A person I know was recently waitlisted at Exeter, and since her brother is a current Exeter student, her family called the school to ask about her position on the waitlist. According to her, the school informed her family that she was first on the list. She told us that she applied as a day student in addition to applying as a boarding student, telling the admission’s office that the family would be willing to move to NH so she could attend as a day student. Yesterday, this person told me that she was accepted as a day student, even though she was waitlisted as a boarding student.
Is it possible to even apply as both? Could anything she’s told me possibly be true? It sounds a bit sketchy to me :\
Exeter’s waitlist doesn’t rank
Me too. For starters, as mentioned above, Exeter does not rank the WL. Secondly, I doubt they would even look at the WL before A10. Thirdly, one cannot apply as both a boarder and a day student, although I suppose the student could have applied as a boarder and the parents let the school know that they would take an acceptance as a day student over a rejection as a boarder.
Yeah they never have an actual waitlist rank. This honestly makes no sense to me, but I guess you’ll know the truth if you see her at PEA in September :))
From my personal experience, parts of it could be true…
Last year I was WL at Exeter… However in our letter of continued interest we emphasized that we would be willing to move to NH and be a day student… Post A10 (early May) we got a call offering me a day student spot… By that time AtriaDad had already accepted his project abroad and we declined (with assurances that we would re-apply again as boarding)…
However, in this case, I highly doubt that any of this would take place before A10… Additionally, if they move to NH, the brother that is already attending would have to switch to day (depending on how close and to which town they move), so maybe for some inexplicable reason Exeter wants that…
Anyways, @nico.campbell is right… you probably find out in September ;)…
@Atria @nico.campbell It’s likely that I won’t go to PEA in September, so I guess I’ll have to find out through mutual friends. Atria, your story is really interesting! The person I know could have gotten inside info since her brother is at Exeter (but he’s graduating this year, so there would be no need for him to switch to day.) I don’t really believe she could find out about them offering a spot this early, since Exeter doesn’t even have all confirmations/ declinations from the admitted pool. And it isn’t as if she could tick off both ‘day’ and ‘boarding’ boxes on her application…
Does anyone know if an applicant outside of NH or MA can formally apply as day?
No you can’t… when you move you can ask to switch… And you can make it clear in your interview that you plan to move…
A lot of students do this with St. Marks. They apply as day students but tell the school they are willing to take a boarding school spot. The families live in Southborough and the students boards in the same town. There are very few day spots and are very difficult to get.
Update: She got off WL for Exeter, so she’ll be boarding for sure.
I applied as a day student to a prep school, was accepted - and that summer, my family moved away. The school eventually found a room for me so I could board. (And 8 months later, my family moved back.
That the school showed some flexibility to a wait listed sibling is not surprising. Families move, divorce, lose jobs, etc. par for the course.
This thread doesnt ring true,