<p>I really think students and parents have to spend some time on campus vetting the “climate” and talking to existing students in person to get a real bead on things. I know of some families who find Exeter (or any other school) “nurturing” and other who don’t. You’d be surprised how much you can pick up on vibes by sitting in on a class, or eating in the cafeteria and observing the interactions.</p>
<p>“Fit” may be a big determinant in whether one finds the campus culture to be sufficiently supportive or not. For the most part, some faculty are nurturing, others are not. And that is true of ANY school on or off the original poster’s list. Some students get a lot of support and the adults assigned to them stay on top of things, and others do not. Certainly I remember mid semester as a proctor having a dorm faculty member ask me the identity of a student walking up a nearby stairwell and I looked at her incredulously and said “she’s one of your advisees.” And recently talked to a parent whose child withdrew because of the lack of proactive support and even made the comment that had the child been assigned to a different person, the outcome might have been more positive. So armed with that information, I took it upon myself to interact with various faculty during my reunion. The parent was right - the “teacher” in question saw me in the hallway, engaged me in conversation, invited me to observe a class project, and then let me help the students develop a design solution. The other teacher (the student’s adviser) ignored me as I observed the class, didn’t stimulate the students, seemed to go through the motions and looked bored. I ran into teachers who exuded joy and made the content interesting, and others who didn’t.</p>
<p>So the operative word is - IT DEPENDS - on you, your advisor, and a lot of other variables on whether a school is nurturing. There is no definitive answer to the question. One person’s paradise may be another person’s (you know where down below). Caveat Emptor.</p>