<p>Where Are You??? lol jk</p>
<p>How is the music program not so good?
I'm not the biggest musician, but I've taken up guitar since coming to Andover and my experience with the music department has been very good. They have a lot of really talented teachers, who work a lot of hours so it's very easy to schedule lessons. Graves (the music building) is a little bit of a hike, (not really, we're just lazy) but it has pretty great facilities: there are a bunch of personal practice rooms, each with its own piano and also plenty of instruments that you can "check out" to use in case you don't want to lug your own instrument all the way there. The music classes seem pretty legitimate (again, I'm not a HUGE music person), and there are plenty of instrumental groups on campus along with other interesting music options (like a community service thing where you go and play your instrument for people). I think the most difficult thing about music here, is that you're VERY busy, so it's very easy to not be able to find time to practice. However, all the more "serious" musicians I know don't really seem to have that problem because they make practicing a priority. Also, almost every dorm I've been in has a piano.</p>
<p>What's the dance program like in Andover?
Again, I don't really dance, but as far as I can tell, we have a pretty good program. It's really nice because dance is considered a "sport" so you can do it right after school and not have to do another athletic option. There are student run dance groups, along with the aforementioned dance program. I know in the fall, the dance program put on the Nutcracker and it was really good. They brought in professional dancers from Boston Ballet and everything. So as far as I can tell (as a non-dancer) it looks good; better than a lot of schools I've seen.</p>
<p>Do you have a room mate? If so, how was the experience like? Did you get annoyed at each other alot, or was it just great all the time?
I LOVE my roommate. Like the school did a BRILLIANT job matching us up together, we're actually best friends. I don't think that's the case in every situation, but I actually love her and couldn't imagine andover without her now. Its pretty nice because we have a 3-room double, so we share a little like "common room" area but then still have our own little rooms which I think really helps in the whole not-having-arguments front.</p>
<p>What's the dorm life like?
Dorm life is fun. I mean, sometimes it's hard, because living with your friends is REALLY REALLY distracting. So that can be tough. It's also occasionally hard if you want alone time. I mean, it's really easy to just go to your room, but then (at least for me) since I live with my friends I feel like I should ALWAYS be hanging out with them, and that's not always the best. Everyone needs some "me" time. But for the most part it's a GREAT experience, you become really close really fast and it's just FUN.</p>
<p>There are alot of really interesting courses I saw in the course book- do you get to construct your own schedule?
You don't get to completely design it, but you do get a lot of say, especially as you get older. Each year you have some courses that everyone takes (ex. English 100 freshman year, History/English 300 upper year) and then you have certain requirements you have to fulfill (like reaching a certain level in math, or taking a number of terms of art/music) but other than that you have a lot of choices. Like which sciences you want to take, or which language to take, and then as you get older there are TONS of electives, from psychology to ornithology and if you're good in getting your requirements out of the way early on, then senior year you pretty much get to build whatever you want.</p>
<p>Are the commons going to be completely built by next year?
COMMONS IS OPENING SPRING TERM. i'm so excited, it's apparently BEAUTIFUL.</p>
<p>Are they planning on rebuilding the really old buildings (like English)?
They do rennovate buildings a lot, but I don't think they're planning on rebuilding Bulfinch. Bulfinch is actually one of my favorite buildings on campus, it's BEAUTIFUL. it's the oldest building on campus, and yes, it does look it but in a good way. The classrooms have these wonderful old desks/tables and I think the original floorboards. But like, everything there is also modern. I mean, my classroom has a huge flatscreen TV in it so we can watch movies/project people's papers and stuff like that.</p>
<p>What did you get on your SSAT?
In the high 90s? I don't remember exactly. but SSAT isn't the only thing. Some people get 99s and don't get in, other people have 80s and do. So don't stress/be overly confident either way.</p>
<p>Did you regret your choice in going to Andover AT ALL? Ever?
I think everyone has times that they wish they didn't come here. ESPECIALLY WAKING UP WHEN THERE IS 2 FEET OF SNOW AND EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE WORLD HAS A SNOWDAY. haha, but really. I think that'd be true no matter where you go. There are times when you're stressed cause you have a lot of work, and there are times when you fight with your friends, and there are times you wish you lived the life of a normal teenager. But everything else ends up outweighing that. </p>
<p>It's the 2 hours you spend sitting and talking with your english teacher over a personal lunch. It's people playing ultimate on the great lawn. It's staying up until 3 in the morning talking to your best friends even though both of you have finals the next day. It's screaming "RED MEAT! RED MEAT!" at Andover/Exeter. It's learning more over one lunchtime conversation with your friends then you learned all year in your old school's history class. It's having adults respect you. It's being AMAZED by what your peers can do. And it's the greatest opportunity you could ask for.</p>
<p>Thanks for your informatie response Zebra!</p>
<p>haha, no problem.
I don't really want to study for finals...
/I'm fondly recollecting on my own march 10.</p>
<p>Althoguth what zebra says is true, i think it's over-romanticized and this is NOT a typical day at andover. Dont get me wrong, i like this school, but i feel like there's a LOT of misleading when you apply to this school. </p>
<p>Not every teacher you meet will be good, fair, or your best friend. Stayin up late ate night, talking to friends, hanging out, most likely going to be you, doing 4 hours of homework, sleep deprived</p>
<p>Also, if you're really into music, its so hard to find time everyday to practice even an hour with all the homework/sports/ etc etc... We do have pianos in most dorms, but usually those are the ones discarded by the music dept and they just decide to put them in dorms. Also w/ band and orchestra, just not as good as one would think a school like andover should be at... I cant describe it, you just have to come and see for yourself. Unlike most schools which have it as a class each band and orchestra meets 1nce a week. Compared to public schoool i came from, music dept here IS sub-par, especialy for such a good school</p>
<p>ETC ETC..</p>
<p>I was accepted to Andover!!!!!!</p>