<p>Now that the dust has settled any more question from students on the fence? or who know that they will attend without a doubt.</p>
<p>I wish I could attend without a doubt, I got waitlisted :(</p>
<p>Hi. I have just been admitted as a ninth-grader for next year at Andover. Yay! I am so excited. I am also nervous as I am sure everyone must be. Here are two questions I have: 1. I fall asleep at about 9:30pm every night. There is no way I can stay up until eleven studying. Should I get a private room? Which dorm are you likely to get if you ask for a private room? Oh, also a third question- Should I wait until I get used to things to join clubs because of my sleeping habits? I hope that I won’t be only one who falls asleep early. I’d appriciate any advice, insight, tips , etc…</p>
<p>good luck andoverbigblue! I hope your dream comes true. It’s all so intense. Do you think school will be this intense?</p>
<p>One more question: How selective is theater at Andover? I know that Drama Labs are by audition only, as are the faculty-directed shows. Do you feel like everyone who is interested gets a shot? Or are roles only given to those who are very experienced?</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>lovey96:</p>
<p>Well, I know a few students who go to sleep around 11 everyday. Truthfully, I dont think you will be able to get the most out of your Andover experience if you go to sleep at 9:30 every day. That being said, you WILL change throughout your four years, and while I’m not saying that your sleep habits will change there is a large possibility that they will. As a freshman girl there are singles all across campus. You will most likely be placed in Nathan Hale, the largest freshman girls dorm, although you have an equal shot getting into any other dorm. The club situation is a double-edged sword. If you join the clubs early you might find yourself overwhelmed, on the other hand if you join the clubs after the fact it might disrupt what I assume will be a routine that works. </p>
<p>Cassat: </p>
<p>I do a lot of theatre at Andover, and although I found it almost impossible to get into theater <em>my</em> freshman year 1. I ended up doing theatre after all in my freshman winter and 2. theatre options and availability have changed since my freshman year. Every body has the chance to do theatre. In fact most kids dont come to PA with any theatre experience, myself included, so the theatre faculty wants to build talent over the years, if that makes sense. </p>
<p>andoverbigblue:</p>
<p>Dont let it get you too down if you dont get in. Andover isnt life, a friend of mine, for example, who left Andover my freshman year, because she wasn’t ready for boarding school, got into Yale early this year.</p>
<p>Do you find it difficult to prepare for AP exams since the classes don’t appear to be specifically prepping for them? What about SAT IIs? </p>
<p>Do you find it difficult to find time to study for the PSAT/SATs?</p>
<p>How strict is the school about the “only 5 courses” policy? </p>
<p>Can you skip around and say take the art/health/etc. elective your senior year when you have more time, rather than your sophomore (2nd year) so that you can squeeze in a second language? Or do they not let you take 5 academically driven courses a year? </p>
<p>How easy/difficult is it to receive 6s/As in most courses?</p>
<p>Just wondering if it’s worth going to - in lieu of a (top) public school like Walt Whitman - I love the actual courses offered and the range of options but the curriculum and only taking 5 courses seems so restrictive that I won’t even get a change to experience all the courses I want to take.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest feedback. I try to stay up late to study-believe me. I end up getting up at 5:00am to study then. Hopefully, I’m gonna grow out of this because It’s a scary thing to wake up after studying only to find out that your head is on top of a textbook, and you did not study at all. The sport I was involved in took up lots of time and I made it work this year. I am assuming that the academics at Andover will be a whole different ball-game though. Do they keep it less intimidating for incoming juniors? It seems like it with the whole pass/fail idea.</p>
<p>Is Paul Revere a freshmen dorm? Also, If you get into Abbott or Pine Knoll is it hard to feel a part of things? </p>
<p>Thanks for answering all of these questions? Next, I might have to tackle the drowning test :)</p>
<p>HI! Just curious - did you just get your acceptance yesterday or like everyone else on the 10th?!</p>
<p>on the tenth. It was so weird that it came on the morning of the tenth because I thought there would be some waiting time for mail to arrive. When did you get yours? It was so exciting/schocking/stressful all at the same time. I think my mom was ready for a long vacation after that experience :)</p>
<p>Congrats to you.</p>
<p>Dieter,</p>
<p>– Are I-Pads/smart phones helpful if you just want to wirelessly access outside internet providers without using the Andover internet service? </p>
