Exonians to the Rescue!

Prep School Admissions
21

<p>The quality of the food varies. To be honest, the food is not always so great.
Still, the d-hall staff really tries to meet the needs of every student.
One time, they tried making Galbi along with a few other Asian dishes (Chicken lo mein and General Tso’s Chicken) and another time they tried making Indian dishes.</p>

<p>The day before EXETER/andover, they decided to put red food coloring into everything including rice and meat. The food might have tasted good, but it looked disgusting!
That day, I remember going to Grill to have something else. (I think we had Ramen and Sushi. So much better than red rice!)</p>

<p>Oh, just to clarify. The d-hall has a huge rice cooker so students can
get rice everyday, every meal.</p>

<p>And I just realized I missed one of the questions asked on the previous page.</p>

<p>**What kind of things do you do with your friends? Have you found a niche? Do you find you have time to spend with friends with all of the work? What do you know about theater-- are people satisfied with the theater program? Is it a big part of theater people’s lives?
(I haven’t figured out how to do the cool quote box thing.)</p>

<p>You can hang out with your friends in so many different ways. You can go to town for some Mexican or Thai food. Or you can just go to a couch in the library and talk for hours. Or you can go out into the woods on a bike and just enjoy nature. You can even
rent a movie from the library and watch it on a big screen in the Academy center. </p>

<p>Even at Exeter, a place seemingly known for work, work, work, people don’t mechanically come back from classes and without saying a word to friends in the dorm, go into their rooms to finish homework. We’re not robots! We all need to socialize, no matter how much work we have. Hanging out with friends can happen anywhere. It’s up to you to decide whether it happens during your free period, lunch, dinner, late at night in Dorm Grill, or all of the above. It’s all of the above for me. And this hasn’t affected my academic performance at all. In fact, taking a break from studies is good for you! </p>

<p>I know several people involved in theater, but I can only tell you that they really, really enjoy and love it. They relish every second of it!</p>

22

<p>Wow! This thread is really helpful, and your responses are very complete.</p>

23

<p>I have to say yes to your first question, Tuesdays. There’s always the “Prep Posse”
in the first few terms of the year. As diverse as the Exeter student body is, 9th graders seem to immediately identify themselves with people who are similar to them once they get to Exeter. This is not a bad thing at all, but just the human instinct to feel more at home with people who share common interests. </p>

<p>Honestly, the prep posse disappears after about one or two terms. After that, you rarely see cliques at Exeter. </p>

<p>The one thing I dislike about Exeter is that some teachers are so qualified and so smart themselves that they sometimes do not understand students who are struggling. Only a handful of Exeter’s very qualified faculty is like this, but it can be stressful if you end up with one. Two years ago, I had a math teacher who was so smart (he had two degrees from one of the world’s top universities) that he seemed to be in this “other world” during class. Unlike public school, teachers at boarding schools including Exeter are not required to have a degree in teaching. Teachers just have to be smart in what they teach. I think this is the reason why some teachers just can’t teach. They’re very smart and qualified in their field, but they simply do not know how to share their infinite knowledge with the confused class. Still, you are always invited to ask the teacher to meet during a free period for help. I’m talking of a very small number of teachers here. so don’t get me wrong. 99% of Exeter’s faculty is AMAZING.</p>

<p>I can say to you without hesitation that a person AND student who can manage time wisely and bounce back quickly will certainly thrive at Exeter.
I noticed in my first term at Exeter that there were two types of students.
It was a given that most of the students were #1 in the schools they had come from.
Now, after getting a few papers and tests back, two different groups seemed to emerge. One was the small group of students who found themselves excelling at Exeter right from the first few weeks. The rest of the students found themselves struggling with academics for the first time ever. </p>

<p>During my few years at Exeter, I realized that even the smartest, most qualified student at Exeter tastes failure and a grade or two that really hurts. But in the end, it really depends on how well you can bounce back from a bad day or a bad week. People who get their first B on a paper and decide to get depressed for a month just make everything worse for themselves by “failing” even more papers and tests.
People who get their first B and bounce back immediately by trying harder and not falling behind, find themselves excelling by the end of the term.
If you can manage time wisely and can bounce back quickly, you’ll love Exeter and Exeter will love you.</p>

24

<p>I can bounce back quickly, but consider myself a bad time manager.
Can I thrive at Exeter? (If I’m accepted)</p>

25

<p>Of course, monochromeAddict!
Oh I’m so glad you asked!
Time management is something that you can learn and practice.
No one is born with it.
I did extremely well in my prep year and I wasn’t the best time-manager out there.
As I moved up the Exeter curriculum, I learned to manage time better.
and here I am now, still alive and well. :)</p>

26

<p>Thanks redhotPEA!
I’m so relieved! :)</p>

<p>and thanks alot for all your descriptions. Just curious, are you a girl or a guy?
Now it’s only about the decision letter…</p>

