Andover Prestige Slipping?

<p>blair, are you going to reply to my PM? lol.</p>

<p>jus' did.. :D:D</p>

<p>quote by blairt:
"I know.. I was initially all for Andover, but ever since Exeter has been sooo generous and welcoming (and I've been researching it non-stop), I just feel like I should go there. MY application for Andover was lost in the mail (actually was returned on monday), but they received other stuff from me and know that it wasn't my fault and said that they won't assess my application as if it were late, and I wouldn;t be a late applicant, but the decision would be late (I think before April 10..I faxed them my stuff on march 8th but they said they weren't going to rush the faculty and everyone to make a decision on my application, but I'm not sure when I will get the decision)..which is why I started the E vs. A thread.. IFFFFF I was accepted to Andover, and received FA comparable to Exeter's, it would be a very tough decision for me. Very.. more stressful than the actual application process. That's IF.</p>

<p>But yeah, I'd say I'm more fit for Andover. Everything, even down to the social life/Boston area/math transition classes. But I am very fond of the Harkness table.. Ahhhhhh!"</p>

<p>***What do you mean you didn't apply to Andover when this quote (and others) indicate that you have? </p>

<p>Perhaps the lovemeister can help you find 2 guys at Exeter - one for each of your personalities.</p>

<p>I didn't apply because my application wasn't turned in, and decided a while ago to not send in the other stuff they need (recs, art, writing) because of this. And yes, I was intially for Andover. I had a great prejudice towards Andover, and completely shunned Exeter in the beginning. Here's a quote from above:</p>

<p>"I actually went into the process having a great prejudice for Andover (and completely shunning Exeter, not giving it a thought)"</p>

<p>Then I started to look into Exeter more, and fell more and more in love, and to my suprise, found out it was a better fit. The above Exeter list shows that the things that turned me towards Exeter were things that Andover did not have, and things that absolutely define me (surfing, sailing, scuba, nonpartisian club, and an amazing social service program that has so many projects I could help with). I just didn't see them at first because I was so prejudiced for Andover. So, while I love both schools, I saw Exeter as a better fit for me.</p>

<p>The above quote was typed just before I started researching Exeter, and before I found out that person who told me my application would be assessed w/o regard to its arraving on March 9th was not in charge, and that that statement was false. So, I researched both schools (because I wasn't sure I wanted to give up on Andover), and found more at Exeter for me.</p>

<p>Another reason why I like Andover: The library is absolutely beautiful. I love how you can just sit in a big leather chair and just read for hours. Exeter's collection may have 25% more, and the building has international acclaim, but I really don't care because Andover's is so much nicer. I actually think the Exeter library is ugly. But hey, it has many resources.. and it would be cool to get lost in it.. 11 floors! But yeah, Andover's is nicer.</p>

<p>Also -- Andover's gallery is amazing. While I don't know about Exeter's, it seems like Andover has more going for it, because Exeter doesn't elaborate on its pieces or w/e. They have 6 shows a year, whereas, Andover has 39782. :&lt;/p>

<p>Exeter's library has eleven fours? I thought it was four.</p>

<p>"At present, the Library houses 160,000 volumes on nine levels and has a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/4513_4520.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/4513_4520.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>11 sections maybe? 11 something. i'm not sure where i got that figure. anyway, it's huge.</p>

<p>"Some 8,500 volumes are separated from the general circulating collection in smaller collections on the fourth floor, including the alumni/ae collection with more than 4,500 items. Such treasures as leaves from 13th- to 16th-century illuminated manuscripts, 16th-century wood engravings, original ships' logs, and early British and American newspapers are available for scholarly research and are displayed from time to time in special exhibits. The Library's Ottaway/Bown Adams Silent Film Library is a collection of more than 300 films produced in the United States, England, France, Germany, and Russia."</p>

<p>holy.....</p>

<p>so, as an alumna, do you still have access to this (i might be a journalist).</p>

<p>
[quote]
Andover is the second greatest secondary school in the world. I would say that their "prestige" remains intact. Having said that they seem to be trying harder than St. Paul's and Exeter the last couple of years to impress on revisit days IMHO.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>erm...sorry what?</p>

<p>how do you rank that? what makes Andover better than Westminster, Winchester, Harrow, Sevenoaks, St.Pauls (UK version) Habs, Cheltenham, Jags etc from UK? and those super schools in singapore etc? </p>

<p>further more i think you guys really over rate how well your prep schools are known outside of USA. i dont know about continental Europe but in my private school most people dont know USA Unis outside of HYP and Boston Uni (have no idea why :S) possibly M+S. no one knows about LACs etc (this is of course not including americans themselves).
even more is the case about your prep schools.</p>

<p>btw schools such as Westminster send over 40% to oxbridge, Eton and Winchester roughly 30%, most other top private schools (including mine) send 20-25% to Oxbridge. this isnt even counting all the LSE + Imperial admits...and all the Medicine admits to top colleges (London schools, manchester, edinburgh etc).</p>

