I have some questions about other costs in addition to the tuition(including boarding). Does the sports club (or other clubs) requires extra fees? How about the meal plan and health insurance? Thanks!
@livelaughxc It really depends. I’m not going to sugarcoat it: Exeter has many, many talented individuals in close proximity in an environment where there are only so many leadership positions or opportunities to excel. That being said, I wouldn’t call it cutthroat. Everyone is friendly and understanding, you’ll just have to work hard to excel. I would say it’s real competition, but not the kind that’s toxic or out of spite- it’ll help you grow.
@LifeChangeHaha club have trips and those cost extra… scholastic team sports doesn’t have fees other than shoes etc. club sport not sure about. Lots of socks! Meals are included… health should be covered by your insurance but there is option to buy if it isn’t covered. You do pay tuition insurance if you are paying monthly. Laundry service is recommended is extra. Music lessons are extra. You’ll need a laptop. Some money to eat out… cafeteria gets tiring at times… and if they are doing lots of things… they’ll miss meals before checkin…
I’m someone who sometimes has difficulties verbally articulating certain thoughts, especially the more complex ones.
Will Exeter’s constant use of its Harkness method in every class fix this problem and help me develop a mode eloquent way of speaking? One of the reasons why I applied to Exeter was to face this issue and sort of conquer my fears of public speaking. Was this a good reason to apply in the first place?
@Deathspanks Thanks a lot for the information! How to handle the long weekend, spring break, Thanksgiving, etc? Will the dorm be closed and the student have to fly back to home every time? That will be a lot of travel expense.
How much is the laundry service yearly?
@YoungThriver … regarding Harkness… They will explain lot of these during revisit days… But you practically spend your fall semester getting broken into Harkness (if your coming in as Prep)… It’s also not graded (well graded but doesn’t count toward your GPA)… You will find your “voice”… it’s really about respecting other’s point view as much as speaking your mind… so don’t worry! Everyone feels this way! Not everyone is a champion debater… (some are!)
@LifeChangeHaha Yes… that will be an issue… sometimes you will get invites to stay with DayStud (commuters)… but those are rare and depends on how social your child is… They come home during breaks… Dorm close… You typically have 3 semesters… come home 2 weeks at a time… Thanksgiving, Xmas, and Spring Break… Dorms will close at 12PM or so after class
@ImWaisian It’s cheaper if you pay early… $452.66 was FY2018-2019… that doesn’t include dry cleaning… that’s $90 extra for the year… Otherwise, they will need to use funds on their cards to do laundry machines… it’s a time sucker… so I recommend try it for the first year and see how your child does with academic load… If you child is very busy… like mine… they really needs the weekends to catchup on work… and some Saturdays are sports matches… It also depends on the house… some house are really large 40+… so it gets competitive… Smaller houses… not so much…
incoming lower here 
what are some of the biggest challenges you guys faced when you first started at Exeter?
specifically for me, i have a lot of trouble with panic attacks, sometimes during testing (high-stress situations). will teachers be understanding of this?
another concern is that i struggle a lot with social anxiety sometimes, especially in new situations/building rapport. do you have any advice for working up the confidence to attend school events & participate in new activities?
Is coming into 10th hard to fit in or is there a lot of kids like that
@badminton4life there are many kids who start as new lowers at PEA, it is not uncommon at all. Many of our daughters best friends came in as new lowers. You will fit in just fine.
@gogh4it my advice is to work with the mental health staff, dorm faculty and advisor to come up with a solid support network early. Don’t be ashamed of your mental health issues, and do not try to hide them. The community is there to support you. I would go so far as to recommend you set time up with each of your teachers before the term starts or early in the term to have a conversation around some of the things you find challenging and ask for their support as you work to overcome those challenges. This advice comes from a mom who has a daughter who struggled with many of the same issues during her time at PEA. She took a very different approach then outlined above and ultimately left PEA in lower year. She learned many lessons during her time at PEA and used those moving forward in her high school and college life. She learned to self advocate and ask for what she needs to be successful and these skills have taken her far. She will graduate from a Top 20 university this year- but we are most proud of her for the person she has become by overcoming challenges such as you described. Good luck on your journey and be patient with yourself.
Hey I got accepted as a PG(5th year), I was wondering are students cars allowed on campus or not?
