<p>My guess is that they’d spend little time on applications with a GPA of C, SSAT of 50% and with no strong qualifications or hooks, but statistically that application should still be counted as read, because it was completed and was considered.</p>
<p>Exie, as for using someone’s real name on a public forum, the director of admissions plays such an “invariable” role on re-visit day, everyone would just know whom you are talking about anyway.</p>
<p>In this day and age, there is no such thing as a closed meeting. Anyone who speaks with the presumption that his or her words will never leave the room is operating under an old system. Furthermore, the op said, in paraphrase, that Mr. Gary said they received 3000 applications and then went on to say they had time to read and process 2500. The implication, whether correct or not (and I suspect incorrect) is that they simply ran out of time. Now I know this can’t be true. But, as I said, that is the implication of the statement. As an ex PR professional, I would have been silently imploring him to explain his statement. I am sure he is a great guy. You need the patience of a saint to do what he does, but his statement, as it was relayed here, is not above reproach.
As a final note, if I knew someone applying to Exeter, my advice would be to work hard, be yourself and get your application in early.
zp</p>
<p>Oh - I’m just poking at the group - I didn’t get to my post soon enough to put on a smilie.</p>
<p>Sorry about that. Mostly worried about “Those” parents (you know who I’m talking about) who see conspiracies around every corner when their babies don’t get in the right designer school and will send him hate mail for not reading their precious poo-poos application :-)</p>
<p>Exie -</p>
<p>I guess as the original poster, your blast is to me. A director of admissions is a public figurehead of the institution. I am not personally blasting him nor did I accuse his office of not reading applications. I found it odd and worth mentioning for clarification and discussion. If the 500 apps were never completed, why bother mentioning the 3,000 figure? Why not just say 487 out of 2,500? It’s still impressive and much more straight forward. </p>
<p>I agree with zuzu’spetals statement that there is no such thing as a closed meeting. </p>
<p>As far as the revisit, I think it would have been nice to have performances, etc. not just classes. A boarding school is more than academics - it includes sports, the arts, community, clubs, etc. It would have been nice to see a little of that.</p>
<p>An interesting phenomanon about the re-visit impressions is that when a school takes re-visits very seriously and works hard to be “considerate” or “comprehensive”, they may be accused of using marketing techniques or hard selling. On the other hand, if a school doesn’t invest much in their re-visit days, some families feel that they are not feeling welcomed or not given a chance to see the school fully. My take? If the school still believes in re-visit days, then “put on a good show”, otherwise why bother? Just tell the accepted students to drop by sometime and take a look around - wouldn’t that be more true? Re-visit shouldn’t be just about marketing. It is also an opportunity to show the school’s “personality” to the families, make them feel welcomed and wanted.</p>
<p>No doschicos - my blast wasn’t at you. Which makes me think we’re all walking on eggshells over admissions decisions and discussions thereof. It’s impossible to read “mood” on a posted text.</p>
<p>I tend to be specific when I aim at a poster - but that’s rare - and only those parents who, on other threads, show a snobbery above and beyond normal angst and grief common among parents.</p>
<p>However - having said that - this is the only thread I’ve seen on the boards in which parents named a boarding school officer by name. Whether people know “who” is or is not the adcom in question is wholly irrelevant. Discussion boards like this are read by thousands of people who lurk anonymously - ie. do not post or participate in this community. And “naming” someone in this context (when any number of adcom members might have said the same thing) is best done in private - not on a board that will make that particular individual subject to more harassment then they are already facing as the “voice” of the Institute.</p>
<p>I think people in general are being too sensitive. On the other hand, I have inside knowledge to know that the interpretation of applications going unread is an extreme one.</p>
