<p>I mean like they're great schools, but so many people rave about them even if they don't go and will never go. Also, half of the kids don't know what they are getting into. Exeter is great and all, but it has just gotten out of hand.</p>
<p>Why does everyone rave about HYP? The reasoning is equivalent to the HADES situation.</p>
<p>Its simply a social construction that determined institutions like these to be viewed as the best. When they are viewed as the best, they subsequently become the best.</p>
<p>I disagree with kids don’t know what they’re getting themselves into. I’m sure e/a doesn’t choose students who don’t seem ready</p>
<p>People always covet most what is rare. Diamonds, for instance, are valuable even though they aren’t rare because cartels limit the supply. A marketing campaign even successfully convinced people they should spend 6 months salary on an engagement “rock”.</p>
<p>Hence, it’s the law of supply and demand. People covet what they can’t have especially when access is tightly controlled to a select few.</p>
<p>it’s funny. I love Exeter, but when I was a student there thinking it was the “best” was more a matter of pride than anything else. School rivalries, etc. But over the years - with the name becoming more known outside of certain social circles, it’s panache seems to have increased. Smart marketing, don’t you think? Even rich people can’t buy their way into the school.</p>
<p>Hence - perceived value. Given Exeter’s endowment and academic resources it’s well earned.</p>
<p>But honestly, those of us who’ve been there, done that truly mean it when we say - find the school that fits. They’re all pretty good within a range. You can’t really go wrong with any on the lists we post here on the boards.</p>
<p>Exeter and Andover are unobtainable schools for most. They are like HYP. People always want what they cannot have. So many people able trying to get in, but E/A are able to select the kids they want out of the group, hence the low rates. </p>
<p>Exeter and Andover are also available to the lower class students if they are admitted, as both schools give out very generous FA. They both have more courses than some colleges. They have unprecedented athletic facilities, that “New England Charm,” talented and passionate students, and a many extra-curricular activities. They also both incorporate Harkness into their classes. Exeter structures every class as a Harkness class. Andover only has some. </p>
<p>I personally chose to attend Exeter because it offered what I wanted and fit me. It felt welcoming and inviting. I am ready for the work. </p>
<p>Yet, there are other schools out there. My cousin attended an excellent, small single sex boarding school and now he is achieving in a great college. It all depends on the student, their passions, their wishes, and their personality.</p>
<p>Something that hasn’t been mentioned yet is their mission statement; Andover’s mission is to educate youth from all quarters, something like that. Because the # of applicants is so high, and by their own admission at least 70% of applicants are outstanding and admissable by their standards, they can pick and choose. My sense is that Andover feels they have a mission to give opportunities to kids who may not otherwise get one. So they are handpicking kids whom they feel an Andover education would make a huge difference in their lives. There are so many kids who are at the top academically and who have national awards and sports rankings, but that isn’t enough. After all the ‘hooked’ spots are given out, i.e. they need an oboe player because the one they had just graduated, and yes, in some cases alumni kids, then they (I know a lot of families are hissing at me), they play “God” and decide who they will give the opportunity to. So it isn’t always the kid with great stats and full pay. Sometimes being ‘disadvantaged’ is a plus. We hear a lot on this board about how FP kids have it “easier.” I’m not so sure. At any rate, most might? agree that you have to have something they need. I think very few (although some here have posted, affirmatively), get in because they are top students and athletes alone. Oh, and you have to be “nice.” :)</p>
<p>I think what makes these two schools special is that they provide a drastically different high school experience than what one would get either from most of the public schools or the “traditionally” small and nuturing private schools. For better or for worse (more accurately, for some it’s better and for others worse), they are a lot more college like. Not only do their structures and management closely mirror the undergraduate colleges of some elite universities, the way the teach follows the model of LACs. The breath and depth of their course offerings plus some of the best teachers a high school could find make them great like no other in academics. Their big endowment and size and quality of the student body make it possible for them to have a great many high quality atheletic and extracurricular activities (e.g. Exeter’s math competition team, Andover’s student-run newspaper, etc.). That’s why if a student is serious about his/her work at one of these schools, work hard and try to make the best out of their three or four years there, they’d be very well trained and very ready for college.</p>
<p>But that’s not all. As some people have pointed out, it is a challenge for the young teens to navigate through the “system”, a big establishment that’s not always runing efficiently, not always fair and full of competitions. Some would get burnt out and a few would quit in the middle. While not everyone is thriving there (then it’s true with any school), most would “survive” and become stronger. That being said, they are not for everyone - many of you made the point, although my belif is that kids are resilient and adaptable. It’s parents’ responsibility to guide, encourage and cheer them on in times of difficulty instead of criticizing and putting more pressure on their already highly motivated children. If the school chooses you based on your <em>real</em> qualifications (motivation, intelligence and past achievements), I say go for it. It’s the deal of high school experience for the talented.</p>
<p>The schools have maintained/strenghened their reputation/prestige through college like marketing campaigns (the low admit rate and high yield help in return). They have been pioneering in increasing their student body’s diversity and providing more financial aid to increase accessibility. Their college matriculation records help too. Not feeder schools of HY any more, they still manage to send 1/3 of the classes to ivies and the like and many more to other top colleges.</p>
<p>And look before you leap as “appearances are deceptive.” Good public schools like TJ have higher avearage SAT scores than A & E. 
