You know you’re at Exeter if…
Phillips Exeter Academy
A home that happens to be set on 675 acres just 10 miles from the Atlantic coast and a five-minute walk to a train that takes you to Boston in less than an hour. In other words, you feel at home in the world.
Phillips Exeter Academy
You feel a strong sense of belonging.
You feel it in the smaller communities within our larger community: clubs, dorms, classes, athletic teams and more than a dozen cultural affinity groups. And you feel it in campus wide gatherings like assembly talks, Academy Life Day, International Day, Exeter/Andover Weekend and more. You’re here for a reason, and your voice is an essential part of a larger chorus.
Your friends are fabulously different from you.
Our 1,106 students come from 42 countries and 44 states — from major cities and one-stoplight towns, from remote villages and family farms. They have stories you’ve never heard, they think in ways you’ve never thought, they have interests and passions you’ve never considered. Living and learning and working with them is, in the deepest sense of the word, an education.
You grow with your dorm.
Every student belongs to one dorm during their time at Exeter (and beyond!). And every dorm includes students of all ages. So within every dorm, there’s a constant cycle of growth and renewal: Younger students learn from older students, then grow into older students who mentor new students. And then, after they graduate, they feel a lifelong sense of loyalty to their dorm community.
You’re trying out for a sport that you hadn’t even known was a sport until you got here. We offer 20 sports, most of which have JV teams and a varsity team. So you can play at any level, including the “Why are two people using skinny racquets to hit a tiny ball in a white box?” level. The general spirit here is: Try something new!
The most popular club on campus is dedicated to service.
It’s called ESSO: The Exeter Student Service Organization. Every year, about 700 students participate in (or supervise, or coordinate) an ESSO program. One of our mottos is non sibi — “not for self” — and we’ve lived by it for nearly 250 years.
There’s a song in the air.
Which tends to happen on a campus with six a cappella groups, 15 chamber groups, three orchestras, four choirs and two jazz bands, and where 50 percent of students take music lessons in one of more than 30 instruments.
You’re learning (or hearing) a new language.
This is a multifaceted, multilingual community. We offer instruction in 10 languages plus study programs to international destinations where you can practice and expand your language skills.
Your teachers know you as a complete human being.
Because they might also be your dorm parent, or your coach, or your adviser — or they’re in close contact with those people. They listen closely to your ideas, give you the skills and guidance you need to meet your most ambitious goals, and help you imagine what’s next.
And there are 12 or so seats around it. And it has a name — the Harkness table — which is also a way of engaging with the world. A “Harkness conversation” is shaped by the people who are having it, depends on mutual respect, and calls on everyone to listen closely, think in new ways and wrestle with big ideas.
The people are uncannily kind.
You sense it as soon as you step on campus. And it only becomes more profound.
Phillips Exeter Academy
You find yourself falling in love with a library.
The Academy Library is a modern architectural landmark (designed by Louis Kahn, if you’re interested, which you probably are, which is another way to tell you’re at Exeter), but it’s also an awe-inspiring place to meet and collaborate and just… be. It’s got reading lounges, a ground-floor common area with cozy seating, more than 381,000 print and electronic volumes, and a general sense of wonder.
You’re learning science by doing science (at a very high level).
You’re using a Design Lab (robotics, woodworking, 3D printing), one of three domed observatories, a 900-gallon tropical marine aquarium, a biology wet table, and sophisticated labs and equipment. Oh, and you’re working alongside inspiring, accomplished teachers.
You’ve got stars in your eyes.
About 25 percent of our students collaborate on theater productions. More than 15 dance clubs are rehearsing and performing. And everyone has access to our Goel Center for Theater and Dance, a 63,000-square-foot state-ofthe-art facility that includes two theaters (including a 350-seat mainstage with an orchestra pit), two dance studios (including a 119-seat performance studio), a scene shop, a costume studio and technical galleries.
You feel as if you have your own team.
Multiple adults and students — advisers, proctors, deans, coaches, teammates, student leaders — form a support structure around every single student. It’s Exeter’s way of making sure that you’re engaged, connected and thriving.
Phillips Exeter Academy
You know what “youth from every quarter” means
and why it matters so much. It’s part of our founding mission: to educate students from the broadest possible range of backgrounds. That’s why we have a need-blind admission policy; why roughly half of our students receive financial aid; why we meet 100 percent of admitted students’ financial needs; and why we provide more than $1 million in non-tuition support to help pay for books, laptops, travel, music lessons and more.
One of your favorite things to read is called Courses of Instruction.
It’s our annual guide to the courses we’re offering — usually about 450, in subjects as vast and various as the world: 3D design and African drumming, American capitalism and animal behavior, sports and witchcraft and app development.
You’re starting a club.
Our current list of student-run clubs and organizations is around 150, but the number changes every year because our students change every year. If they get passionate about something, they’ll tell their friends about it, and those friends tell other friends, and suddenly they’re running a club.
You’re a regular in town.
Meaning you find a place in the town of Exeter that feels like your place — the Water Street Bookstore, the legendary local ice cream shop, the adorable place that serves grain bowls and smoothies. It’s all walkable from campus.
You want to see the world.
We offer 31 off-campus programs on five continents (sample: Delhi, India; Hawaii; Hong Kong; Rome; Yellowstone National Park). They often involve service, research, and community building; they often include Exeter faculty or other Exeter students; and they’re frequently life-changing.
Everyone has somehow agreed to call the café in the student center “Grill,”
even though it is clearly named “The Grill.” Somehow, like every other part of being here, it just feels right.
Facts!
1,106 students from 42 countries and 44 states
80% boarding, 20% day
57% students of color
10% international students
Need-blind admission policy
100% of admitted students’ financial needs met
About 45% of students receive financial aid
$1 million in non-tuition support
$56,135 average financial aid grant for boarding students
$37,770 average financial aid grant for day students
$0 tuition for students whose families have incomes of less than $125,000
12 students in the average class
450 courses
Phillips Exeter Academy
10 languages taught
8 faiths observed in Phillips Church
20 sports
150 clubs and organizations
100s of theater, music and dance opportunities
700-acre campus
10 miles from the Atlantic coast
5-minute walk to a train that takes you to Boston in less than 60 minutes
23,000 Exonians in our alumni network