Since boarding schools assimilate the best students from around the US and the world, I know that the academics are very rigorous. Many of the students that were once the top at their local public school will find it much harder to do so at a prep school.
However, I was wondering more specifically to exactly how hard it would be to stay at the top percentage at a good boarding school? I’m at the top in my public school as of now, and would like to continue doing so at the boarding school I plan to attend (Andover).
Also, I have two other questions if you guys on CC don’t mind.
As an incoming upper (not repeat), how hard would it be to become an officer/leader for the clubs that I participated in?
In addition to that, although I know that new Lowers and Uppers do integrate into the boarding school community, do they typically become main or better friends with the new Lowers and Uppers in their year?
It is pretty hard to stay at the top of a top boarding school, especially here at Andover. I was the top student at my public school, but now, eh, not so much.
It is different, and it will certainly be harder as an upper, but trust me, it is possible. Of course, as a new upper, you will want to socialize and get to know everyone, and I completely recommend that, but if you aren’t used to as rigorous academics (i don’t know how it is right now at your old school), then it could hit you pretty hard, that’s what happened to me.
But it all comes down to balancing everything, and how much work and effort you put into your studies. Yes, you can socialize, but remember to always take time and get your work done. Trust me, that’s what important. You need to learn what is most prioritized and stay focused.
I wish you the best, and have a lot of fun here at Andover! It really is a great place to be.
At the top boarding schools which are often mentioned here, and certainly at Andover, 95% of the students will graduate with less than a perfect GPA. Also, at every boarding school (and local public school, for that matter) half of the graduating class will be in the bottom 50% of the class. But, guess what? They all get into good colleges. That’s like the old joke “What Do They Call the Person Who Graduates Last in Medical School?” “Doctor.”
It’s harder than if you were a 4-year student, but not impossible.
Hi @eldredgeknot ,
Congratulations on your acceptance as an Upper at Andover. It is very difficult to garner admission as an Upper, and that speaks to your qualifications and character. As far as grades at Andover, about 1% of students graduate with perfect grades (all 6s). Please see this link and look for the Grade Range Distribution page. https://www.andover.edu/Academics/CollegeCounseling/Documents/PhillipsAcademySchoolProfile2015-2016.pdf.
You will make great friends to be sure–regardless of what year they are in. It may be difficult to be head of an existing club your first year, but there are many positions and opportunities. You can attend Club Day or Google your interests ahead of time. Andover also supports students with sufficient interest to start their own club. Best of luck.
Club Rally is awesome. I started two clubs in the past year, and there is always tons of support for new clubs. As for staying at the top, don’t go crazy over being at the very top of the food chain. This may lead you to neglect all that Andover has to offer. Believe me, i’ve seen it happen to some of my close friends. As long as you remain in the 5.0 and above range, you give yourself a shot at great colleges.
Friends: It really depends on what dorm you are in/if you play sports. In my experience, new uppers tend to stick together a little more than new lowers, but this is simply because there around 30 new uppers each year, while there are 65-75 new lowers. If you play a sport, you will generally be better friends with the people on your team.
Is there anything specifically about the academics at boarding school that make them more difficult than the academics at a public school? (i.e. amount of work, difficulty of tests, difficulty of concepts, teaching style)
I can only comment for Andover, so things may be different at other schools. I would say boarding school academics are more difficult because of a mix of what you have stated above. In terms of homework, it will most certainly take you longer, even though the assignment may the same sheer size. For example, there are many nights where my AP Physics C homework assignment will be 5 problems long, however it will take more than an hour to complete. This is due to the difficulty. Most Andover science and math teachers frankly don’t care if you can memorize 10 formulas and regurgitate them to solve problems you have seen before. They very specifically ask question on tests that cannot easily be answered by memorizing formulas. In most AP courses, you will have to solve types of problems you’ve never seen before. This is how teachers will test understanding.
I think the biggest difference comes out in the humanities(especially English) In English, you are expected to not just do the reading, but rather analyze it with a critical and inquisitive mind. This is why most of our discussions are nearly 100% student driven. This can make the work far more difficult, but it makes class enjoyable
Most Andover teachers want to test if you truly understand difficult concepts, so the difficulty of both homework and tests will be increased. They also don’t want your profile to look bad, and this is reflected positively in the way you are graded. A “5” out of “6” is considered an honors grade at Andover, but the sheer percentage required to earn a 5 is generally an 85%(75% in AP Physics), which is in the B range at many public schools. To put it simply, a transcript with a bunch of 5’s and a few 6’s, and would be considered excellent, whereas a transcript of mostly B’s with a few A’s would not be.
@MABlue does a good job of explaining the differences. A few more points to consider from our experiences at Exeter.
Math: you will not be given formulas to solve problems- there are no traditional textbooks to memorize- rather you will use what knowledge you have to work through homework/ tests. The learning takes place in class as the students each contribute to explain how they did or did not arrive at the correct answer.
Humanities(English, history, religion): your grade will be based on analyzing content and contributing your opinion and knowledge on the information. Not on what you actually read- more on what you beleive, feel etc. Discussions are usually student led and you have to figure out the balance of sitting quietly or dominating the conversation. There are no “test” that include the correct answers/ i.e. What year did x take place… Instead there are papers or projects that you have to develop to defend your position, draw parallels etc.
