<p>Are the programs/courses/style of class really similar?</p>
<p>Which school has the better English program?</p>
<p>I’d really like to know as well
Does anyone know much about the two programs?</p>
<p>This is a post where GemmaV, an AO, might be able to help You. You won’t find a large number of accurate answers on CC, though, because no one has gone to both Exeter AND Andover :p</p>
<p>I can, although, tell You from “research” that Exeter is more Science/Math oriented as Andover is more Humanities-inclined. Moreover, both schools have EXCELLENT Humanities Departments</p>
<p>Exeterrrr: I think that may be more perception than reality, based on the fact that head of the US math olympiad team teaches at Exeter? Of course there’s lots of very advanced science and math offered at Exeter–but History courses are varied and VERY rigorous; the language dept. offers Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Japanese (?–too lazy to check), Spanish, French, and German; Religion, music and art are all required too, and there are lots of great options in all of those departments. </p>
<p>Given that both schools have similar core curricula and similarly qualified and dedicated faculty, it’s hard for me to see one as more humanities focused than the other. </p>
<p>At any rate…English at Exeter is Harkness method, with a focus on depth rather than breadth. First-term, preps take junior studies in place of English, a more interdisciplinary course introducing them to Exeter. Senior year, students can choose from numerous senior seminars in English–check out the course catalog. In fact, reading the course catalogs from both schools is probably the best way to compare the departments</p>
<p>I agree with Classicalmama,</p>
<p>It is like saying which school is better Harvard or Yale. Better is not a way to measure, it cant be quantified. It also depends on what the student wants or needs. </p>
<p>At the point that you are comparing the top schools it is up to the dreaded “fit” and what makes you happy. And you can be happy at more than one place.</p>
<p>Rumor has it that Exeter is more math/science and Andover is more humanities. When I did very intensive research, I really saw no difference in the quality of education at those two or at any of the top 10-12 schools. The academics are just top notch. The difference is about what the student needs. Andover seems to me to have more “structure” than Exeter. SPS seemed to have less structure than both, (their motto being “freedom with responsibility”). Of the schools we considered, Deerfield had tons of structure, formal dress code, sit down meals, with adults, etc.</p>
<p>What you are looking for and more importantly what a student needs varies from person to person. Thus different schools for different students.</p>
<p>Of the 3 schools Alexz825Mom mentions (Andover, Exeter, and St Paul’s), I suspect that Andover may have the least structure. No formal dress code (unlike SPS and E), no seated dinners (unlike SPS), 24 hr internet (don’t think either E or SPS has this), all school meeting 1x/wk (vs 4x at SPS); minimal mandatory community outreach (one day per year, and a few hrs/wk on Andover work duty—this may be less than the SPS requirement, not sure about E). Not better or worse, just different. SPS does have that great motto, but I don’t think they have the most freedom.</p>
<p>But back to the original question, I agree with Classicalmama and AlexzMom. When my daughter looked at A and E, they both seemed extremely strong in humanities and science (as did some other schools we saw). I think the distinction is something that is getting perpetrated on this board, but isn’t real.</p>
<p>One more point: I suspect that the inter-teacher variation in style within one of these schools is greater than any systematic difference between the schools. In other words, the teachers at each school have their own styles, choices of literature, etc, so there’s no one “Andover (or Exeter) English experience”.</p>
<p>When I was at Andover, I asked my tour guide how much writing they had to do. She told me that they did a ton of writing. At Exeter, my tour guide told me that most homework assignments were to read a section and to organize your thoughts about the section. Also, I like Andover’s English electives better. So, as a writer, I would probably favor Andover English slightly. Though, both departments are excellent, and would be a privilege to be a part of.</p>
<p>Do students at Andover (and other schools) change teachers every term like at Exeter, or do they stay with the same English, Math, Science, Language teachers all year?</p>
<p>Ifax: Last term (10 weeks long), my son wrote 3 essays for English and numerous shorter journal assignments, both in and out of class. He wrote 3 papers for history as well. This term looks to be about the same. It’s true that most homework is reading and organizing thoughts–your tour guide might have been thinking day-to-day work, not longer-term assignments?</p>
<p>You’ll do lots of writing in both places–electives will vary though, and I think that’s a good way to assess differences.</p>
<p>URGENT QUESTION- Can I withdraw the application that I did if I want to? Does it have to be done before Jan. 15, or can it be done a little while after-4 Days? Thanks</p>
<p>Are you trying to get your application fee refunded?</p>
<p>@classicalmama,
Yep, the tour guide was talking about day-to-day work. I did hear a bit about the dreaded 333 though…</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys.</p>
<p>Actually, I do know someone who went to both ANDOVER and EXETER (unusual)…he told me about the schools, actually. I will ask him and post feedback on here. </p>
<p>@ Exeterrr: If you don’t mind me asking why do you want to withdraw your application?
You probably will not get a refund, so why not just try?</p>
<p>@neato
At Andover, students taking full year courses (such as English and Biology) have the same teacher for the year unless a schedule change in one class (perhaps to move to a higher or lower level class) necessitates a change in other classes.</p>
<p>From looking at the given course catalogs Andover’s humanities classes seemed more interesting. That’s just my opinion though, from observation. They are probably (and most likely) equally as interesting (depending on the person, also).</p>