@Nomad001 having had 4 kids attend PEA my view is that PEA doesn’t push kids hard at all. Instead what it does is provide an amazing place to decide to push yourself: push yourself to try new experiences (our kids have tried new sports like waterpolo, went to new places, like Russia, shot a documentary in the Philippines, and one spent a term at the Island school in the Bahamas). You can push yourself to learn new subjects, like Russian language, or the ethics of Silicon Valley- both classes our daughter took last term. You can push yourself to join new clubs, like mock trial volunteering at the child care center on campus or taking photographs for the yearbook- all clubs our daughter joined and ultimately holds leadership positions in. She came to PEA with no leadership experience, but worked hard and showed up and became a leader while at PEA.
On the other side of the equation is our son who graduated last year. He played sports, but never pushed himself to make a varsity team, joined a few clubs mostly to hang out with friends and never took a leadership role in any. He did not travel abroad nor push himself too hard academically- he graduated with a solid B average. But guess what, he loved his time at PEA and is now at a perfect college for him -thriving. If kids feel like PEA is a super competitive environment, I suspect it is more about how they see the world then the actual environment at PEA. It really is all up to you how you choose to spend your time at PEA or anywhere really.
@YoungThriver I think what you are asking breaks down into 2 different areas:
- Being able to represent your point of view in a well crafted, cohesive manner. This you will absolutely learn at PEA ,as will all students. Harkness is about critical thinking- not just verbalizing that point of view. This skill is learned in many ways not just Harkness. One of the primary ways is in learning to be a great writer. You will learn to support your position throughout your writing career at PEA in all your humanities classes.
- Being able to verbalize your point of view in a group setting. This you can learn in a variety of ways. Harkness is one of them. The great thing about PEA is most of the classes are very small and discussion based. I wouldn’t think of this as public speaking because it really is more like a small group of kids that meet regularly to have discussions vs standing in front of room of strangers giving a speech. But in that point, you can take a class in speech making if you choose. You could also join clubs like mock trail that have multiple levels of teams so that even beginners can join. Our daughter joined sophomore year with no experience and went on to be cohead of the A team and go to states this year.
Don’t be intimidated that everyone is ahead of you or a genius at PEA- that simply isn’t true. You are exactly where you should be entering high school and will find a lot of kids in the same position. The primary reason to attend a BS is to grow and become the person you want to be in our experience.
I was reminded of this last night as our son picked my daughter and I up at the airport after a very long day of traveling back from Europe. My daughter made an immature comment about something important and my son went on to ask her to defend that comment. Of course, she couldn’t as it was more of an opinion then a well crafted position. Normally I would have been impressed with this conversation, but after a long day, was less then thrilled with the situation.
I don’t think any BS allows boarders to have cars on campus (or parked in the surrounding area for that matter). That is certainly the case at Exeter.
@vegas1 Thank you for that great insight. DS was accepted at Exeter and we will be revisiting.
One question I have is about how the school is practically “run” and would appreciate any thoughts you have on it. Specifically, I am learning that Exeter is more of a “faculty-run” school than other boarding schools.
My understanding is that this is more than Exeter faculty having a larger “voice” than typical, but that the faculty actually has more decision-making authority in areas that would typically be overseen/decided by the principal/administration or trustees.
First of all, is my initial understanding accurate? Further, is this approach a positive or negative and how? Also, how does it practically work and manifest?
@CMKDad congratulations on your son’s acceptance. I’m not sure I understand your concern about this topic in particular. Can you give examples of how this has impacted students lives at PEA? As a longtime parent at PEA I have seen many changes in faculty and leadership. But the reality is that none have directed impacted my kids in a material way. Yes, there have been many changes such as dress code, Saturday classes, visitation policies in dorms, etc… But my kids time at PEA has been what they made of it, not pre determined by what faculty or leadership has designated.
The faculty at PEA has been the highlight of the experience in many ways for my kids. On our recent trip to Europe, there where 3 points at which my daughter referenced a favorite teacher and how she was going to text or email them about the experience- because they had discussed the topic and would love to hear about it. Feel free to pm me if you have more questions.
@CMKDad You will find that most universities are faculty run via Faculty Senate inside a shared governance model… This is typical since tenured (permanent faculty) protects the long term strategic vision going on decades and rotating administrators work on cadenced tactical goals…
The new headmaster is both alumnus and parent of Exonians… so DS will be in great shape!
Thanks @vegas1 and @Deathspanks, that’s helpful.
Hi, I got accepted as a new Prep (9th Grade). I am wondering what I should look out for during revisit day.
@vegas1 Thank you so much for the response! It was very helpful.
In terms of how they ease students into the rigorous curriculum, are there any differences between preps and new lowers? I was accepted as a new lower and I’m just wondering how my experience would have differed if I were to enter the academy as a prep.
When your daughter entered as a new lower (I’m just assuming because of what you said so correct me if I’m wrong), did she have any difficulties with the transition?