Ask Questions about Andover

Prep School Admissions
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<p>Hello there, newly admitted students, parents, and anyone else who wwants to know something about PA! I'm presently a junior (9th grader) at Phillips Academy Andover, and I'm on spring break, so I'm here to answer any questions about your prospective school. To be clear, I am not a member of the admissions crew; I'm just a student with too much time on my hands. But feel free to ask me about dorms, the workload, or heck, even the food! </p>

<p>MODERATOR'S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask and/or answer questions. </p>

<p>EDIT: Thanks to the mod who made the thread more open to everyone! It's a far better idea than me answering everything by myself.</p>

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<p>@DocScratch
Hi! I’m going to be a new lower in Sept 2014… :slight_smile:

  1. What are revisit days like? Does each new student get paired up with a current one for the day?
  2. Heaviness of workload?
  3. Know anything about rowing crew?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Hi, @violinjaa
If you don’t mind, I’ll just tell you what I’ve been telling people who have PMed me.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>On one of the four(?) revisit days, you come to check out Andover. The night before, there is a student showcase (informal and brief) with cupcakes where you can chat with admission officers and some current students. The morning of, you arrive, listen to Jim Ventry and Headmaster Palfry talk a bit about your class, and then you’re handed off to your revisit guide (a student who takes you to all their classes and essentially shows you around). Your parents (if they choose to stay) can see a mini-class or presentation of their choice, and afterwards, go on a tour led by one of the student tour guides. After classes are done, you go to the chapel and watch a Q&A session with some current students and administrators. When that finishes, you can either go home, hang around campus, or go back with your revisit guide (if you are one of the students who has signed up to stay with your guide overnight). It’s a great day, and I remember it being one of the most exciting days of my life.</p></li>
<li><p>I wouldn’t necessarily describe the work as impossible, but that could just be because I’ve gotten used to it. It’s definitely far more difficult than my old school (I went to a crummy public school); I remember being shocked by how much homework I had on the first day! Thankfully, I learned to adjust very quickly, as did my friends. Time-management is key; if you’ve got it down, you’ll excel at PA. I think that my sport (crew) taught me how to be more efficient about my work than a less time-consuming sport would have. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but I am good at finishing work and (gasp) having fun. Yes, even at Andover, we have more than enough spare time to have fun. For the longest time, I was going to sleep at 9 every night because my work was finished.</p></li>
<li><p>Some people love crew, and some people hate it. It’s a lot of work, and the most time-consuming of all sports, but I love the feeling that nine people on a boat can work together to accomplish something great. If you’ve never rowed before, I’d do fall crew (instructional). If you have rowed before, I’d still do fall crew! It’s a good way to meet other rowers, and experience some bonding. Spring is competitive season. Crew is not easy (I did a lot of winter crew workouts, and we woke up at 5 AM to shovel snow around campus together), but it is always fun.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Hope I helped… And I, too, am going to be a lower next year. *summons other PA friends @luciusismahbud @PewwwJWu *</p>

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<p>Thanks @DocScratch for your insight</p>

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<p>No insight here… Just me saying words.</p>

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<p>Hi! I’m another new lower and so excited, but still have a few anxieties aaaah I feel like i’ll just throw a bunch of questions at you, sorry!</p>

<p>1) is it possible to get to know (almost) everyone in the grade? (and eventually school… hahaha i can dream)
2) do you ever get some “alone” time to yourself?
3) are clubs relatively easy to join as a lower, and eventually taking important posts within the club?
4) how common is it for people to start pursuing something totally anew? (like photography, languages, etc.)
5) how much importance do students place on college applications in day-to-day life?
6) do you get spare time to pursue something independently outside of classes?
7) generally, how late do people go to sleep</p>

<p>haha I think I’ll stop here, thank you!!! :)</p>

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<p>@jmoran, I am not.</p>

<p>@bmyfeyonce Thank you for your questions.

