<p>Just got rejected from Andover... Not too disappoint or surprised. Any advice for making my application stronger? My ssats were probably the biggest killer with a less than 40 percentile :p </p>
<p>Should I apply as a repeat or no? Next year I'm in 10th grade and will be appling for 11. I really don't want to repeat cause then id be in the same grade as my brother.</p>
<p>Bumpp! Tenchar</p>
<p>Retake the SSAT. If you cannot get your score up to the vicinity of Andovers’s avg SSAT, then I would seriously reconsider the effort to apply there. </p>
<p>A bigger question is: can you articulate SPECIFICALLY why you want to go to Andover vs. some other worthy school? A lot of kids say they want to go there, but can’t explain why, other than the fact that the school has a famous name.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying. I find that Andover is a “heaven” for education. They have all of the resources and highly trained staff to teach their students to use their minds to their maximum potential. I think that an Andover education would change my life as a child and an adult. It is likely that I would have a different outlook on life, making me humble in a way</p>
<p>You description could apply to any other BS and does not UNIQUELY specify why it has to be Andover for you instead of school-X.</p>
<p>You also need to also think beyond the application process. Andover (as do all the top BS) have EXTREMELY rigorous academics. I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but your present SSAT score does not recommend itself well to forecasting successful coping of the stressful academic load there. </p>
<p>A below 40percentile SSAT score means more than 6 out of 10 test takers scored better than you. The kids at Andover generally have 90+ percentile score, meaning 0 out of 10 test takers scored better than them.</p>
<p>Don’t worry this is the insight I need. Do you mind if I pm you once I think about it more?</p>
<p>PM me, if u like. Please don’t walk away feeling discouraged about pursuing your dreams. With your present test scores, I think it is counterproductive for u to be in denial about getting into Andover. There is a bright future out there that does not necessitate going to Andover.</p>
<p>Try to figure out why your SSAT scores were low. Get an SSAT book and do some practice tests. Can you work on vocabulary? Review the form of the analogy questions ? Practice math ? Is English not your native language ? We were surprised by how much of the SSAT had little to do with standard school subjects. Practice and review can really help.</p>
<p>I didn’t think it was that bad, tge thing is that I was too scared to omit. Turns out it wouldn’t have turned against me. Vocab was the only hard part for me, but then again I did jump into it the night before.</p>
<p>Gmt, just thinking over night, technically can’t every school give me what I want that Andover has? Should I research the school more to find what I really want?</p>
<p>shinelikemystar; while there are commonalities among the schools, each one really is a unique community. Remember, bs isn’t like day school, you will live there. So. There are different levels of rigor, some schools are open to a broader range of academic performance than others, some are more nurturing, different ways of setting up dorms = different feel, some emphasize arts more than others, in some community service is a heavier emphasis, some are more “preppy,” some have stricter sports requirements, larger, smaller, more outdoorsey, PGs/no PGs, mostly boarders vs mix day/boarders…the list goes on and on. </p>
<p>I am fairly sure it’s more difficult to gain admission the higher the grade you’re applying for–in any school, just because there are fewer slots. 11th grade is a tough year, regardless of the type of school you’re in.</p>
<p>“technically can’t every school give me what I want that Andover has?”</p>
<p>It is true that Andover has many resources that other schools cannot offer. But many other schools probably can offer you the resources you actually need.</p>
<p>Case in point: there was a poster who urged someone to pick school-X over school-Y, because school-X offers 16 foreign languages and school-Y offers only 15. My answer to that is *“so, what?” * Does it really matter that school-X offers Tagalog if you have no intention of studying that language?</p>
<p>Another great resource that Andover and other top BS possess is a large population of high academic achiever students. But just because all the kids there had the great CV to get in, they don’t assume they all fully apply themselves there. My S and his academic advisor report to me that not all the kids in his BS are studying hard. </p>
<p>The point I am trying to make is that any opportunity is what YOU make of it. Don’t get yourself down thinking that attending school-X is the only path to happiness. You can attend a less famous school, work your butt off, also have a good time and still realize your dreams.</p>