<p>My son called to schedule his tour/interview and got his email confirmation with this suggestion toward the end:</p>
<p>"If you wish to speak with a particular faculty member or coach during your visit, we encourage you to make the arrangements before arriving on campus. Department and coach directories are available on our website."</p>
<p>He is particularly interested in learning more about the theater department as this is something that he has been pretty involved in to date. On the website, they list a dept head and then another instructor whose title is "Associate Director of Admissions, Instructor in Theater and Dance." Who would you suppose we should contact? Is the meeting considered an admissions meeting, or more just informational?</p>
<p>Exeter is great about encouraging contact between families and prospective areas of interest. We responded to that invitation and set up a meeting while interviewing for admission with the chair of the Dept of interest, (it was math) who spent a lot of time with us, and he was VERY honest. For example, he explained that the math club kids spent just about every waking hour doing math, theirs was a small part of the Exeter world, and that probably my D would find other things she would find just as interesting at Exeter, but if she decided on competitive math, that was OK too. No pressure, student choice. We were rather taken aback at the time, but what he said was true. </p>
<p>He also gently reassured us that they had all the math she could possibly want, and not to stress out about placement, which was continually adjusted based on student interest and ability. That has also turned out to be entirely true. He was one of the nicest, most honest, humble and approachable human beings I have met in a long time, and my D really liked him. Students streamed in asking him for help with homework problems. </p>
<p>I got the feeling he was pleased with her interest in math, but also was being honest about what to expect and trying to help us understand their program in order to make a good choice with as much understanding as we could get without actually being part of the school. He did not seem to be testing or evaluating us in any way. </p>
<p>Exeter and SPS were the only two schools that encouraged meeting with faculty in an area of interest. All other admission offices were impenetrable behind vague assurances and suggestions to look at the web site.</p>
<p>It is entirely possible that the second person you mention the “Associate Director of Admissions, Instructor in Theater and Dance.” may actually be holding two unrelated positions, both as "“Associate Director of Admissions” and as “Instructor in Theater and Dance.” The two are not related, meaning that this person has nothing to do with admissions to theater and dance.</p>
<p>Your meeting with them is both informal, meaning that it is not a formal interview, but they may provide feedback to the admissions staff, particularly if it is really strongly for or against for some reason. </p>
<p>The meeting/ interview and tour based with the staff in the admissions office is formal.</p>
<p>Hope this helps you make a decision on who to contact.</p>
<p>How does he manage to find a time to call during school hours? Even if he does, how does he know when mom/dad are available to accompany the trip? Just being curious… because in my household I’m being an official travel coordinator.</p>
<p>His school days ends at 2pm, and he is generally home before 3. We had already chosen a few potential dates that my husband and I could take off to visit the school, so he had those handy when he called. He wouldn’t have wanted me to call on his behalf for this one.</p>
<p>We did this at several of our school visits. At one school, there was a specific faculty member that we wanted to meet, and at the other 2 it was just a desire to meet and talk with any faculty member in that particular subject. In all cases, we let the admissions staff know in advance, and they arranged the meetings during our visit. One gave my D the email address for a dept. chair and she contacted him directly to get answers to some additional questions.</p>