<p>New CC rule: You have to have 100+ posts before posting anything poignantly negative about a school. Copying a random comment from the Internet and posting it here, out of blue, as the first post with a new user name, will get you banned.</p>
<p>Just asking, Benley, is the new rule recently invented by the admin, or is it an unofficial rule? </p>
<p>I agree with the opinion that Andover kids, at least the ones I’ve met are generally very satisfied with their matriculation decisions.</p>
<p>assign, it is a rule I wish were in place. :)</p>
<p>pulsar, I have a kid who got admitted to both PA and PEA… I posted this as I found this during my research…</p>
<p>Benley, Learn to grow up and be open to opposing views… remind yourself you are on a discussion board…</p>
<p>PA and PEA are both good schools, but fitness perspectives are contextual to each student’s personal strengths and needs</p>
<p>Hi 2010 class, I have created a thread to share your Revisit Experiences and Decisions 2010. [thread=894983]Revisit Experiences - Decisions 2010[/thread]</p>
<p>Point of interest:</p>
<p>Fivve of Exeter’s trustees are married to Andover grads. Hm.</p>
<p>We’re pretty much the same school. Exeter is a little nerdier. Andover used to be more athletic, but Exeter had recruited harder and amped up their athletics department recently, so the past few years have been a little different. It might change back ten years out.</p>
<p>Chances are, you’ll be happy at either place. I have quite a few friends at Andover (yes, friends) and they all acknowledge that Exeter is the harder of the two. If you want to intellectualize and you are a nerd at heart, Exeter might indulge that side of you a bit more. But Andover does a pretty good job of it, too. We’re rivals for a reason – would it be any fun to compare the two if one were clearly better?</p>
<p>Regarding xoxo’s reposting a comment from a NYT blog, I’m going to take a wild guess. It’s quite likely that Andover’s campus and instruction have changed a wee bit in 56 years. </p>
<p>If “Hero” is a girl, she can’t have attended PA in 1954. It only went coed in 1970. Perhaps the Abbott School?</p>
<p>cathyginger- nice post!</p>
<p>which school is more relaxed?</p>
<p>^ i’ve heard andover, but others have said the opposite… :S</p>
<p>if andover and exeter combined to make exover, i think they could take over the world…</p>
<p>andeter!!
that school would dominate…</p>
<p>My kid comes from a very academic private school in NY and applied to a few boarding schools out of curiosity. We were not thrilled, but we went through the process of visiting the schools because he was fairly excited after school visits. Ended up being accepted at both Exeter and Andover. His heart was leaning toward Exeter. He’s an athlete, but is more proud of his “nerdy” accomplishments and thought that Exeter would be perfect for him. </p>
<p>He made up his mind on revisit day. The Harkness method did not win him over. He’s very used to and comfortable speaking up in class, so that wasn’t a factor. And while he felt the method was interesting in the math class he attended, the history and English classes (some upper, some lower) were very disappointing to him. Some students had prepared paragraph statements which they read when asked to speak. The classes got off topic for too long, he thought. And though the teachers all seemed wonderful, he felt the classes were less inspiring than what he was used to. My wife and I were in different classes, too. Frankly, I loved my class and wished I could have attended Exeter. But my wife agreed with my son.</p>
<p>Overall, he loved everything about Exeter, except what he experienced in the classrooms. And he was absolutely devastated by this on the way to Andover–a school he thought was a little too peppy for his tastes.</p>
<p>It rained all day at Andover, and he slugged along from class to class. And he fell in love with the school. Every class he attended had the right mix of interaction between students and teachers. He thought the teachers were dynamic and inspiring and funny–which is what he liked about his present school at the time. And he felt very confident that he could fly his nerd flag at Andover, too. </p>
<p>In truth, that revisit day can be a game changer. I had my heart set on Exeter, too, and loved it. But my son had already made his decision to become a smurf.</p>
<p>NYCParent, Great story and well told (couldn’t predict how it’d end until the last sentence :)) Your son sounds like a mature young man who can make tough decisions. Good luck!</p>
<p>Some people prepared paragraph statements which they read when asked to speak. </p>
<p>Does it apply to every class at Exeter?</p>
<p>Many on these boards seem to indicate that academics and athletics are better at Exeter now, though they are both great schools. It’s probably a personal decision of fit, but you can’t go wrong at either school.</p>
<p>It certainly doesn’t, gonnastop! I visited an English class and my dad visited a History class, and we saw nothing like that going on. Perhaps the paragraph statements were prepared the night before when they had a particular thought they wanted to share and didn’t want to forget it, or wanted to write it out coherently.</p>
<p>We have speculated (in jest, I think) that Andover and Exeter really are one school controlled by a secret board. They were separated to create an artificial rivalry (Go Blue, Go Red) that increases publicity and alumni donations. Perhaps that will be the subject of a future Dan Brown novel.</p>
<p>That sounds so crazy it could actually be true…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Except Dan Brown would add random albino assassins and the Pope.</p>
<p>WHOAH.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A smart and insightful child. He’ll have fun during Andover’s annual Exeter Geek Day.</p>