<p>As a rising upper at Andover, i'm going to try to give you some advice that I wish I had been told as an incoming freshman:
1. Play a team sport fall term! It is an outlet for making friends outside of class. I did Spinning, a LIFE sport, and I met nobody.
2. Get involved soon. Don't wait until lower year to join clubs. Leadership positions end up going to people who got involved and made connections quickly.
3. Work hard, but don't kill yourself. Freshman grades matter, but not nearly as much as establishing yourself socially does. Make good grades, but don't burn out.
4. Take 6 courses all year. Get your requirements over with.
5. Be yourself. Put yourself out there and be social, but don't freak out if you don't meet your best friends in the first month of school. Even though it may not seem like it, "freshman fallers" are ALL wearing masks. Everyone wants to look like they are friends with everyone. But it doesn't last- hence the term "freshman faller". I didn't really establish a concrete group of friends until freshman spring. and it was FINE.
6. Don't freak out the first time you score in the seventies. And don't fool yourself into thinking it won't happen. a few bad grades are inevitable, but just remember that you are still just as smart as you were in middle school. Don't get down about yourself.
7. If you are a girl: When a boy asks you to dance, he means grinding- not slow dancing.
If you are a boy: Don't hook up with every girl you see. That's just not cool.
8. You will not be the only one freaking out about the workload. Especially freshman year, EVERYONE is overwhelmed with the new amount of homework. But Andover students have a weird mentality that if they appear overwhelmed or stressed, they will seem weak. Find an adult you can really talk to- a house counselor, teacher, your advisor, etc. It helps!
9. pack fans for your dorm room. The dorms don't have air conditioning, and they blast the heat in the winter.
10. During Orientation weekend: AVOID TALKING ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS! Do not, under any circumstance, ask someone their SSAT score or essay topic. Be friendly, but don't feel the need to put up a facade. Remember, everyone is nervous.
11. If you can, buy your textbooks on Amazon instead of at the Andover bookstore. It can be a bit of a hassle the first few days/weeks because Amazon sellers have various shipping methods, but most teachers don't care if you have your textbook the first few days of the year. If you feel okay borrowing a classmate's book the first few days, buying off of Amazon will save HUNDREDS of dollars. The Andover Bookstore is ridiculously overpriced.
12. Stick to the 11 pm bedtime. It will teach you to do your homework more quickly.
13. If you are going to do your own laundry, bring TONS of quarters. Each load is 1.25 for the washer and 1.25 for the dryer. </p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions! Whether its about the clothes people wear or the difficulty of the classes, I want to help!</p>
<p>thanks so much for this list. it is very helpful. I have a few questions for you.</p>
<p>1.) Is cycling a weird sport? Does no one do it? The pictures of the team on the website make it seems like only a few random people do it…?</p>
<p>2.) What are the different dances and parties that happen. You mentioned grinding vs. slow dancing… are there a lot of parties that are grinding type of parties?</p>
<p>3.) Were you ever cold in your dorm room. Do I need a heavy blanket?</p>
<p>4.) Where do hookups happen? (different genders in dorm rooms are not allowed, right?)</p>
<p>5.) Where are you supposed to sit during the first few meals? With your roommate? </p>
<p>^ don’t mind if i step in right? I’ll add to the list as well.</p>
<p>-cycling is done by a few people, it’s just that it’s not that well known/people aren’t able to watch competitions. I know a couple of people who do it and they’re happy with the experience. The head coach was my house counciler and was an awesome dude.</p>
<p>Dances are generally grinding dances. Slow dancing only happens at formals once a term, and even those dances have grinding. You’ll realize,however, that you won’t want to go to every dance, as the majority aren’t that great besides the big ones.</p>
<p>Bring a heavy blanket just in case. It can get pretty chilly, esp in the early morning</p>
