Andover matriculation

[Anonymous]

Why discussion of a private MA HS on a DMV college forum?

[Anonymous]

Amazing number of kids going to Ivies and other top schools. Any idea what percentage of those kids are "hooked"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazing number of kids going to Ivies and other top schools. Any idea what percentage of those kids are "hooked"?

Well, 50% of the kids are on need based FA, so one can assume those are likely not legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why discussion of a private MA HS on a DMV college forum?

That's what I was wondering. Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Nice that UVA and W&M are on the three-year list. Go VA!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:https://d2e3a5v56wj8r4.cloudfront.net/files/SchoolProfile2023-2024.pdf

Was surprised Virginia Tech wasn't anywhere and that SMU and Tulane were on the 3 year list.

Only 1 to Cal Tech and none to Harvey Mudd is more disappointing than none to Virginia Tech. The students looking at STEM aren’t focused on SMU or Tulane …Virgina Tech is likely a safety for the 7 going to MIT

There are geographic reasons at play. There is a definite bias towards east coast schools, except for Stanford and UChicago. Very few to Berkeley, UCLA, etc.

So why no Virginia Tech & UMD?

Coddled private school kids tend to not thrive at large universities.

Andover is the opposite of a school that coddles. The unofficial motto is “sink or swim.”

I remember literally collapsing on the floor of the library after finals during my upper (junior) year, from pure exhaustion.

I also remember my European History teacher telling us in the fall that all of us would get no more than a 3 (equivalent of a C) that term. I was never so happy to finally earn a 5 that spring (equivalent to an A).

My English teacher told us “The only way anyone will get a 6 (equivalent to an A+) on a paper in my class is if I read it and wish I had written it.”

Oh, Andover grad, you were doing so well until now. Your problem: the link on this thread to the college matriculation list also shows the grading scale and grade distribution for the Andover class of 2023, and according to it the average GPA of the class was well over a 4.0 on the standard 4.0 scale - and, even on Andover 6.0 scale 6.0 being absolutely perfect the average is a 5.5. So you have been caught in your exaggeration.

Would it make you feel better for someone to tell you that Andover is an overrated school that coddles rich kids? Go ahead and believe it. It won’t make it true, but I’m sure it’ll help you feel somehow vindicated.

It's obviously an excellent school but the poster did reference some data that suggests Andover does in fact hand out a lot of high grades. Most schools do these days, even the top ones.

Yes I did. According to the school profile, the average GPA of the graduating class of 2023 was around 5.45 on the Andover scale, which Andover says converts to over a 4.0 on the standard 4.0 scale.

Yes, grade inflation is an issue at Andover, as it is at all schools in this country.

That doesn’t mean it’s an easy school to be at. All it means is that the differentiation is essentially within a 5.0-6.0 band.

A college can still look at that distribution and figure out if a kid did well, compared to their peers. Being in the top 10% (5.7-6 GPA) is still going to be hard.

Interesting how the go to is always grade inflation. This school takes either the very rich or best and brightest. They ALL are taking the max number of AP classes and this school probably offers all AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:https://d2e3a5v56wj8r4.cloudfront.net/files/SchoolProfile2023-2024.pdf

Was surprised Virginia Tech wasn't anywhere and that SMU and Tulane were on the 3 year list.

Only 1 to Cal Tech and none to Harvey Mudd is more disappointing than none to Virginia Tech. The students looking at STEM aren’t focused on SMU or Tulane …Virgina Tech is likely a safety for the 7 going to MIT

There are geographic reasons at play. There is a definite bias towards east coast schools, except for Stanford and UChicago. Very few to Berkeley, UCLA, etc.

So why no Virginia Tech & UMD?

Coddled private school kids tend to not thrive at large universities.

Andover is the opposite of a school that coddles. The unofficial motto is “sink or swim.”

I remember literally collapsing on the floor of the library after finals during my upper (junior) year, from pure exhaustion.

I also remember my European History teacher telling us in the fall that all of us would get no more than a 3 (equivalent of a C) that term. I was never so happy to finally earn a 5 that spring (equivalent to an A).

My English teacher told us “The only way anyone will get a 6 (equivalent to an A+) on a paper in my class is if I read it and wish I had written it.”

Oh, Andover grad, you were doing so well until now. Your problem: the link on this thread to the college matriculation list also shows the grading scale and grade distribution for the Andover class of 2023, and according to it the average GPA of the class was well over a 4.0 on the standard 4.0 scale - and, even on Andover 6.0 scale 6.0 being absolutely perfect the average is a 5.5. So you have been caught in your exaggeration.

Would it make you feel better for someone to tell you that Andover is an overrated school that coddles rich kids? Go ahead and believe it. It won’t make it true, but I’m sure it’ll help you feel somehow vindicated.

It's obviously an excellent school but the poster did reference some data that suggests Andover does in fact hand out a lot of high grades. Most schools do these days, even the top ones.

