This discussion was created from comments split from: Ask questions about Phillips Exeter Academy.
Okay so I have a question about applying to Phillips Exeter and how to boost my chances. So I will be a sophomore next year, and I am looking to apply for junior (11th) year. My school works on a block schedule of 4 periods a day for two semesters, which really limits what I can take. That means I only have eight courses a year at school, and if I want to take anything extra it has to be after school online. Anyway, this year I took these courses :
1st Semester - English 1 Humanities, World History Humanities, Math 2 Honors, and Marching Band Honors.
2nd Semester - Biology Honors, Math 3 Honors, AP Environmental Science, Wind Ensemble Honors, and AP Psychology as an extra period.
I am currently trying to get my schedule set up for next year, and I have some problems. As some classes are only offered certain periods, I cannot take everything I want. I have two options, take Chemistry Honors and AP Chemistry or take Marching Band and Wind Ensemble. I suppose my main question here is which should I do. Here is my schedule with the option for band or chemistry.
1st Semester - Intro to Stats Honors, AP U.S. Gov and Politics, AP U.S. History, Chemistry Honors or Marching Band Honors, AP Music Theory Part 1 (Extra period, year long.)
2nd Semester - Precalculus Honors, English 10 Humanities, AP Stats, AP Chemistry or Wind Ensemble Honors, AP Music Theory Part 2.
I should also mention that I must take Communication Skills and English 10 next year, however I am going to meet my Com Skills requirement over the summer in a special class. Nothing can be moved around period wise as these classes are only offered certain times and I have fixed all that I can. I am down to the final decision of whether I should continue with band or do the chemistry courses.
Basically, I would like to attend Phillips Exeter for several reasons, and one of the main ones in the math department and their style of teaching. I really enjoy contest style math and have participated in ARML, State Math Team, AMC/AIME, etc. I hope to continue doing this and I feel Exeter is a great way to develop into a stronger math person. Band for me is also something I enjoy, though I must say I enjoy math/science more. I am also very involved in band things such as All-County, All-District, Honors Band, and I really enjoy music ensembles which I hear are very good at Exeter.
With all of this in mind, I have decided Exeter is a good fit and I want to do whatever boosts my chances to get into the school. So in this situation, I am trying to determine whether Exeter would want to see me continue in band or take chemistry or some sort of compromise. I am having trouble deciding because from what I have seen, Exeter looks for well rounded individuals and music is my main extra curricular. I also do a ton of clubs and such, but I feel music would help me. But then again, I also feel chemistry is important for entrance as I would be going for a primarily math/science approach.
So I am stuck between these options and would like help deciding on which to do. Sorry for the long post, but I felt I should fully explain the situation. Questions on schedule are welcomed, and thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Despite the fact that I am much younger than you and coming in as an upperclassman is harder, here is my advise; Be genuine.
I know that this is rather cliche but it is true. I did not bolster any part of my acedemic life or extracurriculars in advance (Don’t take this as arrogance, I just didn’t want to fake anything). I decided to start looking around August. All I did was take some Math tutoring becuase I didn’t have a wonderful teacher. This helped my SSAT score.
If you manufacture yourself to get into Exeter (or any school for that matter) then most admissions officers can see right through it.
Go into your interview. Make it a conversation. Be genuine. Get a good SSAT score.
Remember it’s not always the best candidate, but instead the right canidate!
Good luck!
@jswani you are lacking a foreign language. Exeter will require three yrs language, but you will only have two. Also, colleges will want min. 3 as well, and Exeter might not like that you don’t currently take one.
Toward having 4 years of English, History/Social, Math, and Lab Science, plus Level 3 in Modern or Classic Language,
if it was my kid, I would only keep
English 10, Precalc, Chemistry Honors, AP US History, plus either Marching Band or Wind Ensemble,
and drop the rest and add
one Language (e.g. Spanish or Latin).