Exeter Admits 17% of Applicants
On Friday, Mar. 10, a little over four hundred students from all over the country and around the world opened their mailboxes to receive very exciting news: acceptance to Phillips Exeter Academy. Many Exonians still fondly recall the day they received their acceptance letters, tucked in a red folder with the word “Welcome” written across the top in big white letters. Decision Day, for many, is a very special beginning to a journey at the Academy.
“These kids are going to have choices and we want them all to see just how incredibly powerful Exeter is. It’s no longer about admissions; our job is done. It’s all about the students and faculty.”
This year, Exeter received a seven percent increase in the number of applications—a record. “Nationally, applications to independent schools are down. So for us to even be equal to the number of applications last year, let alone have a record increase is incredible,” commented Director of Admissions William Leahy. He attributed the upward trend to Principal MacFarlane’s leadership and her vision for the future as well as an increase in outreach efforts made by the admissions team.
In addition to the members of the Admissions Office, the greater Exeter community contributes to the application review process. According to Leahy, every application is read by at least one member of the teaching faculty who is not part of the admissions department. “Their job is to help us with those decisions that we want further discussion on, and they help us make some really hard choices because we have just so many qualified candidates,” Leahy said. “It’s very much a Harkness moment in the committee meeting. It’s really important to have faculty involved in the reading of the files because they bring a different perspective.”
Math Instructor Stephanie Girard has served as a member of the faculty panel for about ten years and reads an average of 100 application folders every year. She describes an ideal applicant as someone who is not only “academically qualified,” but has also “demonstrated sound moral judgement throughout their young lives” and will “bring something to the community of value outside the classroom like sports, arts and social service works.”
Chair of Physical Education William Glennon, who has been involved with the admissions process for about two decades, echoed Girard’s sentiments. He believes a prospective Exonian should embody academic achievement, goodness of character and a passion for the Academy. He seeks candidates who harbor a variety of extracurricular interests and have proven themselves to be leaders in their previous communities.
The sheer quantity of applicants this year resulted in a highly competitive selection process, yielding an acceptance rate of 17 percent. Leahy described these students as “intellectually curious individuals” who come from 43 states and 21 different countries, representing extremely diverse educational backgrounds and interests. Grade distributions among these prospective students amount to approximately 270 preps, 90 lowers, 40 uppers and 43 seniors and postgraduates for the next school year. Of these, roughly 80 percent have been accepted as boarding students and 40 percent of the new families have been offered financial aid.
Next week, the community will be welcoming a large majority of these prospective students to campus for Experience Exeter, which will span from Monday through Friday. Revisit days serve as an opportunity for prospective students to spend a full day shadowing current Exonians, while parents can tour the campus and attend various seminars about different aspects of life at Exeter. Leahy said that he will not be making any significant changes to the Experience Exeter program, particularly because this is his first year at Exeter. “I don’t want to change something I’ve never seen. I’m excited to go through it myself,” he said.
The morning will begin with a formal welcome by Leahy and Principal MacFarlane, followed by a student panel during which the visiting families can interact with current students in a question and answer format. The afternoon portion is designed to be casual and allows families to spend time meeting faculty members from various departments, attending classes or exploring other parts of campus based on their specific interests.
“These kids are going to have choices and we want them all to see just how incredibly powerful Exeter is. It’s no longer about admissions; our job is done. It’s all about the students and faculty,” Leahy said. He emphasized, however, that the ultimate objective of the revisit day program was transparency. “My goal is that people walk away and they know clearly whether or not they want to come. It’s not about convincing people to come—it’s about being clear in regards to who we are so that our families can make the most informed decision possible.”
Leahy believes Exeter’s unique teaching philosophy and the diversity of the community causes it to be “quite easily seen as a very distinctive school.” Glennon described one of the Academy’s strengths as its opportunity for “collaborative learning” and hopes prospective students will recognize Exeter as a place where they can “develop leadership qualities” that will help them to succeed in the future.
For the admissions team, the focus will now turn to effectively communicating information about Exeter to admitted students and their families. This effort will reach its peak in the coming weeks when prospective students converge on campus for Experience Exeter.