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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]   [quote=Anonymous][url]https://www.instagram.com/phillipsexeter26decisions/?g=5[/url]
You won't find a cluster of more than 2, 3 kids for a same school.  They are steered to a WIDE range of ivy league and plus and top lac schools.
[b]No rat race, everyone finds somewhere they are happy. [/b]
Well done![/quote]

We know the Exeter college process well. this isn't true whatsoever. About 50 kids apply for Harvard each year. About 10 will be admitted, but it's not the best 10 applicants. Usually, it is a combination of legacies, athletes, URMs, FGLI, etc. Exeter is wealthier than most colleges, so they have many scholarship students with great personal stories. During college admissions season, they are heavily encouraged to lean on these stories in their applications.

The counseling process looks [b]very[/b] different for hooked and unhooked kids. A low-income black student with a B+ average could be encouraged to ED to Penn. I've seen Exeter black kids with C's or worse in math class get into Yale over the years. Meanwhile, an unhooked kid with a 10/11 GPA (very strong at Exeter) will be encouraged to shoot for Cornell or Dartmouth ED.

I guarantee you that many of these kid admitted to places like Colby, Tufts, or Wesleyan had Ivy ambitions which were shot down by their college counseling office and they were encouraged to aim lower. Most of the kids are not happy with their outcomes, and many kids feel like they would've had better odds applying from their local public school because the pool is much less competitive. Instead of competing against 50 driven Exonians, they might be competing against 4 kids that aren't that impressive. [/quote]

I know the Andover process well and just so nobody is confused, these are the right categories but let's make sure we know the order. It' snot really about black kid with the B+. That kid will get in every other year, and there are many at Andover. And I've never seen a black kid with Cs in math get into HYP - maybe if it was a C first semester freshman year and now his SAT is a 780 in math.  (Harvard uses questbridge now to get the low income URM from these schools). And legacies and FGLI with a B+ have a little big better odds. But still tough.

Here's who gets into Harvard:  the rower with the B+. the tennis player with a 1480.  the football player with a B average and a 1450. the squash player who isn't a top 20 ranked and has no other EC are all.  the "sailing team" who all get in who are not top 10% of the class. the soccer player who is a good student but a top 10 kid.

It's the athletes guys. Always and always.[/quote]

Yes, and as someone with Exeter/Andover experience, I'd add that top Andover students 5.8+ GPA can get into Harvard, but it's not guaranteed at all. You still need a stellar resume, which calls into question whether Andover matters at all for admissions. [/quote]

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