Hello,
I was just wandering how tough it is to get into Exeter. Do they only care about grades, or do they also look at the person’s personality and extracurricular work? I am going to apply next year for grade 10. Currently, I am in grade 8. My grades are higher than average (Mostly 6-7 IBMYP) and I am in the Honour Roll, but what makes me stand out is all the extracurricular work that I have done. I am currently a middle school president. I have inducted ideas like: Internet Safety Day, Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math and the Duke Of Nottingham’s International Award into the curriculum. I am also a leader of my school’s Eco Schools club. I have inducted ideas like: Recycling Machines, Compost Bins, Hour Of Saving (We would turn all the AC machines and lights off for one hour everyday) and helped my school achieve the official green flag! I have participated in numerous school plays including: Shrek The Musical, Hotel Escargot, Under The Sea and Murder’s In The Heir. In all I was one of the main characters. I have my own advanced band and we perform at least once a month. I am also a member of the school orchestra, we are one of the best orchestras in all of United Arab Emirates (where I live right now) and have performed on Bill Clinton’s birthdays twice! The subject I am most passionate about is Computer Science. I learned programming myself (Java, Javascript, C, C++ and Python) and I have even designed an app for Hydration and Diet consulting. It is very popular at my school and is even used as an educational tool by my school’s PE teachers. The last thing I would like to note, is that I am a self published author with my book “The Digger” available on all E-book services and can be order as print from my Indie publishing partner. I think I am a great author, because I won numerous notable competitions like the Disney Young Writers Competition.
Do you think I have a chance with all these academics?
PS. I know that the SSAT is very important, but I am still waiting for the exact date and will hopefully take it in June.
This forum is for college selection-you’ll want to head to the pre-college section, where there is a specific subforum for prep school.
Thanks! I’ll change the section right now!
Beforehand, I would just like to state that I am NOT an Admissions Officer–I am a student just like you and I am applying to Exeter this year. Therefore, any information that you find on the website or hear from an AO should ALWAYS take precedence before my thoughts–what I am saying below are just my suggestions/personal opinion, learned from what I have experienced this year when applying.
As a current applicant, what I would recommend for you to prepare for next year’s application season is to 1) Further develop and nurture your passions–this can help you stand out. Perhaps you can enter in some Computer Science competitions as well. Do you have any long-term passions (5+ years)? These can help you stand out as a dedicated applicant if you have been doing a certain activity for a long time. 2) Establish good rapports with all of your teachers, including your principal/guidance counselor. You will be asking them for recommendations next year so have your teachers (especially your Math and English teachers) get to know you and see you both as an individual and a student. I would also advise for you to establish a good relationship with your principal and/or guidance counselor (if you have one). In the Exeter application, there is a School Report which needs to be filled out and it has a recommendation-like format. I’ve read a lot of posts here on CC where other applicants barely know their principal and have only had major talks with them on the day the requested for the recommendation. 3) Be comfortable talking to adults. Your interview is one of the most important factors in your application as this is the stage where the admissions officers will really get to know you as a PERSON. You can do this by getting to know your teachers. Your principal. Your coaches. Your advisors. Next year, you will be counting on them to help you in the admissions process through great recommendations. 4) You will be assigned an AO next year after you submit your “Request for More Information” (this will be the person who “represents” your country–Michael Gary, Director of Admissions, represents all international countries). Build a good relationship with him. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
They do not care solely about your grades. Your grades and SSAT scores, while important in the applications process, only show them that you will be academically able to handle the work at Exeter. They want to get to know you as a person (especially in the interviews). They want to see if you are well-rounded. They want to see a nice kid who loves learning and wants to improve. They want to see someone who is selfless and wants to help others (hence non sibi).
The only thing that I find possibly problematic is the lack of any extracurriculars (sports/athletics). Exeter is big on having a well-rounded school body. Are you involved in any athletics, but just neglected to mention it above?
Are you planning on visiting Exeter’s campus or will you have an off-campus interview? As you are in the United Arab Emirates and out-of-country, it is perfectly understandable that you will not be able to visit campus. However, if you ever do have the opportunity, I would strongly encourage and recommend it. I visited Exeter’s campus several weeks ago and it was definitely an amazing experience. It will change your outlook and view on Exeter–in a good way. When looking at Exeter on the website, it seems extremely intimidating. When I visited, however, I found that this was not the case. It felt more like a high school with a lot of buildings rather than a small, formidable university, which is what I liked. As soon as I walked onto campus, I felt like I belonged there. Visiting campus will give you a true feel of what the school is like and will help you see if the school is a good match for you. If you do end up having an on-campus interview, do not be nervous for it! The interview is just a conversation where the interviewer wants to get to know YOU as a person, and it is not meant to be “interview-y” at all. For me, it felt like a normal conversation with an adult.
Have you had any experiences similar to leaving home or living in a dorm? My Exeter interviewer asked me this question, so it would help if you have had an experience(s) where you have left home for extended periods of time before.
I hope this helped. If you have any more questions at all or would like to ask for more advice, feel free to PM me. 
I recently was accepted and chose to attend Exeter, and thelittlewimmer has a lot of very good points. They seem to want people who have good, strong academics, lots of participation in academic and athletic extra-curriculums, and, maybe most importantly, the passion to do these things. It sounds like you do have this strong drive to initiate and lead projects, which is very great. You may be a little lacking in athletics, but I’m thinking you did not include athletics in your original question because you did not think the admissions officers took them strongly into consideration. All parts of the application process are very important since there are so many strong applicants trying to earn acceptance.