Can any student or parents tell the different dorm options, pro/cons at the clusters ?
For an entering lower boy
Thank you so much
hey man! welcome to PA.
i’m a current freshman at andover but i don’t know a lot about new male lower situations. i can help clear up the cluster confusion, though!
there are five clusters: Pine Knoll, Abbot, West Quad North and South (WQN/WQS), and Flagstaff. people tend to describe the clusters as different sections of a county, kind of. Flagstaff is right near commons, a lot of academic buildings, and is generally considered the social hub of campus. WQN/WQS are a little bit further, but more “suburban” and less busy than Flag. Pine Knoll is a little bit like the “country”, situated a lot farther than Flag and WQN/WQS in the middle of lots of trees and geese and a small pond. Abbot actually designates the area where the former Abbot Academy used to be before it merged with Andover. it’s pretty far out relative to campus but not preventatively so.
there are a lot of discrepancies with where people decide to live based on their sport, academic involvement, clubs, friends, etc. talk to your revisit if you’re doing one and ask where they think the best place to live would be!
hope i helped. again, welcome to andover!!!
Congratulations on your acceptance!!
Another way to think about where you might want to live on campus is large dorm versus smaller dorm/house, and also single versus double.
Actually, unless things have changed, that’s really the only way you can think about it from the housing questionnaire point of view. You cannot, IIRC, choose your cluster or dorm. So the best cluster/dorm is the one that you are in. Also, as a now lower (same for new uppers and new seniors/PGs), know that housing selection for returning students will have been completed, so the “choice” spots (which is all relative) will have been taken.
Do you have a say in whether you’d want a close or farther dorm from the center of campus?
Also, if you have a single vs. a double, would the space in a single be exactly half of the space in a double?
Roughly, yes. But the dorm rooms are not cookie cutter, so variations exist.
Thank you so much for your welcomes and replies. My son is saying Yes to Andover! I didnt know if the housing questionaire allowed one to indicate a preference of clusters. It seems like not. I think he is going to request med/large dorm so he can get to know others
Welcome to the Big Blue family @wantstoknowtoo !!
@AppleNotFar thank you!