  1. Presently, I know most people in my class (grade), but every year, more students will be admitted in my class, so I’ll have to acquaint myself to more new faces. I try to meet one new person every day, whether they’re in my class or not.
  2. I feel like all my time is alone time… Just kidding! I’m always bustling about campus doing things, but I do have ample time for quiet, personal reflection. If I really wanted to be alone, I could lock myself in my room, and no one would bother me (except my friends who live across the hall, unless I were to tell them I needed to be alone).
  3. Absolutely. You may have read in the Phillipian about a girl who went to a world debate competition this year. It may surprise you, but although she entered as a 9th grader, she only started debating in 10th grade. Many other very successful seniors I know came in as new lowers.
  4. Very common. In fact, it’s expected. Whether it be a new language, sport, or EC, Andover offers an excellent way to try something you’ve always wanted to do, but never did.
  5. From my experience, no one talks about college apps excessively at Andover. It’s just one of those topics that no one likes to chat about.
  6. In theory, there is plenty of time to pursue something… but many students don’t. The Andover life is quite draining, so during spare time, most students sort of unwind. I’m a voracious reader, but I can never find myself doing some reading that isn’t assigned because my brain is already so used up from school.
  7. All freshmen have lights out at 11 PM, so they have to (although many secretly stay up) be in bed by then. Upperclassmen sleep whenever they want, which is around 12. You’ll find some crazy ones that pull all-nighters, and you’ll find some that go to sleep at 10 every night.</p>

<p>I hope I’ve helped.</p>

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<p>Gonna add some stuff in, because it’s spring break and I’m bored.</p>

<p>3) It’s really easy to join clubs. I’ve joined a few as an upper, even though I came in 9th grade. Just show up and show interest, really.
5) You’ve always got the undertone of “I want leadership positions” or “I want to join clubs” or “I need to do comm serve” to pad college resumes, but discussion about college itself doesn’t really kick in until upper year, when you start doing college counseling. It also depends on your friend group, because I’ve certainly talked a lot about colleges with my friends.
6) I’ve always had time to do things not related to schoolwork, but I always spend that time being unproductive. If I had wanted to pursue something independently, I could have (and still can). It’s not time that’s an issue from what I see.</p>

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<p>@DocScratch @TheTester thank you!</p>

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<p>Have a question,
What is a typical week like at andover, it says a three day week in the admissions FAQs what does that mean? School only 3 days a week or what?</p>

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<p>Hi! I’m going to be attending as a junior (9th grade) and I have a couple questions:

  1. What is the grading system? Does it go by A’s and B’s or is it totally different?
  2. In terms of housing for girls, which dorm would be the best to live in?
  3. Do you get time on the weekends to have fun or are people mostly studying?
  4. If I want to pursue a sport but have no experience with it, would that be okay? I’ve heard that at Groton they have teams of different levels (beginner, intermediate, etc.) and I was wondering whether Andover did the same thing.
  5. What should I bring to Andover (besides clothes, toiletries, etc.)? Are there any necessities that everyone has at Andover?
  6. How is the laundry service? Would it be better to do your own laundry or pay for the laundry service?</p>

<p>Sorry for all the questions, I’m just really curious about daily Andover life! </p>

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<p>I have a question, how often and how large is the repeat student population?</p>

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<p>Thank you @DocScratch and @TheTester! :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I’ve also been talking to a couple of alumni and current students, and they say that a lot of new incoming lowers stick together for remainder of high school since they are usually housed together… Is this the norm, or do a lot of lowers also disperse among returning students too? Is it possible for incoming lowers to be in the same dorm as returning lowers?</p>