<p>– Does Andover provide any kind of a computer credit to students like Exeter (I believe) does?</p>
<p>– Does Andover arrange weekend transportation to movies, Boston, etc?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I’ll jump in to help my friend Dem - I mean, Dieter - with some of these questions. We’re close friends at school.</p>
<p>Zenxan, you’re correct in stating that many of Andover’s AP-level courses are not designated AP courses. What this means is that the course teaches what is covered on the AP exam but does not necessarily follow the AP curriculum. For example, History 300 is US history and prepares for the AP but is not a designated AP course. All this means is that you should familiarize yourself with the format of the US History AP exam before you take it because in class we do not practice formatting things like FRQs (Free Response Questions) and DBQs (Document-Based Questions). All the material is taught, but the teacher has freedom in how to teach it. This, in my opinion, is a great thing - why come to Andover and take the very same courses you could at your local public? Andover’s teachers are masters, and it’s an honor to learn from them in their natural styles of teaching.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as an SAT II prep course here, but many courses, such as Chemistry 250 and 300, teach what is covered on the SAT II (and a lot more).</p>
<p>I can’t speak for DieterSama, but I didn’t study for the SAT. It’s an aptitude test, after all. I know kids who do summer prep courses, but during the academic year, there is very little time for anything but self-prep from prep books. However, you’ll probably find that PA classes are all the prep you’ll need and more. Once again, just familiarize yourself with the SAT format so you know what to expect.</p>
<p>Additionally, you misunderstand the five-course policy (and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how!). The five course policy is a MINIMUM. Kids must take five courses unless there are extenuating, usually medical, circumstances. In fact, lowers must take SIX courses because there is a PHRE (Philosophy and Religion) requirement in lower year. After lower year, students must petition to take a sixth course, but this is not an obstacle to most students. The only case in which the administration would even think twice about awarding a student a sixth course would be in the case that the student in question was already struggling work-wise with five courses. In reality, the Andover course policies are anything but restrictive. One of Andover’s strength is the fact that 300 courses are offered here - why offer so many and then make it impossible for kids to take them? It doesn’t work that way here.</p>
<p>In terms of grades, I’m sure DieterSama has received 6s in his years at Andover, but in my two years, I’ve never received a 6 as a term average. I’ve gotten 6s on papers and tests, but my term average has never been a 6 in any of my classes. Ideally, 6s are rarely awarded - but I know kids who get them in volume. They work really, really hard for them! In my opinion, there’s no traditional equivalent for a 6 at Andover. A 6 is much better than an A. An Andover 5 is an A.</p>
<p>Lovey96, Paul Revere is an upperclassman girls’ dorm. PKN and ABB are very much part of everyday goings on on campus. In fact, PKN is by far the most spirited cluster and, in my opinion, Abbot is the most beautiful. Additionally, clusters are just where dorms are based. Everyone still goes to class together, eats together, etc. And, in honesty, my bonds with the people who live in the dorm next to mine are no stronger than my bonds with people who live in the dorms on the other side of campus.</p>
<p>Blueisbest (yes, it is!), iPads and smartphones definitely are helpful. Service on campus is pretty much consistently four or five bars on AT&T and I believe the same is true for other major networks. Additionally, Andover provides computer credits to financial aid students and in many cases straight up buys computers for them. Most student-owned Dell laptops you see around campus were purchased for the student by the school. And even if you’re not on financial aid, Andover has a bunch of deals with Dell that make their computers a lot more affordable.</p>
<p>Yes, Andover arranges transport to weekend events. Many weekends there is a “Loop Bus” - The Loop is in Methuen and is a massive outdoor mall complete with IMAX cinema and a bunch of great rest. All you need to do is bring your BlueCard (student ID) with you to GW circle where you can get on the bus with your friends. It’s free. Other weekends there is an hourly bus that takes students to a strip mall just outside of downtown Andover. There are occasionally trips to Boston (a recent Community and Multicultural Development Office trip to Boston comes to mind) but usually that is down to students to arrange. There is a train station within walking distance of campus and the train to Boston’s North Station (home of TD Garden, the Celtics’ home court) costs just $6.75. All you need to do first is get a day excuse from your house counselor.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my questions TomtheCat!</p>
