<p>That is interesting because my son who I thought was a very strong candidate (99% SSATs, staight As, 3 season athlete, lots of community service, wonderful recs) didn't get into Andover, I was a little surprised, but he did get into Exeter, which was his first choice ( his older brother goes there ). I am curious to see how many people who applied to BOTH Exeter and Andover got into BOTH or if many just got into one of them.</p>
<p>Wow, that's very strange, twoson. I'm glad he got into Exeter, though!! :) Is he there now?</p>
<p>Dancer...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Possibly...</p>
<p>A boy in my school applied to Andover and just got rejected. He's a genious and had lke 96% SSATs, but he's an atheist. lol. </p>
<p>For the classmates/dormmates essay, he wrote about 3 atheist people. It was terrible! So I kind of feel bad for people not getting in for little mistakes. </p>
<p>It seems as if they're looking for original people that are right next to perfect, which isn't fair...
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</p>
<p>But unfortunately for your friend, they seem to have plenty of right next to perfect applicants.</p>
<p>I'd bet that your friend was turned down because of his essay. And it wasn't necessarily because he is an atheist.</p>
<p>When schools ask you to write about a role model, it is entirely a personality test. And it isn't necessarily who you choose to write about, but what you have to say about them is what counts. There are some exceptions, Adolf Hitler being one that comes to mind. </p>
<p>If your friend is an atheist writing about atheists as role models, it should probably stress their goodness as people without relying on the belief in a higher power and the eloquence that they used in presenting their thinking. That would send a message of a student who looks beyond the controversial to the heart and soul of a person and to the literary interests. An essay stressing the validity of their arguments and how these role models spent their lives escaping perceived persecution smacks of a student who shares that anger and demonstrates self-rightousness through a dogmatic following of a belief (either religious or atheistic). This is a personality type, that will tend to upset the apple cart which is something these very conservative institutions try to avoid. They have enough problems on their hands.</p>
<p>My D wrote one of her essays on Eminem (believe it or not) as a role model. She chose to look beyond the controversial and more at the personal issues he has had to battle and gave credit for his perserverance. Finding the good amongst the ugly is an excellent way to demonstrate good character. She was accepted to that school, BTW.</p>
<p>I'm sure it doesn't all matter about WHO you write about, but the supporting facts that show they are your role models. My friend NEVER supports his reasoning of being atheist, so overall it must not have been a good essay to the adCOM</p>
<p>There are many applicants with 99% SSATs who are turned down at the most competitive schools. They have more qualified applicants than they have spots for them.</p>
<p>Quite unfortunate reality, ehh?</p>
<p>Dancer, Andover is going to rock your world. You are going to learn a lot about life, people and institutions. You are one of the lucky FEW to have an amazing 4 years offered to you. Life won't ever be fair so just be happy for the ones you win..</p>
<p>Burb, I understand that many qualified applicants will get rejections from the top schools, that is the reality when you have so many students applying for a limited amount of spaces. What I was curious about was how many students who applied to both Exeter and Andover get IN to both. I gave my son as an example of someone who applied to both and got into Exeter but not Andover, Dancer posted about a boy with a similar situation. I would be interested in hearing about others on this board and their experiences.</p>
<p>well , i have two friends at exeter who both applied to both andover and exeter ( they also knew each other through the admission process . CTY , you know ) one got rejected at andover and accepted at exeter and the other got in at both schools . but she was from a private k-8 i think.</p>
<p>My tour guide at the Day with Andover applied to Andover and Exeter, was rejected at Exeter, accepted at Andover, loving Andover now...</p>
<p>In a nutshell, A and E are two separate schools, just like any two school you want to compare. i.e.-Andover and Groton.</p>
<p>Your entire, completed application is different at every school. Each school is looking for something different in applicants. Essays may be better at one school than another. Applicants may click with interviewers at one school more than another.</p>
<p>Admissions comittees do see the obvious in applicants, but they have to go beyond the obvious and make assumptions based upon the random samples of information the applicant has provided them with. This is sometimes an outcome of subjectiveness in AdCom and luck.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>yeah , i think everyone of the top tier schools is comparable, but i don't see a correlation between applying to both & getting in at only one .
my friend who got in at both was adamant about wanting to go to exeter . she just liked it better & after revisits it still was her favorite .
at the end of the day they are both different schools with slightly different ideals . & maybe exeter is more traditional while andover is slightly more laid back .or maybe becuase people apply to both and in interviews must state where else they are applying, the school may think that exeter is a better fit than andover or vice versa. who knows ?</p>
<p>hmmm well i was accepted to andover :)
thanks dancerx, reyidizzle, olivia..everyone who's been supporting me when i didn't get my package on saturday.</p>
<p>but i was supposeed to get my package my saturday so what happened was ups stopped by my house at around 10:30 and no one was home. but they didn't leave a note, or it flew away or something.</p>
<p>this morning(monday) my mom wasn't home in the morning but when she came home she found a note on our door, and we called and she went to go pick it up around 5 minutes ago.</p>
<p>and sure enough it was my andover acceptance package!
so moral of story? never give up home because you may realize something crazy like this happens!</p>