DC is interested in the INESLE Madrid summer program. The program is offered as a partnership with PA, not run by the Tang Institute. Does anyone have any experience with this particular program? If so, is it something you would recommend? Any particulars that might not be in the propaganda that I should know about?
@familyrock Hello! This is a little late, but Iām a current 2-year Upper and I might be able to answer some of your questions. I didnāt go on INESLE last summer, but I did go on Ā”Relindo! Argentina with Learning in the World (Tang), which was very similar to INESLE in many ways. However, one of my close friends did INESLE, so I can share what sheās told me.
The minimum Spanish level for us was SPA300, or a third-year class, and the expectation is usually high intermediate-low advanced level for these trips. A big part of the trip is living with a host family, and for me, this was one of my favorite parts. Another important thing is that you take Spanish classes during the week for a few hours every day, but the rigor is definitely not the same as an actual Andover academic course.
Some big differences that Iāve heard of between INESLE and Relindo are that you go on the trip with non-Andover students and that you get much more freedom on INESLE. My friend said that most of the other kids were also from boarding schools, so she has a lot of friends at other NE schools now. The ratio of students to chaperones is lower than on Learning in the World, students have less constructed schedules, and can choose what activities they do for themselves.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend a study-abroad program during high school. I had a great experience on my Tang Institute trip and my friend had a great experience on her INESLE trip. My Spanish teacher last year was actually one of the people who helped found INESLE, so I can testify to the fact that teachers on study-abroads are very passionate about what they do. Let me know if you have questions about anything specific!
ārecommend a study-abroad program during high school. I had a great experience on my Tang Institute tripā
@bellsprout: is the trip part of tuition or separately funded?
@Heading2HS Trips with the Tang Institute are not part of tuition. But they are quite generous with aid!
If you are fluent in a language like Mandarin, could you take it as a course?
They will strongly āsuggestā you study a different language.
@skieurope hahaha okay. I am taking spanish now anyways and I was going to take that if I got in, but good to know
@Heading2HS Tang Institute trips are out-of-pocket but they give scholarships proportional to your level of financial aid (50% aid, 50% covered for your trip). I think itās capped at 6 or 7 thousand. INESLE and SYA are out-of-pocket.
@ImWaisian If youāre fluent, you can ātest outā of your language grad requirement and just keep taking Spanish for fun 
@bellsprout what does that mean?
@ImWaisian If you have studied a certain language in the past and are now fluent, you can demonstrate your proficiency by assessment to satisfy the graduation requirement in foreign language. If you are learning another language at school, you can keep taking that so you donāt completely drop foreign language from your course load.
@bellsprout thanks so much
Not exactly.
To use an example, if as an entering 9th grader, you take take the placement test in Chinese, and are placed into the 400-level course, you would still need to take one term of Chinese at Andover to fulfill the graduation requirement. It may be different for entering 10th graders and beyond.
However, as I said earlier, if one is truly fluent by virtue of having lived in China and attending Chinese schools, then they would (as would colleges BTW) prefer that you learn another language during HS.
@wannabeacoolkid I am not sure the policy on music teachers but we did contact the sports Coach for our DS and we had the opportunity to sit down and spend an hour with him during our visit. I see no harm in you emailing the music teacher and ideally linking them to a youtube video of yourself performing.
@ scareddwarf A question, Iām applying to PA, and Iām a little bit more of a dancer than an athlete, should I reach out to the dance teachers and instructors there?
If I should, how so? Iām a little it confused. One of the admission officers told me that the more people who are rooting for you, the more likely you are to get accepted. But Iām not very sure on what to say to them
Otherwise, Iām kind okay at sports and instead really being an expert at a one, I play a whole range so, volleyball, basketball, soccer, track. What should I say to the coaches when I contact them?
Thank you so much
I canāt provide any advice as to what you should do with respect to reaching out to coaches or instructors. Other have suggested that it can be helpful, and I suspect that is true for applicants with stand-out talent in relevant areas.
I can say that I donāt think that one necessarily needs to reach out to instructors or coaches to gain admission or to have someone rooting for you, as my child was admitted without reaching out to any coaches or instructors. In terms of getting on the radar, and if I recall correctly, you have the ability to submit multimedia files with your application to showcase things like dancing. And regarding sports, I know PA has a prospective student athlete form (https://athletics.andover.edu/Pages/ProspectiveStudentAthleteForm.aspx) that you can fill out.
Thanks to everyone on this thread, reading the different threads and posts, gives me the impression that AP as well as PEA, are both heavily geared towards mathematicians; is this a correct assumption?
Also, this might be a better question for the moderator, @skieuroup, for a budding writer, whoās goal is publishing a fantasy book before graduation from HS, which one(amongst PA, PEA, Choate, LC, Hot, DF) is a better school? Kid is academically talented, SSAT in 90s, very mature, athletic, self thought artist, creative writer. Is Andover a good fit?
@CaliPops Congrats to your kid on getting admitted. I know that this is a pretty stressful process
Iāve already filled out the Prospective Student-Athlete Form, and Iāve already reached out to some coaches under the suggestion of the admission officers of some schools, soā¦ yeah
Thanks for your advice 
@GGNewton - I canāt answer for these schools, but take a look at the course catalog for each school and see what the writing options are in the English department.
I recall that our school (not one on your list) had English classes that were geared toward kids who really wanted to write more, including one that involved writing a book (and starting it over the summer before the class began. ). Itās hard, with the course load at any of these schools, to find time to do this outside your other obligations, so if thatās her dream, curricular support could help.