A Scary article in the Phillipian

Prep School Admissions
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<p>As many of you know, Phillips Andover’s newspaper is called the Phillipian. It publishes articles online like many other schools do. But one article really scared me. Actually it was one specific line in the article. Here is the article:[The</a> ?Forbes? Approach | Commentary | The Phillipian](<a href=“http://phillipian.net/article/9717]The”>Article: Antonio Pulgarin Speaks to Toxic Masculinity, LGBTQ+ Rights, and Latinx Issues in New Exhibition “Whispers of a Caballero.” – The Phillipian)</p>

<p>In the first line of the fifth paragraph it states that, “Unfortunately the way Andover is measured by most of the world is very similar to the way the incoming class is measured: exclusively in terms of scholastic excellence.”</p>

<p>Now this scares me because I took from this that new students are evaluated solely on academic achievement. Now this scares me because I get good grades, but my grades are not perfect. So, current Andover students: do you think that it is true that applicants are solely evaluated on academic achievement? It doesn’t make sense that applicants would be, but I would also like some input from those who managed to be accepted in the most selective HADS school. Thanks and sorry if I’m overreacting to this article.</p>

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<p>You’re fine. The first paragraphs were talking about how Andover doesn’t want to have only “reclusive students who only contribute to the classroom”, therefore they are looking for more than just pure academics. By measured, I think it means that students are judged based on their academics, and once the admissions committee feel that the applicant can handle the academics at Andover, they start looking into other aspects of the application: extra-curriculars, interview, essays, etc.</p>

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<p>@2010,
Thanks a ton. Rereading the article I see now that it was saying that Andover didn’t want nerdy recluses. Lol, and this from the guy who got a 98 on the SSAT reading. =) Thanks and I feel stupid for overreacting.</p>

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<p>Hi there, I’m a senior a Andover. I actually take a lot of photos for The Phillipian.</p>

<p>You don’t have to have perfect academics to get in. I had some B’s in middle school, but hey, I’m here. My SSAT score wasn’t great either. I think I got like 86th percentile overall. </p>

<p>One thing that all students at Andover have in common is that they have something they’re passionate about. It could be anything - sports, dance, music, art. In my case it was photography.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>