@HarryLeggs I know someone at PEA and she tells everyone the dorms unlock at five am so she can “go for fives” into the other (boys’) dorms with a swipe of her card.
@pennynickeldime Newsflash: Sometimes high school students lie to their friends.
@pennynickeldime What precisely does she do at five AM in Boys dorms? Nothing nefarious I hope!
@skieurope especially this particular student. And yes @Harryleggs, nefarious. Glad to confirm it was all BS.
I suspected it, but didn’t entirely not believe you. I have heard of some crazy stuff that was true.
No, thats what fives is.
Just to clarify: “Fives” is a term that refers to illegal visitations (or possibly study sessions) at 5 AM?
That’s what I gathered.
@lastelephant if it’s really a thing, wouldn’t it lead to consequences or a really bad reputation?
Depending how you view reps. Some people are impressed by that sort of thing.
It’s “illegal” V’s, so if you are caught, then yes, there are consequences from the school.
I remember a health teacher at Exeter saying once that in the context of adolescent romantic relationships, she thought 5s were great-- a sort of safe, time-limited space for teens in relationships to be intimate that requires explicit, active consent from both parties. 5’s can’t happen unless both people actually want them to because of the logistics involved on both ends.
I wouldn’t worry about 5’s too much-- its not like everyone is constantly getting 5s, more just a fun insider term for a certain kind of illegal V’s. I think its talked about so much just because it is specific Exeter lingo, and thats fun.
If you are interested in the quantities of students who get illegal V’s, are in relationships, have different relationships to gender, fall into certain socioeconomic categories, etc, plus various other demographic and personal info, this is an awesome survey that was done last year.
Any recommendations for electives? Are there any courses that are good to take as soon as you get there to “get them out of the way” and satisfy the course requirements?
I got the advice of not worrying about course requirements in your prep year. You still have three years to complete it.
My son is a prep this year. One recommendation he heard was to use the opportunity of the pass/fail fall term to take an elective that you might find particularly challenging. IOW, it’s a good opportunity to get something off your list that’s not in your wheelhouse without having to stress out too much about your grade, especially during your first term while you’re getting used to the school’s workload in generral.
Examples: Exeter is famous for history classes that involve a great deal of reading and writing. A lot of students get one of their history electives out of the way that first term, when getting a C on your first “real” research paper is not as consequential (or upsetting) as it would be later on. Another of my son’s friends was very nervous about the computer science elective, so he took that first.
Is the TI-89 graphing calculator required for preps?
@heartburner, they prefer the TI N-SPIRE CX CAS. If your DS has the TI 89, it will work fine. Ref. pg. 59 (in red) “Courses of Instruction 2015-2016.” He will need a graphing calculator.
Is it true that Exeter puts a lot of pressure on the students? Do the students have free time to hang out with their friends and relax? My guide, a sophomore, at Accepted Students Day and her friends didn’t seem like they were under a lot of pressure, so I’m assuming that the stereotypes must be slightly exaggerated.
I had the same experience at revisit day. My host (whom I knew before that day) and his friends seemed pretty loose. I would agree that it is an exaggeration for most, however for some it might be too hard. Thankfully I had already made my choice by the time the day came so I didn’t have to worry about choosing.
I had the same expirence as well. They just played video games. In my mind I thought,“I heard you had NO free time, guess that was a lie.”
Difficulty and free time are not mutually exclusive. My son is a prep this year and the work is extremely challenging, but the amount of time he spends on homework varies. Some nights he has two or three hours of homework, and sometimes he can get most of his work done during free periods in the day. Overall though, he says that the level of difficulty is far beyond what he was dealing with last year. IOW, last year it was common in eighth grade for him to come home with a couple of hours of homework each night. But it was mostly busywork. This year he has really had to step up his game in terms of level of difficulty. He phoned in all As last year (in a fairly decent school), and now he has to work his butt off for As and Bs. And he is waaay happier.