<p>classicalmama, I have to wonder if it was the same difficult AO for both of our boys?</p>
<p>Every time I read a comment about Exeterâs admissions office or the school in general being âcoldâ I tend to scratch my head. Both of my kids came out of their interviews laughing and the AO was smiling. Granted, it was not as rainbows and butterflies as some other schools, but I would hardly describe it as cold. I wonder if there isnât something about Exeter that makes people nervous in general. This year, when my daughter was interviewing, I noticed the other families in the waiting area. Some of them looked downright terrified, as if their life depended on what was to follow. Other families were smiling and having normal conversations.</p>
<p>I wouldnât describe any of the many school I have visited over the past two years as âcold,â but Exeter was certainly not the least âwarm and fuzzy.â </p>
<p>All that said, Exeter can be an intimidating presence. </p>
<p>SPS was lovely, btw. Thatâs another school that seems to be either hit or miss to most people on their visit.</p>
<p>Our AO at Exeter last year never cracked a smile. The place wasnât intimidating, it was the inmates that were unfriendly.</p>
<p>We found Exeter and SPS to be friendly and welcoming.</p>
<p>We were very pleased with the warm reception we had at Exeter. SPS was far less welcoming and they made us wait for a long time.</p>
<p>Maybe interviewers decide beforehand how the interview is going to be: hit or miss; but it actually doesnât decide fate.</p>
<p>Hi everyone
Itâs me again. I got my SSAT test results back. Here were my scores the first time:
National %ile
Math-99%
Reading-92%
Verbal-94%
The following are my SSAT precentiles and scaled scores.
Iâm only giving estimates of my scores, for privacy, although I did get perfect on my math section.</p>
<p>Math-99% scaled score:800
Reading-55% scaled score:660
Verbal-80% scaled score:710
Overall-85% scaled score:2170</p>
<p>Now here are my recent scores:
National %ile
Math-99%
Reading-97%
Verbal-96%</p>
<p>Again, only estimates for my scaled scores and precentiles:
Math-96% scaled score:790
Verbal-87% scaled score:735
Reading-90% scaled score:715
Overall-94% scaled score:2240
I also did very well on the essay, I feel. I had distinct examples to prove my point and organization through out.</p>
<pre><code> Over all, I thought I did a lot better. What I dislike is that I couldnât keep the flawless math section, but 94%ile overall! Thatâs 10% better than my first attempt! My advice to everyone out there who is taking the SSAT or ISEE or any other standardized test is to never lose focus. Itâs most likely you really know the material on the test, just keeping a clear head is hard. Some times there are distracting noises, or you feel sick about the whole idea of testing, but always concentrate on the questions on the paper for the long hours you take the test. Good luck to everyone else whoâs taking one.
</code></pre>
<p>Any comments?</p>
<p>-Crazy4phillipse (Iâm confident. If only I can stay this ways for my interviews⊠that would help.)</p>
<p>@crazyforphillipse,
My results went up around 10% points as well. Exeterâs average SSAT score is supposed to be a 90%. So, a 94% overall is probably fine.</p>
<p>I want to emphasize that I wasnât dissing SPS; we had contact with a coach that was everything one would hope for from the admission process. I just wanted to point out that these experiences are idiosyncratic and that almost everyone has hot and cold interviews. I think itâs a mistake to then generalize to the admissions office or school as a wholeâI hope I didnât come across as doing that.</p>
<p>Hey Urban, good to finally hear from you again. How are you liking Exeter? Give us some highlights. Did you see any snow yet? :D</p>
<p>No, snow, but Jan. is coming soon. Itâs only been a little snow.</p>
<p>Exeter interview was the best iâve had thus far.</p>
<p>Hey guysâŠ
This is a really quick and short question, but what do students at Exeter read in class? What books have you read? Do they differ from the books that you personally like to read? Are quizzes assigned after every reading?</p>
<p>Just a thought, thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Our experience with Admissions at Exeter was great. My sonâs AO was perfectly matched with him. As I sat and observed while he interviewed, it seemed as though they put a lot of effort into matching each student with the appropriate AO.</p>
<p>Matching AOâs to applicants is next to impossible. There are too few AOâs and too many applicants to make a meaningful match possible (What does matching mean in this context anyway?). It is even hard to find a tour guide or student host who has matching background and interests for certain applicants. You were just lucky that your child was assigned an AO with whom he felt comfortable talking with.</p>
<p>EMama, you sat in on your sonâs interview?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am only a prep and in my english class we had to buy and read a book of poems. After, every poem we had to write a sentence or two about a descriptive part from that poem, nothing too harsh. However, there are some classes that had to buy 4 books like Romeo and Juliet, the Catcher and the Rye, and etc⊠The books are different from the books I like to read, but we are going to read a fiction book thatâs not some sort of classic about the Holacaust in English later this year. About getting the books and the assignments after them, it really depends on the teacher. Exeterâs humanities donât really give quizzes except in the History course I was in, which was the lowest history course. The most you will have after one reading is probably a short essay, but it wonât be everyday.</p>
<p>Seems like your english course load is lower than a public school Honors English I course.</p>
<p>In upper English, we spent at least a month reading Song of Solomon, but we analyzed every last detail and symbol in the book (which it was full of!) We wrote a couple of essays on that book alone, but there were no quizzes. We also dabbled in some poetry and a book of Hemingway short stories that term. Yes, the reading load is less than at a public school, but the focus is on reading carefully, not reading solely to retain details.</p>
<p>angela2010peace: i speak as a new sophomore - in english class, i read macbeth and black swan green, along with numerous short stories and poem collections in the fall. we finished beowulf in between the thanksgiving break and winter break, which is roughly about two weeks! personally, they differ from my type of reading material, but they do appeal to certain elements. quizzes depend on your teacher - my spanish, math and history teachers gave pop quizzes, but my science and english teachers didnât :)</p>