<p>Hookups happen in the most random places (library, the great lawn, bird sanctuary, development room, art studio, chapel, theater, dorm rooms, common rooms, baseball dugout…) and opposite gender visits = ok as long as you abide by room-visiting rules, which differ from grade to grade</p>
<p>You sit with the dorm/orientatjon group (your hall basically). If you play your cards right, you’ll be sitting with a group by the end of the week. Generally, freshman take up two large tables in commons and literally sit on top of eachother.</p>
<p>1) if you can, take the hardest classes you can. If they’re too difficult, you can always go down a level. By completing these tough classes, it opens up more opportunities for the future.</p>
<p>2) be social. Freshman year really isn’t all that important. Jut maintain good enough grades to satisfy yourself.</p>
<p>3) try new things. Just do it! This can be clubs, classes, sports, etc.</p>
<p>4) make an effort to be friends with peiple outside of your dorm.</p>
<p>5) do homework on friday. You’ll be able to enjoy sundays if you do so. Do just a subject or two and that’ll help TONS.</p>
<p>6) use commons. Don’t drain your bluefard with den food/delivery. Only do so for emergencies aka pa fried fish dinner…</p>
<p>7) on top of buying online, but USED textbooks. They often have helpful notes and such!</p>
<p>8) don’t show off money/your skills. You may think people care, but in reality, it makes you look like a brat. Just be modet and keep to yourself.</p>
<p>7)be friends with day studets! Their cars will save you from insanity on the weekends.</p>
<p>8) if you don’t like a teacher, don’t be afraid to request for a teacher-change, esp. If in the math department/science (they’re generally more lenient on teacher changes).</p>
<p>9) be open minded. Nobody likes a stubborn person who preaches their sermon without listening to the feedback.</p>
<p>thank you so much for answering my questions!</p>
<p>I have some more… I could come up with questions all day…</p>
<p>1.) Laundry Service. Does it come back shrunken or messed up? Does it come back folded or hung up or in a bag?</p>
<p>2.) Do you need parental permission to get a parietal? If not, do your parents find out?</p>
<p>3.) I head that parents find out if you are caught hooking up with someone…? If not, then what kind of things will be told to parents?</p>
<p>4.) If you have a three room double, can you keep the door leading to the hallway open, but close the door leading to your individual room? Seems like this is a loophole.</p>
<p>5.) Do Andover students ever have time to unwind during the school week? I usually plop down on my bed and waste time on my computer for half an hour or more when I get home from school. Do students there ever get to do that?</p>
<p>6.) Are there a lot of couples? Do they last? Do they go on dates off campus?</p>
<p>1) sometimes. E & R is notorious for messing up loads sometimes and damages clothes or delivers them to the wrong dorm, or loses them. Clothes that are dry cleaned and/or pressed are hung, while others are folded and put into the provided bag.</p>
<p>2)no and no
3)only if you’re having sex
4) door rule applies to the door leading out and the door to whatever room you’re in (seniors can close door, uppers can have the door “ajar”, and lowers have their doors fully open.)
5) 20-30 minute break is generally the norm. I usually do that after dinner and just take a short nap before hw.
6) there are quite a few (more than my fingers) and some last, some don’t. All depends on the dynamic of the relationship. And usually they just go down town, to boston, to the movies, parietals, or just hang out on campus (plenty of space lol).
7) they’re bearable to say the least.</p>
<p>Oh sorry. One more question. How many activities do you think would constitute as too much to handle. Does the “Choose 2- Sleep, School, or Social Life” apply at Andover?</p>
Andover2015, I totally agree with you about #6. When I was in junior high I was one of the top students in my school and rarely had to study to achieve an A. When I arrived at Andover I suffered quite a blow to my ego, because EVERYONE there was at the top of their class! Needless to say, I was horrified when I got a 2 in my Chem class junior year (on a scale of 0-6). Nonetheless, I soldiered on and eventually found my niche, resulting in the best four years of my life. Future students: be prepared to study HARD at BS, and remember that you will no longer be a big fish in a little pond. However, keep this in mind: it is better to be challenged than bored with your schoolwork. This will help you prepare for life at a top college.