<p>thank you for your lengthy reply. I think you just convinced me to apply. 
i’m sure i’d pick up on the bias quickly. i mean Andover even has better essay prompts!</p>
<p>Although Andover is my first choice, I do actually think the Exeter prompts are better.</p>
<p>TomTheCat, I just read this conversation, thanks for all this info. and I was wondering if you could possibly read my essay? cause I know your really busy
okay thanks bye.</p>
<p>thanks touchthestars, since you’re a diver and all, can you tell me about the swim team?? I am applying and andover seems great!!</p>
<p>Tuppy, I’d love to. PM me your essay and I’ll look it over! And busy? Haha, over winter break, I try to be as idle as possible. I need it after my first term at Andover. I’m lying in bed eating chocolate from my Christmas stocking, actually</p>
<p>Tom, I’m not asking any specific question. I’m just posting this to tell you that you’re one of the most helpful posters on CC.
Happy New Year!</p>
<p>Haha, thanks, I appreciate that! I’m just happy to help. Andover is definitely one of my favorite topics of discussion.</p>
<p>Hey Tom (& any other PA students here),</p>
<p>I’m currently a senior but I have skipped a grade, and I was considering applying to Andover for a PG year. </p>
<p>Could you tell me about the research opportunities at Andover, how well PG students place at competitive universities (esp. MIT & stanford), and any other info (i.e. pros & cons) of taking a PG year at Andover?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>How many languages can you take? What grade must you be in?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I was reading the definitions of boarding schools on urbandictionary and saw that, for Andover’s, almost all of them said that locals called Andover students ‘catboners’. O.O Sorry if this is kinda awkward, but could you please verify this? Thanks xD</p>
<p>I have no intention to ambush TomTheCat’s thread, but given the heavy workload of Upper Winter, I assume he or she is fairly busy and wouldn’t mind if I answer this one question.</p>
<p>The ‘catboner’ statement is true of some local high school students, and it’s a bit strange, but I actually think more PA students do it jokingly than Andover High students these days…</p>
<p>wow tom, your so helpful… see you in chorus/squash bud (;</p>
<p>Hey Tom, thought I’d join the chorus–you are one of the most helpful posters. Now to my question, well I’ve got a few. How is Paresky? Is it all that it was cracked up to be? Obviously, this won’t be a decisive factor (if I get lucky, in the first place), but it would certainly be nice to know.</p>
<p>How is the rigor of Andover’s curriculum in comparison to TASIS?</p>
<p>I’m applying next year as a sophomore(repeat) from China. Is East Asia overrepresented? (I guess so…)
Is there any int’l students on FA? Any Chinese?
What are the stats of admitted int’l kids with and w/out FA?</p>
<p>hey! if i missed the boarders due date of application(february 11 , 2010) do i have any chances for applying a bit later to start on fall 2010?</p>
<p>Hi guys - I’m so sorry to have taken such a long time to respond. Upper winter is hell in terms of workload, and the second day back from winter break, I was diagnosed with mononucleosis and I’ve been absolutely fatigued ever since. Let me tell you that Andover is not a school at which to get sick. It’s been an incredible struggle to stay up to date with work, and while most others who catch mono here drop a class and stop attending clubs, I joined additional clubs and kept all of my classes. Anyway, that aside, it’s great to be back and I value the company of my friends here more than ever. They make me forget about the abysmal weather and stack of assignments I have.</p>
<p>On to answering questions.</p>
<p>aequitas: PGs here place extremely well at top schools. I can’t tell you about MIT and Stanford, though I know seniors here in general do well with admissions there. One PG in my dorm is into Dartmouth for football, and another into Amherst for baseball. I don’t know what your focus here would be, but if it’s athletics, Andover has you covered. If it’s for academics, I really can’t say - the academic PGs in my dorm didn’t apply anywhere early but they’re both ridonculously smart - one is making a 5.7. That’s unheard of.</p>
<p>PaulaZaria: You can take virtually as many languages as you want here, as long as you will be able to complete diploma requirements in your other subjects. You can be in any grade to take any language. Some students here complete diploma requirements earlier than others; for example, there’s a girl in my French 520 class who also takes Arabic and Chinese. Andover offers nine world language: French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Latin, Greek, and Arabic.</p>
