<p>What superlatives are put in the Yearbook? Best suchandsuch/Most likely to suchandsuch, etc. </p>
<p>Do students usually attend varsity sports games? And which are the most popular? (I’m betting on soccer since there are THREE JV teams in addition varsity lol)</p>
<p>Hey, Blueisbest!</p>
<ol>
<li>I’ll upload a copy of my winter schedule for you - it includes classes, so maybe you can get a better idea of how it works that way.</li>
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<p>[MobileMe</a> Gallery](<a href=“http://gallery.me.com/thurstonsmalley/100011/Schedule]MobileMe”>http://gallery.me.com/thurstonsmalley/100011/Schedule)</p>
<p>With a normal five-course schedule, most students can expect one free period, not including their lunch period. However, as you’ll notice with my schedule, I sometimes have more than that; that is because my French class, French 600, is a college seminar course and my science class, Physics 440 (better known as Astronomy) meets at 8:45 on Tuesday night (to use the observatory) as one of its periods, negating the need for an extra period during the day. If you want to count advising/conference as a period (though it’s just half an hour) then most students can expect two free periods per day (except for on Wednesday).</p>
<ol>
<li>I love ASM (All-School Meeting). We have it once a week and the schedule is always tight as can be thanks to the efforts of Mr. Hoyt, the ASM director. We also have fantastic speakers - during our MLK Day ASM last year, Spike Lee (SPIKE FREAKIN’ LEE) came to campus for a keynote speech. He cost $50,000 - my jaw dropped when we were told. This year we had Lani Guinier, Harvard Law’s first black professor, who also happens to be a woman. Yo Yo Ma has come in the past (his daughter attended the school) and played with Andover’s orchestra. Quite an opportunity.</li>
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<p>More “normal” ASMs include student music, writing, and speeches by Barbara Chase addressing everything from putting the college process in perspective to “the three most important rules of Andover”: 1. Be nice. 2. Be nice. 3. Be nice. There are definitely a few snoozers but overall it’s a great time and place to be with the entire community all at once and hear some music.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’m not actually entirely sure as I’ve never had a class during these periods, but from what I understand these periods are usually set aside for certain art, architecture, photography, and drama class meetings. They work just as any other period, I guess - you’re expected to show up for class. Once again, though, I’ve never had class during one of these periods, and I don’t know too many people who do.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, clubs usually meet once a week unless you lead a club. In that case, you will have board meetings at your discretion. For example, International Club meetings take place on Wednesday night at 6, and we as a board decided we wanted to have board meetings at 11AM on Sunday during brunch in Commons. Every club meets at a different time, and that’s what makes it possible to become involved in way more than one club!</p></li>
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<p>Hey, Zenxan!</p>
<p>Superlatives are what you’d probably expect. Some this year (that we seniors actually just finished voting on) include “Class Curve Breaker,” “Most Likely to Rule the World,” “Done the Most for Andover,” “Done Andover for the Most,” “Best-Dressed,” etc. You get the picture.</p>
<p>Yes, Varsity games in particular have heavy attendance. Actually, soccer isn’t as popular as football or water polo. It may actually be because there are so many JV teams, because these JV teams will play games concurrently to Varsity but not necessarily in a location that is even close to the other games. Football is absolutely the best attended fall sport, which is closely, closely followed by girls’ volleyball. We were a powerhouse this year in volleyball which was part of the reason. Winter: basketball. Spring: probably baseball and softball. But ALL Varsity games are usually pretty heavily attended, especially at the end of the season when teams are competing for state titles.</p>
<p>Oooh thank god, I’m not ready for three years of highschool with a PC.</p>
<p>TELL ME ABOUT IT! Those things will be the death of me… No thank you, Windows 7, I am more than happy with Mac OS X.</p>
<p>:( Why all the hate?</p>
<p>hi can you tell me anything about the pg program at andover?</p>
<p>Hey, chieff! Sure thing.</p>
<p>Each year, Andover takes around 30 PGs. As at other schools, they are predominantly selected for sports, though there also exist several “academic PGs.” Athletic PGs are selected not for their Varsity potential but for Varsity certitude - for that reason, they must come heavily recommended from their previous schools and coaches. PGs are generally starters on their respective teams at Andover.</p>
<p>Aside from sports, PGs follow exactly the same program as other students and are placed in classes appropriate for their ability in each academic area.</p>
<p>In the schedule you linked - where would a sixth course fit in?</p>
<p>See how there are seven periods per day, minus Wednesday and Thursday? It’d fit in any non-lunch free period.</p>
<p>is taking six courses hard? like, if I were to take two languages (Chinese and Russian), would it be too much work?