At Deerfield and Hotchkiss, you have the same great academics and a close-knit community due to their small size and you will never get lost in a crowd. Come experience the difference and find for yourself what a great high school experience can be!</p>
<p>People always rave about the best -restaurants ,sports teams ,etc .</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s just a social construct. They’re both damn good schools, with resources and faculty that are rare even among prep schools.</p>
<p>How do you know the faculty is rare among prep schools? All I know is a lot of them go from prep school to prep school. Some of the teachers at these schools have previously taught at not so well-known schools, if you read the faculty profiles. These schools don’t even have the highest % of faculty with advanced degrees.</p>
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<p>That’s one indicator that they have great faculty actually–the teachers work their way up the chain. A quick glance at the list of faculty at Exeter shows me that, with one or two exceptions, the faculty without advanced degrees are teaching interns or in physical education, music, and art–where performance in the field often replaces graduate studies–and in non-teaching positions. I expect Andover has similar stats. </p>
<p>That said, there are certainly schools that are more selective and every bit as elite as Andover and Exeter–just as there are colleges outside of HYPS that offer as good or better college educations. I think it’s the historical affiliation with Harvard and Yale that make Exeter and Andover stick out. Just my guess though.</p>
<p>Not everyone has an obsession with these two schools. I don’t. Also, more people on these boards care about them than the normal population.</p>
<p>I think it’s an overstatement to say that teachers “work their way up the chain” in order to teach at Andover and Exeter. Most of my friends consider the “top 30” schools to be pretty indistinguishable in terms of quality, so we’re looking for fit when we choose a job. Some very smart, talented people just want to work at a very small school. To me, it’s like saying that a first grade teacher is hoping to “work her way up” to one day teach high school. In a given hiring year, not every school is offering jobs in every subject matter/specialty. The best teachers on the job market that year are going to take the offer at the school that fits them and the needs of their family best. I think it would be dangerous for an applicant to assume that there is a specific, descending order of greatness in the teachers at the schools they’re considering. </p>
<p>Besides, since I turned down an offer at an ACRONYM school this year to work at a different top 30 school, does that mean I’m not as good a teacher anymore? Rats! If only I’d known! (still wouldn’t have taken the job.)</p>
<p>Why is everyone so obsessed with Yale vs Harvard? Kind of the same thing. Its exclusive would be my guess. I like andover because it was the first BS I really heard of and it clicked I guess. I have no chance getting in but i think its a really neat school. (:</p>
<p>Albion, I agree that A & E don’t have monoply of good teachers. Good teachers are everywhere, just like good students are. All we can say is that A/E have overall great faculty and student body. Many other schoools do too. Compared with students choosing a school, teachers have more to consider when taking a teaching job as it concerns long term (not just 4 years) residence, spouse and kids, etc., on top whether one likes to teach in a small or a bigger school.</p>
<p>Oh wow DA settling for something less than the extraordinary. :D</p>
<p>Invent, I am always settling for something less than extraordinary. As a matter of fact, I only believe in “less than extraordinary”. That’s the way I keep resilient abut setbacks which are unavoidable in life so I wouldn’t be crying over some spilt milk for too long.</p>
<p>Albion–Of course not–as the second paragraph of my post suggested, I wasn’t suggesting that acronym schools have a lock on good teachers (Rats! You’re at a top 30 prep school, and I chose to leave university to teach at a community college in the boonies–I must have hit bottom! ) </p>
<p>But I agree that “up the chain” has a more multi-stepped connotation than I meant. I’ll reword: Exeter and many other top schools tend to hire experienced teachers, which is one sign of teaching quality. . It seems to me that your experience proves my point–though I don’t know where you started, you were recently offered a job at both an acronym and a top 30 school. My response was to the suggestion that because the teachers taught somewhere else first, that meant the quality of teaching is equal. everywhere. </p>
<p>One more thought about the hype…It’s possible that the two schools have simply been written about more. Groton and SPS are both more difficult to get into than Exeter, and as or more “elite,” and yet while some people around here–in the distant land where I live–have heard of Exeter, no one has heard of the other two.</p>
<p>Also I think students like it because both have a fun rivalry and nice facilities since after all that’d basically be the kids home for the next 4 years. I’m not qualified to talk about the teaching although I think it is fair to say there are stupendous teachers everywhere who genuinely love to teach and will try their hardest.</p>