<p>And why not concede that those staff members are exhausted, the subject of a lot of rage from rejected parents (and possibly students) and walking on eggshells of their own. Admitting, or not admitting, someone’s child is an tough decision and the admissions officers have every right to believe that the parents at a revisit can extrapolate admissions data appropriately, or ask for clarification if something is unclear rather than speculate on a public board after the fact which will raise more questions than it answers. I do remember a father, on another thread, sparring with a researcher over Taft’s decision not to release certain stats. The researcher called them snobs. I’m beginning to think it’s wise because numbers get twisted and parents get stuck in all kinds of knots ranking and rating and interpreting words and comments and numbers.</p>
<p>No school can please every parent so they stop trying. Maybe that will be my advice to my alma mater. Vett the parents better, and hold back on numbers. Impressing some, opens only more inappropriate speculation among others.</p>
<p>Exie, lots of good points. On the point about “hold back on numbers” though, I beg to differ. Historical data about number of applications, admit rate, yield etc. are helpful especially to the prospective students/families in determining the selectivity of a school and sometimes how likely the waitlist may move. I think it’d be great if all schools could release ACCURATE data about each admission cycle. Numbers are just numbers. People can interprete them in their own ways. I don’t think it’s a matter of pleasing others, but rather providing the facts so ppl can use them to make important decisions.</p>
<p>I second Benley about releasing the accurate statistics by schools so that others don’t need to speculate, extrapolate. These are arguably top BS in the world. What do they have to hide?</p>
<p>We felt welcomed, very welcomed. But maybe I’m different. I tend to be the type of person who ignores anything that I think might be marketing anyway. If Exeter didn’t have such a comprehensive website, with videos of drama rehearsals and musical ensembles I probably would have wanted to see those things. The option to stay for a rehearsal and/or practise was available, by the way, for those who wanted to stay until evening. I would have loved to have stayed for the concert band rehearsal, preferring it to a concert any day. I wanted to see how they taught and that’s what I found out.</p>
<p>Benley, </p>
<p>Has the “selectivity” factor has made things worse? Parents view “selectivity” as synonymous with “ideal.” And that then inflates expectations, artificially inflates the number of applicants and creates a heightened sense of angst for those who are not admitted. </p>
<p>The internet in general tends to be overweight with discussions about HADES schools - with Exeter, Andover and St. Pauls getting the majority of press. Most often fueled by people who have never been there. You don’t see those schools getting a lot of press as it relates to their alum activity. Hence, thousands upon thousands apply to all three schools even if it’s not a fit, then feels as if it is a reflection on the quality of the kid if they get turned down.</p>
<p>If parents were to look at the stats as a measure of “how hard” it is to get into a HADES and used that opportunity to apply to more schools to increase their chances of getting something - that’s a positive.</p>
<p>But if parents use those stats (as I suspect some schools encourage) to further create a mystique - then I worry. I love my alma mater but are the teachers really better than peer schools? If the alumni network of other schools also includes scientists and diplomats and lawyers and entrepreneurs - then is there really a second tier?</p>
<p>Lastly when parents look at matriculation numbers (always a fun game) is it that </p>
<ol>
<li><p>the school trains and steers those kids into IVY’s or </p></li>
<li><p>that the subset of students who apply to Ivy’s were already predisposed to attend those schools anyway (especially since 75% don’t go to Ivy’s.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I just wonder if publishing stats sometimes are meant to “whip parents and students into a frenzy so that schools can turn a lot of them down in the spring” - making the school seem that much more unattainable. (acc. to the confessions article)</p>
<p>A colleague went to a local chain store to examine Hallmark cards on display (marketed as Ambassador). He noticed that one of the cards was flawed - had too much bronze powder on the front which obscured part of the design. It should have been pulled at press inspection. He watched a woman study the card, then the one behind it which was accurately printed. She hummed and hawed and finally, put the good card back and took the damaged one. So he identified himself and asked her why she chose the card covered with gold powder. She said “because it has more gold, so it must be better.”</p>
<p>Human nature allows for a lot of manipulation by marketing experts to make something seem better than an equally performing competitor.</p>
<p>The only time stats make sense to me - are those schools that take everyone that applies - and where the SSAT range is 0-100. Then I scream “stay away.” Beyond that - stats make for interesting interpretation - often to the detriment of good people hoping to do right by their kids.</p>
