<p>I would like to hear from you about your son's experience at Andover. I am particularly interested in the social life aspect, e.g. how did he "break in", problems and conflicts he has experience (or potential ones a boy can encounter), making friends, dorm life, etc. Anything you think worth mentioning, I am interested. My son is going to Andover as a 9th grader this fall. He's He's been doing fine in his middle school socially but knowing Andover will be a very different envioronment, he's a little tensed up for the incoming boarding life at Andover, and I want to learn from the students/parents who have experienced this process and help him get an idea what to expect. Thank you in advance for your input!</p>
<p>My daughter is now a 2d year at Andover, but I don’t really think the issues are that different for boys and girls. As any reasonable person would be, my daughter was a little apprehensive when we first took her up to register as a new junior, but that lasted all of two hours. All the new juniors are in the same boat, no one knows anyone at first, so friendships form quickly. There is a pretty good system in place to shepherd new juniors to Commons for meals, to the bookstore for books, etc. The dorm atmosphere is bound to vary because the dorms vary so much in size, but we found our daughter’s very supportive. She quickly made many friends including her resident dorm counselors. The biggest stress is the workload. It is very intense and good time management skills and study habits are a must. But as our daughter’s dorm counselors assured us the first day, if you’re child was admitted there is no doubt at all that he/she can do the work. My prediction would be that after you attend your first parent’s weekend in October you will find that your son has made lots and lots of friends and calls home less frequently than you might like! Andover is an incredibly supportive, positive place. Tell your son to get ready for one of the best experiences of his life!</p>
<p>Thanks, checkwriter. That is an encouraging message! I am glad your daughter is doing great at Andover. I expect the first few weeks will be a bit hard and hopefully he’ll be able to break in quckly just like your daughter did. By the way, I like your name - “checkwriter”. I joked that as the morgage payer I at least got to sleep in the bigger master bedroom. I wonder what previlege you get for writing those BS checks. :)</p>
<p>well, my d thinks that if I can write <em>those</em> checks, I must certainly be good for a generous allowance. All kidding aside I think it’s very much worth it and I’m sure your son will love it there. What could be cooler than living with your friends who are all very bright motivated kids, three meals a day at an absolutely gorgeous dining facility with nobody telling you to eat your broccoli, and lots of cool things to do every weekend? We should be so lucky!</p>