<p>I’m fascinated by Andover’s statement that 75% of the applicant pool was “academically admissible.” Obviously, that means that 25% of the applicant pool was not viewed as academically admissible.
I’m assuming that someone would only go to all of the trouble of applying if they viewed themselves as admissible. Each application takes several hours of work, at a minimum, and probably more than that for most candidates.
Why is there such a big gap between the admission office’s view and a candidate’s view of their competiveness in the applicant pool?</p>
<p>because a lot of kids and parents think they’re brighter than they actually are mabye?</p>
<p>
gonnastop, these people have so much money because they either inherit the money or work hard for the money. People are never going to be equally wealthy because that sharply contradicts human nature.
Also, I think people in Western industrialized countries should be truly grateful that they have the freedom to speak without censorship or limitation. As far as I know, in communist countries like China, criticizing leaders is considered a crime.</p>
<p>i can tell you from personal knowledge that not every andover candidate has familiarized themselves with the competitive context of andover the way that most cc participants have. there really are kids and families who’ve never visited cc or boardingschoolreview or any other comparable source of what defines “academically admissible” for andover and similar schools. the schools’ web sites don’t put that “discouraging” information right up front where no one can miss it. so, yes, i think everyone who applies probably sees themselves as academically admissible, but some of those applicants are quite naive.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me how to qoute please?</p>
<p>@siliconvalleymom - I’ve given quite a bit of thought to the question you pose as well. My suspicions are that the ssat has something to do with it. (But I have NO WAY to know this for a fact. It’s just my suspicion.) When I think about the kids at my son’s public school who are most often lauded as “so smart,” they are usually relatively bright kids who do everything the teachers ask of them and get great grades. They may have over 100 in each class because take advantage of every possible extra credit opportunity, which usually have nothing to do with academics. So while they may have phenomenal grades from a mediocre (at best) public school, when they are measured against kids who are either simply brilliant or who have benefitted from private ssat tutors and excellent schooling (or both!) they fall short (60s - 70s). Then, they think it’s a fluke and there is so much chatter about how unimportant ssat scores really are that they go ahead and apply thinking that their stellar grades (or ethnic diversity, or amazing athletics, or great musical talent) will make up for it. Perhaps they forget that Andover is a school first and that it has some of the toughest academics anywhere.</p>
<p>They may not realize just how competitive it is. I would call this the small pond effect. Every year I see kids from our town apply to colleges that they have no prayer of getting into. But they were stars here and all they’ve ever been compared to is this really little space. It’s one of the reasons I want my children in a bigger pond. With perspective comes humility.</p>
<p>@Assign. What a lovely young person you are! You flatter me. One day, I would love to meet you - all of you guys. Knowing that ya’ll are the ones who will be running things when I’m old is comforting. Keep your hearts in the right place and you’ll do fine no matter where you are.</p>
<p>@neato: thanks neato. I would LOVE to meet you and other CCers too. Revisits maybe? Let’s keep our hopes up 
@BlueRaven1: quoting is easy. [College</a> Confidential - BB Code List](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/misc.php?do=bbcode]College”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/misc.php?do=bbcode)
sorry if i got off topic.</p>
<p>Gonnastop - I suspect we have the same mother: my grandpa was a military general from China, who then moved to Taiwan. In Taiwan, he had five wives and my mom has nine older half-brothers - all with different mothers. Her father didn’t consider her worthy of education, being a girl, so she had to pay for her high school by working two jobs. Oh dear.</p>
<p>Oh and sorry for being off-topic, that Andover page made me want to curl up and cry. I know they’re a tiny percent of the population and crazy over-achievers, but quite honestly, I’ve never done anything important before.</p>
<p>Haha blueraven I’ve been pondering about this for a while…still haven’t figured it out</p>
<p>Yeah I would LOVE to meet all of you :). 'cept I’d have to come up with a CC cover story quick smart. I spend more time talking with you guys then I do anyone in real life which is really lame lol. I almost wrote RL rather than real life then and I just had a flasback to when I first came to CC and wrote RL and someone (I think it was neato) thought I meant Roxbury Latin and then someonr else told me off and I was completely mortified thinking I’d made a terrible first impression. Wow, that was so long ago.</p>
<p>Jasmine your mom’s situation sounds a little worse. Anyways, we’re just so lucky!</p>
<p>I also feel so lucky about getting to know people on CC. Sometimes I do want the admission people to read this, as I assume we’re all qualified students and very, very nice. </p>
<p>Thanks! Guys don’t be off CC next year! I’ll keep asking questions…</p>
<p>I know, I feel soo fortunate that I even had the chance to apply, because even if I don’t get in, I feel lucky that my parents supported me, took me to visit, and so on, when people like my mom had to pay for high school all by herself!</p>
<p>And I love CC so much, I’ve lurked for a year +, but as it gets closer to March 10th (AND MY FATE) I’ve been checking and posting much, much more often.</p>
<p>I want to share a story too :)</p>
<p>We people are so fortunate, at least fortunate enough to pursue our dreams in getting better education and becoming useful citizens. We are fortunate enough to get decent education, live decent lives, and eat the meals offered without worrying what will happen the next day. </p>
<p>My grandpa was a native Chinese. When my grandpa was a kid like me, he, along with his entire village, suffered from hunger, due to wars and lack of food. Many villagers in his area had to eat grass to survive. Winter was harshly cold. </p>
