<p>I’m unfortunately no longer able to check statistics concerning applications to colleges from Andover, and it’s entirely possible that I’m mistaken, especially given that I only have anecdotal evidence. HYPS are more popular choices than Brown at Andover, but they are generally seen as more prestigious so this is not surprising. Cornell has more applicants, but this is likely because of its reputation, true or not, of being an easier Ivy to get into, as well as it being one of the top choices for potential engineers. It is worth noting that, until the past two years, at Andover, Princeton rejected a much higher percentage of candidates than Harvard or Yale did. Last year, however, a very large number of candidates were accepted, although Princeton lost the cross-admit battle with Harvard and Yale that year. Yale receives many applications from Andover because it is seen as being very similar in style to Andover - it used to be that Andover was a top feeder for Yale and Exeter for Harvard (although this stereotype is receding).</p>
<p>It’s also more than just the prestige, too. Columbia has an appeal because of its location in NYC, and after Andover and Exeter, students may want to get out of a suburban area into a large city. I know very few people at Andover who applied to Brown - they certainly exist, and I was friends with a few, but after Andover (and probably Exeter, Hotchkiss, St. Pauls, Deerfield, Milton Academy, and other intensive boarding schools, though I can’t say for sure), Brown is a very different environment which does not appeal to everyone.</p>
<p>For the last 4 years, out of the Ivies + Stanford and MIT, Andover’s matriculation ranks look like this:</p>
<p>Harvard: 70
Yale: 55
Stanford: 45
UPenn: 45
Princeton: 37
Brown: 36
Columbia: 36
Cornell: 29
MIT: 26
Dartmouth: 25</p>
<p>Without application data, it’d be hard to take too much out of those numbers, but if I remember correctly, only Dartmouth had fewer applicants than Brown in the past few years. The reason for these results is questionable - does it mean that Brown is seen as less prestigious at these boarding schools? Possibly. I do know some people aspire to go to Brown, much as others aspire to attend HYPMS. Does it show that Brown maintains a focus on limiting acceptances from these schools? Probably not more than other top schools that wish to maintain a diverse student body, but again, possible. Is this only true at Andover (where there is a different type of student population than that at say St. Paul’s.)? Again, maybe.</p>
<p>Either way, thank you for those statistics and making me reconsider my position.</p>