2008 Admissions Stats

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>From Andover's web site:</p>

<p>This year, we received 2,308 completed applications, the largest applicant pool in Academy history. To provide some perspective, in 1996 the total applicant pool was 1,730; in 2001, we broke the 2,000 mark with 2,168. Last year, we received 2,300 completed applications as of March 10th.</p>

<p>The profile of the students admitted in 2008 is the strongest in recent history. Overall, 450 students, or 19% of this very talented applicant group, have been admitted. Academically, most of our admitted students rank in the top five percent of their class. The median SSAT total score is 93%. An impressive group indeed!</p>

<p>Academically and extracurricularly, students have excelled in their current schools and contributed greatly to their communities. They have achieved in the classroom, on the athletic field, on stage, in the orchestra pit, in volunteer capacities and in many other ways. The admission committee had a difficult task in selecting a small number of students to admit from a very talented pool of candidates. We are confident we have chosen an entering class of students who will not only contribute to the Phillips Academy community, but also benefit most from an Andover education.</p>

<p>The admitted group brings with it a diversity of experiences, interests and talents. Twenty-five percent of the admitted students indicated a passion for math and/or computers, while 44 students noted they have a strong interest in science. Ten percent of the admitted group wrote that they love to learn different languages. With nine different world languages to choose from at Andover, these students will have a tough choice to make. (We currently offer French, Spanish, German, Russian, Latin, Greek, Chinese and Japanese and a one-term introduction to Arabic.) Lastly, 55 students are particularly talented in writing. The English department and literary magazine advisors look forward to working with these budding novelists and poets!</p>

<p>The arts and athletics are also well-represented in the newly admitted class. According to our coaches, 184 of the admitted students have varsity potential in athletics. And, after listening to hundreds of CDs, the music department informs us that we have accepted 42 top young musicians from around the world. More than 115 actors and actresses and 57 dancers are among the admitted group—surely they will contribute much to Andover’s 30-40 theatre and dance productions per year. Finally, 71 of the admitted students list visual art among their top interests. We know that they will take advantage of Andover’s extensive art program and the rich resources at the Addison Gallery of American Art. </p>

<p>With a school motto of non sibi, it is no surprise that the most popular extracurricular activity is volunteer work or community service, which was indicated by 51% of the admitted students. The entering class will bring leadership skills as well. Twenty-seven students served as class or student council president, while 98 served as school leaders in other ways. Since active citizenship and knowledge of global issues are such an integral part of the Andover experience, membership in groups such as Model United Nations and participation in foreign exchange or language immersion programs continue to be popular with our applicant pool. Similarly, many more of our applicants have indicated a strong interest in environmental issues than in previous years. We already have a very active Eco-Action Club here at Andover and we are looking forward to expanding its membership with these enthusiastic students.</p>

2

<p>Fun Facts from Andover web site:
Number of applications received for the 231st entering class: 2,308
Percent increase in applications since 1996: 33
Number of states represented in the applicant pool: 47
Number of countries represented in the applicant pool: 59</p>

<p>Largest number of applicants from a single middle school: 38
Number of applicants for whom English is not their first language: 501</p>

<p>Most popular male applicant first names (ranked 1-5): Michael, John, Andrew, Alexander, Christopher
Most popular female applicant first names (ranked 1-5): Katherine, Sarah, Emily, Rachel, Lauren</p>

<p>Number of students admitted: 450
Number of students admitted who have been awarded financial aid scholarships: 176
Total amount of financial aid scholarships awarded to new students: $ 4,861,000
Percent of the student body on full scholarship: 11</p>

<p>Number of states represented in the admitted class: 40
Number of countries represented in the admitted class: 32</p>

<p>Percent of admitted students who attend a public school: 47
Percent of admitted students who attend a private school: 39
Percent of admitted students who attend a religious school: 5
Percent of admitted students who attend a foreign school: 9</p>

<p>Percent of admitted students who identify themselves as Asian or Asian American: 19
Percent of admitted students who identify themselves as Black or African American: 9
Percent of admitted students who identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino: 5
Number of admitted students who identify themselves as Native American: 4</p>

<p>Number of admitted students who play the piano: 107
Number of admitted students who play the bagpipes: 2
Number of admitted students who play the steelpan drum:1</p>

<p>Percent increase from last year in the number of admitted students from Iowa: 100
Percent increase from last year in the number of admitted students from Wyoming: 100
Percent increase from last year in the number of admitted students from Brazil: 100
Percent increase from last year in the number of admitted students from Ireland: 100</p>

3

<p>very nice
could the same information be got for exeter anywhere?</p>

4

<p>What a thorough analysis Andover did! </p>

<p>I think prep admissions for many schools parallel the increases in college admissions. I wonder when it will slow down.</p>

