I heard that Andover’s internet policy is very strict, with a lot of sites blocked. For instance, I heard that Instagram and YouTube are blocked. Also, like any teenager, I like to play online video games. Are a lot of video games blocked?
You heard wrong.
No
Thanks @skieurope !
I’m currently an 11th grader at PA, never had any issues with blocked sites or games. I play primarily PC though, so I’m not sure what the state of XBL or PSN is.
- Are most of the freshman/"junior" dorms the same?
- When can you scout a dorm to see what furniture/stuff you should buy (summer?)?
- When are you allowed to move into your dorm (even if school has not started yet)?
@KnightsDude There is a variety of housing on campus for all grades, from smaller houses to middle and larger size dorms, and rooms can vary widely in size, shape and configuration. In our experience assignments for new students don’t get released until the 2nd or 3rd week of August. Typically speaking, registration day is the day you first see your room and the earliest your can move in (see my post #456 above about planning what you will buy/bring). Invited athletes and certain student leaders have an earlier move in date, and new international students move in a day before new domestic students. There is a draft academic calendar posted on the school website with these dates. If you aren’t in any of these categories but your roommate is, you may be able to see your room once they move in, but I think house counselors are pretty strict about the move-in timelines.
When do new students fill out the housing questionnaire and take the placement tests?
@skieurope and @MA2012 I’m hoping you and anyone else can give some feedback. It’s course selection time again! Recently AK spoke with college counseling and together they came up with the following schedule for upper year which sounds scary to me:
-English 300
-Math 590 (BC Calc)
-Math 530 (AP Stats)
-Comp Sci 500 (AP)
-Physics 550 (Calc-Based)
AK is interested in Applied Math and Engineering, so things sound good in that regard BUT…yikes! Any thoughts?
Senior year would presumably include:
-History 300 (required)
-Math 650 (mult. calc./lin. alg.)
-Physics 600/630/650 (modern physics/fl. mech./seminar)
-At least one art elective which would still be needed
-English elective??? How many terms? What’s the thought on that given that the school doesn’t require English beyond 300 level?
Lastly, by taking 15 term credits during upper year, presumably AK would only need 12 term credits during senior year. How should those 12 term credits be distributed over the course of the year for purposes of college applications? Assuming ED/EA application(s) do colleges look for full schedules for each term during senior year? (With the schedule above, AK could have a minimum of 3 classes during spring term senior year–History, Math and Physics).
Thanks!!!
Sent you a PM. For others here - my immediate thought is that no history or language in 11th could be an issue. Mine dropped both after 11th grade, so it isn’t that 4 years are needed. Some colleges require 4 years of English. History 300 requires a research paper in the spring - think about spring of 12th vs spring of 11th.
@MA2012 Many thanks for the post and the PM! I’ve got some more detailed thoughts/questions to send via PM, but on the more general issues:
-
On the issue of dropping the FL and waiting until senior year for history, I think that AK and the college counselor concluded that AK should take Comp. Sci. and Stats next year instead of waiting until senior year to help AK narrow down an academic area of interest for college. With athletic recruitment in the mix, the number of target schools is more limited and AK will need to identify about a handful of top-choice schools (that are also athletically interested in AK!) by the end of junior year. So availability of majors could really narrow things down once athletic and academic matches are identified. (Complicating things is that the NCAA has recently adopted a rule change which would mean that AK could be going on official visits in the spring of junior year. It might be best not to have a big term paper looming during that time. That said, there are rumblings that the NCAA may reverse this decision in the next few weeks, but that will be after course selections are submitted.)
-
Dropping the foreign language has been my biggest concern and I was sure college counseling would back me up and tell AK to take a 400 level class next year. Well, I was wrong. My only consolation is that if things go as hoped with athletic recruiting, AK will be getting some admissions pre-reads done in the summer between junior and senior year. If by chance a school(s) says that another year of foreign language was needed, I’m hoping the kid could take it senior year and have it count for admissions. The one year gap would be far from ideal, but I guess that some review over the summer might make it work.
-
Regarding English, would you say that when a school requires 4 “years” they mean 4 full years, or can a student get away with one or two terms during senior year?
-
Related to the issue of having to deal with the History 300 term paper in the spring of senior year, and depending on the answer to #3 regarding English, do you think colleges would look askance at a senior year course plan which only had 4 classes during each term, and possibly a load such as 4 (fall), 5 (winter), 3 (spring)?
I have to agree with this, especially the history part. He should just take HIST 300 as an upper. Let’s not forget senioritis. As a potential engineering major, the foreign language is less critical if he’s completing level 3 now.
It would count.
OVs should never be at the expense of current academic requirements and deadlines. If an OV bumps into the due date of an assignment, and an extension cannot be accommodated, then the OV should be rescheduled. If the issue of the OV is that it takes away from planning time of the paper/studying for the exam, well, that’s what time-management is all about. 
They mean 4 full years. If he doubled up in a prior term, he could get away with not taking it one term. But also note that in addition to colleges, NCAA requires 4 years of English.
No. As long as it follows Andover’s policy that at least 3 are advanced.
Unless things have changed, Andover does not allow 3 a term.
You think or you ** know** the CC agreed with this? I would be surprised. HS, and certainly 11th grade, is not when one should consider specializing, especially at the expense of other core subjects IMO.
That all said, if he’s recruited, some of the above does not apply (or at least will carry less weight for colleges) as long as NCAA minimums are met.
Feel free to PM me if you want.
https://panet.andover.edu/modules/_258_1/essen_study_skills%281%29.pdf
I found this 38-page academic habits PDF booklet on PA Net. It had a bunch of helpful study tips, which I now plan to use at my current school. However, one specific thing caught my eye: it said that Andover regulates student internet use to 1 GB per week. Yes, this is a decent amount, but I’m still concerned. The “booklet” was written in 2008, and since 2008, it has become a lot easier to use a lot of internet (NETFLIX!). Thus, I am wondering: is the 1 GB/week policy still in place?
I don’t think I knew that this was ever in place. But I never had an issue.
I will say that you might be overestimiting the amount of time you will be able to spend online and balance your courses/ECs effectively.
I received info from AppleKid about the Collegeboxes storage and delivery service (collegeboxes.com). In addition to services for continuing and graduating students, they offer pickup and delivery for new students.
Ok, ok, I’m just making sure 
. I know it won’t be easy, but the last thing I need is to run into a one-week internet ban…
Any advice on using collegeboxes (or similar company)? I’m trying to get a feel for how many boxes I should get for DC. I suspect we’ll opt for storage, as having materials pre-delivered to dorm next year sounds great, but I thought I would see if I can get the benefit of someone else’s experience as to best practices, e.g., what to store and what not to store, what to ship versus what to store, etc.
No recommendations for one company or another, but I definitely recommend storage.
If the kid will use it next year, but not over the summer, then store. e.g. lamps, reference books, wall coverings, etc. If s/he will use over the summer, then take or ship. If s/he will never use again, then sell or toss or donate.
^^ Thanks!
@KnightsDude - Internet policies are often quite different now than 10 years ago. For general information 2008 handbook might be helpful, but not necessarily for technology.
ICYMI, on yesterday’s Instagram (andoveradmissions) I saw that the Dean of Studies office sent newly enrolled students their andover.edu username and password as well as info about placement tests.