<p>Can anybody tell me the pros and cons of andover and of exeter. I know everybody has an opinion but i would just like to know. (No arguing which one is better on this thread.) If you read this just tell me your opinion.</p>
<p>Pros for Andover</p>
<p>Prestige
Facilities
Study Abroad Opportunities
Many course choices
Great sports
Amazing debate programs
Really interesting clubs
Newly renovated dorms (some of them)
They're renovating the dining hall
Lack of supervision (there's a lot of things you can get away with.. it could be a pro or con for you)</p>
<p>Cons
The town is kind of boring, but Boston isn't far and I went into Lawrence a few times for movies.
No air conditioning in most of the dorms (I think it's the same at most boarding schools)</p>
<p>I can't think of any other cons. Andover is amazing.</p>
<p>I'm a recent graduate of Andover. I can say it's kinda like a high school version of Harvard. I don't know about Exeter but I guess it would be similar. Perhaps like Yale so you could have the rivalry. But Andover is clearly better. Just because I went here. :-P</p>
<p>Everything Jonathan1 said is the same for Exeter. Also, dress code can be a drag. Unless you like dressing that way in general. I think the biggest difference is Harkness (which can be either a gift or a curse) and dress code (same as Harkness) I think the academic level is obviously the same, and I think almost everything is the same.</p>
<p>Andover FROSH Dorms EXETER Four Year dorms.
~~~~~~~~FAR ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ CLOSE</p>
<p>Well, actually, Exeter's claim that it is the ONLY school that uses Harkness is false. They're the only school that advertise it so much. At Andover, it's basically Harkness for humanities classes (except we don't call it Harkness, we call it a normal class), but more traditional in math/science classes.</p>
<p>Exeter doesn't claim that "it is the only school that uses Harkness" at all. In fact, they are trying to spread the concept of Harkness math to other school districts (<a href="http://www.exeter.edu/news_and_events/news_events_8916.aspx)%5B/url%5D">http://www.exeter.edu/news_and_events/news_events_8916.aspx)</a>. I think everyone at Exeter is aware that other schools use the Harkness method. </p>
<p>But not many schools use Harkness for math/science, which I think is what makes Exeter special (but can be pro/con depending on the person).</p>
<p>Anyways, Exeter is known for the Harkness method because of Edward Harkness's gift to the school. So "Harkness" started out at Exeter (I'm sure discussion-based classes existed before Mr. Harkness's donation to the school). I guess the structure of the Harkness table with the slides is special...</p>
<p>question for students at other schoolsl: do you use "Harkness" tables in class or just oval tables? I've always wondered if that was the reason Exeter advertised Harkness as a method unique to Exeter.</p>
<p>Pro for Exeter:</p>
<p>The math program is really excellent (this kind of goes with the Harkness thing). I had thought I knew math, but then after my first Exeter math class I realized I didn't understand anything. Seriously. I did calc in middle school but at Exeter I redid everything over again... geometry, trig, precalc, calc, which slowed me down in terms of how advanced i am, but I now have better math skills and a stronger grip on the concepts.
And it didn't slow me down that much.</p>
<p>I really don't know anything about Andover... but I liked the town.</p>
<p>Exeter
Political candidates come to Exeter every year. Score.
Better speakers, in my personal opinion. By far.
Harkness in every classroom.
Math is more my style.. less dry memorization, more philosophical.
Courses (in philosophy and English) which pertain to my specific interests.
10 mi. from beach., surfing, sailing
Great girls crew and xcountry teams.
45 mi. to Boston by train.
Manchester airport = less traffic than Boston = easier commute.
Exeter, NH = small and quaint, particularly historical and political</p>
<p>Andover
Nice professional art gallery, but students' work is sorely lacking in my personal opinion.
Bulfinch hall is very pretty and has pink walls.
30 mi. to Boston by train.
lack of surfing or sailing club
Great girls xcountry team
Bush and others like him. Being associated with Bush by others who only know of Andover for this reason.
Andover, MA = nice, but too suburban/like every other town</p>
<p>mathwiz, exeter = harvard, andover = yale.</p>
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mathwiz, exeter = harvard, andover = yale.