<p>Here is something I found on WikiAnswers:</p>

<p>"In 2008, at many private schools, the acceptance rates are actually much lower than the 45% from a previous post. Record number of applications over the past few years have resulted in a significantly reduced acceptance rate. 2008 is noted as a "peak" year with the number of applications expected to drift downward. I think many schools are both excited about the rising quality that numbers bring and concerned that the new numbers will scare off qualified candidates. Our son applied to several schools . The 2008 stats provided by those schools are as follows:
Blair 700 applicants 120 openings (all grades), 550 applicants 90 openings 9th grade = 16% acceptance. </p>

<p>Episcopal = 600 Applicants 100 openings = 16% </p>

<p>Lawrenceville 1450 Applicants 150 9th grade openings = 11%. </p>

<p>Comment to above: Please note that not every accepted applicant matriculates to the school. If the yield rate is 50% (that is, 50% of accepted students matriculate), then the acceptance rate at Blair would be 32%. If and when I learn what the acceptance rate was this year, I will post it."</p>

<p>This was in the most recent Blair Headmaster's letter: </p>

<p>"Meanwhile, our own admissions continues to set records, as we have experienced another double-digit percentage rise in applications, breaking our previous totals for applications numbers. We now await the decisions of those accepted to Blair, and we anticipate a very strong and vibrant group of new students next year."</p>

5

<p>You think thats bad. College Admission hit a new low at the ivies. I was flitting through the college admissions section of the site and was stunned. Harvard accepted 7.3% of applicants. 7.3%!!!!!!!!!!! That is crazy. By the time we're going to college it'll probably drop another half percent.</p>

6

<p>I think college admissions are supposed to be a little less difficult for 2011 + because there will less people graduating or something. I'll try to find the site.</p>

7

<p>The percentages in post #4 appear to be incorrect as they assume a 100% yield, if I am reading the post correctly. Jonathon: College applications are expected to hit their peak in either 2011 or 2013 depending upon which prognosticators are more accurate. The following years are expected to decline in a gradual--not dramatic--fashion. But, I could be incorrect on both counts.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
550 applicants 90 openings 9th grade = 16% acceptance.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That doesn't mean a 16% acceptance rate..</p>

9

<p>I had no idea that Episcopal had that little of an acceptance rate. But lawrenceville's is just stunning</p>

10

<p>icy and Jonathan - Burb did say in his comments that the real acceptance rates will be higer than those stated in what he was quoting. </p>

<p>I think the basis of the article is that the admissions rates are going down. Even though they are not always correct, I'll be interested to see what BSR reports at the next update. I did keep a spreadsheet (yes, I know, the dreaded parent spreadsheet) of the almost 20 schools that started out on our list and I included the admit % if I could find it.</p>

11

<p>Okay, this is something that has always confused me about this board when they talk about acceptance rates compared to yield. My understanding is the acceptance rate is the # of acceptances divided into the number of applications, resulting in the acceptance rate. The yield is the percentage of applicants accepted by the school who end up enrolling at that school in the fall. </p>

<p>So, in the case of Andover, the Acceptance rate is 19% (450 acceptances divided into 2308 applications.) We don't know yet what Andover's yield is: but it could be 75% or 80%. </p>

<p>*Whatever the yield is--how does that change the acceptance rate? To me, it is still 19%--and that is what Andover will be reporting in future publications, 19%. *
A school like Andover probably has a high yield, because it is so popular. A school with a low yield could be a safety school or one that isn't popular. Their acceptance rate may be 50%, but their yield may only be 11%. They will still publish 50% as their acceptance rate, correct?</p>

<p>So actually, 550 applicants 90 openings 9th grade would = 16% acceptance. However, the yield may be 35%. In my opinion, the acceptance rate is still 16%, and the school would publish the 16% rate. If my understanding is not correct, could someone please explain why?</p>

12

<p>A school wants to have 90 new kids come September.
550 applicants apply.
The school knows that not all accepted students will choose to enroll. Based on past experience from prior years, the school might know that roughly 1/2 - or 50% - of accepted students will choose to attend.
The school accepts 180 kids out of 550 in hopes of reaching a freshman class of 90 students based on a 50% expected yield rate.
So the acceptance rate using the above example is not:
90/550 = 16%
but is:
180/550 = 32.7%</p>

<p>At this point in time the schools know what their acceptance rate is, yet they won't know this year's yield rate until after April 10th.</p>

13

<p>Sorry, Linda, I just reread Burb Parent's post. </p>

<p>scrocks--that's not the acceptance rate, it's the number of spaces they had for each applicant.</p>

