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I'm thinking about applying to Exeter as a post-graduate student. Can anyone here tell me what Exeter is like and what stats I need to be accepted. Oh yeh, I'd be passing up Duke to go there also.

By Kkgirl06 (Kkgirl06) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:05 pm: Edit

hmmm

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

many people say that exeter curricula is harder than harvard curricula. there is no grade inflation whatsoever, so be prepared to work harder only to earn a lower set of grades. getting straight A's is rare...many people first come to exeter and think they would be the exception to the rule but you can't truly know how hard prep school is unless you experience it for yourself. best of luck and congrats on your duke acceptance.

By Shsjonb (Shsjonb) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:41 pm: Edit

How is Exeter harder than Harvard? If so, that's f@#$KED up. And even if straight As are rare it doesn't matter if 15-20 of their students get into Harvard every year.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 06:48 pm: Edit

you argued against exeter being harder than harvard by saying that 15-20 of its students get in every year. that's not the point i'm trying to make. the point is that prep school alumni have experienced it themselves and based on their experiences, they concluded that schools like exeter offered them a harder curricula than harvard did. they're not saying exeter's curricula is more advanced (harvard is obviously college or post-college level), just harder.

By Quakerboy2 (Quakerboy2) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 02:46 am: Edit

Harvard is not known for being hard. Remember that. MIT, UChicago, and some other schools are known for being hard. Harvard is prestigous and has awesome professors, but they give As like they provide running water.

By Macadamiamin (Macadamiamin) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 10:44 am: Edit

Is this simply based on the statistics of people in Harvard? Remember that although they might give A's like running water, they only accept people who largely worked hard prior to getting in that earned A's. These same people are very likely in college to get A's too.

Although my mom went to graduate school there and it was very easy for her. But I'm talking about the college. Isn't there a big difference?

By Charliekang (Charliekang) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 01:33 pm: Edit

one of my family friends attended exeter and went on to stanford then harvard law. he claims the hardest work hes ever had to do was at phillips exeter. i hear the academics and required athletics are rigorous and that it is a sink or swim environment. im really not surprised to hear that exeter is harder than many colleges, because it probably is. by the way, i think you should go to duke. i dont see a reason why you should repeat senior year, unless you really want to have one more year of high school athletics. dukes a great college, and i dont think you should pass up on it. just my humble opinion.

By Listra (Listra) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 02:41 am: Edit

I am a senior at Andover, Exeter's rival and sister school. I am very familiar with Exeter...I know some kids who go there and I also applied. Once I was accepted, I had to choose between the two. I visited and what I saw at Exeter did not exactly enthrall me. The kids walked around like zombies, their eyes glazed over. I ate lunch with a table of them and they seemed so unhappy and stressed about everything from their social lives to their seminar classes...Every class is a seminar. They sit at the "harkness table", discussing their reading with teacher mediation. What this does is expose the kids who do not do their work. They have to be constantly on their toes everyday and the environment is cutthroat. They have 6 school days. Saturday classes every week.

This is not to say, however, that Andover is a breeze compared. It's just different. The atmosphere is not so uptight and people are much more laid-back. (Normal weeks too. No saturday classes.) Straight A's are about 3 people per class. Top 45% of the class is considered honor roll just because there are so many gifted students here. Grading is strange-- A+ is 93-100, A is 85-92, B is 77-84. This just shows you how hard the material is. Exeter's grading system is similar.

Despite the hard work, I'm really happy about Andover. I have not fully experienced Exeter, but I feel like I have had a taste of the intense boarding school type, and I am so happy I came here. The people are so amazing. You form really close friendships and your friends become a second family. I feel like I learn just as much from my peers as I do from my classes. I hope this helps you with your decision.

I am also from NC. I know a lot about Duke and I applied there, but I'm still awaiting a decision. After visiting and sitting in classes, I have experienced Duke and I feel like I have a pretty good feeling of what it's like there. I have many friends who go there from my public school that I went to before I came to Andover. I think it's an amazing place with amazing people. If I were you, I would go to Duke and skip the PG year at Exeter. It will be a better "Exeter" in the sense that you will meet new people and have that boarding school life but with more freedom and a healthier lifestyle. I can imagine that one year at Exeter would not be enough to settle and enjoy the life there. I entered Andover my 11th grade and I had trouble making friends. People are established and do not exactly greet you with open arms. It takes a lot to get adjusted to the work...the new standards and the workload. I think by the time you would get adjusted, the school year would be near its close, and the benefit of the PG year would be next to nothing.