<p>Last question for now!</p>

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<p>@PrestigeScholar Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays are full days, meaning you have all your classes for 45 minutes each. Wednesdays, you have your 1st, 2nd, and 7th hour for 75 minutes. Thursdays, it’s the same, but with 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.andover.edu/academics/pages/dailyclassschedule.aspx”>http://www.andover.edu/academics/pages/dailyclassschedule.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@26postcards I’ll tell you exactly what I told some others on CC</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The grading scale is from 0 to 6. A 6 is a 94-100. a 5 is an 86-93, a 4 is a 77-85, and this continues until you get lower than a 50, which is a 0. Some teachers are different, but this is the standard scale. Letter grades are not written in report cards. The internally used GPA is determined by adding up the number grades (0-6) and dividing by number of classes. When applying to a college that wants the grades on a normal scale, the grades can be written as such (I believe a 6 is a 4.2, a 5 is a 4.0, a 4 is a 3.0, etc.).</p></li>
<li><p>There are three (sometimes four) freshman girl dorms. They are, in descending order of size, Nathan Hale (~42 freshmen), Isham (~18), Double Brick (14), and Hearsey (depending on yield; 5 freshmen).</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Hale is in the Knoll, and is right next to the bird sanctuary and Rabbit Pond. It is a fairly new building, and facilities (i.e. bathrooms) are nice. Hale is the only 9th grade girls’ dorm with three room doubles (two small sleeping rooms, one nice sized shared room), which are really nice, but very hard to get. Hale girls do have a bit of a bad reputation, and I’ve heard that they can be a bit cliquey, but overall it’s a solid choice.</p>

<p>Isham has two things going for it: it’s right next to the health center, so if there’s an emergency, it’s right there. Secondly, it is SO clean. Isham is the only dorm I’ve been to where people remove their muddy shoes before walking inside (you can probably tell that I’m really OCD). It’s a new building, and bathrooms are awesome! The house counselor, Ms. Carter, is the nicest person I know. On the flip side, the rooms are rather small and feel a bit claustrophobic.</p>

<p>Double Brick is an old (but charming) brick building with two doors (hence the name). The rooms are HUGE. Pretty much the largest rooms anywhere on campus (except Morton House). You might not think they’re huge, but once you live in a dorm for a while, you’ll definitely appreciate it. House counselors are the best… Facilities are acceptable. It’s one of the more cohesive dorms, and even though not everyone is friends, a Doublebricker always stands by another DBer. People will claim that it’s really far away; it’s not actually. It’s the closest of the Abbot dorms.</p>

<p>Hearsey is… weird. It’s tiny. It has a (legendary) creepy basement. I basically never see anyone who lives in Hearsey. I, personally, wouldn’t want to live in a dorm with only four other people, but if you’re coming from a very small school, it could suit you. Be warned, the facilities are terrible. The laundry machines are in said creepy basement. BUT it is the closest freshman dorm to main campus, and it will give you priority to other Flagstaff dorms (which everyone wants to live in).</p>

<p>The best one is the one you like the most… but ask around for more info. I’m biased, of course!</p>

<ol>
<li><p>There are social events every weekend, and always opportunities to have some fun. Even during finals week, I saw a play with some of my friends and went to “Casino Night” (a fundraiser where we all dressed up and played cards in the dining hall). It is very possible to be a hermit at Andover (there’s always that kid in the dorm who never seems to leave), but if you want to be social, it’s easy to be social. Every Friday night after dinner, my friends and I gather in the Den (the student lounge underneath the dining hall) and play Apples-to-Apples (a card game). None of us are failing classes, if that’s what you think, either. In short, despite Andover’s academics being quite rigorous, there is ample time to unwind and hang out.</p></li>
<li><p>Many sports have an instructional term in which you can learn the basics. </p></li>
<li><p>I’ll direct you here: <a href=“The Ultimate Supply List for Boarding School - Prep School Admissions - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/311892-the-ultimate-supply-list-for-boarding-school.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
<li><p>I do my own laundry because it’s not that hard, and I wouldn’t spend the money on a laundry service. I’ve heard the service is convenient, but can sometimes mix up your clothing with someone else’s… those occurrences are few, though.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Sorry for my long-winded monologue. I hope I’ve helped.</p>

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<p>@balledtoohard There is a fair number of repeat students. I’d say 1 out of 20 is a repeat kid. But I’m not quite sure… sorry.</p>

<p>@bmyfeyonce New lowers are often mixed with returning students, but unfortunately, new lowers get shoved into the dorms that returning students didn’t want to live in (i.e. the really far away ones). So chances are, you’ll be with a lot of new lowers. By senior year, it’s somewhat difficult to tell when someone entered the school as everyone has mixed. But I’ve noticed that new lowers seem to be closest with new lowers, consistently throughout the classes.</p>