<p>Tuesdays: Uroogla is absolutely right. It happens FREQUENTLY as well. Andover High - PA relations aren’t great and it mystifies most of the students here.</p>
<p>TIGER: Yes, indeed. I feel that the cantata is coming along well, and it’s so nice to remain undefeated.</p>
<p>PrincipalV: Commons is incredible. In no way has the food degraded in quality since the beginning of the year as some people told me it might. Variety is incredible and there’s also a real commitment to sustainability. Most food is sourced locally, and there’s a ton of organic food on offer in the lower servery. It’s all it’s cracked up to be and more - very elegant dining in a totally relaxed setting. I love it. I frequent Lower Left - I like it because it’s full of couches and bar seating and has an espresso bar. Most kids here form pretty intense loyalties to one dining room and each of them has a distinct personality and feel.</p>
<p>In terms of rigor, Andover is a lot harder than TASIS, which, by the way, academically speaking, is a great school. On top of the higher expectations of the teachers here, the volume of homework is entirely different - there’s A LOT of it, but it’s generally manageable. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest because everyone else here is in the same position - you don’t feel as if you’re missing out on anything by knuckling down with your work because everyone else is doing the same thing. In addition to increased rigor, the class offerings are unparalleled. There’s a great New York Times article online about Andover’s academics - find it at <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/education/edlife/07prepared.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/education/edlife/07prepared.html</a></p>
<p>Gonnastop: Yeah, East Asia is over-represented without a doubt, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. Also, there are plenty of international students on aid - just not as many as domestic students on aid. As for stats, if they’re not publicly available, I don’t have them, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Guilar: Everyone who applies, regardless of when they do so, has a chance - but it is lower and lower depending on how late you leave the application.</p>
<p>Hey, I have a quick question. Are you allowed to take your laptops to all, any, or none of your classes? Or is that determined by the individual teacher? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Nobody brings laptops to class. It just doesn’t happen. There’s no need for them in the classroom - never have I been required or asked to bring a computer to class. Notes are always taken on paper. I actually don’t even know how teachers would react if you did; I’ve never even seen it done here. If you really, really needed to use one for one reason or another though, I would suppose you’d talk to your individual teachers to ask for permission.</p>
<p>What fun activities go on both during the week and in the weekend? How “loose” is Andover about letting kids leave on the weekends?</p>
<p>There’s an abundance of stuff that goes on during the weekend, organized, of course, by the student activities board. During the week is a different story - nobody, least of all the student activities board, has time to organize or go to activities other than their abundance of clubs and sports. Those are the activities we do during the academic week. However, occasionally speakers arrive and give talks that all are welcome to attend. For example, last night a film editor came to campus to show her film “Brasileiros Como Eu” or “Brazilians Like Me,” a film about legal and illegal immigrants to Brussels, Belgium. Andover’s club JusticeNOW sponsored the visit.</p>
<p>But during the weekend there is almost always a dance (though, oddly enough, not this weekend) which you can always expect selected students to DJ, and bi-weekly there are shuttles that go to The Loop, a massive outdoor mall in Methuen, MA, about half an hour away from campus. To go, all you need to do is get on the bus with your friends and your school ID. If you want to go to Boston or otherwise leave the town of Andover, be it for a day or an overnight, all you need to do is speak to your house counselor and he or she will give you a pass to be signed by you and whoever you’ll be staying with if it’s an overnight. Overnight passes need to be signed and in by Thursday night.</p>
<p>If you want to see some typical weekend activities, look at the Weekender - I’ve uploaded some to my MobileMe gallery. The Weekender comes out every Thursday and covers all of the organized activities going on on campus. [MobileMe</a> Gallery](<a href=“http://gallery.me.com/thurstonsmalley#100011]MobileMe”>http://gallery.me.com/thurstonsmalley#100011)</p>