Wondering about the provided sheets and towels. Are they ok or do you suggest getting your own?
Are there kids who actually do their own laundry or do the majority have laundry service?
About how much per week do you need and spending money?
For those with a book stipend, can you use it for things other than at the bookstore? I saw that there is a lending library for financial aid kids so I’m wondering why you would also need such a large stipend for books.
Has anyone done the Hawaii Thanksgiving break trip? Kiddo is very interested in applying.
Is there a foreign language that is good for kids who aren’t great at forgein languages. Kiddo takes Latin and he knows that exeter is known for its notoriously hard Latin class. He doesn’t have an interest in the classical diploma. Foreign languages do not come easy to him therefore he would prefer something that maybe is a little easier to learn. He is thinking Chinese and I think he is crazy.
Towels and sheets are terrible. You definitely need your own.
Some kids do their own laundry. Not sure what percent, but it is pretty common. Ours have all used laundry service, as time is at a premium.
Weekly budget is all over the place. Our kids get $125 a month to spend on all incidentals . Take out, meals out, movies, shopping… Really depends on your budget and your child’s lifestyle.
Financial aid stipend can be used at book store for any academic purchase. Books, notepads, pens, binders, calculators etc. Many of the textbooks like biology and foreign language are college level textbooks and can cost up to $200.
No feedback on the school break trips. Our son did a term abroad and loved that.
Foreign languages have been a challenge for our kids. Our oldest took Chinese for 2 terms and then moved to German. It was the worst class he ever took for grades and frustration. 3 of ours took German and it was a great choice for them. Smaller program at PEA so good consistency of teachers and peers. Our youngest takes Russian and it is even smaller. One teacher and the kids adore her. In addition there are state department sponsored initiatives for Russian where your child can spend time abroad (over summer- not affiliated with Exeter) in Russia. One thing to keep in mind with Russian and German is that most kids come in with little to no knowledge of the language, so your child will be on even ground with peers. We found more commonly taught languages like Spanish and French were filled with fluent speakers in the lower level courses. This made for a difficult transition for kids new yo the language.
@momof3swimmers yes the sheets provided are awful. We do the laundry service --its worth every penny for time. My kid has expressed interest but simply has no time even on breaks for school trips. (sports related activities). My son will ask for 20 here and there for snacks etc. Many, many of the “textbooks” are PEA compiled and are very cheap. I.e the math classes–they are packets of problems. History, biology come to mind at $200 but that is not the norm so far in our experience. My son takes Chinese and the workbooks are not expensive. Chinese is extremely hard but I will break it down like this–if your kid has a good memory and is artistically inclined and good at math then Chinese may work. It is a ton of memorization and pattern recognition. Spanish and French are definitely the most common.
My son recommends German. He is taking very advanced Latin, but wishes he took German as friends really like it. The Latin at Exeter is amazing, but challenging.