<p>I'm choosing between these two now.</p>
<p>I'm going to do a revisit, but I wanted people's opinions of the two schools.</p>
<p>Two different schools which are both great in their own right.</p>
<p>Andover: A big school with unbelievable resources. This is reflected in course offerings, extracurriculars, quality of athletics etc. The student body is incredibly diverse and from my experiences, the faculty is top notch. The campus is very college-like. It takes a mature, self-motivated student to be able to excel at Andover. I’ve loved my experience there but I understand that it might not be perfect for everyone. </p>
<p>Brooks: When I think of Brooks, I think of the word community. The whole campus, ranging from the students to the faculty, is tight knit. You’re not going to find the number or depth of courses you’d see at Andover, but you will receive much more individual attention at Brooks. The campus is beautiful and soothing. </p>
<p>Honestly, a re-visit should easily sway an accepted student one way or the other. Surprisingly for me, I found myself loving certain aspects of both schools. Eventually, I chose Andover and don’t regret my decision. However, I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have had an equally great experience at Brooks.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot–</p>
<p>How long have you been going to Andover? What classes have you taken? </p>
<p>I saw the list of classes. I’ll be coming in as a Lower-Middler which means I have to take 1 trimester of PE then an art or music. After I finish PE since my Elective will be taken up by an art, will I be able to enter a Philosophy course? I liked the one on the Human Condition and a few others and got really interested. Also, would I be able to fit a second language other than Latin (Which I am taking now, Level II H) into my course list for Sophomore year?</p>
<p>Thanks for giving me such a good description of both!</p>
<p>Also, and this goes to anyone, is it better to start with a single your first year then go to a double? Or should you try to establish a friend by getting a double then go single?</p>
<p>I would go double first year. It really depends, though.</p>
<p>So nice to see a thoughtful discussion about this choice instead of an instant reversion to the prestige/tier/college matriculation list junk that often bogs this list down! My daughter had to choose between Andover and a more Brooks-like school, and it was really really hard for her to decide—not at all obvious. Good luck with revisit day.</p>
<p>Do you have a size preference? Brooks is much smaller I believe than Andover. </p>
<p>Do you have a special interest in an unusual subject? Is that subject offered in more depth at one school vs another? For example my son likes computer programming and some schools had relatively little while others had a full department.</p>
<p>Lemonade1- Which did your daughter choose?
I could do well in either size of a school, but the largeness of Andover is a bit daunting. Does their “cluster” system really work?
Well I’m really interested in learning a more obscure language or two, and I also really like Classics.
Also, what has been your experience with Harkness versus Lecture technique?
Another thing, are both schools PC, or is there a more Mac-centered one?</p>
<p>My daughter ended up at Andover, but the other school, though boarding, she would have attended as a day student and she wanted the boarding experience. I’ll leave it to students to say whether cluster works, etc. </p>
<p>She’s got a Mac and it’s fine there. </p>
<p>At revisit day, they said that they use Harkness for classes when appropriate, but like the flexibility of using whatever style works for teacher and subject. They said they had some classrooms with Harkness tables but that some teachers prefer the flexibility of moving furniture around to suit the task. </p>
<p>Good luck whatever you choose!</p>