PEA Reaches Record Yield For 2018-19

Phillips Exeter Academy received a record yield of 80 percent for the 2018-2019 school year, up from 75 percent in the previous cycle. After two weeks of revisit and public outreach, over 320 students have committed to Exeter. However, this record yield could pose problems in accommodations.

Exeter’s Admissions Office took “a conservative approach” to admissions and accepted only 16 percent of applicants, according to Director of Admissions and Financial Aid John Hutchins. “We do not anticipate admitting any students off the waitlist at this time,” he added.

“All of the boarding students choose their rooms in May. We need to have a solution before then, so that no returning student will have to give their room up as emergency doubles once they’ve chosen it,” Cosgrove said.

This five percent increase in yield may lead to more double rooms for an increased amount of time. Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove is working with Senior Manager of Events and Services Connie Simmons and Director of Facilities Management Mark Leighton to find additional space in dormitories that students can live in. “We’re going to be as creative as possible. Our dorms will be very full,” Cosgrove said.

Even after filling all “traditional emergency rooms,” there may still not be enough space. Some possible solutions include converting intern apartments and common room spaces into dorm rooms or even offering faculty members a financial incentive in exchange for swing rooms from their apartments.

“All of the boarding students choose their rooms in May. We need to have a solution before then, so that no returning student will have to give their room up as emergency doubles once they’ve chosen it,” Cosgrove said.“We’ll try to spread students out equally so no one dorm will take a hit. That’s not fair.”

An email was sent out Tuesday, Apr. 17 to all dorm heads encouraging them to search for extra space in their dormitories. 

In general, however, Cosgrove thinks that the problem is not too serious. “The reality is, we’re pretty spoiled with some of our boarding spaces on campus,” he said. “We have many 180 square feet spaces that are singles.”

Some faculty, however, reckoned that living in emergency doubles or triples can be a negative experience for boarders. Math Instructor Kevin Bartkovich, head of Ewald Hall, said about his experience with emergency doubles, “I’ve seen situations where kids come here on moving day and are disappointed or even angry upon finding out that they have to stay in a double that’s so small.”

Bartkovich continued, saying, “We have a study room, but I don’t see how that can be someone’s dorm room [...] They may also put cubicles in the basement. Of course no one would be happy about that either.”

“There’s an absolute limit for any dorm as to how many kids can reasonably and safely live there,” said Sean Campbell, head of Wentworth Hall, the largest boys’ dorm on campus.

“We don’t have much flexibility [...] The single rooms are uniform in size, there’s nothing I can think of that can be a double-sized room,” Campbell said. “Anything that’s a room is already a room, common spaces are not set up as rooms. That would require complete dorm renovations.”

Similarly, head of Langdell Hall Patricia Burke Hickey said that there’s only one room in her dorm that can become a “bunked double.”

For upper Adrian Venzon, living in an emergency triple in Soule Hall was not a positive experience. He remembered that his two roommates “were always butting heads,” and he became the middle man that they both went to to complain about the other.

“Living in a triple is already tough, and the lack of space did not make it easier,” Venzon said. “I was excited at first when they sent the email but then quickly found out how bad it could be. Emergency triples is a terrible idea.”

In general, students in more spacious rooms do not mind the fact that the rooms were intended to be singles. Prep Sarah Huang in Dunbar Hall even described her time in an emergency double as a “positive experience,” and said, “As a new student, Exeter and even a dorm can feel very large, and a roommate can help you navigate it all.”

To prevent future space limitations, Cosgrove has been pushing for the establishment of another dorm dorm on campus. “As a long-term solution, we do need to take another look at the number of spaces we have on campus,” he said.

However, it is unlikely that this new dormitory will come into being before the next term. Cosgrove explained that it will be difficult to establish another dorm before the start of next year, even if it occupies a standing building, due to a multitude of the codes that the Academy must fulfill to label a building as a dorm. These codes cover sprinkler systems, bathroom conversions, among other things.

Cosgrove regards the establishment of a new dorm “an incredibly expensive short-term solution,” but considering the number of seniors who come back from terms abroad in the spring, a new dormitory building is a possibility for next spring term.

Besides the residential crisis of over-enrollment, the administration is considering the academic consequences of over-enrollment, including class size and distribution. One solution is creating more course sessions, especially the introductory level ones.

According to Dean of Faculty Ellen Wolff, Hutchins held a meeting with Dean of Enrollment and External Relations William Leahy and department chairs to talk about this possibility. “That’s what we do here. If someone needs a class we make one for them,” Dean Wolff said. “It’s great news that so many great kids decided to come here. It’s honestly a good problem to have.”