<p>DDonskoy, what are the top coed boarding schools in the UK?</p>

<p>i don't know much about english borading schools, and the info i got here was from the websites, etc.</p>

<p>ddonskoy- in my opinion, the american boarding schools are much better (and i'm not a xenophobe or nationalist, and usually prefer europe in a number of categories). look at the course offerings for eton and winchester and exeter and andover.. the latter 2 offer around 300-350 courses, whereas eton offers around 20-30 of very basic courses (etoncollege.com, go to studying at eton, the sixth form, and then Statistics). they offer 60 sports teams, etc.. there seems to be more kids from every economic background (40% on financial aid, 10% on full-rides), whereas eton has 150 partial and full scholarships (that aren't need blind.. it's a seperate aplpication process it seems), which is only 11%... the facilities seem nicer (def. not eton's chapel, but their labs and stuff seem outdated compared to exeter's and andover's, which appear semi-professional). </p>

<p>american boarding schools began much like england's. they were in new england, modeled after the old england. but in the 1800's they began to do away w/ some traditions (and developed their own) and treated their students w/ more respect (around the time that families began treating children like valuable members of the family, and not indentured slaves..victorian age). so they're branched off from their english roots.</p>

<p>what eton offers that does trumps exeter and andover is its long, rich history (although e and a have great histories, well, england is a bit older than america!), and the traditions that come with so many years in business. </p>

<p>but that's my american opinion.. please tell us why you think the english schools are #1. as i said, i don't know much about them, so please explain why you think they're better.</p>

<p>jonathon - i know the rugby school is.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Schools_Act_1868%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Schools_Act_1868&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and then look for co-ed ones. those are only the "great 9" or whatever. there are more! theres a TASIS in England (American school).</p>

<p>I don't think DDonsky was saying English schools are number one, I think they were saying that they are at least just as good as American schools, which I agree with. I think it is important to take into account, blairt, that you can't necessarily measure Eton by its course offerings, because English schools work in an entirely different way than American schools. The way they educate their students is fundamentally different, and they acheive their goals using different strategies, and those might not necessarily include having lots and lots of courses.
That being said, Eton is obviously the best school in the world, for two reasons: 1. Paul Watkins attended Eton. 2. They have tailsuits. :D</p>

<p>As a matter of fact, your statistics are completely wrong. Of all the people who were admitted to Andover this year, 84% accepted the admission. Our acceptance rate, however, is among the lowest in the country--at a little under 20%. Don't worry about Andover's prestige slipping. Just the fact that you guys spend your free time talking about it proves you wrong.</p>

<p>FIRST GREATEST SCHOOL EVER.
it goes andover, exeter, st.pauls, deerfield. in that order.
we rock it.</p>

<p>In fact this year had a record yield, higher than their peers.</p>

<p>??????????????????
this is an old thread. and its topic was about why andover seems to be trying harder lately -- not a thread for everyone to worship andover in all its glory.</p>

<p>another andover student already said the yield rate was ~70%. who's lieing?</p>

<p>I don't think anyone is lying, but they may be confused. Here is what I saw in a recent issue of The Phillipian regarding PA yields: </p>

<p>“Today’s teenager tends to go to the school that strongly expresses how much it wants them,” commented Michael Gary, Exeter Dean of Admissions. Apparently Andover does a good job at convincing the spring revisiting students that PA wants them, for 81% of those who came for a revisit matriculated this year, compared to Andover’s overall yield rate, which is 74%.</p>

<p>The article also said that 334 prospective students attended revisits and that the admission rate (20%) is the same this year as it was in 1962.</p>

<p>Michael Gary could look at his own admissions effort.He is a very nice gentleman (nervous public personality).EA is choosing to ignore modern marketing details from late acceptance notification,loose revisit plan,and "come if you want to attitude".This seems to attract the legacy and quirky student.The leadership folks at EA are so smart the intentional offbeat strategy may be to attract the Buzz Bissingers or future think tankers. It would be interesting to know if this ploy is accepted by the old time alums.EA is teaming with some wonderful admissions people who don't come across as game players.It would be interesting to see what they really think of Tyler and Michael's strategy. It just didn't make much sense for my family.</p>

<p>I don't think Andover's prestige is slipping. I can tell you that St. Paul's is rising, though. Exeter's is pretty much staying the same. I know people at all of the schools, and people going to all of the schools because I already go to a private school where many students, most of whom are good friends, are leaving for boarding school. Three of my best friends are going to those schools next year and last years Head of School award winner (best overall student/athlete/person award) went to Andover. This year a friend of mine from South Korea is going to Andover next year and even though English is his second language he is in the honors English class. One of my very best friends is going to St. Paul's next year and he is very smart, and one of the nicest kids I've ever met. Lastly, another friend is a really nice and smart kid (very fun), and he is going to Exeter. Plus, I know in incredibly smart person who is at Exeter right now.</p>