@Calliemomofgirls Does she regret choosing Andover or enjoy the challenge? Does she get academic support Andover talks a-lot about in their virtual events? If she does, what kind of academic supports does Andover provide?
I agree with you on the 4 hours homework part. I believe it is too much and would leave enough time for exploring the benefits of many amazing things boarding schools offer.
What are the schools your daughter is currently applying to?
It is significant at PA/PEA and some peers, partially “student aptitude” dependent, and of course linked to the level of the course and the intensity and efficiency of the student. Kid’s experience is it can be made up “relatively” without sacrificing too much sleep by efficiently using free time during the day and on weekends. Kid also says it’s important to not compare oneself to the kids who are wired to stay up really late, every night, and are willing to get a lot less sleep.
It’s been debated forever, the schools are deliberate in how they deal with it, and both constantly consider how to reduce kids’ stress, whether enacted or not. The following is an old article, but has some background on the issue.
@chemsider I think being virtual is hard combined with a large step-up in rigor. (Which is part of why it is probably by design that it is less rigorous this year compared to normal years.). So the academic support piece is less at play – you can’t just swing by a math study center, for example when you live thousands of miles away. More importantly, the kids aren’t there on campus, surrounded by the positive peer pressure of everyone doing the same level of work, going to the library, studying between classes, having study groups, etc.
That said, teachers have been very willing to answer questions, help, etc, and daughter has developed solid skills for managing those relationships. And, at one point she did connect virtually with a peer tutor for some science questions, which I think she found helpful. I’m sure the in-person version of academic support is much more robust though. And, her grades were excellent first trimester, so as much as it was a shift, she is showing up for it and doing well.
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My son applied to Andover last fall as a day student (we live 20 minutes from the school). We ended up on campus 3x for various open houses and his tour/interview. My son said he felt like he was walking around in a “pressure cooker” and that the kids all seemed really stressed out. Definitely not a laid back vibe. To me, it seemed more like a college campus than a high school. He did end up submitting his application but he didn’t really want to go there. So it was fine that he was rejected. He seemed relieved.
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My daughter had a similar impression of PA. After her interview and tour she remarked that the vibe was cold and unwelcoming and no one looked happy. For the sake of following through, we made her complete her application. She put forth little effort as she had already decided it was not the place for her.
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@applier1 Your bias is considerable and unwarranted. I won’t argue your points which are essentially your opinions but readers should not that both are excellent schools and the friendliness factors seems to be a result of whom you get for a tour guide/interview and personal observations.
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The reason Andover feels like a college campus is because at one time its grounds were part of a college campus: The Andover Theological Seminary (founded 1807)
An unfortunate aspect of Andover is that its bisected by a major route to Boston (Rt 28). They’ve tried to slow the traffic flow through the school but the road is always fairly busy.
Exeter and Choate also have public roads running through their campuses but these thoroughfares are not nearly as congested.
The Rt. 28 stuff is interesting. Do they have a nice, sturdy foot bridge rising up and over the road, or do kids have to wait for a traffic light to turn green to cross?
Umm, no. But it is not like kids are crossing Main St 50 times a day. The street basically separates out a couple of the residential clusters from the academic buildings and athletic fields.
I consider the fact that Andover is in the middle of a populated area close to a major city a plus, not a con. As for the crossings, I lived in “the Quads” one year, which is on the other side of main street, so I had to cross it constantly. However, the wait is not too bad, and people are usually very nice and will stop to let you cross. There’s also salem street, which doesn’t have nearly as much traffic, and separates the “main campus” (however you want to define that) to the admissions office, the english building, the health center, and a lot of the athletic facilities. Finally, there is Chapel Avenue, which is almost always empty.
The primary foot-crossings of 28 have on-demand buttons and flashers. These are not at intersections with traffic lights, more like ‘middle of the block’ if that makes sense. You push the button, and the flashing lights start flashing immediately. I mean immediately. Cars stop, and you cross.
I’m not so sure I’d describe 28 as a “major route to Boston” because for many stretches of its length it’s 1 lane in each direction, filled with traffic lights, and goes right through the middle various downtowns (Andover’s included). If you’re driving to Boston (or even Cambridge) via 28 you’re somewhat of a masochist IMO, though I suppose one could say the same of anyone who takes I-93! But at least the latter is an actual highway.
That said, 28 is a somewhat busy road. The good news is that most of the traffic seems acutely aware of the flashers at PA. I’ve not once tried to cross and had to check my stride at all once the button was pushed. I push, I cross. Everyone is strongly encouraged to make eye contact with the drivers in both directions and wave in thanks.
All a long way of saying that while I might prefer that 28 not bisect the campus, the situation is more than manageable, and I echo the notion that being very convenient to a major metro area is a plus.
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Workload depends on the courses your child is taking. For me, freshman year was about ~3 hours per day (but I also frontloaded and made good use of my weekends). It was probably 4 for lower (sophomore) year, and 4.5 for upper (junior) year. Some of my classes give out 20 minutes of homework. Others take me an hour or two to finish.
Coming from a big city probably won’t help, but route 28, or what we PA kids call Main Street, isn’t really that big of a deal. It’s just a few lanes wide, and like previous posters have said, drivers are very yielding. It’s not too loud either.
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