<p>Is it worth waiting for the Belichick presentation? With the revisit starting at 8 and ending around 3, we’d have to wait until 6:30 for his talk. We RSVP’d saying we would attend. I suppose we could watch a practice and go out to eat to kill time, but it will be a long day and the second revisit day in a row.</p>
<p>That’s completely personal. I had no idea belichick was talking. Would I go no. Am I a patriots fans, not really. I mean it wouldnt hurt to see it, and it would give you time to see downtown Andover, etc.</p>
<p>DieterSama,
I am curious about the transition to Andover. What was it like? Was it difficult to get good grades? My greatest fear is that if I attend Andover next year, I will struggle and do poorly.</p>
<p>DieterSama:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Have you felt Andover too large for people to fall through the cracks? Is it’s reputation as a sink or swim school well-earned?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the average number of applicants that go off the waitlist in a typical year?</p></li>
<li><p>What do students think of Headmaster Ms. Chase retiring? Do they think it is a major loss? Is she popular with students? Any internal candidates likely to fill her position?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey Tink:
Sorry it took so long to respond. </p>
<p>My transition to Andover was fairly easy, maybe easier than it should have been. Socially at least. It took me until about mid-term my freshman fall to get used to the academic load. The transition is easiest as a freshman, I would say, because the entering freshman class is the largest entering class so there’s a bunch of people going through the relatively same thing as you. Personally, with a few exceptions of course, I find it very easy to get good grades, whether I do so or not is a different story. Andovr does not make it difficult to get good grades, if you put in minimal effort you will get a “bad” grade, if you put in time it is relatively easy to get a 5 or 6 (A+/A-). You shouldn’t allow fear of bad grades to inhibit your choice of school. I understand that it is a legitimate concern, but it is also frivolous, if you have enough foresight to worry about your grades now, then I believe you will be able to work hard enough for the good grades that you seek. </p>
<p>pulsar:</p>
<ol>
<li>Have you felt Andover too large for people to fall through the cracks? Is it’s reputation as a sink or swim school well-earned?</li>
</ol>
<p>Well, I have honestly never heard of Andover being called a sink-or-swim school. Although, I can see that people may think so. Yes, Andover is a larger school. Which if not for caring teachers, the cluster system, house counselors, and peers, coul mean students falling through the cracks. First and foremost, we have to deal with the ambiguity of the term falling through the cracks. Are you alluding simply to someone who falls into an academic rut and seems to be caught there, or someone who falls to drug use, someone who just gives up on school, or… There are multiple definitions for a student that may have fallen through the cracks… some more accessible to student because we are a bigger school while others occur marginally. Either way, at Andover there are multiple places one coudl go for help, or that may seek you out for help. That being said, Andover does put emphasis on independence. So a teacher may reach out to you as a freshman or lower, by upper year they do expect you to realize that you have a failing average and that you should seek help yourself. In that respect there are some students that decide not to seek help, and they might “fall through the cracks”, but Andover doesn’t want to have a hand-holding party. Which I appreciate. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>What is the average number of applicants that go off the waitlist in a typical year?
I have no idea, they may have a dataset or the information you seek (I feel like a star wars character) on the website. Check it out. </p></li>
<li><p>What do students think of Headmaster Ms. Chase retiring? Do they think it is a major loss? Is she popular with students? Any internal candidates likely to fill her position?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Babs? I love Babs. Is it a large lose, personally–and admittedly ignorantly–no. I feel as the years have progressed and as the US has become more globalized, the position of Head of School has evolved. The Head of School is no longer a principal like figure, instead s/he is like a liaison between the student body and the rest of the world. As a 4 year senior I like to think that I was able to get to know Ms. Chase pretty well, I’ve even had tea with her myself. Still, however, Ms. Chase is not in campus for the majority of the year. Nor do I know of major policy changes that she has put into place. It is not like the 1920s and 30s, etc. when the head of school had to adapt the school to the evolving times. Yes, we are growing more technologically savvy as a world, but there are no more ideological wars going on (see: Charles **<em>uyama’s “The End of History”). I think Andover will stay as it is for a pretty long time, and so the Head of School does not play *as</em> vital a role in the health/progress of the school as before. Again this is my admittedly ignorant point of view, Babs may be more important to the school and how I ave seen the school in the past four years than I know to be true. About the internal candidates, as a leader in the field my professional opinion is no.</p>
<p>Thanks DieterSama. I am actually concerned about the recent drug bust at Andover. How widespread is it? Are the problems addressed now? TomTheCat used to post about it.</p>
<p>[thread=1036606]Drug Ring at Andover[/thread]</p>
<p>What I find most people forget is that Andover, like every other boarding school, is a high school. At high school, students will be experimenting with many things, including drugs. The truest statement I’ve heard about drugs at Andover was from a senior my freshman year, she said, “there are drugs at Andover, but you only know about it if you want to.” Now of course that is not 100% true, but for the most part it is. The fact that Andover has had a recent drug bust doesn’t mean that Andover students do more drugs, or are more inclined to do drugs, it just means that a group of Andover students were caught. There will be people doing drugs at boarding school, no matter what school you go to. And I know many people who went to other schools and did cocaine and meth and e, etc. Andover, and other boarding schools, are supposed to be college preparatory, and guess what you’re going to find at college, drugs. The existence of drugs means nothing more than you learning to say no. </p>
