<p>@Parkermom</p>
<p>My D brought her bike (not an expensive one) and rode it daily in the fall to get her from the north side of campus to the athletic fields in time for practice. It is a pretty good hike and she depended on her bike to get her there on time. However, I don’t think she used it much except for that. She was upset one day when she went to get her bike and it was gone (she did not use the lock we gave her). It did show up a few days later. PEAteacher stated on his thread that if you don’t lock up your bike, kids will “borrow” it (and not always bring it back to it’s starting point). That is what happened to her. He claims that there is not a problem with theft of bikes, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable with D having an expensive bike.</p>
<p>For those who want to purchase things once they get to Exeter there is also a fairly new Target in Greenland,(a little over a year old) which is 2 towns over and about 20 minutes from the school (no highway driving required).</p>
<p>A quick question regarding new day students. Does anyone know of any meetings or special plans for day students or do the day students attend the same things as the new boarders?</p>
<p>Day students also have orientation; the new Academy center has lounges/ seating areas/ lockers where day students relax during their free periods, and that also houses clubs and other activities. Since my child did not take part in that, I would check with Exeter on what to expect. The day students mix pretty seamlessly with the boarders, since classes don’t end till 6, they stay for dinner, then clubs and study circles if desired. Day students are popular friends for boarders, since they often invite boarders over, and can be invited to stay in dorms.</p>
<p>Without an advisor to turn to, what would you experienced parents suggest…
The elective S signed up for fall term REL 120 has been cancelled. It’s a class he was really looking forward to and it is full for the other terms. After advising him from your posts to take something other than all history electives next year, he now feels terribly stuck and needs an elective for fall term. How does he find out what might be available to him?
Also, someone mentioned earlier on this thread (and now I can’t find that post) that the math courses problem sets were on the site. I found these and we are wondering if this is just one term, or the full year. The math placement given to S seems way below his ability. It’s been mentioned there is a lot of movement once the students get there, so we are trying to figure out if it is better to take a wait and see approach or try and get him changed to a higher level now.</p>
<p>@PEA2016 - where is your interim advisor? All incoming students are assigned one. You can ask for guidance re: Rel120 and a replacement for that slot. </p>
<p>As for math - let the school place the child. You really do not know how Exeter math works yet - and they do. You cannot fathom how overwhelming prep year can be - don’t purposely try and put your kid into something that may be over his head with everything else going on. The dept will move him if they see fit.</p>
<p>We didn’t find the interim advising all that helpful, and I don’t agree with FAMFAM that Exeter has the first term course selection set up in a way that encourages parents to back off (I think that’s true in future, once the student has their real adviser), so I’ll contribute my 2 cents. What other electives is your son signed up for? An art elective is a great choice for freshman year, and I think comp. sci. is fine too, though some disagree (it’s not like their course load gets any easier as time goes on!) He can’t really go wrong with any of the religion courses–are any others open? </p>
<p>Agree with liddy about math. We thought our kid’s math placement was too low too–but it wasn’t, and it’s much more frustrating to be placed too high. Some kids struggle all term in a transition class, and then end up back, second term, in the same class they would have been in had they taken a half-step down. There are opportunities later to accelerate or test up a level if needed.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear Religion 120 was cancelled, and just when you thought course selection was done. </p>
<p>Art sounds like the best choice for a first term prep elective, or maybe music. My daughter really wanted to take Ancient Greece, and she did first term, and it worked out fine, but there was a lot of reading and writing papers. Unless your child has a compelling interest in a first term elective in history, it might be better to choose something “lighter” to break up the stress, allow kids to meet others outside a traditional classroom setting, and try something new.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest not getting stressed out about math placement. The math Dept. teachers are some of the most considerate, sincere and caring folks at Exeter. They look at the SSAT score, get recommendations for placement from your current math teacher (yes, that was in the recommendation they sent) use the placement test, and try to place students appropriately. There are a LOT of math levels. Once you arrive, your math teacher scopes you out, and many people change levels, up or down. My daughter wanted to try a different level, did so, and returned to the level she had been placed at, very happy about the whole adventure. Students continue to move up and down in math every term. The fall term classes usually branch into two or three different course levels for the winter, for example. Exeter wants kids to do well in math, and be challenged but not overwhelmed. Remember, there is no extra credit on the GPA for taking harder classes. </p>
<p>The level 2 and 3 math problems on the Exeter math page/website are used in the 200 and 300 level classes. Math at Exeter is unique. There are no textbooks. Usual assignment is 8 problems a night. Next day, review how everyone solved them. Algebra, geometry, trig and pre-calculus are woven together; there is no “geometry” class for example.</p>
<p>I agree with classicalmama. For the first term, until DC has their adviser, get involved! </p>
<p>My D wanted to take comp sci her first term, but I convinced her to take an art the first term to ease into things, especially since she would be busy with fall sports. She did listen to me, and took an art in the fall with comp sci and then a history to finish out the year. It worked out well.</p>
<p>I think the transition during the first term can be huge, and D ended up being happy with her choices.</p>
<p>I got an email saying that ART 201 (architecture) did not have room for preps this fall, so I switched to HIS 100. Now I’m slightly worried about my course load; especially if I place into MAT 31X. I’m also taking, English, Physics, and French. And that’s another thing; for some reason, I get the vibe that placing into MAT 31X is almost like a contest in and of itself! I want to take that course, but I’m worried about my overall load…</p>
<p>I got the same email and I decided to just switch to another art course, so that I won’t have as big as an issue with workload.