14

<p>Thanks Creative. I do understand that logic, but even still, won't the school still say their acceptance rate is 16%?</p>

<p>Harvard's acceptance rate is 9% and their yield is 79%. They don't publish a different acceptance rate based on the yield. They don't say their acceptance rate is higher (but actually it would be, since they don't have a 100% yield.) </p>

<p>This is confusing to me</p>

15

<p>Nope - they should not publish an acceptance rate of 16%. Schools that I know would use the other figure.</p>

<p>Using the Andover figures above, Andover accepted 19% of its 2308 applicants. 450/2308 = 450 acceptees. They don't intend to enroll 450 students in the Spring.</p>

16

<p>I believe Andover releases that information every year. I particularly like the states and countries with "100% increase" in admitted applicants. I noticed that Andover's applications aren't really up that much vs. 2001, but they probably got a big boost from the economy back then. Most schools do not have anything released publicly on admissions, but here are a few I found. The Choate info is from the newspaper and the others directly from the web site. Maybe some applicants have heard stats from their schools.</p>

<p>Choate
This year, Choate released acceptances to fewer than 25% of the 1600 applicants on March 10th. Prospective incoming Choaties hail from 35 different states and 26 different countries including France, Papua New Guinea, Norway, Denmark, and Kenya. According to Mr. Ray Diffley III, Director of Admissions at Choate, this year’s applicants were “stronger and from further afield” than in years past.</p>

<p>Apart from the rising freshman class, 60 new fourth formers, and 25 to 30 new fifth formers have been accepted. Of these, about fifty-five to sixty-five percent typically choose to enroll in Choate. Those who do not enroll at Choate also consider rival schools such as Hotchkiss, Deerfield Academy, Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, and Taft. Many students choose Choate because “in a nutshell it’s the kind of students and faculty that are here now—along with our combination of warmth, academic and extracurricular opportunities, our diversity, our location and our food,” commented Mr. Diffley.</p>

<p>And
Over the years, the admissions department has seen a substantial increase in applications. This year was no different, as applications for the class of 2012 reached the 1600 mark. </p>

<p>Director of Admissions Mr. Diffley said, “This year, admissions saw close to 1,600 applications, from 43 states within the U.S and 41 different countries.” </p>

<p>As the large number of applicants shows, it was a truly competitive year. Mr. Diffley says, “Our acceptance rate this year was under 25%, and it has been our lowest yet. Over the years, it has gotten more competitive- it’s not been dramatic in the last few years- we’ve been around in the high 20s range, but now we are down to 24.” </p>

<p>Each year, the applicants seem to be brighter and brighter. Mr. Diffley mentioned in a school meeting, “…of all the people who were admitted, the average GPA was 3.94. The people waitlisted had a GPA of 3.8, and the rejected had an average of around 3.5. Grades are not the only thing we look at, either… it’s just one of the factors. It just happened to be higher than it’s ever been.” </p>

<p>Many of the students admitted to Choate were also admitted at certain peer schools and thus may end up going to other prestigious prep schools.</p>

<p>Middlesex
The Admissions Office is pleased to report another record-breaking year, as 921 students will receive admission decisions on March 10, a 6 percent increase from last year's record. Given that the School is looking for only 100 new students, the selection process was extremely selective and challenging.</p>

<p>Brooks
on March 10 the admission office sent out decision letters to more than 850 students. The numbers this year are staggering. Admission officers conducted 995 interviews, and applications increased by 7 percent over a year ago. </p>

<p>"Statistically, this was an extremely competitive year," says Director of Admission Kevin Breen. "With more than 850 applications for only 90 spots, getting into Brooks has never been more difficult. We were forced to turn away some exceptional students.</p>

17

<p>Andover did a very thorough analysis...too bad they also didn't include the waitlist statistics :)</p>

18

<p>where on the andover website was this found?</p>

19

<p>Most of the information on Andover is found on the web site by clicking where it says "Newly Admitted Students", and some of the same information was in the NewsRoom section. The posts above appear to be accurate copies.</p>

<p>Yield facts for Andover (from literature and today's visit): They have a 73% yield for all students, and about 83% for those admitted with financial aid (I don't know if this is from last year, or averaged over several years). The Dean of Admission said today that Andover's yield is the "highest among our peer group of schools." Based on the number of people buying Andover gear being sold right outside the auditorium at the end of the visit day, I can believe it!</p>

20

<p>I do think Andover's high yield rate benefits from the very competitive day student demand. My guess is that the day student yield rate alone must come very close to 100%.</p>

<p>The info I posted originally was a cut and paste from the location BrooklynGuy mentions above on the Andover website.</p>