My child applied to 2 school first year (rejected at one and waitlisted at the other). Second year, reapplied as a 9th grade repeat–also filled in any gaps in the application process and with more confidence. He reapplied to one of the schools that rejected him. We casted a wider net and “wow”. He was accepted to five of the six school and waitlisted at one. My son went to the school that waitlisted him the first year. I want to add that "casting a wider net’ was something I learned from this forum. I was able to better understand the admissions process through this forum–and thanks to all who contribute. As a parent, I am amazed by the resources and wisdom from so many who have gone through this process. You are a wonderful help to parents like myself who are new to all of this.
Re Mak’s post #17 above: I’m glad your daughter had great results this time around. Your experience from last year underscores an important message to all applicants and parents: Don’t apply to any schools that you wouldn’t be genuinely happy to attend, because it may well be your only option come M10. We have seen many kids on the forum reporting that they were not admitted, or were WL’d at their chosen schools and accepted to one or two but " I don’t want to go to that school." The application process is a real investment of time and energy…( and money)… If you need to add safety schools to your list, do a thorough search and odds are you will find one or two that you actually like enough to attend if that’s your only option.
A friend of mine has a kid that successfully reapplied a couple of cycles ago and she told me she thought one of the most critical factors was that her kid was able to get recommendations from a completely different set of teachers/administrators the second time around because her kid attended a different school the following year when the reapplications were being made. Even if a student can’t change schools, my gut tells me that the recommendations can be very important in communicating the personality/character of the applicant (for example, if they are really “nice” or not 
), so I would try to do whatever could be done to increase the likelihood that the recommendations will be as thorough and helpful as possible.
@Center To clarify, I believe “nice” was used in the context that applicants are able to hold mature conversations with adults and take control of interactions, as many actually cannot while are otherwise qualified in an incredibly competitive pool. Sorry for the initial vagueness there and sorry to the OP for getting this thread a bit off track!!
In the risk of taking it further off track :), @scareddwarf , I actually think in this context they just mean “nice” - you know, kind, easy to get along, not make a fuss… They want intelligent, ambitious AND nice kids. Somehow the interpretation by some posters becomes Andover is bragging that they are getting a bigger share of nice kids than other schools, which I happen to think is not something to brag about. It IS a message to tell those who think they can “grab stuff” by aggressiveness or bully their ways to the top not to bother to try. Effective or not, I think it’s the right message.
So I’ve been away for awhile. Our second and last high schooler matriculated from CRH on May 29, 2016 so I can safely say this preppedparent has graduated and is on to college. On this topic: at Baccalaureate this year the topic was on how friendship is so important. The speaker described the Choate experience similar to the way MIT does. That is, the class is put together with many kids of varied talents who are given the task of climbing a mountain together. At times each one will be lifting another up behind them, and at times being lifted up by someone ahead.
Basically, its what we call in contemporary workplaces, the need to be a “team player.” I don’t think Andover is saying they have the monopoly on “nice” kids, but they are trying to communicate this valued trait that they all look for. I have to tell you how inspired I was to see my daughter surrounded by so many genuine friends at graduation and in awe by how much they truly like each other and are committed to one another. They picked the right bunch. I don’t think Andover is any better or any worse at picking nice kids, but in boarding school admissions, as in life, niceness counts!