Yes I did. According to the school profile, the average GPA of the graduating class of 2023 was around 5.45 on the Andover scale, which Andover says converts to over a 4.0 on the standard 4.0 scale.

Yes, grade inflation is an issue at Andover, as it is at all schools in this country.

That doesn’t mean it’s an easy school to be at. All it means is that the differentiation is essentially within a 5.0-6.0 band.

A college can still look at that distribution and figure out if a kid did well, compared to their peers. Being in the top 10% (5.7-6 GPA) is still going to be hard.

Interesting how the go to is always grade inflation. This school takes either the very rich or best and brightest. They ALL are taking the max number of AP classes and this school probably offers all AP.

Andover takes a little bit of a different approach to AP classes. Math and science classes still have AP, but it’s not the standard for advanced courses. You can definitely take AP exams after taking advanced courses, but those classes don’t necessarily teach to the exam.

Some 300, most 400, and all 500 level courses are at or beyond AP. 600 level courses are equivalent to sophomore-level college courses.

[Anonymous]

Do you think the parents feel like they wasted lots of their money if their kid goes to a more average school like Delaware or UMass afterward?

[Anonymous]

Andover? Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think the parents feel like they wasted lots of their money if their kid goes to a more average school like Delaware or UMass afterward?

Once again, half the kids’ families are paying MUCH less than the full tuition.

Also: no. The goal isn’t a particular college. It’s a stellar education. It’s possible those families could afford Andover with FA but not an expensive private university.

But maybe you could ask the 7 kids (out of 338 seniors) who went to the schools you cited whether their parents wasted their money.

[Anonymous]

These 14 schools are 40% of Andover's class. I'm not surprised that UVA makes the list of most chosen. It's the only public school that is attended to any significant degreem, and while it is public, it is the one that most closely resembles a private school in terms of selectivity, size, feel, atmosphere, etc. So not surprising Wisconsin, Michigan, UCLA, etc. are not on the list.

University of Chicago 21
Harvard University 12
Yale University 12
Stanford University 11
Boston University 10
Brown University 10
Northeastern University 10
Columbia University 8
Georgetown University 8
New York University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Northwestern University 7
University of Pennsylvania 7
University of Virginia 7

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These 14 schools are 40% of Andover's class. I'm not surprised that UVA makes the list of most chosen. It's the only public school that is attended to any significant degreem, and while it is public, it is the one that most closely resembles a private school in terms of selectivity, size, feel, atmosphere, etc. So not surprising Wisconsin, Michigan, UCLA, etc. are not on the list.

University of Chicago 21
Harvard University 12
Yale University 12
Stanford University 11
Boston University 10
Brown University 10
Northeastern University 10
Columbia University 8
Georgetown University 8
New York University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Northwestern University 7
University of Pennsylvania 7
University of Virginia 7

That makes no sense. Students looking for a large public school...aren't looking for a private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These 14 schools are 40% of Andover's class. I'm not surprised that UVA makes the list of most chosen. It's the only public school that is attended to any significant degreem, and while it is public, it is the one that most closely resembles a private school in terms of selectivity, size, feel, atmosphere, etc. So not surprising Wisconsin, Michigan, UCLA, etc. are not on the list.

University of Chicago 21
Harvard University 12
Yale University 12
Stanford University 11
Boston University 10
Brown University 10
Northeastern University 10
Columbia University 8
Georgetown University 8
New York University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Northwestern University 7
University of Pennsylvania 7
University of Virginia 7

That makes no sense. Students looking for a large public school...aren't looking for a private school.

+10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These 14 schools are 40% of Andover's class. I'm not surprised that UVA makes the list of most chosen. It's the only public school that is attended to any significant degreem, and while it is public, it is the one that most closely resembles a private school in terms of selectivity, size, feel, atmosphere, etc. So not surprising Wisconsin, Michigan, UCLA, etc. are not on the list.

University of Chicago 21
Harvard University 12
Yale University 12
Stanford University 11
Boston University 10
Brown University 10
Northeastern University 10
Columbia University 8
Georgetown University 8
New York University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Northwestern University 7
University of Pennsylvania 7
University of Virginia 7

Michigan is on the 3 year list under “10-19 students,” so don’t get too excited. UCLA and Berkeley are on the 3 year list under “5-9 students.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These 14 schools are 40% of Andover's class. I'm not surprised that UVA makes the list of most chosen. It's the only public school that is attended to any significant degreem, and while it is public, it is the one that most closely resembles a private school in terms of selectivity, size, feel, atmosphere, etc. So not surprising Wisconsin, Michigan, UCLA, etc. are not on the list.

University of Chicago 21
Harvard University 12
Yale University 12
Stanford University 11
Boston University 10
Brown University 10
Northeastern University 10
Columbia University 8
Georgetown University 8
New York University 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Northwestern University 7
University of Pennsylvania 7
University of Virginia 7

Michigan is on the 3 year list under “10-19 students,” so don’t get too excited. UCLA and Berkeley are on the 3 year list under “5-9 students.”

+1000