<p>Hey everybody! I am a rising senior at Exeter, so I'm pretty much know a lot about this school, more so than the sophomores/freshmen who I've seen post on these threads. Prospective students, parents, anybody - feel free to ask me questions about Exeter life, I'd be happy to answer!</p>
<p>I’ll ask. How do you like the harkness style? What are the pros and cons?</p>
<p>i’m a rising senior at exeter as well. just another voice to chime in :)</p>
<p>harkness is an incredible way to learn, but it’s not for everybody. if you are a wallflower and prefer to sit back and listen in class, you will have a hard time with harkness. the point of harkness is that students learn from talking to each other and arrive at conclusions/new thoughts through conversation. that being said, harkness is awesome for history, english, religion and other similar classes.</p>
<p>i take spanish, and the harkness table doesn’t really do much for us other than making it easier to converse with the class and see everyone. harkness math is tough to get used to. most classes present solutions, and then ask the table if they need any clarifications/have any questions, etc, and some people challenge your methods! that helps in that you can find other ways to arrive at the solution, but i know i had a hard time getting used to it when i came in as a new sophomore. i honestly don’t think harkness does too much for sciences either, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>So, do you think that harkness shouldn’t be used for subjects like, math and science? Are you taught the concept or do you figure out the concept with your peers?</p>
<p>From what I have seen and heard, Harkness math works better for some people than others. It probably isn’t as good for people who struggle a bit in math because there is no textbook to reference how to do a type of problem; there is only a book of problems that you have to try to solve on your own before presenting your solutions/ideas to the class. I personally like Harkness math though. Last spring I took a higher-level math elective that still functioned under the Harkness method, but the teacher ended up lecturing quite a bit just because the subject matter was pretty foreign to most of us.</p>
<p>Science classes don’t really involve much discussion anyway, so they are basically like any other science class, except you sit around an oval table during lectures and you might spend more time discussing homework problems or concepts with your peers.</p>
<p>Totally agree with aaeroplanes. It took a while for me to adjust to the Harkness system - a year, in fact. I used to be shy but now I can contribute regularly. I’m not sure that Harkness isn’t for everyone, it’s just that it takes a while to get used to. Eventually people get the hang of it. It’s all about overcoming that shyness/desire to sit back and just listen, to actually being a participator.</p>
<p>you figure out the problem with your peers - at exeter, you learn to develop your own methods/formulae by doing problems and applying certain strategies. basically what exeter teaches you is that there is no one “textbook” way to go about a problem, and that’s always helpful!</p>
<p>I, for one, think that the “textbook approach” does nothing except confuse and bore students, often to a point of extreme frustration. The Exeter (or Art of Problem Solving) approach promotes creativity, interest in the subject, and actually understanding the material you’re going through. If you’re not convinced, read the article Lockhart’s Lament: <a href=“http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf[/url]”>Devlin's Angle by Keith Devlin. It’s long, but it’s amazing.</p>
<p>Printers – do you need to have your own printer in your dorm room? Is there a common printer in each dorm? Is there much need for printing?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey!
I know relations are tense with Exeter and Andover, but I’m going to ask: which ones better? Just in a broad sense though.</p>
<p>[Are</a> American Highschool better for Canadian citizens?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1384115-canadian-student-worth-go-us.html]Are”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1384115-canadian-student-worth-go-us.html)</p>
<p>@ytr968
There are a bunch of threads on the topic of Exeter vs. Andover, but I will also give you my opinion here. I do not think one school is better than another because of their differences in teaching methods or atmosphere I think they are two equally excellent schools, and what it comes down to is which one suits you better. You will get a state of the art education at both schools, but you will most likely learn better at one or the other. I didn’t even think to apply to Exeter because a) my mom did not want me to board and b) I was barely aware of it until I joined CC after applications. If I had been allowed to look at boarding schools I would have definitely applied to Exeter. But after doing a lot of research on both schools from their websites and from CC I think Andover would still have been a better fit for me.