27

<p>How is your dive team???</p>

<p>No one’s been able to answer this. It’s sad :(</p>

28

<p>Actually I know a little bit about the diving team. I know a few people on it and I might be able to help you with that.</p>

29

<p>And speaking of dye in the food for green cup they tried making desserts and stuff green. Not a good idea.</p>

30

<p>almost there, please elaborate!</p>

31

<p>An upper in my dorm was on varsity diving but she’s at mountain school now and she missed most of the season. She started diving her lower year so this was her second year. Its a pretty small team. They got boathouses this year which I heard is pretty special because apparently they never get boathouses for diving. I don’t think its as crazy intense and hard to make like varsity lacrosse or something but they have tryouts and stuff.</p>

32

<p>I know a girl who is very serious about diving.
She is also a very talented dancer, so diving almost seems to come naturally for her.
She’s told me before that diving practices can be very exhausting.
The practices are during F, G blocks which is from 2:25-5:05. Obviously, practice
doesn’t take up the entire two blocks, but Exeter girls’ varsity swimming and diving is very well known. I think girls’ swimming/diving got first place in the New Englands this season.</p>

33

<p>Yeah girls swimming and diving won the New England Championships. In diving we had a girl (a senior) get tenth and another girl (a prep) got 19th</p>

34

<p>we’re here! :)</p>

35

<p>Thanks redhot! I was accepted as a new lower (YESSSSSSSS!!! ALKADFDSJF) and have a couple more questions.</p>

<p>What sort of person (just person, non-academically wise) would thrive at Exeter? What’s the reception towards new lowers like? Is the gap between the rich and not-so-rich obvious? Just HOW cutthroat is Exeter? And finally, do you know anything about the debate team?</p>

<p>AHH SORRY I HAVE SO MANY. Thanks a lot!</p>

36

<p>Oops, I saw this just now.
First of all, congrats on your acceptance!!</p>

<p>Anyone who is honest and simply… REAL would thrive at Exeter.
Until now, you’ve probably been going to a day school, spending
time with even your closest friends maybe 6-8 hours a day (that’s a normal
school day.)</p>

<p>At Exeter, or any other boarding school, you LIVE with the people you are closest to 24 hours a day. Obviously you get to know your friends and teachers better and your friends and teachers get to know you better–as a PERSON. </p>

<p>Before, you might have been able to hide some of your flaws from people around you.
You might have been reluctant to admit you could be outright wrong at times. By going to boarding school, you’re hurling yourself into a place where you’ll be completely exposed. People will see your flaws since you’ll be living with them 24/7 for the remainder of your high school career. I’ve found from my Exeter experience that
some people are simply not good at this–being true to themselves, simply being themselves. </p>

<p>Exeter loves people who are sincere, people who are real. It’s quite possible that you, yourself, might not even know WHO you really are. To be honest, I’d never dissected myself and studied my own characteristics and personality until I got to Exeter. Until then, I thought I knew everything about myself. At Exeter, I discovered flaws in myself that I had never seen before, flaws that I was only able to see because of the people I literally LIVED with. As long as you are REAL and don’t try to be something you’re not, you’ll thrive and grow. </p>

<p>As for the gap between the rich and the not so rich, I don’t know what to say because i’ve never really seen or felt it at Exeter.
Also, reception towards new lowers is generally great. Obviously, there are 200 rising lowers who have already been together for a whole school year, but that doesn’t mean anything. In fact, you’ll find and become very close to the 50-70 new lowers just like yourself. </p>

<p>Finally, the Exeter debate team is very well known for its professionalism. I’m unfortunately not in the debate team, so I can’t tell you much. All I can say is that the debate team sweeps competitions in New England and has a very, very, very rich and long history. </p>

<p>Hope this helped…</p>

37

<p>I’m familiar with the rituals preceding A/E Day (e.g. Exeter Geek Day) from the blue side since one of my kids attends Andover. Now my second child is going to attend Exeter and I’m wondering, besides eating red food, are there rituals that ridicule Andover?</p>

38

<p>One more question. My kid just asked me if jeans (not ripped) are acceptable in class?</p>

39

<p>Yeah you can wear jeans as long as they aren’t ripped.
For E/A we get to be out of dress code that friday as long as we’re wearing red. We have a bonfire and then a pep rally where we get pumped and stuff.</p>

40

<p>Exeter always emphasizes that Exonians not put Andover or any other school down, ever.
It’s an unofficial “rule” that I very much respect and follow.
If anyone has noticed that when asked (during a tour or during Experience Exeter)
what they think of Andover, Exonians simply answer “Andover is a good school,” it is because of this “rule.” </p>

<p>No one should ever assume from the fact that Exonians don’t scream “ANDOVER SUCKS EXETER IS MUCH BETTER,” that Exonians are dissatisfied in any way with their school. Ridiculing another school (not just Andover) is simply against the school’s values.</p>