<p>And pleae check your sources if you are going to try and state facts, just so we can savour some of the reputation of the school we’re talking about. And this goes for other threads as well.</p>
<p>I’m currently a freshman girl applying for sophomore (lower) year. Is the adjustment as a new lower hard? Coming from a public high school where everyone belongs in their own “group” and there’s not much mingling, is it like that at Andover for new lowers?</p>
<p>Another question: I didn’t put swimming on my Candidate Profile because I had other activities that I prioritized before it. I still want to swim for Andover though! Should I fill out an Prospective Student Athlete form, or would it look weird for the coaches? I’m already filling it out for cross country and track.</p>
<p>Also, is there a time a swimmer needs in order to make the swim team? My friend who is a lower on the PA swim team (you probably know her!) is on varsity, but she was one of the fastest swimmers here.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, and thank you for this thread, it’s helped me a ton! :)</p>
<p>the adjustment, imho, should not be very hard. Some of my very good friends as of now are new lowers. As long as you put the effort into being social, the returning lower group will embrace who you are. There are some of those new lowers who do stay in their new lower group, but again, as long as you put yourself out there as friendly and social you should be fine</p>
<p>fill out the form regardless. Usually, if a coach shows interest in you after meeting you/hearing about you, then they will write a recommendation/put in a word at admissions for you so you never know! also, assuming you are a girl, the girl’s coach is also the dean of students at PA so he has a good amount of power within the school :D</p>
<p>There aren’t any specific times, but you might want to look into which seniors will be graduating last year, and look at their times to see if you would be competitive within the team. generally, top 3-5 per event make the team. Also, team placement depends on work ethic and drive to be better. </p>
<p>if you have any more questions, please ask. I need to procrastinate for my tests this week anyways lol!</p>
<p>Alright that reassured me quite a bit. I was just worried that the returning lowers would be cold to newcomers, but that’s obviously not the case.</p>
<p>I’ll make sure to fill out the form and check the times. Wow I didn’t know the coach was the dean of students! That sounds pretty interesting, having him as both a dean and a coach. A little intimidating, but interesting. :)</p>
<p>Are you guys taking tests already? I thought it was Thanksgiving holiday!</p>
<p>Oh and I have another question… As a lower next year, will I be held back to the English 100 class because I missed it this year?</p>
<p>And on a totally unrelated topic, would it be smart to request a roomnate if I don’t know anyone? I don’t want it to be awkward, but I don’t want to be alone either. I read the previous posts, but it didn’t really apply to my situation. I’d most likely be paired with a new lower, since most returning lowers request their friends right?</p>
<p>where on the website is the prospective athlete form? sorry! i know its a dumb. (:</p>
<p>[Phillips</a> Academy - Prospective Student Athlete Form](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Athletics/Pages/ProspectiveAthleteStudent.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/Athletics/Pages/ProspectiveAthleteStudent.aspx)</p>
<p>eeliu1234,
As a new lower myself, I’d love to talk to you about the transition/being a new lower and roommate stuff.</p>
<p>First off, requesting a roommate is entirely up to you. I think it’s up to your personality. If you absolutely have to have to HAVE TO have some privacy, then requesting a roommate is a bad idea. If not, then go for it. It’s a gamble, but I think it’s a good gamble. You’ll get to know someone extremely well early on, and sometimes these kids wind up best friends. And if you request a roommate, you’ll definitely get a new lower.</p>
<p>Now onto the transition.</p>
<p>The transition as a new lower can be different for many people. However your transition initially goes, I guarantee you by the time November rolls along, you’ll feel at place in this school. I do, and I had an initial rough transition.</p>
<p>There are so many things that help make the transition smooth. One of the first and biggest ones that helped me was the dorm. I’ve made a few really close friends in my dorm. I live in a small dorm and that experience is awesome. You get to know everyone extremely well, and you all become like brothers/sisters (depending on your gender obviously). I have a few friends in larger dorms, and all of them really wish they were in smaller dorms (although, these are all personal preferences). </p>
<p>Another thing which helps a lot with the transition is extracurricular activities. I met a lot of my friends through my EC’s. I’d advise getting involved in a lot and early on. That way you meet a lot of kids with similar interests to yours. I’d also really recommend doing a fall competitive sport. You bond so much more with your team when you’re traveling on a bus together. And the whole experience of competing against other schools really gets you all close.</p>
<p>Now to stuff specific to being a new lower. My advice would be to put yourself out there a lot. A real lot. It’s really helpful to make friends with returning students, because that way you can meet people through them. I’ve met a lot of my friends through being friends with another person. In class, try to talk to people near you. Don’t be a wallflower. Some classes have a lot of returning kids in them with great bonds. Several of my classes are like that. Don’t let that intimidate you.</p>
<p>My transition as a new lower was not easy. Just so we’re clear, right now life is awesome. It DID get better for me. At first I was homesick, a little bit shy, and intimidated. The other problem for me was the I made friends with some clingy people, so I didn’t branch out socially as much as I should have. What helped me was branching out more socially and getting to know the people better in my extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>Wow that was incredibly helpful, thank you so much! 
