As mentioned before, the Harkness system. I learned so much more that way, and things got explained. Plus, the teachers are SO good about getting extra help. Exeter is extremely challenging academically, which I loved, but of course I couldn't understand everything the first time, and my teachers were always there to look over another draft of a paper or test corrections.

The random bad teachers. I promise you that there aren't a lot, but basically one in every department that you don't want. Some were just too hard (i.e. the whole Latin department) and some I swear I taught them more than they taught me. The environment wasn't TOO competetive but some people were just too stressed about everything. I had to learn to take things at ease and that there was more than getting an 11.

I didn't really participate in sports except for the swim test, "Prep Spaz"(intro to all sports basically freshman year), and dance, but I'm still amazed at the sports we have. We have everything from lacrosse to water polo to ice hockey, and if we don't have something you can like, usually you can do an independent sport. I've had friends who did rock climbing and horseback riding as their sports outside of school.

Nothing, really. The coaches as far as I know were great. I didn't hear too many bad things about athletics.

So many classes that I wish I had taken! We have our own ceramics and photography studios, along with paint and sculpture. I wish I could have taken a lot more art classes than I did in my four years. The teachers are awesome too. They teach you a lot and really appreciate art. Our music department is absolutely incredible too...you want to learn a certain instrument, they'll find you a teacher for private lessons. (theatre's good too!)

I wish I knew more about it, but they are kind of secluded in their section of the Academy Buildling. They are working on getting out there more and they had an art open house in the spring to let people know what they offered.

There were so many to choose from! We had ESSO, a very very large community service program, with many clubs in it, including SPCA, which I headed last year. Also, for other clubs, as with anything else, if there wasn't one, there could be one, with you as the head!

I just wish I had more time to do them.

God, so many things! I guess the relationships I formed. I know that some of the people in my dorm I'll keep in touch with for basically the rest of my life. The faculty in my dorm also. The relationships made are SO strong, it's incredible.

Truthfully? In all girls' dorms, we tend to feed off of each other's emotions, if you know what I mean. We'll all be really nice OR in a horrible mood at the same time, causing mini dramas within the dorm. Luckily, those don't usually last.

One of the dining halls was connected to my dorm, which was EXTREMELY nice, and the dining hall people were really sweet. Every Sunday and Wednesday morning people are there to make homemade omelettes, which are SOOOO good.

Sometimes the food could get really repetitive. Like chicken, it seemed almost every day. End of the term meals suck, because they have to use up everything.

Although freshmen(aka preps) get crap, of course, there seems to be a strange respect for them. They get away with the excuse of "they're just preps" when they make mistakes, and we get to see the changes that we all made. Plus, everyone is friendly and says hi on the paths. Fitting in, especially the first year, is easy. I started hanging around with people in my dorm, then classes, then outside of classes. It sort of spreads out that way on its own.

We are pretty diverse. State-wise, there is a student from every state except South Dakota or something like that. Im not sure about the ratios of African American or Native American or international, but there is definitely a lot of diversity.

There are always things to do on campus, like hypnotists, comedians, bands, etc....Grill Bingo was always my favorite. But if you want to get off campus, there are movies and dinner downtown, a bus to the mall and movies, and on long weekends, sometimes a bus to kittery. other than that, sometimes just movies in the dorms or dances were what I would do.

Students went into town all the time. Although some townies could be sketchy in the random alleys at night, everyone was friendly, and there was plenty to do...and eat! There is an old- fashioned movie theatre downtown, along with all sorts of resturants, hair salons, ice cream, gift shops, and more. And it is really pretty.