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Phillips Academy Andover

School rating 4 / 5 by

180 Main Street Andover MA 01810 United States
Boarding
9th to PG
Day
9th to PG
Gender
Coed

Academic

Phillips Academy Andover review by .

I never had a class bigger than 15 people at Andover, and I never had a class period that didn't go at least a minute or two past the bell as people stayed to finish up conversations. With most subjects taught around the Harkness table, everyone is equal in scholarship, and teachers are there to foster discussion instead of lecture. The curriculum is broad and diversified, and included second and third year college level classes in every subject. The best part is the passion brought to each class by the students and the teachers.

College Counseling

I doubt there are many better College Counseling programs than the one we had at....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

Andover's most important goal in Admissions is to take "youth from every quarter". I....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

Dorm life at Andover was the highlight of my adolescence. The friends I made in high school, who I parted ways with 2 years ago, are still my nearest and dearest. The system is broken down to be small and familial... A group of about 16 students share two house counselors as a unit, but that can be a part of a larger dorm or of a smaller house. A group of dorms are a "cluster", and cluster activities are much like the House activities in Harry Potter: clusters compete against each other for intramural sports,....

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