<p>Pulsar, honestly? Come on and just give it up already! I’m reading through all these questions you have asked Tom relating to “facts” and “numbers”! Andover isn’t about matriculation and Nobel Laureates! When I think of Andover, I think of a community where everyone is there to LEARN, LIVE, and ENJOY 4 amazing years of highschool. Whether one person goes to a college or not, you decide your fait. You can go to a super bad highschool and still get into an Ivy. To me, matriculation means alot less to me than anything else. I don’t know if you are PO because Andover didn’t accept you, but remember that YOU decide your destiny! Look at the story about the kid from the projects getting a full scholarship to Exeter, do you think he was worrying about Exeter’s matriculation when he got accepted?</p>
<p>Sorry if I had really bad grammer or spelling, I was writing as fast as I could.</p>
<p>Over, I hope you enjoy your 4 years of high at A. It sure looks like a fun place from Tom’s description. For those making statements about my choice of school, Andover is not my top pick (this is already in my old posts), not because I think there is anything bad about it, it’s just too big for me. Just the fit…</p>
<p>I’m actually a two-year senior - I came as a new Upper. However, I do know of groups of kids who entered as freshmen and are still together today. For instance, stacks (small dorms, usually converted houses) never house random people - groups of friends apply to live in them together.</p>
<p>The five clusters are West Quad North (WQN), West Quad South (WQS), Flagstaff (FLG), Pine Knoll (PKN), and Abbot (ABB). Kids are assigned randomly upon first entry but may choose in their next years. I wouldn’t say any are better than others - they’re mostly just residential. FLG kids are happy because they’re right next to Commons, the eatery, but I wouldn’t trade my dorm in WQN for that. In the end, it’s all about the people you meet - everyone is pretty loyal to their cluster.</p>
<p>Dorm life will really depend on which type of dorm you live in. I live in a large, 40-guy dorm in WQN called Bishop. I love it! It was a great way to instantly meet a lot of people last year and gave me a great base of friends, right from the start. I also like it because there’s always at least one person who shares your interests and with whom you can hang out at all hours. The downside for some people is that large dorms are kinda loud, so if you want to go to bed before 11, that probably won’t happen too often. But it’s awesome. Really, really awesome. Weekends especially. I have a nice sound system in my room so sometimes I have movie nights and invite anyone who wants to come. Sometimes I’ll end up with 15 other guys from different halls in the dorm all watching. Great bonding experience! Additionally, those who have projectors and games consoles are always willing to share and game together, so we occasionally have tournaments. We also have dorm parties centering around specific events - for example, our house counselors ordered out for us on the night of the superbowl and everyone gathered together in the common room to eat, talk, and watch. It was great.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, I’m the one to ask! :)</p>
<p>I appreciate it pulsar, but I couldn’t apply this year (nor next year). Please take a look at the last two numbers in my username. It seems like you have enough information to give your siblings if they choose to apply, hopefully they care more about the experience that statistics.</p>
<p>Thank you Tom! Wow, you type really fast! </p>
<p>Do you have refrigerators in the common room? Do kids usually leave their Xbox’s plugged in or do they have tv’s in their room? Do you have a good relationship with your house counselor with so many guys in the dorm?