<p>Campus personality, strength of academics, and fit - those are the only stats that count. The rest is just fluff meant to “pump up the volume.”</p>
<p>How does one quantify the Strength of Academics? By SAT scores, College matriculation, or…? If yes, these stats should be published to help parents find the right schools for their kids. Schools should release as much info as possible to make it easy for students to know the school is the right one for them.</p>
<p>I still believe in transparency and free access of information despite the risk of that information being misused. Withholding information is not the cure to a perceived issue that’s widespread in this society. It only shows that the school is not confident its targeted audience have the right judgement and therefore do not deserve full disclosure.</p>
<p>@doschicos - as a current parent I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Exeter does not trot out students for a dog and pony show for 4 days this week. It is a major effort for the students to just host and be ‘on’ for the prospectives - plus getting up earlier and meeting them at Grainger by 7:30. Remember - you only were here one day - the campus is doing this through Friday. My son was asked to host 4 kids last year - he was behind on homework for a week. I cannot imagine if the theatre and dance kids had to take time out of their day to ‘put a little something together for the parents’ - after only being back from break for less than a week.<br>
I liked how neato put it earlier - you either like Ex or you don’t. Either way is fine - but after doing revisits for 2 different kids I appreciated the straightforwardness of the day. As lovely as receptions, scavenger hunts, balloons and confetti can be - I somehow doubt the regular school day consists of these things. Personally, I would rather know what happens on a typical school day and make a decision based on that experience.</p>
<p>As the parent of a BS senior, you should all know that the BS admissions is nothing compared to what you will face when you look at college admissions. Consider this a trial run. Rejection - confusing stats - acceptance rates - all part of the process. Know that the boarding schools are coddling you. Stop by the MIT or Duke forums (or any of the top schools) and see how many 2400 SATs are rejected. Believe me, the top colleges DO NOT care what your thoughts are on full disclosure.</p>
<p>
Prep schools should learn from their big brothers and DO NOT care to give full disclosure. That’ll make the world more ideal.</p>
<p>tis may seem stupid but- what’s full disclosure</p>
<p>i had the same question, haha</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it means to disclose or release everything. So to share all information with the public.</p>
<p>EDIT: I googled it and the definition is:
n) Full Disclosure is act of providing all material information about an article or property intended or proposed to be transferred, which may influence the decision making of the buyer or proposed buyer.</p>
<p>cecil, I have to disgree. Just because colleges don’t care, as you say, shouldn’t be a role model for the BS to follow. After all, these are the same institutions that are entrusted with teaching the kids about morality, democracy. Openness and information are keys for democracies to function. If colleges/BS act like communist governments/dictators, keeping the people in the dark, I can only imagine what the future holds. End of the day, you can fool some one for some time, not all the time. Thanks to the internet, it’s getting more and more difficult to hide the information from being disseminated (CC is an example).</p>
<p>What is the point of all the disclosure really? How is it REALLY useful? So we can oooh and ahhh over the low acceptance rates? So we can marvel at how our kids managed to make it through the gate? (<em>makes gagging sounds</em>)</p>
<p>If I learned anything at all this year it is that an applicant’s “chances” at a school vary directly with fit. As someone who has a love affair with data, it is difficult for me to let go of all the analysis that captures my fancy so easily, but it is necessary. I really think that this is the ONLY thing I’ve learned this year! As similar as all these great schools are, they each have a different vibe. Exeter is imposing…BIG. not cozy. It is bustling. It’s what some kids call stressful and others call exciting. It’s not what every kid wants and I think that is more important than the numbers.</p>
<p>I will follow the same plan with my daughter next year. We will visit a ton of schools and she can see what she likes the most. She will apply to the ones she loves and leave the ones that don’t excite her. Hopefully, she will find one that loves her.</p>
<p>But I still love having the data 
I can’t help it. It’s in my nature. I like looking for patterns.</p>