Ask questions about Phillips Exeter Academy

@divdad we have had each of our kids follow different tracks. We have had two take the lower level physics and still score over 700 on SAT subject tests. Usually the 230 and 310 are by recommendation. It is relatively easy to move up or down a level within the first few weeks of classes at Exeter. Our youngest will be in the 300 series in the fall as a lower by recommendation. What does Exeter recommend based on your child’s math level?

@vegas1 Thanks for reaching out. The situation is still ongoing so I don’t want to put details up on a public board so I sent your a PM.

Question regarding foreign languages at Exeter.

I’m going to be taking elementary French, and I was wondering if it would be necessary to self-study French a bit before school starts. I have a very basic background in French from occasionally going on Duolingo, but nothing beyond passe-compose.

Thanks in advance!

@taperecorder22 My daughter had a similar question about Latin. Her Latin background is similar to your French background. She reached out to the chair of the department and asked for the syllabus. He was very transparent and sent information for the entire year. That was very helpful and gave her a sense of where her skills were relative to what the course load was going to be. So why not email them and then you can have more specific data from which to make your decision whether to study or not. Hope that helps.

@taperecorder22 in our experience it would be very helpful to get a head start on French over summer. Our older daughter briefly took French at Exeter and most of the students seemed to have a decent understanding of the language going in. I remember sitting in her French class during parents weekend prep year and being amazed how many kids had obviously been exposed to the language before they started at Exeter. This holds especially true for Spanish and French. German and Russian, it seems most kids are true beginners when they start at Exeter. Of course, this is simply my opinion based on our experience with multiple kids.

@taperecorder22 You’re more than welcome to self-study over the summer, but as someone who’s taken French, in elementary French they go over everything, so even if you didn’t study, you’d be on the same level as those who did.

About the stipend for textbooks for FA students, do you buy all the supplies on the first few days of school, or is it a continuous process (buying textbooks every semester, etc.)?

Are there snacks in the common rooms?

Regarding the stipend, yes and no.
You’ll have different teachers each trimester, and you’ll be taking at least one different elective each trimester, so you’ll have to buy different books depending on the class you take. If you’re talking about school supplies like notebooks and pencils and stuff, you can buy it year round. I lose pencils all the time so I’m in the store at least once a month lol.
Regarding snacks in the common room, it depends on what dorm you’re in, but usually they keep snacks in the refrigerator in the basement, where the kitchen is. However, and I can’t stress this enough because this happens to me sometimes and it’s one of the most annoying things about being in a dorm IMO, the food isn’t a free for all, unless someone decided to write on a post it “free for the dorm” or something like that and stick it to the snack. There are dorm mates who will become so mad about people taking snacks because in the dark cold winters at Exeter, food is what keeps us going. And if you don’t want people to take your food, you should write “don’t take my food” or “this belongs to _____”.
All in all, take care of your food. It’ll become very important to you at exeter, if it isn’t already.

@anoymousia none of my kids common rooms have snacks available regularly. I highly recommend you plan for and bring some of your favorite items to school. We always had a bin under the bed with instant oatmeal, granola bars, ez Mac and cheese, soup etc… There are some days that they didn’t make it to Dhall and these were a lifesaver.

I cant recall. Do the dorms have stoves or hot plates in the common rooms?

It’s been said in the ebook and in this thread that t-shirts in general aren’t allowed by the dress code. Obviously this doesn’t apply to places like the gym, but can you wear t-shirts around if you’re not in class (around campus)?

@center most dorms have full kitchens available. Stove, microwave & full size fridge. @taperecorder22 tshirts are worn regularly by many kids when not in class (ours included).

@vegas1 Thanks!

Are advisors permanent for all 4 years?

@Anonymousia Unless they go on sabbatical, leave the school, or you decide to switch out of their advisory group, then yes.

What do you mean, switch out of their advisory group? How could you do that and when?

@Anonymousia if you have problems with your advisor/ you want another one, at the end of the year you can go to the advisor you want and request a form to switch into their advisory group, I believe. It won’t always work, because some advisors are more popular than others and may have multiple people wanting to switch in and they won’t have enough space, but that doesn’t happen often. I haven’t switched out of my advisory group though, so I don’t know the specifics.

@ams02043 we would like to purchase books in advance (we have the ability for significant discount through academic avenue) but the school/textbook site warns that books, classes or instructor may change and this may involve a change in required books. Thoughts?

@Center personally, I think you should wait until you get to campus. A lot of students go through schedule changes within the first few weeks, due to them either moving up or moving down math or science, or simply because their schedule doesn’t work out well. Plus, there are teachers who like to add books to the curriculum after the fact/forget to tell their students (I had this happen my spring term) and honestly, after fall term, you most likely won’t be dropping a ton of money for books. It’s mainly fall term because the textbooks that cost the most are often the ones you use year round (languages)

@AMS0203 Thanks!