I’ll be taking a history course in the winter term, and hopefully I’ll have adjusted to the Exeter workload by then. (:</p>
<p>Architecture is a pretty high test art course, so I don’t know that you would have had less rigorous course load.</p>
<p>Expect 40 minutes of work on average a day per class (5 classes)= about 3 1/2 hours. If you use your free periods wisely to do homework (everyone has free periods), do a little around lunch time, and have required study hall anyway 8-10PM you will get it done. 6-8 PM is “flex time” for any additional work if needed, or clubs, or just hanging out. Far fewer Saturday classes have freed up time too. </p>
<p>The class will know if you are not prepared the next day, so you can’t ignore the homework. There are not very many big tests at all. Most papers are a few pages long prep year.</p>
<p>The biggest challenge is that there is so much fun stuff to do; talking with your new best friends who are RIGHT THERE, internet, skype, video games; in short PROCRASTINATION. This is the big challenge for preps - organizing time and actually getting the work STARTED. My Ds roomate socialized during study hours, and started homework at 10:30PM first term, and slept during free periods. She got Ds. Winter term when she structured her time better, grades came way up.</p>
<p>@classicalmama Now I’m kind of thankful I didn’t get put in Architecture. 
Might try and tackle that course later though, because it does interest me.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>I believe there’s a lights out time at Exeter. However, if a student doesn’t manage to finish their homework by then, are they allowed an extension, or how does that work?</p>
<p>The short answer is it depends on the dorm and the kid. The dorm head would do occasional dorm checks in my son’s dorm, but never bothered him if he needed to stay up later. The internet turning off at 11 has been a bigger problem. He’s too tired to stay up much past 11 most nights though.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your responses! Also, what (if any) study hall “policies” are there?</p>
<p>Check in to your dorm at 8, for study hours, but know study hall.</p>
<p>Study hall policies vary by year. I think prep year requires students to be in the dorm studying from 8-10PM on school nights. Groups can get permission to meet in the library for projects. Noise is to be kept down.</p>
<p>It varies by dorm how strict lights out is enforced at 10:30 on school nights, and also by advisor and kid. For example, my daughter’s roommate was eventually spoken to, which helped. If it is an occasional need to work late for a project, permission is usually easily obtained. </p>
<p>During study hours, though, many students help each other in the dorm. Some are better at one subject or another, and asking for help is frequent. It can veer into social time though, as can a student sitting quietly at their computer watching media or social networking rather than doing homework. I think only you can be responsible for getting your work done or not.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot! One last question (sorry! :P); roommates? At first I thought I wanted a single to be safe, but now I realize that I’d probably feel more lonely (and perhaps antisocial?) without a roommate. I dunno, but it just seems much more fun to have a roommate. On my Experience Exeter visit, however, I saw something incredibly cool; a double with it’s own “common room,” and two really small bedrooms, with pretty much no room for anything but a bed, on the side. That way you have a roommate AND privacy at the same time. Are most doubles like that? If not, what happens if you get a traditional double (btw, are there any triples even?), and you don’t really like your roommate? It’s just something that I’m worried about, but on the other hand, I don’t want to be alone. What do you think?</p>
<p>One more thing, sort of a stupid question. We just received our laundry services form. We don’t want to pay the ridiculous $550 laundry fee, although we heard somewhere that 90% of students use the E & R service. Any advice on what we should do? How do people without the service do ironing, etc? Do students ever split the cost or if a friend has extra room in his/her laundry bag, stuff like that? Thanks.</p>