<p>Ifax, I am saying don’t worry about that admissions criterion. It’s unlikely to be the one that may “filter you out”</p>
<p>@DAndrew,
Yes, I agree with that. They really don’t get that much information about you. And, in general I agree with your statement that, “I believe that most kids who feel they are ready to attend boarding school are nice.” Most of the kids in my class who are applying to boarding school, are fairly nice.</p>
<p>So, to specifics:</p>
<p>Dr. Horrible, Moist, and Bad Horse: not nice.</p>
<p>Penny: nice.</p>
<p>Captain Hammer: ???
;)</p>
<p>^:) 
:)</p>
<p>@ifax and DA , actually you are somewhat wrong. They do get a lot of information about you. Dont you think that people whose job it is to read through mounds of applications and put together a coherent class are savvy enough to see through someone’s facade? Sure a bit of kids will squeak through that arent that nice, but that may be for reasons other than an admission officer didnt catch on. Also, dont forget that if a kid is truly not nice, the teachers writing rec letters will make sure the school will know that. Especially if a kid is coming from a school that traditionally sends kids to boarding school, since there is a relationship to maintain thats greater than the individual student.</p>
<p>I think that most students who’d be admitted to Andover without the consideration of niceness are nice in general. Unless there’s convinicing evidence that the kid is not nice, I don’t think the school would go out their way to “detect” who is real nice and who is faking nice. Just my <em>conjecture</em></p>
<p>Hahaha. :D</p>
<p>At my daughter’s interview they tested her niceness by kicking a puppy to see how she reacted. KIDDING!!!</p>
<p>^They did that for me… I laughed. :P</p>
<p>During my interview the AO kicked a polar bear and it bit the AO’s leg. My reaction was quick as lightning when I said thank God, the polar bear didn’t lose any teeth. Afterwards, during the interview the AO said I did the right thing by standing up for someone who couldn’t call 911. njk, rk.</p>
<p>I think schools should look for intellect, niceness, and enthusiasm in all areas of life. SSAT scores and required hours of community service hours (entirely different when someone has a passion in helping certain areas of the community, they feel is important) only hide an applicant’s character. Admissions is such a complicated process.</p>
<p>I don’t think Andover’s “niceness” criteria has anything to do with non sibi–that’s in another bucket altogether.</p>
<p>Niceness means the student is generally easy going and respectful. I think this stems from the real issue that they have rougly 1,000 kids on campus who can’t be supervised at all times. They need kids who can treat each other and teachers respectfully.</p>
<p>It’s not something you can assert no matter how many community service hours you have–I believe they are looking to measure it in a different way. You can probably figure out how.</p>