icy9ff8

One difficulty with international applicants using an "agency" is that any agency or educational consultant is limited in large part to much of the same info. available to the public, and some of it is misleading marketing material. Ideally each prospective student would be able to visit multiple schools to personally assess and evaluate the intangibles. An above poster wrote that students at Andover and Hill both will get a worldclass education. The educational experiences at these two schools are dramatically different. I have interviewed many who have taught at these two schools, though none had teaching experience at both. I also know several students at each school and have made multiple visits to each campus. The caliber of student at these schools is as different as comparing a U.S. Marine boot camp experience with being a Boy Scout. The quality of one's classmates has a profound effect on the educational experience even when identical texts are used as the pace and depth of analysis will differ substantially. Comparing these two particular schools as somehow equal indicates a lack of familiarity with both, and is wishful thinking at best. I encourage anybody to compare the college matriculation lists from these two schools and witness the dramatic difference from top to bottom of each class. If one truly believes that Andover and Hill offer similiar worldclass educations, then save your money and consider your local schools. A comparison between schools such as Andover and Hotchkiss would be fair, or, possibly Hill and Peddie, but not Hill and Andover. I would be comfortable that an average student scoring 50 SSAT or above would be a serious candidate for admission to Hill, but certainly not for Andover.