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<p>By saying Andover is like Harvard, I just meant that as a loose analogy. But sure, it's like Yale as much as its like Harvard. </p>
<p>And if you want a good girls cross country team, you just can't beat Andover. Girls XC is the best by far out of New England prep schools.</p>
<p>Blairt is right about the Exeter/Harvard, Andover/Yale analogy. Exeter historically prepared its students for Harvard and in its earlier years had the majority of its students matriculate to Harvard, and the same for Andover with Yale.</p>
<p>blairt means that Exeter used to be a feeder school to Harvard and likewise for Andover to Yale. Works pretty well with the school colors :)</p>
<p>edit: oops Tom already explained it</p>
<p>Ah, yes, that I agree with.</p>
<p>Andover's physics program is quite possibly the best in the nation, and our comp-sci program--though small--is extremely competitive on the national circuit. The debate program is also by far the best in New England having received the top school award at every tournament it entered this year except for the 1st of the year at St. Paul's where they got second.</p>
<p>Sports:</p>
<p>Football: 2-time runner up in the New England championships. 06 star running back Charlie Houghton was rookie of the year in the Patriot District at Georgetown. Zak DeOssie '03 recently got drafted after starring at Brown.
Volleyball: Girls win the New England championships after finishing undefeated for the second straight year.
Field Hockey: lose in New England championship
XC: Boys and girls are consistently 1st or second in New England
Swimming: Girls lost the championship this year, breaking their streak of 4 (or was it 5) consecutive New England championships. Boys won New Englands this year
Hockey: 7-2 against Exeter in the last four years, Captain Joe Smith to Harvard as their top recruit.
TracK: Boys have won 6 of the last 8 championships, girls finished 2nd in New England this year after winning the championships in 06 along with the boys.
Crew: Boys finished 4th at Henley last summer, and decided not to go this year although many speculate they could have won it. Girls finish 2nd at Henley this year, beating Exeter in the semi-finals.
Lacrosse: Boys dominate the tough New England league, losing to nationally ranked Deerfield by a single goal. </p>
<p>I'll add more later.</p>
<p>Blairt missed one crucial point. Almost no one goes to the beach because everyone is busy all the time / too lazy to go. The surf club, sailing club, and all other ocean related clubs don't actually function.</p>
<p>Again, I think academics are pretty much the same. Sports are pretty much the same too. Except Andover is probably a little better than us. It's all about if you want to learn science and math as Harkness, and if you want to wear a tie six days a week. I think the dorm situation is something big too. Would you rather stay in a dorm all of your Exeter career, or change every year like Andover. Both have pros and cons. It depends on the person. I think people are failing to realize that both schools are pretty much sisters.</p>
<p>Sweet on the Andover/Yale thing. I would die to go to Yale. Plus, I wouldn't have to change my school colors. :) On the walls in Commons, they have all these old yearbook pictures and from like the twenties onwards, every single graduation blurb ends with "he will be attending Yale in the fall." Apparently, there was a time when 1 in 10 students at Yale was an Andover alumnus. Ahhh, the good old days.</p>
<p>Pros for Andover:
* Addictive. I'm a little obsessed with it; it's a huge problem.
* GORGEOUS. Our blue clock takes my breath away.
* More to do downtown than say, Deerfield. That's not saying much, but we have a pretty good downtown, with restaurants and pretty good shopping--a great designer jeans outlet, sunglasses, other clothes, etc. Also, Starbucks and an easy way to blow your money at CVS. And of course, too many banks.
* My Andover interviewer started by saying "Well, as I remember Andover, there weren't any rules. Wait. No... I mean... not that there weren't ANY rules... yeah, basically there weren't any rules."
* He was right. :)
* Our student work is NOT lacking. And our gallery has Pollock paintings.
* Commons plans are sick. In a good way.
* Great atmosphere of general excellence and accomplishment. You feel like you're a part of history. Something about going to a school as old as America.
* Debate = amazing. AMAZING. We're thinking about getting blazers.
* No dress code
* Really, REALLY easy to sneak off campus, if you're into that sort of thing. :)
* I told my teachers the schools I was applying to; the only one they'd heard of was Andover.
* Day trips to Boston!</p>
<p>thanks for all the pros and cons. it didn't help much but it was interesting to hear some of the things.</p>