<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I went to Exeter. I transferred in as an Upper (11th grade). </p>
<p>I had a lot of reasons for wanting to go to boarding school. But, several of them seem similar to yours. </p>
<p>I had grandmother, great aunt, and mom who could teach me anything, and often helped with my work…I did do my own work, but at the time, I often wondered how I would do if I couldn’t ask them question or have them make things interesting when I had a bad teacher…or proof my papers, etc. So, part of wanting to go to Exeter was to see if I could do it on my own, without them there to help.</p>
<p>Partly, was also wanting to get out of the house, be own my own…</p>
<p>But, the most important reason was that I wanted to learn, and I thought Exeter had an incredible course curriculum…it was like college, and most importantly it had the Harkness system, which you mentioned being attracted to. You aren’t just sitting listening to a teacher lecture…however, it puts part of the responsibility for the class on your shoulders…the teacher guides…but it is up to the students to be prepared and delve into the subject…I loved how that transformed math and science for me…There weren’t textbooks, just problem sets, and you used the math your already knew to figure them out, as best you could. Then, you came into class and discuss how you approached it, where you got stuck, and then saw how other people did it…and at the end of class, you discovered that the class had proven the such and such therom or theory…instead of of being told the theory and assigned 20 problems to plug and chug with…Same thing with science labs…we weren’t given instructions or procedures…we were told we want figure out such and such…and asked how do you think you should do it? What test should you run? what measurements should you do? </p>
<p>You learn to think for yourself</p>
<p>I think it is important that you love learning to be successful at Exeter. </p>
<p>The teachers and your fellow students can help…but you really do need to have self-discipline…Looking back now, I wish I had had more self-discipline back then myself…but oh well…I still did fine. </p>
<p>To your part about repeating 10th grade, I had a friend at Exeter who did that…She came in as a Lower, even though she had already completed that year at another boarding school…I think in Germany.
So, it is not unheard of thing, nor was it considered a negative thing. </p>
<p>Part of me thinks it would be nice to do that…get 3 years at Exeter instead of 2…and you would be the same age as a PG when you graduated…no big deal…and three successful years at a school like Exeter would help off set what apepars to be a year of not so decent grades…(but that might present a problem for your application to Exeter or a similar school.) </p>
<p>I will warn you…Exeter is demanding…you have to be prepared to work very hard. I have gone to an Ivy League school, a large State University, a small private university, took some fun classes at the local community college…and nothing compares to the educational environment of Exeter. That might be in part be due to the age you are at the time and the intimacy of the community that college can’t quite replicate. </p>
<p>But, if you do want to apply for next year…you really need to get working on your application. I, myself, didn’t decide to apply until mid to late fall…I took the SSAT in December I think…and I was getting a late start.</p>
<p>I think boarding school is an incredible, enriching experience…I had so much fun. I would recommend it to anyone, and it is definitely different than going to a local private school no matter how excellent.</p>