<p>Well, first off, in response to Prepveteran’s comment about Exeter feeling cold and distant, it’s just luck who your tour guide is, admission officer is, and so on. One person may recieve a warm interviewer, and another may recieve a cold one. Should this affect your total perception of the school? No! Also, Exeter has a heavier workload than Andover, with Sat classes and whatnot. Most people recognize that endowment is a good reflection of graduates’ success in work after graduation. Exeter has a much bigger endowment. Exeter has also superior facilities, with the library having almost 40,000 more books than Andover. </p>
<p>You see, people can name different stats that “makes” one school superior to another school. You could name matric stats for andover, I could name endowment for exeter, and the circle continues. </p>
<p>Andover is a great school, but I’m tired of people like rbgg and timmy2000 who keep shouting Andover’s name as the “best” when it really depends on fit. Some people could argue that Exeter is the “Best”, or Deerfield, or Hotchkiss. Of course in my biased opinion, Exeter is the best of the best :D</p>
<p>No doubt Exeter is a fantastic school. However, I don’t think its by chance that so many people (including us) got an AO who was cold as ice. As a rule, you hear a lot of warm fuzzies about Andover, but it can’t be ignored that Exeter promotes itself thru students and AO’s as “cold.”</p>
<p>Didn’t interview at Andover, but my son’s AO and tour guide at Exeter were both warm and welcoming. It was his favorite interview by far. My husband felt the same good vibe from both.</p>
<p>I really don’t get the purpose of these kinds of comparisons. What’s the point in trying to prove that one great school out of several is somehow the “best”? Start an Andover thread, by all means, but why head the discussion with “cream of the crop”?</p>
<p>For what it is worth, my son and I found found the Andover tour guide and interviewer warm and the Exeter folks cold. That said, we always thought that the PA people were warm and fuzzy with us because my brother, who attended Andover, greased the tracks for us at PA. Maybe not. Maybe PA is in fact just a warmer and fuzzier place than PEA.</p>
<p>Are you folks suggesting that the average 8th grader is going to want to go to a “cold as ice” school, just because it’s prestigious? And why does praising Andover to the heavens always seem to turn into a heaven/hell analogy involving Exeter as the fiery pit (or, in this case, the dark and frozen land of the evil Snow People)?!</p>
<p>Any specifics on what this warm fuzziness actually looks/sounds like? That would probably be more useful to prospective applicants than throwing iceballs at your archrival.</p>
<p>I get what you’re saying classicalmama. But do keep in mind that the actual students at Andover don’t generally do this. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tomthecat say anything negative about Exeter. </p>
<p>If you read carefully, it’s generally parents who throw the iceballs and what I find even more odd, is that it’s not usually Andover parents. I find it very strange.</p>
<p>As for finding Exeter “cold.” OK. That’s a perfectly valid impression, but one that should be a tip off that it’s not the right fit. It may indicate that Exeter, perhaps more than other schools, attracts a particular kind of kid; maybe one who sees qualities that others find cold as somehow endearing. It’s all very subjective. One thing is clear. None of this makes one school better than the other, just different.</p>
<p>My two cents: I don’t think someone can make such broad assumptions about a school as andover=warm, exeter=cold. My interviewer was fantastically warm and welcoming, as were the students I came across on my tour. </p>
<p>Andover’s a great school, but don’t say Andover is the CREAM of the crop when other schools might be just as good as and/or better than Andover.</p>
<p>Well while the value of this thread is questionable, (which could die soon by not having enough responses}, to be fair it didn’t become an argument between A and E fans until exonianforlife jumped in and claimed:
<p>They’re cold man. Out of all our 6 interviews, Exeter was clearly an outlier in terms of ice. I hope some AO takes note. I know it’s NH, but c’mon…no need for them to be such an outlier on the thermometer towards both kids and parents.</p>
<p>Good point, neato–I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people who judged my very warm and loving kid as cold, so temp. may well be in the eye of the beholder-- and benley–though I do think the heading of the thread may have been too much for the loyal Exonian! Nonetheless, the competition did start there, so I’ll do my part by letting this thread go…</p>
<p>Exonian: How do you explain the superior matriculation stats of Andover over Exeter? I guess that big endowment doesn’t translate into better College matriculations. Exeter is a great school but it is a little elitist and stuffy. It is definitely for a certain type of kid as it is evident the moment you walk on Campus that you are “blessed dear child to have the privilege of breathing this rare air at Exeter and if you’re looking for warmth and a smile, pal you’re at the wrong place”. Give me a break!.</p>
<p>Why can’t we just agree that PEA and PA are two of the nation’s top high schools and leave it like that? Why do we have to fight over which one has a couple more ivy graduates or which one has a higher SAT score by a few points?</p>
<p>Scoolwannabe is correct. I hear that about the “elitist” Exeter all the time regarding the distance and coldness from others beside my friend whose son went to Andover instead. In fairness, I have another friend whose daughter attends Exeter and they love it. I hear nice things about the Director funny enough, but the AO’s I hear are something to be desired in the warmness and welcoming Dept. Maybe it’s a contorted good cop-bad cop strategy that’s is sending out the wrong message. They get a big F if you were to tally up the opinions I’ve heard. Deerfield is Preppy also but does not give off the attitude that Exeter does and I’m glad my D will be going there this fall. The kids are no doubt very accomplished at Exeter and hard workers, but that Admissions Office reputation is the title of a Foreigner song, “Cold as Ice”.</p>
<p>Andover and Exeter are very similar in all important ways—size, academics, history, approach (ok, somewhat more Harkness style at Exeter, but Andover has plenty of it, too), resources, school pride. That’s why they are rivals. If Exeter instead of Andover had accepted my daughter, she’d be an Exeter Geek instead of an Andover Slacker and I doubt that would have changed her life in terms of happiness or academic rigor or sleep deficit or college placement.</p>
<p>Prepveteran: Had the opportunity to watch Deerfield play lacrosse a few weeks ago. Exceptional skill on the field, but unfortunately, not an ounce of class / sportsmanship. Expected much better from a school with Deerfield’s reputation. Funny how the actions of a few students can soil the reputation of a school. Best of luck to your daughter at Deerfield next Fall.</p>
<p>Agreed Parlabane. I just hope anyone reading this thread realizes that most of my comments were tongue in cheek and/or were jokes between me and other posters and that those making the extravagant claims about Andover being “cream of the crop” etc, aren’t even affiliated with the school.</p>
<p>The truth is that these are two great schools and any statement about one being “better” than the other is just, well…stupid. A few more students going to an IVY a year or a few thousand more books in a library are crazy metrics to use in determining a school’s “greatness”.</p>
<p>Again, the people that I know in RL from both of these schools, who actually attend and know what’s going on, do NOT make these kinds of silly statements about one being better than the other. Sure, there’s the Andover slacker / Exeter geek joking that lemonade1 brought up but I don’t think anyone takes it seriously. It’s just a part of the rivalry. While you’ll find students who will defend their school everywhere, I don’t think you’ll find many A or E students who would attack the other.</p>
<p>There are some fanatical parents caught up in perceived prestige of one versus the other, but I haven’t found the students and/or faculty at either school to be this way. And to make everyone feel even better about reality versus what appears on an internet message board, the prestige seekers don’t generally get accepted anyway. I said it earlier in this thread and I say it again: Love a school for the right reasons.</p>