I feel exactly how you felt in the beginning–really intimidated, but your story made me feel a lot better. I’ve never been a wallflower, but I was just so nervous that people wouldn’t accept new students. I also plan on doing cross country and other extracurriculars so I can meet more people.</p>
<p>Has there ever been a circumstance where people have been paired with a roommate who they don’t like? I’ve never met anyone I didn’t like, but I’m afraid that they might be so different from me that rooming with them would be hard. I’ve never heard of that happening, but I just want to play it safe :)</p>
<p>There are some people who have roommates they really don’t like, although that’s uncommon. What seems to be more common is people becoming friends with their roommates or being neutral towards them.</p>
<p>That’s sick you want to do Cross Country! I’m a runner and I did Cross Country and it’s a great experience. The kids who do XC are some of the nicest kids on the PA campus. The XC program is great, and the Girl’s team did really well this season (the boy’s team may not have won a lot, but we had heart). </p>
<p>People on campus generally are accepting of new students. There are some kids who are not accepting of new students. But a good 90% of students are, which is really awesome. It helps to be around people who are welcoming.</p>
<p>I definitely know roommate pairs that don’t get along well, but it’s actually remarkably easy to avoid someone even if you live in the same room. Even if you’re BFFs with your roommate, a year is long enough for some of their habits to start rubbing you the wrong way. I haven’t heard of roommates who literally cannot stand each other, though, and most roommates seem to get along fine.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about being new. We love new people in a totally non-creepy manner.</p>
<p>About the English 100 matter - no. All lowers, returning or new, take English 200. New lowers aren’t forced to take Bio 100 or History 100, either.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to both of you! I think I will request a roommate, since the pros seem to outweigh the cons by a lot. And I’m glad that the students like new lowers in a non-creepy way Excited for applying! @J24601J if I get in, it would be fun to be on the same team! Congrats for the season, the girls placed 4th right? My friend does xc there :)</p>
<p>Are there any updates on Dr. Keller’s resignation? The story broke earlier this year and since then there were no updates. Was there any communication from Andover to the Students and Parents? </p>
<p>[Dr</a>. Keller Resigns](<a href=“http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2012/09/20/keller-s-2011-resignation-not-tied-porn-charges]Dr”>http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2012/09/20/keller-s-2011-resignation-not-tied-porn-charges)</p>
<p>Hi everyone. I’m a freshman boarder at Andover who is willing to assist swimdude and others in answering questions!</p>
<p>You can answer my question above in post# 73.</p>
<p>Here’s my last question, is everyone at PA “amazing” at something? (I’m talking like State Champion, Ranked high in the country, etc.) Are there any average kids at PA?</p>
<p>No, not everyone here is amazing at something. Not everyone here is a sophisticated specialist yet. A lot of kids discover what they’re passionate about at Andover, and become amazing at it through Andover’s programs.</p>
<p>^ amen to that, amen</p>
<p>@swimdude006: To which other boarding schools did you apply and/or consider ?</p>
<p>I only applied to Andover and Deerfield. Those were the only boarding schools that I had some, if any, knowledge of. I didn’t find out about all the other BSs until my revisit days, where my hosts would talk about other schools with me. From where I am from, kids usually stay at the public high school, and rarely change to private (I went to public). I knew a couple of kids who went to Deerfield (most private day schools in my town feed into Deerfield), and some of my dad’s collegues recommended Andover. Plus, I only had around two weeks to apply so two was my limit.</p>