<p>Mom here. My daughter attends a very good private school but has fallen in love with Andover. She will take the SSAT in October. Her grades and extracurriculars are good. She took a prep test with a local SSAT prep company and scored 95 percentitle in math but an 80 in reading and a 75 in vocabulary. I have decided to work with a prep group over the summer to make sure the lower numbers are higher. We both were surprised at the reading score. Can anyone at Andover (parents or students) give more insight regarding Andover's admissions and who they really want? Btw, we will apply for 9th grade boarding. Thanks!</p>
<p>hey, I will be going to Andover next fall, but I think I may be able to help. As for the SSAT scores, they don’t really take a lot of that into account. Unless if it was something really low like 20th percentile, but your daughter is nowhere near that. I applied as a day student there and they had a few open houses which I could attend. They always reminded everyone that the bottom line is you must be NICE (want to italicize, but aren’t sure how). They want kids who try hard in their classes, are willing to learn, and are nice to others. They will definitely look past that 75th percentile SSAT score. They also appreciate extra-curriculars. you don’t have to have a million of them, they just want to have well rounded kids who are interested in things other than school, they want them to be passionate.
If you can have an interview (I don’t know your situation) I would recommend it. the interviewers like to get to know you in person, to better asses your personality. I think there are other ways to arrange interviews with alumni representatives, but I don’t know much about that. The other portion where your daughter can shine through is filling out a complete well done application. There are two essay questions to answer, but also many other things asking about extra-curiccular activities. have her put down anything that she is passionate about, even if it isn’t really a sport. hey I put down origami and I got in! 
Most of all tell her to be comfortable and confident in herself during all portions of the admissions process.
Hope I helped :D</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight and feel free to share anything of Andover interest, even the mundane, that you discover on your way to starting in the fall.</p>
<p>Well one thing that I loved doing was reading the andover course book. It is really entertaining and interesting looking at all the courses andover offers. I know they have an online version, but if and when you go for a tour or visit you can pick one up. The Andover website is also really fun to browse through.</p>
<p>@jomon1: Andover is a great school of course, but I would caution your daughter — AND ALL FUTURE APPLICANTS — against “falling in love” with any school before that school indicates that the feeling is mutual with an acceptance and FA package that makes matriculation possible (for those who require it).</p>
<p>While people will say that SSATs don’t matter, all you need to do is take a look at Andover’s average SSATs for admitted students (and their average SAT scores) to tell you that the school is more selective than most. I’d advise you to ask your daughter what excites her about Andover and then explore a bunch of schools that might offer similar highlights.</p>
<p>Here’s a snippet from a thread back in January, where I doled out some unsolicited advice to a candidate from this year’s applicant class:</p>
<p>“To put it very bluntly, I think most first-time applicant families are quite deluded about exactly how difficult it is to get admitted to one of the super selective schools……By applying exclusively to schools with admit rates in the teens (some in the low teens), you have to be awfully confident that there is something about your application that is going to put you into top part of the applicant pool.”</p>
<p>Best of luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>I agree with the emphasis on NICE and the “non sibi spirit”. Therefore, a community service component seems to be a very important part of the application. In the admissions section where they welcome the 235th Admitted Class, the following link lists some of the service activities the admits were involved in.
[Phillips</a> Academy -](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Admission/WelcomeAdmittedStudents/235Class/Pages/YourPotentialClassmates.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/Admission/WelcomeAdmittedStudents/235Class/Pages/YourPotentialClassmates.aspx)
Hard to believe these are 8th graders and not high school seniors.</p>
<p>@TigerMotherRoar
I was pretty impressed with that as well! I don’t think I was one of the new students mentioned though :D</p>
<p>@Sevendad: Thank you for your candid advice. However, we are not deluded and are very aware of the keen competition involved in the application process. I am seasoned to the private school process as we attend a very well known school which has a comparable admission rate as Andover. While Andover is our first choice, if not accepted, we will be happy remaining in our present school. Again, thank you for your input. It is appreciated.</p>
<p>@Jomon1: Sorry if I came off as excessively pedantic. Not knowing your familiarity with the hyper-selective BSs, I am just trying to help people avoid these sorts of outcomes:</p>
<p>“My D is wait listed at the only school she applied to. She has A and above grades all along, 99% SSAT, plays instrument for 6 + years, excellent recommendation letters, plays several sports, not a great player, but enjoys sports. Interveiw went well. Only thing that could have been a factor is her essay. Should we bother to apply next year? ( application process and staying on wait list is not fun) Would her chances improve, if she works with a guidence counsellor? Does any one of you have experince with counsellors? If so can you please recommend”</p>
<p>From a recent “Chance Me” thread.</p>
<p>jmon, I will be attending Andover next year and would love to offer some advice. I fell in love with Andover from the beginning. I was also very close to the secondary school counselor at our school and she told me what is most important when applying to these schools. People get dissuaded by Andover’s 94% median ssat scores. I myself got in the low 90’s, but remember that is a median. When talking to an Andover admission counselor, he said that the mean was around 90 %. The most important things are grades, RECS and an activity or multiple activities that makes your daughter stand out. Do not worry about an ssat score lower than an 85, it is much less important than grades and recs. Also, have a good interview. Having a fan of yours in the admissions office is crucial when they are narrowing down the 3000+ apps. Lastly, I was wait listed the first year I applied to Andover and was admitted once reapplying. The most important bit of advice that I have is that if your daughter falls in love with Andover but doesn’t get in, apply again next year if your family is inclined. It is truly an AMAZING school with one of the most diverse, intelligent and well rounded student bodies. Enjoy the process! It is quite a ride! Feel free to contact with any questions.</p>