<p>Are colleges aware that 5 is an A? I’m curious on how exactly they calculate your GPA since it’s not a traditional 4.0 scale. You guys do have class/percentile rankings though right?</p>
<p>How many AP level courses and exams would you say students at Andover take on average? </p>
<p>At what would be my local hs, students have taken up to 17 AP courses over their 4 years, and, looking at what would most likely be my schedule, I would complete about 10 APs: World History, US History, European History, Psychology, US Government, Comparative Government, French, Russian, Statistics/Calculus, and maybe Biology. Which of these could I hypothetically take at Andover, and/or which are regularly taken by students?</p>
<p>The only one that I’d really like to take but appears to only be offered at private/boarding school is Latin, which I’ve heard Andover is strong in. True?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Hello again!</p>
<p>Colleges are absolutely aware of the rigor of Andover’s classes. They don’t need to recalculate GPA - we calculate on a 6-point scale and that’s what is submitted to colleges. The five-year average GPA of student accepted at Harvard from Andover is 5.19, for example - you don’t need to be a 6-student to get into a great college here. That’s nothing to worry about. We do not calculate class rank or percentile.</p>
<p>You can take any of those APs at Andover as we offer all of the classes necessary to prepare for them. However, it’s important to note that Andover is not a school that heavily values APs. We have a lot of classes that go way beyond AP-level. All 600-level courses and many courses above 550-level are beyond AP level. AP is not the be-all-end-all of classes at Andover. Everyone here takes APs, that’s nothing special. But you’re right in saying Andover is strong in Latin - we even have an entire Classics building the same size as our math building dedicated to Latin and Greek.</p>
<p>And no problem! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me or DieterSama (sorry to steal your thunder, by the way, DieterSama!!!)</p>
<p>Good to hear that about the Classics! Does Andover also have a “Classics diploma” like Exeter? (Forgive me if I’m mixing anything up!)</p>
<p>What are the APs that students typically take? Like for instance, at my bro’s hs, most high achieving students/“AP students” take AP Comp, AP Lit, AP World, AP Govt, and usually an AP science and/or an AP Math, all which fulfill diploma requirements as well.
Is this typical of Andover students too? Like you mentioned, History 300 preps for AP US History, but are there other required courses/typically taken courses that prep for an AP?</p>
<p>No idea about a “classics diploma” - in fact… what is that?</p>
<p>There’s no “typical” at Andover. Kids take every AP. However, the most commonly taken APs are Calculus AB and BC, Econ Macro and Micro, foreign language, chemistry, physics B and C, biology, and US history. Many kids reach AP level in every core subject area by upper (11th grade) year and progress to college level (600-level) courses the next year. Like I said, the AP isn’t incredibly revered here.</p>
<p>That said, there are many courses specifically designated as AP-prep courses. Math 570 and 590 (AB and BC) are two examples. In the sciences, chemistry for example, 550 is specifically an AP-prep course. Chemistry 580 is also an AP-prep course but covers the AP syllabus in a mere two trimesters instead of three. There are many more courses like this, too.</p>
<p>Since you’re interested in Andover’s APs:</p>
<p>[Phillips</a> Academy - Two Seniors Win 2010 AP Siemens Award](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/About/Newsroom/Pages/TwoSeniorsWin2010SiemensAPAward.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/About/Newsroom/Pages/TwoSeniorsWin2010SiemensAPAward.aspx)</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that there were two winners in each state; both of Massachusetts’ winners are PA students!</p>
<p>I believe at Exeter, if you take up through what would be considered AP Latin, and at least a year of Ancient Greek, you get a special extra diploma when you graduate for this accomplishment. </p>
<p>Thanks again btw. You’ve been a big help! 
And if you have any insight on extra-curriculars, I posted a thread here asking about them; I’d really appreciate the insider insight :D! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1104792-need-help-differntiating-picking-between-hades-choate.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1104792-need-help-differntiating-picking-between-hades-choate.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks TomTheCat. It’s good to know that all of the clusters are good and the walk isn’t so bad. I appreciate you for answering questions for all of us young’uns. I am sure one day I’ll feel like PA is my home.</p>
<p>getting excited to visit soon. what do we visitor-types wear on visiting day? Anybody remember? Thanks.</p>