<p>Hey everyone I just did a bit of research about Andover's admissions for ninth grade boarding students. This is the boat which most people on CC are in, so I thought a thread on it could be helpful.The first thing I'm going to say in this thread is that the acceptance rate of Andover is a bit misleading. According to BS review Andover's acceptance rate is 14%.Phillips</a> Academy Andover - Andover, Massachusetts/MA - Boarding School Profile</p>
<p>This probably scares most applicants and it scared me. Until I did a little bit of math and some thinking. Okay, so according to the PA website the yield rate of PA is around 75%. So around 165 new boarding ninth graders generally matriculate to PA. So we can find out how many boarding ninth graders were accepted by diving 0.75 by 165. We find that 220 new ninth graders were accepted to PA. (165/0.75=220)</p>
<p>So according to the PA website, Andover receives around 1,100 applicants for the ninth grade boarding spots. Now lets find the acceptance rate of ninth grade boarding students. We find that the acceptance rate is 20%. (220/1,100=0.2= 20%)Phillips</a> Academy - 9th Grade</p>
<p>So that's not as daunting to most people, but we can make this figure even less scary. Remember on the Andover website when it congratulated the newly admitted class? When it did it stated that 75% of Andover applicants were "academically admissible". I'm assuming this means that they could handle the academic work. Now out of the 1,100 applicants how many were "academically admissible"? Well let's find out. 825 applicants were "academically admissible." (1,100x0.75=825)</p>
<p>So now let's find the acceptance rate of "academically admissible" applicants. We find that the acceptance rate is approximately 26%. (220/825=0.2666=26%)</p>
<p>So why is this useful? Well, I'm assuming that most people on this forum get good enough grades to be considered "academically admissible". After looking at the "chances" forum that can become readily apparent. But what this tells us is that academics are not the only reason why people are admitted. Andover and most boarding schools want to sculpt a community. They take kids who will contribute to that community. Suppose that one year everyone in the Chorus was graduating. Then the admissions officers would admit more kids who participated in Chorus. Also this shows that after a certain point, admissions is beyond our control. We can't control what a school needs. We can control what kind of grades we get and what EC's we participate in. And we can and should do the best we can in those activities. But being admitted to a prestigious school like Andover is a one in four chance for qualified applicants. So let's just hope for the best and hope that Andover needs whatever we bring to the table. Good luck applicants of 2011 out there and I hope that some of you guys will be my future classmates!</p>
<p>Ifax108, I am also applying to Andover this year for 9th grade. Can we share any info or advice that we’ve garnered so far? I’ll share first.</p>
<p>Because I live extremely far away from Andover, I decided to have. a summer interview instead of one during the year. So about a week ago I had my andover interview. It was really nice! I think the interviewer really liked me. Did anyone else have a summer interview?</p>
<p>@markalex1
I’m having a summer interview at Andover a week from today. I hope I do well on it. What kind of questions did your interviewer ask?</p>
<p>I have a summer interview towards the end of the summer since Andover encourages day students to interview in the summer, probably since they will have day student tour guides.</p>
<p>Your numbers are a bit off… I think there are more then 165 9th graders, the number is close to around 200ish at least.</p>
<p>@mustangs,
No there are 165 new boarding ninth graders. The rest of the ninth graders are day students. And on the website it says that they get around 1,100 applicants for the ninth grade boarding class:<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/9th.aspx[/url]”>http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/9th.aspx</a></p>
<p>Do they publish the day student rates anywhere?</p>
<p>@2010,
Yes PA posted it’s day student acceptance rates here:[Phillips</a> Academy - Day Students](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/DayStudents.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/DayStudents.aspx)</p>
<p>On the PA site they say that PA received 330 day student applications and admitted 69. So the day student acceptance rate would be around 20%. (69/330=20.909= 20%)</p>
<p>Would I get in? I’m trying to prepare for applying to Andover so would I get in if I play four sports for my junior high school, tennis, volleyball, track, and cross country, play piano for the high school orchestra, get straight A’s, am 8th grade class president, am in Sophomore Honors English and Sophomore Honors Math, and have won six essay contest. Not that it really matters but my school also has blocking periods.</p>
<p>lol, with a 26% acceptance rate…</p>
<p>hm…interesting…</p>
<p>this is interesting after seeing the math. Thank you, ifax08.</p>
<p>So would I get in do you think?</p>
<p>Try reposting on the chances subforum…</p>
<p>HarvardRox,</p>
<p>Sounds like you are off to a great start! Your grades are top notch, and your ECs are well rounded.</p>
<p>Now you need to work on five things. First, keep your grades up. Second study hard for the SSAT. Third, focus on the quality, not the quantity, of your ECs. Fourth, broaden your prep school search. Aim high for Andover if that is your dream school. But consider a wide range of other schools as well. Fifth, own the process by continuing to do your own research. </p>
<p>I haven’t chanced you for Andover because neither I nor anyone else can. </p>
<p>Focus on the five things I mentioned because they are all things you can control. If you work hard and apply to a wide range of schools, you should have good choices to make next year at this time.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks jmilton! That was great advice. I forgot to mention but I’m also a member of American Mensa which is a high IQ society.</p>
<p>Hope that didn’t sound like I was bragging! I was just saying because that’s another thing I do.</p>
<p>@HarvardRox</p>
<p>jmilton gave you absolutely solid advice. Take it, believe me. There have been many who have been shut out completely because they narrowly applied to one or two top schools. The bottom line is these schools are so severely competitive that sometimes, even with all of your achievements, there is no rhyme or reason why they choose one highly qualified student over another. </p>
<p>You also may consider some community service, and not just anything to put on your resume, but something that is meaningful to you.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you both NHMomof3 and jmilton!</p>