The Phillips Academy, Andover Thread

[Anti-Thesis]

How is the first day/week/month?

any advice starting out?

[mathwiz]

Be open and make a bunch of friends. Orientation is really fun. In the first few weeks of classes, don't worry if you feel a bit.... strange, for lack of a better word.... everybody does. You'll get used to BS and all its little tidbits soon. Just be sure to have fun.

[Anti-Thesis]

anything else that ya just NEED to do/take/see while you're there?

[xGods_Favoritex]

Pull an all-nighter just because...get into a heated argument (most people get into more than one though)...take a class from Dr. Quattlebaum before he retires...sit with someone you've never met before at Commons...walk through the Sanctuary right after the first snowfall...there's more I can't think right now.

[abkatdance711]

Just so all know, there were 25 kids waitlisted...I was among them...sniff sniff...but I was wondering around how many are accepted from list each year? Just an approximation, like three or five. I really have no idea. I am the only person in my family and really around here who is going to BS

[cheezifreako]

hello, i'm new.
i was also waitlisted at andover. they called a few days ago about confirming my position on the waiting list. problem is, i've already made a deposit for lawrenceville [where i planned to go]. if it comes down to having to rethink my decision, could anyone help me compare andover and lawrenceville in terms of community life, workload, etc.?
thanks!!

[mathwiz]

Sure. PM me any time.

[D'yer Maker]

You've decided that Lawrenceville would be a great place for you to go to school, right?

Why would anyone talk you out of that? Because Andover calls you because they have a space they need to fill?

You found a match. You were happy with it. Don't be less happy with it because you're on a wait list. This is what I mean when I say, "Embrace your reality." You should be enjoying the rest of this school year. And then you should be excited and anticipating your first year at boarding school.

Maybe you went into the Lawrenceville decision with reservations and misgivings. If so, then you know what they are and we're not going to help identify them or reinforce them.

But I'm assuming that you're pleased with Lawrenceville as a choice. You gave it thought and believe it's a great fit.

Embrace it. Commit to it. Get the Andover monkey off your back because it's dragging you down at a time you should be on Cloud 9. You don't even know if Andover is a better fit and you're letting it get in your way by clinging on to it. Sometimes having options isn't the best thing. Sometimes you need to cut them off so you can focus on what's real instead of worrying about what's remotely possible.

Get used to this. When you apply to colleges it will happen again. And then it will be a job you take -- to the exclusion of all other jobs. And marriage...when you're making a commitment to one person and saying no to so many other opportunities.

You're not going to do a BS search each fall from now until graduation in hopes of upgrading or improving on Lawrenceville, right? So why -- after committing to Lawrenceville -- are you opening up a one-school search for Andover?

Again, there may be reasons. You may have reservations or misgivings. But that's nothing anyone here can address for you. Go ahead and talk to your parents and guidance counselor and other people you know and trust and respect about this if you feel the need to give Andover a shot at this stage of the game, but give yourself a time limit and if you or Andover can't come together by a certain date (like, say, June 1), call them up to drop them from your list of options and I think you'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel about being a Laurentian or Lawrencevillian or whatever it is you are!

[drnancie]

I completely agree with d'yer. My son was waitlisted at three schools (Andover, Exeter, and Choate) and he immediately told them to remove his name from the waitlist. He then selected from the three he was admitted to. It would be a different story if you had not been accepted at such a great school and had no where to go next year.

[sabregiel121]

is it just me, or does lawrenceville seem to be getting more competitive in recent years? like on boardingschoolreview.com their acceptance rate is suppossedly a 29%, but im sure it's significantly lower than that.

[olivia567]

I wouldn't bet on the wait list at Andover. 178 students accepted out of 171 spots... and as I said, my dad knows someone very big there who called them and asked and luckily they said they weren't accepting anyone off the waitlist this year!!! I was happy about it, because now I'm going to CHOATE, where I want to go, but like D'yer said ... embrace your reality. If it's meant to happen, it will. And there's not much difference in any of these top schools. L'ville is just as great as Andover in many respects. If you want to go to Andover for the prestige, then don't. You'll get a great education at L'ville and the boarding school experience. It might even be better! You're extremely lucky compared to people who don't have ANY school to choose from.

[cheezifreako]

it's not that i hate andover or anything. out of the schools i applied to, lawrenceville and andover were my top two choices. i know that they will offer different kinds of experiences based on where i go. i'm just not sure where i would be most comfortable.
i have been talking to my family about it, but my mom seems to be all for andover (which isn't helping at all!)...

really, they aren't accepting anyone from the waitlist this year?

[drnancie]

some years they do not take anyone off the waitlist. they also waitlisted 25 per grade.

[dancerx31293]

it seemed like so much more than that. i myself know about 7 waitlist candidates.

[drnancie]

well, I am just going by what the waitlist letter said.