…and is it even possible to take two languages?</p>
<p>haha, thanks</p>
<p>Hey, evamarie!</p>
<p>Honestly, I couldn’t say - I’ve never taken six courses concurrently here. It’d certainly be harder than taking five: you would have one fewer free period per day and have more homework each night. That said, it would depend on the level of course you were taking, too. I can’t imagine adding Art 100 to your schedule would increase your workload dramatically (but, again, it would diminish the time you have to do your homework by reducing your number of free periods).</p>
<p>It absolutely is possible to take two languages - in fact, many of my friends do. One of my close friends even takes three languages at once: Chinese, French, and Arabic. Then again, she is a senior who has completed virtually all of her requirements, so her schedule has the room. But as she proves, it’s doable!</p>
<p>thanks, that’s really helpful!</p>
<p>Not a problem at all! If you have any more questions at any time, ask me! I’m here to help.</p>
<p>Yours,</p>
<p>TomTheCat, PA '11</p>
<p>Hey TomTheCat!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the helpful information you’ve given us! </p>
<p>This is kind of off-topic, but I was just wondering how often kids lug their laptops around campus. My current computer just crashed, so I’m in the process of buying a new one, and I’m stuck between a Dell XPS 15 and the 13 inch MacBook Pro. There’s a great deal going on for the XPS 15 - an almost $500 discount on all top-of-the-line specs - but the laptop is pretty darn bulky (and ugly!), so I’m worried that carrying it around campus will be a challenge. Do you have any suggestions?</p>
<p>Once again, thanks so much!</p>
<p>Hey, girlasmuse! Great name!</p>
<p>Actually, school policy is that students may not bring computers to class unless the instructor specifically permits it, and I’ve never heard of that happening. However, occasionally kids make presentations for class projects and the like, so under those circumstances kids bring laptops to class.</p>
<p>Though I never use my laptop in class, I normally carry it around with me because I like to use sporcle with friends during free periods from time to time. Whoops! I mean… I like to use it to type papers and study during my frees. So I carry it around all the time in my bag. I have a 15" MacBook Pro. It’s thin and relatively light so there’s always space for it in my bag. Additionally, I’m a total Mac fanboy too, so I would never settle for anything less.</p>
<p>I’d say it’s all a matter of personal preference, though if you intend to bring your laptop around with you (and a lot of kids here do) I’d definitely recommend getting a thin-and-light laptop like a MacBook or MacBook Pro. The student-owned Mac-PC split is about 60-40 in favor of Macs, and both platforms are fully supported.</p>
<p>One extra thing - I love my North Face backpack because it’s the perfect size to accomodate my laptop plus books without being overly large. Additionally, it has a handy, built-in laptop sleeve that protect my laptop from being scratched by my bag’s other contents. One downside is that just about everyone else on campus is also aware of these benefits and has purchased the same bag. I had to mark up my bag so I could recognize it!</p>
<p>Hey girlasmuse, as far as carrying around laptops, it has to do with personal preference. I carry my 13 inch Macbook around a lot because I like to be able to use it at all times. Despite this, it definitely isn’t necessary. You don’t need it for your classes (unless you’re taking Computer Science), and if you want to use a computer during the day, there are a LOT of computers in the library (both PCs and Macs).</p>
<p>Yet again, we’re on the same page, andovergirl! I love it.</p>
<p>Kind of random - but what do students do for Halloween? Where would you even get costumes? Is there a school dance or something since you can’t exactly trick or treat (…<em>cough</em>oregghouses<em>cough</em>)</p>
<p>Also how active are the “Adopt a Platoon” and “Chinacare” clubs? Lots of students or a small group?</p>
<p>For Halloween, we have a dance where people get really into their costumes. Its a lot of fun.</p>
<p>As for Adopt a Platoon and Chinacare, I only know about Adopt a Platoon. They are pretty active. They have meetings once a week where they write letters to send to soldiers. I don’t actually go to Adopt a Platoon so I’m not sure how many people do, but I think they have a pretty good number because it’s a low time commitment, yet they still do something active.</p>
<p>How is Andover’s GSA? Is the membership large and do they hold a lot of events and have a lot of support from the students? What would you estimate the ratio of straight allies and LGBT students to be in the club? </p>
<p>Thanks for answering all these questions :)!</p>