<p>Could anybody tell me the difference between the summer program at Phillips Exeter Academy and the one at Andover Phillips Academy? Which one is more difficult to get in? My girl will have completed Grade 8 in the summer of 2012. She did CTY last summer and she is thinking of doing something different next year.</p>
<p>My kids never did these, but I believe one is not more difficult than another.</p>
<p>Post in the Boarding School forums. I know of at least 1 parent whose son went to Exeter summer and then applied & is attending Exter. His summer experience was truly a life changer.</p>
<p>Exeter - wow, what a fantastic summer opportunity - I have been in town when summer session was starting and seen the students in this truly idyllic setting - wealthy, polished, well-spoken select teens. What a gift to send your kid there.
My educated guess is that Exeter is far better than any CTY program.</p>
<p>Neither is hard to get into at all. They are summer, make money programs that don’t have the typical students or teachers present.</p>
<p>In today’s market, kids should attend progams like this for enjoyment sake. The really strong high school kids are spending their time taking classes at colleges not prep schools. They are conducting research, taking an advanced course in physics. they aren’t deciding between an SAT course and horse back riding. CTY used to be for really advanced kids who rarely encountered other kids their level in their home schools. CTY has now joined schools like Andover and Exeter for bright wealthy children whose parents want them to have a “leg up” but who are not particularly accomplished and who prefer the mall to pursuing academic achievements. Andover and Exeter offer fun programs that many kids really enjoy.Yeah, wealthy polished and well spoken but not terrible. Hopefully some day even they will broaden their horizen but until then have fun at the mall and riding at Exeter or Andover.</p>
<p>Oh, get over yourself, academicandall. There are many paths in life. You may find this hard to believe, but many “really strong high school kids” who get into top universities spent their summers working as camp counselors, or lifeguarding at the swimming pool, or waiting on tables - not just going to CTY-type programs or taking classes at college.</p>
<p>My daughter attended the summer program at Exeter. She was a rising 10th grader and young for her grade, so we felt better sending her to the more structured program here than to Brown for example. She took three courses and participated in a sport. The courses were not fluff, but they weren’t super demanding either. But she got a taste of being on her own, managing her own time, getting up in the morning, doing her laundry (by carrying it to town as the dorm machines weren’t accessible in the summer), getting along with a roommate, etc. I feel it was a very valuable experience, she got what we expected out of the program. </p>
<p>One of her teachers (Chinese) was a regular year teacher at Exeter. The others (theater and psychology) were grad students I believe, but also very good teachers. The rowing coach was also from the school year athletic department.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, you make a good point about teens holding jobs, but acad-nall has a good point too. These expensive summer programs at BSs and even at colleges are money makers for the schools. They are not intended to be academic powerhouse experiences nor do they look impressive to colleges because by and large kids get in because mommie and daddy can pay for it. If a student wants to go to spend time with other teens for enjoyment, at some very lovely schools, these programs are fine.</p>
<p>A million years ago, my father was a scholarship student at Phillips Exeter. Half a million ago, I went to the summer program as a legacy invite. My dad gave me the catalog and said all he asked was that I take something that I would never be able to take in regular (rural, tiny) school. So I took Russian, photography lab, squash and archaeology. I had a roommate for the first time. I lived with girls for the first time (I’m from a big family of boys). I LOVED my classes, and did very very well. I met girls from extremely wealthy backgrounds (my roommate was a Choate student) and some more like me. I got to take care of myself, and did a good job. I belonged. </p>
<p>It was the first time I felt like my intellectual skills , which aren’t much more than bully ammo at home, were cherished. My teachers loved what they did. I worked on a dig and did immersion foreign language in a class of 12 people. It wasn’t academically demanding, but it sure was interesting. And what I remember to this day is the end-of-summer dance, when a gorgeous classmate asked this mousy me to dance, and I thought “But I never dance. Nobody asks me, and this is a terrible prank” and I asked if he was sure and he just laughed and said yes, he was sure. Someplace inside me, I saw all the world can hold if we shake off our labels. It sounds corny, but it was really true for me.</p>
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<p>Like greenbutton, I attended one of these programs a half a million years ago. Actually, went twice (going into 10th grade and going into 12th grade.) And, like greenbutton, I took courses that were not offered at my fairly crummy HS. </p>
<p>The summer courses were not overly demanding, but very intellectually stimulating. At that time there were kids from all over the country, and a couple of internationals. I would imagine there are even more internationals now.</p>
<p>There were a couple of the school’s teachers who taught during the summer, but mostly teachers from other places. And teaching assistants. The teaching assistant for my Creative Process class was William Finn (Falsettos, Putnam County Spelling Bee…among others), who was a Williams student, and went on to win at least one Tony award. Not too shabby for a non-school teacher!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I did not have the end-of-summer dance experience that greenbutton had. </p>
<p>I think the summer programs at both schools remain fairly similar, even today.</p>
<p>greenbutton. I’m going this year. Please tell me everything you can about it, you experience sounded magical :)</p>
<p>My kid was a teaching intern at one of these programs. It’s a while ago now–but not half a million years ;)! Some of the students were from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. They had been admitted to a fairly highly ranked LAC and would begin that fall. Instead of running a summer program for these kids, the LAC had an arrangement with one of these summer schools to include these kids in it. They were required to take a writing or math course or both, depending on their area of (comparative) academic weakness. I think it was also just to get them used to being around far more affluent people. </p>
<p>My kid really liked one of the girls. She had some rough edges, but was really smart. She was really working hard on her writing. Apparently, she hadn’t done much of it in high school–it just wasn’t required at her high school. She wanted to improve her skills before she started college.</p>
<p>I don’t know if the LAC still has the arrangement.</p>