<p>Bottom line is that Andover is a safe place, but is also a place of independence.</p>
<p>How many languages can you conceivably take over your Andover career and can you take 2 a year? </p>
<p>For instance - currently, I study Chinese (at Chinese school), French (reg school), and Latin (independently) and I will be taking the Chinese AP next year, and AP French the following (presumably as a freshman in reg hs or boarding school). </p>
<p>Could I do AP French my first year at Andover while taking a second language (preferably Latin); second year: Latin and another language (German/Russian/Spanish/Japanese?); third year: AP Latin and another language; and then fourth year: AP another language and a new another language. Is that doable?</p>
<p>does andover have large finals? i have heard that exeter doesn’t. Also how much hwk do you have per night?</p>
<p>tinkrgirl and others, i’m not sure if any of you are actually going to andover next year, but I’m pretty sure I am, and I’d like to begin getting to know my classmates. Theres a group on facebook (Phillips Andover Class of 2015) so if you have a facebook and you think youre going to go, like it!</p>
<p>Zenxan: technically you can take whatever classes you want as long as you finish your requirements. Many students take two languages at andover–I personally took Japanese and German. They probably wont let you take two languages your freshman year, because you still would have a bunch of requirements to fufill, but then again anything could be negotiated. </p>
<p>Your plan sounds a tad bit ambitious. If you are serious about that possibility I would email <a href=“mailto:Pneissa@andover.edu”>Pneissa@andover.edu</a> who is the World Languages Dept. Chair at Andover. </p>
<p>ccprep: I’m not quite sure what you mean by large finals, yes some courses at Andover have cumulative finals, and we have a finals week which is solely for finals. That being said some courses watch movies for a final, or has a research paper so there are no tests. </p>
<p>You get about 45 minutes of homework from every class, unless it is an advance class which gives a little more. Technically after 45 you can stop doing the homework and move onto another subject. Most teachers understand that you have a lot of homework.</p>
<p>What are typical required / optional courses for freshmen? Is there a course limit per term?</p>
<p>truthfully, I dont know the new freshman requirements, because they changed after my year. I do know that you only have to take 5 courses, although you can take 6, english, history, math, science and language are the core 5.</p>
<p>What are the different levels of courses: regular, accelerated, honors etc.? How do they determine placement, by testing?</p>
<p>I understand that sports are quite competitive at top prep schools. I play softball, but not at a super-competitive level. I’m currently on my high school’s JV team. What are the chances of a decent sophomore making Andover’s JV team? I’m just wondering, because I know sports like field hockey and ice hockey are very competitive, but I’ve never heard anything about softball. Thanks!</p>
<p>which school has better debate team? better debate coach? Andover or Exeter?
How a student can get editor in chief at Andover ? Is this position only reserved for seniors?
Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Hi, do you know if Andover has a Quiz Bowl team or any sort of organization affiliated with NAQT?</p>
<p>and is it hard to be elected to be a class rep or student council leader if you come in as a new sophomore/junior?</p>
<p>mite be a weird question, but is their like a hair code or a certain length your hair cannot be? one of my friend’s dad’s uncle said that he got kicked out of andover for having too long hair…?</p>
<p>Pulsar: What are the different levels of courses: regular, accelerated, honors etc.? How do they determine placement, by testing? </p>
<p>Although we do denote certain courses as honors, if you take a look at our course booklet, there are no colloquially known honor courses. What I mean by that is you will never find yourself taking honor US History, or Honors Calculus. Instead if you have completed your language requirement and then go into an accelerated language course then technically it is an honors course. </p>
<p>That being said, all of the course are either labeled AP or not. </p>
<p>Cassat: Not to underplay our softball team, but I feel as though if you come to Andover is experience you could make varsity. You probably wouldnt see a lot of playing time your first year, but there is definitely the possibility. </p>
<p>sun123: which school has better debate team? better debate coach? Andover or Exeter?
How a student can get editor in chief at Andover ? Is this position only reserved for seniors?</p>
<p>Honestly, Exeter is not our main competition when it comes to debate or Model UN. in fact, we reguarly beat them in both clubs. The schools that are at our caliber are Hotchkiss and St.paul’s who both have great debate teams. I’m not sure for Model UN. </p>
<p>I also assume you mean for the school newspaper. Technically the spot is not “reserved” for seniors but there are often (always) great senior candidates. [I think, correct me if I’m wrong ksong]</p>
<p>Promo: No that I have heard of… the good thing about that is if you come to Andover you can start it yourself. </p>
<p>and is it hard to be elected to be a class rep or student council leader if you come in as a new sophomore/junior? </p>
<p>The seniors reps this year consist of 2 new lowers and 3 4 year seniors. Honestly, I would say yes, because your class doesnt know you, but hey you never know do you. Your first year would be hard, but I dont see why you could your second year. </p>
<p>Swimdude:mite be a weird question, but is their like a hair code or a certain length your hair cannot be? one of my friend’s dad’s uncle said that he got kicked out of andover for having too long hair…</p>
<p>First, for the love of god lets spell might right it’s a 5 letter word. That is no longer the case, if it ever were the case–which could be true <em>shrug</em>. My tenth grade year I had a mohawk. And I know a girl with like 25 inches of hair… so.</p>