I wish you luck in your school search!</p>
<p>There aren’t common dorm printers, although you may be able to get by with using a roommate or friend’s printer. I would suggest having your own because you may have to print after check-in, which is at either 8, 9, or 10, and you won’t be able to go to the library or elsewhere to print.</p>
<p>Can someone help me, I don’t have my sights set on a school like Exeter (cause I’m never going to get in) but since you guys must be incredibly smart and know about the whole process can you help me? I’m going to apply to boarding school but I only want to apply this one boarding school. I know you should apply to about five schools but I don’t want to go to any other school. I really want to go to this school and it has about 100 students total (in all four years). The acceptance rate is said to be 50%. </p>
<p>This is kind of a resume or what I would write on my application. (I’m going into 9th grade and I’m 14 right now.)
-I’m an international student from two countries (One of my parents are English (not from UK though)) and I’m currently living in another country and go to a very highly accredited international school. So I’m very diverse.
-In the last report I got, I got 12 As and 2 Bs for effort. And I got the highest grade you can get in Math, and get above average for all my subjects except in 4 subjects I got average, and I got below average in PE. But when I say average I mean for my school which is above average in everything over all.
-I take part in a lot of theater and art activities, but I am bad at PE and I’m not on any teams.
-I recently hiked up a mountain so I take part in outdoor activities.
-I take part in Amnesty and community service.
-I passed up to grade five with merit in grades 3,4,5 in my piano exam.
-I think I will get good teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>Do you think I would get into this boarding school and what are my chances? Do you think I should apply to more schools? What else should I write my application and what makes an application look impressive?</p>
<p>my son is looking at exeter…he recently did well at a science fair competition and was wondering if there are opportunities for serious scientific research…</p>
<p>@kayakmom</p>
<p>My daughter is an enthusiastic science student, and has been very pleased with the science offerings at Exeter. There are several really outstanding opportunities: </p>
<p>1) Exeter just started a molecular genetics research program with an alum who is a Stanford faculty member; students work spring term on the project and spend the summer in the molecular genetics lab at Stanford completing their research. </p>
<p>2) The astronomy program is excellent, and has a partnership with NASA. Many astrophysics oriented kids take the astronomy and also physics thru quantum mechanics. </p>
<p>3) Exeter encourages summer science research activities. My daughter has completed two summers/holidays of molecular genetics research at a local university, and is applying to several paid research internships next summer, including NIH. Several Exeter students usually attend RSI at MIT, which is an exceptional oportunity.</p>
<p>4) Overall, at Exeter your child is likely to find many other students interested in computers, research and science applications.</p>
<p>sooo helpful! thanks:)</p>
<p>ytr968,
i agree with andover2016 on this. tensions are not really high, per se - but we do have a healthy rivalry! the differences in exeter and andover are not instantly apparent. they are both incredible schools that students thrive at but it might take a visit to determine which is a better atmosphere! i acknowledge that andover is an amazing school as well but my heart lies with exeter :)</p>
<p>@aaeroplanes</p>
<p>Yeah, I had a brain fart and had a lack of words for the tensions thing. Rivalry was what I was looking for :)</p>
<p>But since I am an international student (Canadian), it’s really difficult for me to go and actually visit those schools.
Could you check out this thread? You seem pretty knowledgeable regarding this :)</p>
<p>[Canadian</a> Student - Worth it to go to the US?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1384115-canadian-student-worth-go-us.html#post14789997]Canadian”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1384115-canadian-student-worth-go-us.html#post14789997)</p>
<p>My son is going to Exeter this fall (actually on next Tuesday - still coming to terms with that reality). Here is a very mundane question for other Exeter student / parents and somehow this was not clearly addressed in emails from Admissions. Or maybe we have missed it. Is there a standard supplies list, or the school provides those on day 1 or students are expected to buy from on-campus Exeter store? If anyone can advise, that will be great. We are in the last leg of packing.</p>
<p>No standard supplies list. It totally depends on the teacher- but binders and notebooks are typically on the supply list. Graph paper for math and physics. Pencils, pens, highlighters… A TI-89 Titanium calculator is required; you can buy that elsewhere for cheaper, or at the bookstore.</p>