Science: these depend on the subject, physics is more like the math experience. Life sciences are not just memorization here it goes much deeper than that.
Learning how to prepare and contribute to class is a process. Since a lot of the grades are subjective in my opinion, there is no simple way to earn perfect scores (study longer, memorize more) just don’t work- they do help though! All this is done at the same time as learning how to manage time effectively and balance commitments.
Generally - as you move up the ladder it is hard to stay at the top. Competitor and competitions increase. It wouldn’t be much different at a top DS or a top LPS. And it gets worse in college.
@stargirl3 And your sample size is that you are drawing your conclusions are? We went over this ad naseum in another thread. There is no appreciable academic difference btw BS and the top LPS in the greater Boston area.
@laenen What’s your obsession with comparing everyone’s discussion/experiences to Boston area public schools? You do realize not everyone here is from the Boston suburbs, right? Many of us have conceded that the Boston area does have some good public schools - yet funny that many still choose private schools for their kids.
There is an appreciable difference between boarding schools and many, many public schools across the country.
You are like a broken record, man. @stargirl3’s example is representative of my local public school.
@doschicos – My post in #9 was just making a general statement. I only used the BPS because that is my only frame of reference. That said, I would guess that there are hundreds of communities that have comparable academics. And given that HS’ers can dual enroll into college, they can easily exceed the academic challenge of BS.
If you find my response is a broken record that is because the song that keeps getting requested is “My BS exists on a pedestal”.
Any top middle schooler will find it difficult to stay at the top of any good HS, Period. Regardless of BS/DS/LPS. The field narrows. Competition increases.
I understand and appreciate @laenen s broken record on this subject. The majority on here posit that BS (all) are better than all alternatives. The simple fact is that a public test in school like Bronx Science, Stuyvesant or Boston Latin or Thomas Jefferson have in all likelihood (relying on the general principles of statistics) students that are uniformly smarter and or better students than even Andover or Exeter. Why? They are merit based. There is no full pay or FA or the fact that being really rich, a legacy or qualified minority is a hook. Therefore, in schools with demonstrable bell curves of student quality like the BS s we are all talking about, there are lots of ordinary students. And ordinary students are not supermen. The difference in the way they are taught and the expectations of these students is tremendous but it is not necessarily better than the vast number of extraordinary public high schools. Now is Brookline as good as Boston Latin? No. You just have to live in Brookline. That costs money. If I lived in Boston or NYC my kids would be in those programs. They were early on. We don’t live there anymore. My youngest is in a public school in all honors classes. TONS of homework. Yes it is probably harder to stay at the top but not necessarily harder than being at the top at Hunter or Stuyvesant. Look at the college matriculations of Andover and Exeter. Lots and lots of ordinary colleges and universities. I wish they would publish how many of their Ivy admits were legacies, minorities and athletes? I bet it’s far more than at the publics I mentioned. So a top student will probably be a top student anywhere they go. Not everyone is cut out to be a top student. Sometimes the difference between be a 4.0 and a 3.6 is a student would rather shoot hoops or read. Nothing more nothing less …The End.
We are not talking about the best public schools in the Boston suburbs here as a comparison. We are definitely not talking about Bronx Science, Stuy, or schools of that ilk. Most know those are great schools whether you live in those areas or not. (I could make other cases for attending a BS over some of these schools based on levels of competition, stress, etc. but that is not the point of OP’s thread.)
But, there is a difference in the level of workload between the more selective boarding schools and a typical public school. Post #10 was relaying one BS school student’s own personal experience between her time in a local public high school and her experience at one of the top boarding schools. Nothing more, nothing less, and it addressed the OP’s inquiry with a firsthand, real life account and experience, one which I am sure others would be able to relate to as being accurate to their own experiences, one which we are fortunate to hear on this site because there are very few real voices from current boarding school students.
We can keep the discussion of the pros and cons of boarding schools, local public schools, and private day schools, and their relative perceived and real differences to the other thread referenced and save this one for answering the OP’s questions. If the OP stated he/she is coming from a Thomas Jefferson or Bronx Science type of school, I’d say they probably wouldn’t find the academics of the BS a challenge to adjust to. If you are coming from an average public school, you may find it more of a challenge to remain at the very top but I wouldn’t worry about it too much because 1) the admissions people wouldn’t accept you if they thought you weren’t capable of doing the work, 2) its not necessary to be at the very top to do well in college matriculations, and 3) there is more to success and getting the most out of a BS experience than just grades.
As an incoming upper (not repeat), how hard would it be to become an officer/leader for the clubs that I participated in? You could always start your own club and be the founder/head of that.
@doschicos “Post #10 was relaying one BS school student’s own personal experience between her time in a local public high school and her experience at one of the top boarding schools. Nothing more, nothing less, and it addressed the OP’s inquiry with a firsthand”
So I took it that #10 and #11 was a response to my post in #9. If it was a response to the OP, i misunderstood her response.
But, guess what? They all get into good colleges. That’s like the old joke “What Do They Call the Person Who Graduates Last in Medical School?” “Doctor.”
