2 0 1 7-1 8 P R O F I L E F O R C O L L E G E S

PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY is a coed, independent, residential school celebrating 237

Principal
Lisa MacFarlane
Dean of College Counseling
Elizabeth M. Dolan
Associate Directors
Pamela Appleton, Gretchen Bergill,
R. Cary Einhaus, Mark Hoven, Sherry
Hernández, Michelle Thompson-Taylor
years of fostering curiosity and cultivating potential. The Harkness method of instruction, with
12 students and one instructor working together around one table, originated here and defines
our institutional culture. The Exeter experience is infused with critical thinking, thoughtful
discourse and collaboration.
In 1781, our founder charged instructors that “the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth
under their charge will exceed every other care.” Exeter today maintains a fierce commitment to
uniting goodness and knowledge. We admit students from diverse backgrounds who combine
proven intellectual ability and tenacity with good character. We have high expectations for their
behavior. All seniors sign an honesty and integrity statement. We expect them to uphold the
values inherent in Exeter’s founding principles.

Office Staff LIFE AT EXETER: About 80% of our students and 70% of our faculty live on campus. Exeter’s
Laurie Capone, Chelsea Davidson, dorm structure, including the option to live in one of two new “all gender” houses, creates a
Trish Taylor, Cheryl Wheelock special community diverse in its ages, interests, genders and backgrounds.

www.exeter.edu x ccoffice@exeter.edu
20 Main Street
Exeter, New Hampshire 03833
Phone: 603-777-3415
Fax: 603-777-4326
Accreditation: New England Association
of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
ETS/CEEB Code 300185
Exeter students are busy people. Harkness courses are demanding, and classes run from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m. on most weekdays. In addition to their five-course load, all students are required to
participate in physical education. To satisfy the fine arts requirement, many students take music
lessons or perform with choral and/or instrumental groups. Both required and optional events
supplement classroom instruction. Students have access to student-run affinity groups and
service clubs. Two state-of-the-art buildings, a field house and a theater and dance center, will
open this year.
SPECIAL ON-CAMPUS ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES:
Exeter Innovation courses (transcript EXI) promote creativity across all disciplines.
Curiosity and scholarship drive academic innovation at Exeter, and these new experiential
opportunities embrace the confluence of classroom learning at the Harkness table and

1,084 STUDENTS
44 STATES/30 COUNTRIES
43.2% STUDENTS OF COLOR
47.3% RECEIVING FINANCIAL AID
meaningful, immersive experiences in co- and extracurricular activities. Please see the Courses
of Instruction book for detailed descriptions of each EXI offering.
Senior Projects (transcript SRP) allow students to conduct in-depth exploration of a topic
of personal interest. Affirming the school’s philosophy that education takes place outside as well
as within traditional classrooms, seniors may design, with full faculty approval, one individual or
joint project of comparable value and scope to those of an academic course.

213 FACULTY
Field Courses (transcript 999) involve advanced and, in appropriate measure, independent
study in a field of special interest and competence. Qualified students who have exhausted course
21% HOLDING DOCTORATE offerings in a particular discipline may propose a topical field course as part of their program.

63% WITH MASTER’S DEGREE NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Each year our students earn national and international
distinction. In 2017, students won 31 awards in the Scholastic Art Awards of New Hampshire
competition; one senior was a Regeneron Science Talent Search finalist; and another was named
CLASS OF 2018 a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, earning a $10,000 prize for their Scholastic Gold Medal

323 SENIORS
Portfolio of literature and poetry. A rising senior earned a gold medal and placed sixth overall as
a member of the U.S. International Mathemathical Olympiad team, and two students placed in
INCLUDING 39 NEW SENIORS/ the top eight at the national Future Business Leaders of America conference.
POSTGRADUATES
OUR TRANSCRIPT: Exeter uses a trimester schedule. Fall term grades are available

12
in early December; winter term grades are available in early March. Midterm grades are not
available. By faculty vote, class rank is not reported. Grades and grade point averages (GPA) are
not weighted. The cumulative GPA is calculated using only Exeter coursework.

Academic work is evaluated on an 11-point grading scale; a grade of ‘A’ equals 11 points, ‘A-’
AVERAGE CLASS SIZE equals 10, ‘B+’ equals 9, etc. The highest possible grade is A; the minimum passing grade is D-.

5:1
A grade of E equals failure. Students not meeting minimum attendance requirements will receive
a NC (no-credit) in lieu of a letter grade; required courses must be repeated. Students receiving a
low grade may choose (with faculty permission, and with no additional credit earned) to repeat a
course before moving on. Some coursework is taken on a pass (P) or no-pass (NP) basis, including
STUDENT/TEACHER (by faculty vote) all ninth-grade courses during the fall term. Music instruction or participation,
beyond the number of courses that may earn credit (1/3 credit per term), will show a grade of NC.
RATIO Academic distinctions are offered at the end of each term for students earning Honors (B/8.0+);
High Honors (B+/9.0+); and Highest Honors (A-/10.0+). A small number of high achieving
seniors receive early cum laude distinction every October.
COLLEGE MATRICULATION 2015-2017
Our college counselors help students choose
schools appropriate to their interests, where
they can build upon their Exeter educational
foundation. Our student body celebrates a
STANDARDIZED TESTING: Test scores are not recorded on the transcript. Of the class of 2018,
11 seniors are National Merit Semifinalists and 74 qualified as National Merit Commended Students.
SAT
CLASS OF 2017 V: 710 | M: 720 (as of January 2017)

diverse matriculation list, with 99% of AVERAGES ACT E: 33 | M: 31 | R: 32 | S: 31 | COMPOSITE: 31

graduates attending four-year institutions.
20+ students:
U.S.: Brown, Columbia, Chicago, Georgetown,
Harvard, Michigan, MIT, NYU, Tufts, Yale
ADVANCED PLACEMENT: All academic departments offer courses well beyond the normal
secondary school level, which is why we are not part of the College Board’s Advanced Placement
Program. The distribution of scores is: 5 or 4 – 90%; 3 – 7%; 2 or 1 – 3%.