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<p>@DocScratch what happens after athletics and Community Service- is that down time to do homework or do classes continue?</p>

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<p>also @docScratch how much homework is assigned per day- and for each class(On Average)?</p>

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<p>More adding on to things.</p>

<p>@26postcards:
Yes, Hearsey is small and has a creepy basement, but it could be considered part of its charm. The rooms aren’t all that big - one of the two double is really long and narrow. The single isn’t that big either. It’s drafty, but a lot of the dorms (especially the smaller ones - FLG, ABB) are, so it’s not a huge thing. As DocScratch said, though, it’s got a great location. It’s also very cohesive. I’d say moreso than Double Brick - Double Brick always seems to have one or two rooms that are a little out of the loop, for lack of a better word, but the Hearsey girls in at least two of the years I’ve been at Andover have been very close. Hearsey also doesn’t have a live-in prefect, which is different from the other dorms.</p>

<p>Double Brick does have nice rooms. It’s all one-room doubles, though, so if you want a single you’re better off going to Hale or Isham. It’s also got a smaller common room than Isham (partially because DB has a seperate room for laundry/kitchenette). Isham has a piano, but it’s really old and I don’t know how well it works anymore. Hale has a bigger common rom too, but that’s a given with 40some girls.</p>

<p>Isham holds ~15 freshmen girls and two prefects, I think. They have a decent amount of singles. I personally don’t like their floors, though. Ms. Carter is awesome, has the cutest (but shyest) dog in existence, and bakes really nice things all the time. One of DB’s house counselors has a really energetic dog and the other has cats. I think.</p>

<p>Hale is big, but it’s divided into wings/halls, so the “group” of people is smaller in general. I don’t like the ceilings, because they’ve always reminded me of ice cube trays. I think Hale has had problems with pests/mold in the past, but I don’t really know much about that. The three-room doubles are nice, but they also have 2(?) one-room doubles which are the smallest things in existence, so you run the risk of getting one of those rooms.</p>

<p>A decent amount of sports have instructional levels, so to speak. I think those are limited to LIFE programs or something. I know tennis, dance, ice skating, fencing have instructional levels.</p>

<p>The laundry service is pretty good about not mixing up clothing. It isn’t cheap, but it is convenient (especially if you need to walk outside to get to a laundry machine, like in Stowe). The main problems I had with it were:
a) You need to pay extra if you want dry-cleaning included, and they tend to dry-clean anything that looks slightly fragile. I think they dry-clean all brand clothes unless you specifically tell them too, which adds an extra cost to the service. I’m not sure how destructive their machines can be.
b) Bras get absolutely wrecked. You’ll have to hand-wash them if you don’t want them to come out looking like shapeless stiff lumps.</p>

<p>One thing that you’ll probably want that may not show up on those lists is a fuzzy blanket. It can get pretty cold in the dorms, especially if you can’t change the heating in your room (most dorms can’t, but there are a few that can). Also, if you must bring a wireless printer, bring the cable as well. We have wireless printers on campus now, but the network doesn’t let other printers on for reasons I am not tech-savvy enough to know.</p>

<p>@bmyfeyonce: Yes, a lot of incoming lowers are housed together, but since there aren’t many completely empty dorms, they end up living with returning students as well. I think it’s relatively rare for there to be an entire dorm of incoming lowers.</p>

<p>@PrestigeScholar: Normally it’s downtime. Unless you’re taking a class that meets in the evening (architecture, some musics, some senior english/bio maybe?), classes end at 2:45.</p>

<p>It completely depends on the class and the day. Art, for example, can vary from no time at all to a good 2 hours, depending on how well you’ve worked in class/what the assignment is. Math depends on the level - I’ve always spent maybe 45 minutes on homework, though. If it’s just reading, English and History take me maybe 30 minutes apiece. Writing essays takes longer (because I tend to write everything in one go, which is not a good habit). Most teachers aim for approximately 45 minutes per day.</p>

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<p>@TheTester sorry, but can you say a general amount per day also instead of just the individual times.</p>