<p><a href="https://www.andover.edu/Admission/DeansJournal/Pages/TheBeehive.aspx">https://www.andover.edu/Admission/DeansJournal/Pages/TheBeehive.aspx</a>
<a href="https://www.andover.edu/Admission/DeansJournal/Pages/NoTableBigEnough.aspx">https://www.andover.edu/Admission/DeansJournal/Pages/NoTableBigEnough.aspx</a></p>
<p>4 admission cycles ago... but i bet these are still relevant... at least illustrative</p>
<p>Saw this, I love it!</p>
<p>I talk to admissions a lot and hear about how other schools do it. The months from January to April are pretty intense.</p>
<p>At least it gives you something to picture. Imagine the journey your files have been on in the admissions offices of your schools. </p>
<p>The article didn’t mention the part about the dartboard</p>
<p>Or the Ouija board.</p>
<p>The second article talks about how the files are read four times, but I think some details were omitted. It’s logistically impossible for the class officer to thoroughly read all the applications for his/her grade, and even more so for the director of admissions to thoroughly read all the applications. A more likely scenario is that the class officer would rely on the recommendations from the faculty reader and the AO reader, and only read the application files when warranted. I once talked to an AO in the role of class officer about the legacy advantages. He told me that “all the legacy applicants get” was an automatic second round of review, which implies that some non-legacy applications don’t get a second round of review. So I think the faculty reader and your AO’s recommendations would pretty much determine if you will be in the “provisional admit” pile. Class officers would read closely only the applications where say the faculty reader and the AO’s recommendations are different, or the legacy applications, or the applications with strong recommendations from a coach… The director of admissions would make sure the classes are well balanced - geographically, racially etc etc. </p>
<p>Many schools, including PA, use scoring metrics. After holistic reading of each application, reviewers assign, surprise, a numerical score to each of those categories like academics, EC and personality. If an applicant is way above or below a threshold, it’s a no brainer. I think provisional admits represent those who hover around the threshold and eventually get admitted or waitlisted depending on school’s balancing needs.</p>
<p>And when they finally still have way too many admissible candidates in any particular bucket, then do they resort to dartboard or rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets the snailmail WL letter instead of the big Fedex Admit packet? It really feels that arbitrary.</p>
<p>@SharingGift: Good point. I should know that because that “score” was actually mentioned in the handwritten note on DC’s admission letter. It’s not in conflict with what I said in the previous post though. For example, when there’s a big discrepancy between a faculty reader and AO’s scores, the class officer may read the file closely to cast the third vote… </p>
<p>@GMT: Idk. I suppose the balancing act that happens at the end of the process may be making some decisions seem arbitrary. For example, a rejected upper middle class candidate from CT who has SSAT of 97%, all A’s and is a star violin player may be “giving his spot” to a working class candidate from CT who has “only” scored 89% in SSAT, nothing spectacular really but is considered a great writer potentially given the limited training he’s received so far… There are many variables considered in this process. I think the bottom line is that the school just don’t want too many similar students in the same class. </p>
<p>@Benley You described me as the one who gets picked over the FP 97% kid! Except I’m not in the middle class. Here’s hoping…</p>
<p>@stargirl3: The one who’s picked in my example is actually coming from a “working class” family. Does that help? 
Anyway, while I don’t think the admission decisions are “arbitrary”, I do think there’s luck of different degrees involved in almost every step of the way toward that admission letter. So good luck to you!</p>
<p>This discussion reminds me of a meeting with a bunch of college AO’s. One member of the audience blurted out the word “random” when she asked a question. The response from a director of admissions was something to the effect of “No, nothing random about the process at all. And we don’t make random decisions. Period.” </p>
<p>Hasn’t Dean Fried been gone for at least a couple years to New York? Not sure these are still relevant. would love to hear how the new existing team reads the files…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’m pretty sure Andover reads everything electronically now. I wonder how that works…</p></li>
<li><p>@Benley, I’m so far below the line I didn’t even know there is a difference! :D</p></li>
</ol>