10+ students:
U.S.: Amherst, Bowdoin, UC Berkeley, Carnegie COURSE LEVELS AND DESIGNATIONS: Because no two Exeter transcripts look alike, the following
Mellon, Colby, Cornell, Dartmouth, UMass can be used as a guide to understanding Exeter’s curricular rigor. For all courses, please note: The
Amherst, UPenn, Princeton, Scripps, Stanford, presence of an (*) asterisk or the words “Accelerated,” “Advanced,” “Enriched,” or “Intensive” in
Wesleyan, Williams the title indicate courses taught at a college-level pace often using college texts. Course number
designations ending in ‘1’ indicate an enhanced section; student enrollment is by faculty selection.
5+ students:
U.S.: Babson, Bates, Boston U., Carleton,
Case Western, Claremont McKenna, Colgate,

>60%of 470 10 17
Connecticut College, Duke, Emory, George
Washington, Hamilton, Harvey Mudd, Holy Cross,
Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, UNH, UNC Chapel
Hill, Northeastern, Northwestern, Oberlin,
USC, Swarthmore, Syracuse, UT Austin, Trinity FOREIGN OFF-CAMPUS
ACADEMIC
College, Union, Washington U., Wellesley, COURSES ARE ACCELERATED/COLLEGE LEVEL LANGUAGES PROGRAMS
William & Mary
International: McGill

2+ students:
Beginning with the class of 2017, applicants will present a hybrid transcript combining former (pre-
U.S.: Allegheny, American, Barnard, Bentley, 2016) course numbering with revised course numbering. The change is a result of a two-year faculty
Boston College, Bucknell, CalTech, UC Davis, review to account for the depth and breadth of coursework and to acknowledge the level of intellectual
UC Santa Barbara, Colorado School of Mines, inquiry that is unusual for a secondary school curriculum (see graph).
Davidson, Dickinson, Drew, Franklin & Marshall,
Georgia Tech, Hampshire, Haverford, High Point,
Hobart & William Smith, Kenyon, Lafayette, Loyola
Marymount, Macalester, Marist, U. Maryland,
Compiled using post-2015 course numbering
U. Miami, U. New England, Norwich, Notre Dame,
Occidental, Penn State, U. Pittsburgh, Pomona,
Purdue, RPI, U. Rochester, Santa Clara, Skidmore,
Smith, U. South Carolina, Stevens Institute of
Tech, Texas A&M, UT Dallas, Tulane, U.S. Military
Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, UVM, U. Virginia,
U. Washington, U. Wisconsin Madison, Vanderbilt,
Wheaton (IL), Wheaton (MA), Whitman
International: Durham, King’s College, Oxford,
St. Andrews, U. Toronto, Yale–NUS

1 student:
U.S.: U. Alabama, American International
College, Bard, Brandeis, Bryn Mawr, UCLA,
UC San Diego, Catholic, Clark, Clarkson,
U. Colorado Boulder, Colorado College, UConn,
Cornell College, CUNY Hunter Denison,
U. Denver, Drexel, Elon, Emerson, Fairleigh
Dickinson, Florida Tech, Gettysburg, Gonzaga,
Great Bay CC, Gustavus Adolphus, Howard CC,
Indiana U., U. Illinois Urbana-Champaign, John
Carroll, Kalamazoo, Laney College, Liberty U.,
Los Angeles CC, Loyola New Orleans,
U. Maine, Marion Military Institute, UMASS For a detailed explanation of Exeter’s diploma requirements, including the Classical Diploma,
Lowell, McDaniel, Metropolitan State, Michigan review our online Courses of Instruction: www.exeter.edu/coi.
State, U. Minnesota, Morehouse, Mount Holyoke,
Nazareth, UNLV, UNC Wilmington, Northeast
Ohio Medical U., U. Oregon, Pitzer, Queens FORMER (PRE-2016) COURSE NUMBERING REVISED (2016 +) COURSE NUMBERING
College CUNY, Radford, Reed, U. Richmond,
RISD, Rhodes, Rice, Rose-Hulman, Saint Anselm,
100 Introductory level 100 Preparatory level
Sarah Lawrence, Sewanee, St. Olaf, SUNY Buffalo 200 Intermediate level 200 Intermediate/Advanced level
State, SUNY New Paltz, Stony Brook, Suffolk, 300 Advanced intermediate level 300 SAT II Subject Test preparatory level
U. S. Air Force Academy, Villanova, Washington
& Lee, U. West Georgia, WPI 400 AP Exam or first-year college level 400 AP Exam or first-year college level
International: ITESM Monterrey, Queen’s 500 & 600 Second- to fourth-year college level 500 First- or second-year college level
University, University of Music & Performing 999 Independent field course or tutorial 600 & 700 College major equivalency
Arts Vienna
999 Independent field course or tutorial