<p>But my grandpa did not give up in studying. Each and every day, he walked for miles to the neighboring village, so that he might get the chance to learn something from his wealthy cousin’s teacher. His cousin’s family forbidded him to enter the house, so he chose to stay outside and take a peek from a hole to hear the teacher’s ‘words of wisdom’. It was tremendously cold outside, yet he chose to stay. </p>
<p>For months of winter and suffering, his dad died of hunger. My grandpa was 13 back then. He thought of his destiny, and he realized that staying at that current condition would not help his mother and him. That summer, he used his entire saving and rode a ferry to Indonesia.</p>
<p>My grandpa started his business from zero. For years of determination and hard work, he eventually had had enough money to send all his children to study abroad. He was persistent, and very determined to give the best education he could get for my mother.</p>
<p>Without my grandpa, I would’nt be here, chatting with you guys about applying to top BS in USA. Without him, I wouldn’t know the meaning of perseverance.</p>
<p>I owe him a lot.</p>
<p>BlueRaven1: my kids have used laptops/keyboards in school since a very early age, as aid for a documented disability. We worked very hard to teach them to type as young as we could.</p>
<p>In response to those of you who grew up in Asia (and elsewhere): Well, I have really no response. You know more about the world than I ever did at your age. Thank you for sharing your stories with us.</p>
<p>About the whiz kids at Andover: I read the list to my son, who had no response until I got to BusterDad’s story of the electron accelerator - to which his response was, “Oh yeah, my friend so-and-so is building one of those.” Really? Okay then. (For what it’s worth, that kid is NOT applying to BS . . . so let’s all breathe a sigh of relief.)</p>
<p>About typewriters: Have one in my garage that dates back to my dorm room at high school. Always loved it because it was so lightweight & portable (picture the typewriter equivalent of a laptop) - not one of those electric monstrosities! Typewriters, by the way, are still used in may law offices to fill out forms that are not available electronically and HAVE to be typewritten!</p>
<p>About how to quote: Thanks for asking, BlueRaven! I’d wondered about that . . . but just figured that the CC’rs who were able to do it had magical properties!</p>
<p>And about how to find BS’s without the internet: First, if you went to private schools, recruiters would come to the school with stories and slide shows. That’s how I found my school. Two recruiters came in one week. One of them was a math teacher & I can’t remember what he talked about. The other came from a school with HORSES! So I ran home, told my parents and we promptly applied. Problem is - I got them mixed up. Got accepted, got to school . . and never saw a horse for four years! :D</p>
<p>Please, everyone, stop comparing yourselves to the very few highlighted by Andover. You don’t want a class filled mostly with “other interests”, no matter how impressive they might be. You want athletes, dancers, singers, actors, math whizzes, yearbook editors, model UN kids, latin club members, volunteers,…Any school would be strange if the majority of the kids in a single class were over the top. Honestly, I read the link thinking how hard some of these kids might be to have as roommates. Everyone here brings a needed quality to bs; you don’t have to build a hospital in a third world country to be seen as a great candidate. On March 10, every school is hoping it has selected a community that is diverse and all encompassing.
Finally, keep in mind that what Andover wrote about was a public relations piece. My background is in both pr and writing. I guarantee you that I could write something about each one of you, based on your app, that would earn you a place on that list.
zp</p>
<p>I found that there are some kids here having a very different background from mine! I wanna know what qualities of andover that has attracted you, and makes you decided to apply to this school?</p>
<p>And, what do you expected to gain from andover if you got admitted?</p>
<p>Please share! Thank-you in advance!</p>
<p>@BusterDad: what year Andover alum are you? As far as you know, how many (or how few) Andover alums are willing to let their children to apply to Andover? What are the common reasons they would not want their children to attend Andover?</p>
<p>@dogersmom: So you went to Cate thinking it was Thacher? You didn’t go to Andover thinking it was in California did you?</p>
<p>@zuzu: I don’t know if it’s tue that you can write a profile just as impressive as what’s posted there for anyone admitted to Andover. These are some exceptional ones in terms of special interest and achievement outside classrooms. I believe most of Andover students are brilliant in some ways, but these are “extreme” cases, which are not a good representation of the whole class, IMO, but I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Neatoburrito- completely agree about your assessment of small town public schools. Another factor is that kids who score really well on state tests, like the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) are surprised when they don’t get a high score on the SSAT, which is just…much harder. Prep schools really do depend on the SSAT to see if students are ready for their curriculum.</p>
<p>Sorry to make a lot of people upset, I just thought it was intresting. Andover seems like it was a salesperson. We were learning about advertising in Health class… and Andover is using a ton of their tactics. I would explain, but I wouldn’t want to insult whoever their talking about. I mean these people are great, but I’m just trying to explain in a lot of confusing sentences that Andover is basically re-writing their applications, and they would know how to do it. Except, you wouldn’t really do that because it would be sort of snobby…or should you? Sorry I’m doing it again. I’m going to stop now. Wait also, I know people who go to Andover who are way overshadowed by canidates on this site, no offence to them.</p>
<p>@baystateresident
I COMPLETELY agree with your assesment of the MCAS. But, I think ERB’s CRT4 or something like that (we call them ERB’s) are much harder than the ssat’s.</p>