You probably don’t like discussing admissions in question, but what are some things you would have done differently to prepare for applying? How about preparing for Andover after acceptance?</p>
<p>Again, thank you! You always provide amazing responses (not just 2 sentence answers).</p>
<p>Wow that was really creepy, pulsar. You have either responded to one of my earlier questions, or you got the chance to look under my other posts. haha, that’s happened to me before and I was scared that someone I know was posting. Good luck at whatever school end up at, but don’t ever consider a job at Andover.</p>
<p>There is a refrigerator in the common room and there is also one in my hall of ten guys. Proctors and prefects may also choose to buy their own fridges to keep in their rooms. Between the fridge in the common room and the one in the hall, I prefer the one in the hall - last time I left a Gatorade in the common room fridge it was half empty when I returned for it (though I appreciated the fact that whoever drank it put it back in the fridge for me. Thoughtful).</p>
<p>There was an XBOX plugged into the common room TV before we all left for break but I think it belonged to a kid who just felt like sharing it with the entire dorm. Most kids who own XBOXs also own their own TV, computer monitor, or projector. My teaching fellow (dorm complement) has a SuperSega and boxy little CRT TV… retro! I have a great relationship with my house counselors and teaching fellow. They’re all really nice people. One of my house counselors sometimes has grilled cheese “munches” - essentially, he cooks up hundreds of grilled cheese sandwiches and we chill in his kitchen and chat with him and each other. He has these at 10PM usually, so we take a break from studying and hang out for a little while in his apartment. He often doesn’t announce them, but he opens his door to let the smell of grilled cheese waft out, and soon enough, the whole dorm is downstairs. He has some awesome pets, so it reminds me of home, too!</p>
<p>In terms of applying, I’m not sure if there’s anything I would have done differently. I started writing my essay and short answers well ahead of time and sent them all off on time, too, so that was fine. I gave myself plenty of time to write a well-thought out essay, and that’s definitely important. In terms of preparing, I just tried my best over the summer to keep my sleep schedule civilized. To do this, I got a job that required I get up early to show up to work. This ensured that when I arrived at school I had no trouble with work hours. Oh, and read some books! I’m sure you would anyway, but you need to keep the intellectual juices flowing!</p>
<p>EDIT: And please, let’s all just be friends, okay?</p>
<p>EDIT 2: Florida is absolutely not underrepresented geographically</p>
<p>Haha! They should have just finished the gatorade.</p>
<p>Do you have an international roomate? I was reading on the parents forum about the real cost of BS, one parent mentioned the cost of international roomates inviting friends to their home country during break. Have you every done anything like that?</p>
<p>I promise after this last question I’ll leave you alone for a while…</p>
<p>I realized you have 4 weeks of Winter Break, and you go on break a week after Thanksgiving Break ends. Why are your breaks so long? Do you usually find it easier to stay with day student friends to avoid from traveling back and forth like that (one week of winter break with friends, take plane home)?</p>
<p>So sorry for all the questions, I’m sure you are trying to enjoy your Spring Break (which happens to be 2 WEEKS long… lucky)</p>
<p>EDIT: Yah I knew Florida wasn’t under-represented. However, I have never heard of anyone where I live going to boarding school… as popular as the destination is.</p>
<p>EDIT: Awww I was just joking, pulsar would never last a day as a smurf. Seriously, though, what school are you going to?</p>
<p>I’m actually international myself - I live in England. Because of that, it’s costly enough to get home and back so I’ve never visited friends in other countries. I tried to visit a friend in Jamaica this spring break, but flights were too expensive. I know some kids do stuff like that regularly though - in fact, some of my friends did make it to Jamaica this break…</p>
<p>We have three weeks of winter break and winter break actually starts two weeks after Thanksgiving break, which is one week long. I don’t go home for Thanksgiving - I stay with friends here and there. Requires some coordination, but it’s doable and it’s fun! I go home for longer breaks.</p>
<p>Because science is an expanding field of research. One can host more microscopes, gene splicers, telescopes, and yet to be invented scientific instruments to name a few.</p>
<p>all of them and there useless for everyone. you bring up randoms questions that are pointless, you ask questions that you already seem to know the answer to like " i heard exeter has higher sat scores"? things like that are pointless to ask because it doesnt matter</p>
<p>Didn’t I already say something about this? The SAT isn’t a group test or exam. You are scored individually. The average for the school could be a 2390, but you get a 1200. Vice-versa. Besides, it’s like a 10 point difference between Exeter and Andover. Not saying it matters!</p>
<p>I understand, both Andover and Exeter are great! I know I have a while, but if someone doesn’t get accepted, it’s important to know that your not going to do a bad job at life (in this case the SAT) if you have to go to a public high school (good or bad). Honestly, I will never need an expensive private school to get outstanding grades and go to an amazing college, but for some reason I’m crazy enough to want to apply.
I agree that your SAT scores matter, and I am kind of understanding why you care so much about SAT score, but your not even going to Andover! You obviously don’t like the school, so can’t you just give it a rest?
By the way, your only like 2 years older than me! I happen to have alot of friends who are (I’m guessing) your age and they don’t treat me like I need to “experience” life. I guess it’s just southern hospitality.
I don’t want to start anything, but why don’t you go lurk on the Deerfield and Hotchkiss threads till revisits.</p>
I think you are set as FL is geographically underrepresented.</p>