Andover Math Department Head Email Adress??!!

Prep School Admissions
1

I called the admissions office to ask if I would run out of math classes (I’m taking Calc 1 & 2 this year as a 9th grader) and they told me that I wouldn’t, but that the math department head would love to talk to me about it. Then she gave me her email so I could talk to her about it.
I checked on the website, and her email isn’t publicly available… is this a good sign? Is she trying to give me a chance to get the department head on my side? Or would she give it to anybody?

AHHH I’m freaking out I hope it means good things:)

2

It is quite standard so don’t freak out too much.

Good luck with your applications!

3

Read nothing into it. The person in admissions was simply being helpful.

4

Aw that sucks

5

Very common for them to answer questions for kids who aren’t On the standard math track. Heads can also answer very specific questions these kids have related to independent studies, typical choices and related classes. My kid spoke at length with two math chairs/heads. The differences were pretty big in terms of the approach at these schools.

6

Did they speak on the phone, or over email? Which school did they end up going to?

7
  1. Almost every Indian, Korean and Chinese takes Calc 1 & 2 as a 6th~7th grader. (It's called "Not to be left behind" precaution) in these countries. Someone I know who was a 4th grader took AMC 10 last year. A 6th grader I know took the SAT last year and cried when his math was merely 720. I know this is crazy.
  2. Many such Indians, Koreans and Chinese apply to PA and PEA, banking on their 9 9 9 9 and 800.
  3. Of course, 99% of them don't get in. Maybe because they are ORM international? I dont know. My sense is, they know what they are looking for. Perhaps there is no harm trying. But nobody seems easily impressed in those schools.
  4. I would suggest you contact the faculty head only if you have proven a theorem or two or published a paper and want to show that to him/her. He/she will not be impressed by numbers or courses. His/her own team wins Math Olympiad every year (esp. PEA). They have seen too many Zuckerbergs; they will be more impressed by your modesty and moderation. Those are New Englanders. If you think you can show genuine passion without appearing pushing, while not possessing a paper or a theorem, then go ahead. It' s tough.
  5. One more thing: of course call him/her if you have questions, genuine curriculum questions whose answers you do not find on their website after research.
8

I agree. There was a thread last year where a mom encouraged kids to be humble as it had been called out by an AO when meeting her kid (that kid was quite humble) you wouldn’t believe the pushback. I think kids live in an instagram world, humility is not rewarded.

9

You can’t take it too far though. We got a feedback that our DS is too reserved and won’t toot his own horn, and so it takes forever to get him to talk about himself. That was his first interview so I think part of it was lack of practice, but we had to explain to him that he needed to be able to highlight his accomplishments a bit.

10

I think this person I attach below applied to a famous boarding school some time ago. I dont know what happened to him, but for those schools, this is the caliber of applicants who have expressed interest in math. His achievement is truly impressive, his display of humility yet more so (I hope and think it is genuine).

This much is true. The fact is that most “number specs” are already shown in other parts of your application (such as the applicant below), so there is no need to mention them. Most “character elements” are already shown in other parts of your application (that’s what recomms and interviews are for), so there is no need to mention them. What you need to get across to the “faculty” is something the “admission” cannot know from your application, such as your “extraordinary” level of passion or talent into an “arcane area of specialty” (eg number theory), and that is really hard without tangible evidence such as a research or a paper you have done in the field.

But then again, as I said, I would think there is little harm in “emailing” without expecting a reply, as long as you limit it to expressing passion and intellectual curiosity only, not getting into what a wunderkind you are (even if you are and I have no doubt you are). I don’t know why, but people in the academia somehow tend to believe the more you know and achieve, the humbler you become. And most boarding teachers are busy teaching and coaching sports at the same time.

oh god my hopes are going to be crushed but here goes

I’m only applying to [ ] because if I get rejected (extremely likely ), I have the option of going to local public school, which is very good anyway. It might not be [ ] -level, but it’s a top-ranked public school nationally, and I’m not really dead-set on going to boarding school.

I am a 9th grade [ ] from [ ] applying into 10th grade needing FA (ouch).

Grades:

  • 4.0 GPA UW, and my pvt. school doesn’t weight
  • Took AP Calc AB, BC, and World History with 5s on all, if that matters at all
  • Will be taking ISEE later this week. if i remember i will post my score when i get it [NB he subsequently reported to have gotten 9 9 9 9]

Extracurriculars (weakest part):

  • Competitive math

Qualified for AIME last year with what I think is a relatively good score on the AMC, and I’ve done a lot of other assorted math competitions: HMMT, CHMMC, mathleague.org (until recently), and others

  • Quiz Bowl

Have been doing it for 2 years. Placed very high at MS nationals last year, thought I’m not specifying place, b/c that is potentially personally identifying

  • Science Olympiad (5 yrs.)

Won regional medals for past 4 years and our team qualified for states for past 3 years. I have won top-5 medals all years.

  • Cello (3 yrs.)

not very good at this though

  • Not really an extracurricular, but I'm saying this because I'm particularly passionate about it: Latin

I tutor occasionally, and I really love to read Latin literature. Part of why I love [ ] is because of their classics program/cult

  • Community service: volunteer at library and with a program that holds events that help low-income families twice a month

Interview:

  • Not scheduled yet, but hopefully will go well? I’ll try to practice and make sure I don’t come off as too awkward

Essays:

  • I think they’re fine. I’ve been spending all of Winter Break writing them, and I’ll try to get my English teacher and sister in college to help me with them.
  • not posting topics

Recommendations:

  • English teacher: should be pretty good
  • Math teacher: same as English
  • Counselor: should be great
  • Personal: probably using my Bio teacher, because I connect with her a lot outside of class, and should be the best out of all of these.

Strengths: grades and (hopefully) recommendations
Weaknesses: extracurriculars, FA, applying into 10th

Thank you so much!