Prospective Students “Experience Exeter”
A crush of wide-eyed future Exonians take part in their first Harkness discussions during this week’s launch of the annual Experience Exeter event. From March 30 to April 3, the Academy invites prospective Exonians and their families to visit campus in order to engage firsthand in student life before deciding whether or not to enroll. Alongside a student host, prospective students tour the campus, attend classes and forums and meet with faculty from various departments.
“We don’t script, we don’t plan every detail and we just let loose on these days like another normal day so that students can really see what Exeter is all about. We want kids to love Exeter the way Exonians love Exeter.”
This year’s event welcomes 324 accepted students to Exeter, 267 of whom will visit Friday. After a morning welcome from Principal Tom Hassan and Director of Admissions Michael Gary, students and their guardians/parents attend a Student Panel, which facilitates a discussion and a Q&A regarding life at PEA. Each member of the panel represents a cross section of the Academy with the aim of providing an accurate depiction of the student body and student life at Exeter. On Monday’s panel, topics ranged from the amount and the difficulty of school work to issues of race on campus.
Lower and panel member Efia Nuako said that because Exeter is so diverse, the panel was able to provide several different perspectives on the Exeter experience. She added that she wished more questions could have been asked, because many facets of the Exeter experience were not thoroughly covered.
Head tour guide and senior Wyatt Himmer said that while it is possible that the student panels might not be able to touch on every benefit and challenge of an Exeter experience, due to the time constraint, “They tend to have a powerful effect in a positive manner on the various uncertainties and second thoughts that some parents might have about entrusting the school with their child,” Himmer said.
Prospective students were then greeted by their student hosts, who they shadowed for four formats, sitting in on classes or watching sports practices.
Senior Kiyomasa Kuwana said, “It’s not just a individual effort, but a collective one. If I have a sports practice to which my prospective student doesn’t really want to go, I can ask a classmate if he/she can show the student around. This way, the accepted student will get to meet different people and visit various classes in one day.”
While students visited classes, their guardians/parents attended a Faculty Panel Q&A and discussion similar to the student panel, focusing on student life at Exeter from the perspective of faculty. They also visited a class separately from their children. In addition, guardians/parents had several options of what they could spend their afternoons doing, depending on the needs and interests of their children. The afternoon options included information about the College Counseling Office, financial aid, religious services, athletics, theater and music, as well as campus tours and a visit to the Dance Concert Ensemble. Parents/guardians could also meet with members of every academic department as well as the Student Activities and ESSO department in order to ask questions and understand the particulars of the school.
Because of the distances many prospective students had to travel, some students stayed a night in the dorms. Genesis Contreras, a lower in Wheelwright, hosted an potential prep from Baltimore, Maryland for a night. Contreras said that seeing the culture of the dorm and spending time with her friends made it possible for her visitor to get an honest look into Exeter life. She believes that interacting with current students, especially within the intimate walls of the dorm, highlighted the similarities between her visitor and Exonians, which made the school feel like more of a reality.
“I think she really enjoyed it, as she continued to gush about how nice everyone was here,” Contreras said. Head of Admissions Michael Gary sees Experience Exeter as not only an educative experience, but a celebration. He believes in the importance of showing families an “authentic sense of our community so they can make the most informed decision.”
Senior Zach Hamdi also believes in the importance of authenticity. Because of the various stereotypes for which Exeter is known, without a firsthand experience of the school, prospective students may not make their decision based on the reality of the Exeter community.
“The advantage of Experience Exeter is not that it allows prospective students to see classes or sports, but rather that it allows them to see Exeter for the community that it is, one that is much more fun than it is reputed to be,” Hamdi said.
Tour guide and upper Cesar Zamudio mentioned the importance that the day is unrehearsed, so that the day feels natural to the prospective students, unlike other schools that tend to go over the top on revisit days. “We don’t script, we don’t plan every detail and we just let loose on these days like another normal day so that students can really see what Exeter is all about,” Zamudio said. “We want kids to love Exeter the way Exonians love Exeter.”
Himmer also believes that the day at the school is the best reflection that Exeter could provide. “I believe Experience Exeter functions as the most accurate impression of student life we could possibly provide prospective Exonians without having them come stay for a longer period of time,” Himmer said.
Head tour guide and senior Margaret Zhu agreed on the importance of immersing oneself in the school before deciding to enroll, especially when the majority of families have not visited Exeter before this week. “In the end, although numbers or statistics are an important factor in the students’ decisions, their instincts and feelings, felt by being physically on campus, is equally (if not more) important,” Zhu said.
Head tour guide and Senior Erick Friis mentioned the value in coming to the school after being accepted as a great conclusion to the process of applying to high school.
“After months of trying to woo the admissions committee with interviews and applications, the roles finally reverse. Experience Exeter is the day that Exeter tries to woo you,” Friis said.