sold.

The existence of bars and dispensaries in the area (likely to be found in many boarding school towns in New England, with the exception of New Hampshire) is off-topic with respect to the OP’s question regarding the traits of successful students at PA or L’ville.

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When someone asks a question, particularly when it’s a students, it’s best to confine responses to what the student asks.

In this case, the student did not ask about the areas surrounding campus. So we can certainly move on from debating off-topic items. And we definitely don’t need Yelp reviews to bolster your point of view

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I have a freshman at Lawrenceville who is also interested in finance. As far as clubs go, they are student-led. They don’t have DECA or FBLA, but they have a big red investment club, women in business, Economics, and many other business-related clubs. My kid was too involved in different clubs and trying to focus on academics. She is hoping to join those next year. Probably a revisit day might give you more insight. My kid is not into sports, but she is doing well and has plenty of support so far.
Andover has more of a college feel. Most of the kids are older and have reclassed.

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Students at Andover and Lawrenceville look like 14-18 year olds. In other words, they look and act like teenagers.

Smart, driven, curious, creative, witty, bold, principled, athletic, kind - likely some combination of these adjectives.

And also:

Insecure, competitive, angsty, impatient, impulsive, moody, defiant - and probably occasionally some of these adjectives too.

Schools like these are incredible opportunities for 14-18 year olds to try on as many different hats as possible, even if you already have a talent in a certain area. There are so many resources at your disposal.

At either school, consider:

Writing for the school newspaper or journals

Taking part in performing arts either onstage or behind the scenes

Joining student government

Serving as a school tour guide/ambassador

Joining clubs and affinity groups and growing into leadership

Volunteering out in the local community

Taking advantage of travel/exchange
opportunities

They’re both great choices, and both provide many different avenues for success.

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Does the investment club manage a real portfolio?

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I’ve also gotten off the waitlist at Deerfield, does anyone know anything about what the student life looks like there?