What is the difference in homework for Calc AB vs Calc BC? For French 2 vs French 3? Does one have significantly more homework.
Depends on the teacher but I would expect a slightly heavier workload because the content is more difficult
For Calc, it really depends because there are so many different Calc sequences. The HW for 595 is probably the heaviest, since it covers all of AB and BC in 3 terms. The HW expectation for a level 2 language and a level 3 language are comparable, IMO.
But keep in mind, new students are placed into math and foreign language based on placement tests. Although there may me a bit of wiggle room, for the most part you donât come in saying âIâm gonna sign up for French 3.â
@ffsophiar I believe I can answer your question! First off, congrats on getting into Andover!
Second, (I am NOT speaking for everyone just my personal experience) the horror stories you mentioned can happen (ex. There are times where I do end up getting only a few hours of sleep, not-so-hot grades, etc.) but itâs not an everyday problem. I admit we do have a lot of work, but that is expected of at a prestigious boarding school. On a normal day, I get about 6-7 hours of sleep (I keep a sleep log). 8 hours of homework is a bit of a stretch though. I spend about 3.5-4 hours max on hw. If you are working to the length of 8< extent, that is just some extreme lack of time management. For grades, you get what you put in. I didnât do so well in one of my classes, but I can see why I earned that grade/deserved it.
I also play piano (been playing for 9-10 years) and I do have time to practice. Itâs a bit difficult when midterms/finals week rolls around, but I always manage to get pockets of time to swing by Graves to practice for a bit.
If you want some real insider as to what WE think about Andover check out our State of the Academy servey from last year: https://sota.phillipian.net/
Hope this helps 
Hey yâall! Congrats to all of the new Andover admits 
Just a lil about meâŠ
This is my first year at Andover & I am a day student!
Feel free to ask about the day student experience or anything specific to PA!
I made this because I wish I had someone who was in a situation like mine and could answer some questions before coming to this school.
@bigblue2021 So youâre a lower, i assume from your username?
About the hours of homeworkâŠ
First, I have two current 9th graders. Below is what I remember about the activities that they participated in in the first term. I think they might have had other extra curricular activities that they tried out and decided against, and they might have done something else that was a low commitment club, but again, this is what I remember.
I asked them each about how much time they spent on homework. They said they had an hour of math every night, an hour of chemistry every night, Spanish was about 30 minutes a night (occasionally in Spanish they had something that could take up to hour), English was 1 hour of reading, and if they had to write something that could then expand to 2-3 hours. History was ânot every nightâ but on homework nights it was hour of reading. They did some writing out of class, but much of the writing was in class. Art was not every night, but was project based. Projects âcould eat up time if you put a lot of effort into themâ. (Kid 2 took Art in second term.)
If you are a musician and you get placed in Music 400 that course is known to be a difficult course and their is daily homework of an hour (or more if you are having difficulty). Kid 2 started in Music 400 but dropped out due to a newly diagnosed lifelong illness she has to deal with. They have consistent weekly voice lessons and daily vocal practice.
My kids both told me that if they had to a test to study for, then the time allocated expanded 1-3 hours per test for studying for a test.
They certainly had time to make a GREAT set of friends (who study similar amounts of time). You can see below they had time to do ECs. One kid aims for 8 hours sleep at 11, awake at 7am. The other generally goes to bed at 11 pm and is up at 6am. Neither have laundry service and do their laundry on weekends. So for them 4-5 hours of homework was âtypicalâ but it could certainly expand to more time depending on assignments and projects, thus the original estimate of 5-7. They each said if they only had 3 hours of homework, they considered it a âlightâ night, which didnât happen very often, but did happen.
Kid1 - Term 1
Chemistry 300
Pre-calc 330 (340, 350)
Spanish 200
English 100
History 100
Art
Sport = Dance
Voice Lessons - practice
Choir
Community Engagement (teaches weekly piano lessons)
Newspaper (wrote a few articles)
Attended a few guest lectures
Prepped and sang at event for Parents Weekend
Participated in a contest outside of school.
Kid2 - Term 1
Chemistry 300
Pre-Calc 330 (340, 350)
Spanish 200
English 100
History 100
Music 400 (difficult class, which she dropped due to illness)
Sport - Outdoor Pursuits (commitment bigger than âlifeâ sports, less than varsity sport)
Voice Lessons - practice
Choir
Newspaper (drew illustrations, wrote articles)
Philosophy Club
Debate
Attended a few guest lectures
Participated in two contests outside of school
How is math taught at Andover?
Is it like Exeter, where the math department comes up with math problems for its students to solve?
@YoungThriver Depends on your teacher. Some teachers like to spend class deriving and explaining with homework dedicated to practice, but other teachers prefer for their students to figure things out on their own and dedicate class time to explaining those concepts.
Are there enough study spaces for the students? Will the library renovation be complete by Fall 2019?
Yes to the library and to the number of different study spaces around campus.
@TheSwami In my experience, there has been plenty of space to study! You should also be willing to try a new space if your go-to doesnât work out for some reason.
As a rising senior, I would love it if the new library were finished by fall (which is what we were told at the beginning of the year), but I wouldnât count on that being the case.
To current students and alums: could you relate to some of the things sheâs experienced over at Andover?
@YoungThriver Whoever wrote this had pretty unique circumstances, especially regarding mental health, so I would say itâs not indicative of how the majority of students feel. Iâve never felt self-conscious about my socioeconomic at school and Iâve very rarely seen other students feel that way. Some wealthy students will be pretentious about it, but its something that occurs in most private schools anyway. Also, 50% of the school is on FA so obviously not everyone you meet will be like the people the author described.
@alyang Thank you.
Would you have time to play/practice your sport seriously during the fall and spring terms if itâs only offered in the winter?
Also, how does the student council work? (Positions for each grade, campaigns/elections, etc.)
@tacocat123 There are ways to practice out-of-season, but its rather sport dependent. What sport do you do? In general, you could participate in a lower-time-commitment sport and practice on your own or participate in a club out of school. As far as StuCo works, there are two representatives from each dorm who serve on the cluster council. For upper-class dorms, these tend to be a lower and an upper/senior (I was a new lower so Iâm not sure how it works for freshmen, but I assume itâs still two). There are also day student representatives, DC representatives (DC is the disciplinary council, the DC Rep helps you prepare and supports you through it), and events planning. There are also two co-presidents from each cluster, and two co-presidents for the whole school.
@Aetrus Thanks for your help! I play squash so I was wondering if I could still find time to practice since itâs required to do sports during the fall and spring terms.
@tacocat123 I believe the squash courts are open for use all year (though someone who does squash should correct me if Iâm wrong) so you could absolutely practice on your own. Additionally, for freshmen and lowers, there is an instructional squash program in the spring. Itâs geared towards teaching new players and so may not be what youâre looking for, but it could still be good to get some on-court practice in the spring (I do varsity crew during the spring, but I also do instructional crew in the fall just for the practice time, so itâs not unheard of).