@AppleNotFar you are always a wealth of information. Thank you!
^ditto
Any advice on how many activities are comfortably manageable for a new junior? For example, would it be manageable to play an interscholastic sport, participate in an EC such as MUN or debate, and also participate in a social club or two?
It will depend on a few criteria beyond how well your son/daughter is able to balance a busy schedule. What level (varsity, JV, thirds) interscholastic sport? What type of sports do they hope to participate in (crew takes up extra time traveling to and from boat house)? Will they be looking to be a member of one of the school musical ensembles or theatre productions as that will involve two or more nights a week?
My DS, who is a junior this year, has been on a varsity team each term, attends band practices on both Tues/Thurs. nights and is a member of the chess club. He has found this to be about all he can balance with the academic workload even though heād love to be involved in many more clubs and activities.
Agreed. @CaliPops
As @BigBlueSwim mentioned, a lot depends upon the activity. As a junior (assuming youāre using the word ājuniorā in the Andover context, i.e. 9th grader), since itās unlikely that the kid would have a lead or a key backstage role in the play, the time commitment may be less. The sport/level also comes into play.
Personally, I found that I could manage a sport, theater, and one not-too-time-consuming additional EC. One of the advantages of Andover is that there are so many options. One of the disadvantages is that there are so many options. 
Thanks @BigBlueSwim and @skieurope. I PMād with @BigBlueSwim with some more details and think I have a better feel now.
In view of the course catalog and list of clubs/activities, your observation seems pretty irrefutable.
Hi @CaliPops, depending on the sport, it may conflict with other extracurricular activities. My kid could never get a role in a major theater performance because the rehearsals conflicted with practice. She was able to engage in extracurriculars that didnāt have as many specific time comments, for example, editing a journal. Also, in her 3 years at at PAA, she always took an āextraā class. I was deeply grateful for this because she got to avail herself of their great academics, and it better prepared her for juggling in college and āreal lifeā. Congrats in your child joining the PAA community. It is an awesome opportunity!
Thanks for the additional insight and warm welcome @CallieMom. DC is definitely looking forward to the impending adventure. Out of curiosity, how many kids go for the extra class? I expect DC will want to do the standard load to start.
Many kids do the extra class in at least one trimester in 9th grade to start knocking out the art/music/PE requirements. Relatively few take an extra class in later years.
Thanks! Very helpful.
@CaliPops The course of study is your friend 
The regular class load is 5 courses per term. As a ninth grader this year DC took 5 classes in the fall, 6 in the winter and 5 in the spring. Around mid-year DC with the advisor prepared a course plan for spring and the remaining 3 years at school. According to the plan DC will take a 6th course during one semester next year to fulfill the PE requirement, and during one other term in the last two years to complete the art/music requirement. I imagine that adjustments can/will be made as DC moves through the school, but we trust that the advisor will be watching out for our kiddo. One place where DC found some āextraā course space was a result of testing into the 2nd year of a language for this year. The current plan has DC taking a fifth science course in the last year.
Thanks, @AppleNotFar. Itās a whole new world for us, and we will trust our DCās advisors. And good point about the language. We wonāt know of until the assessment results come in, of course, but based in part on the revisit, DC believes that there is a reasonable chance of testing into the 2nd year of language.
Taking 5 or 6 depends on the student. My child took 6 courses every term in 9th grade and the first two terms in 10th grade. I think there was a term where this was not a great idea, but overall, itās been fine. Now with 5 courses for the first time, he calls me a lot!
Can you test out of certain classes before junior year? Iād like to test out of biology if I canā¦
@monica20 if your math class is advanced enough you have the option to take a Chem class instead Bio in 9th grade. Testing is generally for math and language. I know the kids who placed into Pre-Calc could take chemistry.
@monica20 What @MA2012 described is exactly what happened for AppleKid (a junior, or 9th grader) who took the first 3 of 4 terms of pre-calc (330/340/350) along with chem 300 this year.
AppleKid and advisor just hammered out the course selections for next year and adjusted the 4-year course plan accordingly such that next year kiddo will take the last pre-calc term in the fall, and then begin the BC calc sequence in the spring. Because calc is required for calculus-based physics, AppleKid will take AP chem next year, and calculus-based physics in upper year. BUT bio is still in the plan, but not until senior yearāI believe the goal is cellular biology. My understanding is that many colleges will still want that bio course in high school even if itās not required by the high school, especially for those kids who want to pursue a science major in college. However, Andover only requires two 3-term lab sciences for graduation.
All I can say is that Iām grateful for that advisor and that itās not me with that lineup of math and science courses!
The science department is wonderfully flexible. 9th graders can take physics, chemistry or biology and there are multiple levels of each course. Depending on math, physics can be calculus-based or not. At least a few 9th graders I know took calculus-based physics (550 I think?) in 9th grade. There are years beyond the introductory courses in each subject as well ā organic chem, fluid mechanics, etc. My child has found the science courses to be harder than anything else heās had at Andover and since I sent him there for challenge, he has gotten it in science at least!
Another interesting opportunity is to test into the AP music sequence (Theory and Composition) for those with a strong music background.
While true, colleges will evaluate everything in context. FWIW, I took Chem in 9th, took no Bio at all, and Iām a STEM major. Certainly not the āpreferredā route, but the college application will not be tossed in the circular file automatically.