Recently, the Admissions Office announced this year’s admissions statistics. Only a record low 14 percent of all applicants were accepted. Out of those accepted, 78% of them have decided to attend Andover this fall, a yield tied with last year’s as the highest ever. They come from 33 states and 25 countries, with a median SSAT score of 94%. These statistics portray the incoming class as the some of the most academically elite youth in the world, and they most likely are. However, highlighting the academic abilities of new Andover students is ignoring one of Andover’s greatest attributes. It disregards the fact that academic excellence is not the only way one can contribute to Andover and its image. Considering that Andover is home to hundreds of students and faculty, academia is just one small part of a community that encompasses nearly all aspects of life. When a student decides to atend Andover, it is hardly ever purely because of the academics. Perhaps they are enchanted by the diverse musical groups, enticed by the community service offerings or attracted to the elite athletics. Students can excel in these extracurricular fields without being a prodigy in the classroom or even an honor roll student. Team captains, club presidents and other extracurricular coordinators are not required to be the academically elite. The average student has a chance to do something extraordinary at Andover. In fact, sometimes the most brilliant students fail to contribute to the school outside the classroom. Extracurricular activities define Andover nearly as much as academics, and having reclusive students who only contribute to the classroom is not necessarily good. These people could be contributing positively to the community through constructive extracurricular work where they could apply their knowledge. The people who are not geniuses or the next Einstein can contribute just as much, if not more, than those who exclusively focus on academics. Unfortunately, the way Andover is measured by most of the world is very similar to how the incoming class is measured: exclusively in terms of scholastic excellence. Many people on campus are probably aware of the recent “Forbes” article ranking the top preparatory schools in America. Andover was ranked third, comfortably ahead of Exeter. This article had serious national exposure, and what people saw about Andover was the percent of students it sends to the Ivy League, MIT and Stanford combined: 33%. The editors at “Forbes” clearly thought that this kind of pedagogic statistic was the most relevant, placing it directly next to the most basic details such as school name, location and date of founding. Since this is how most people learn about Andover, the perception of Andover as a machine taking in youth and churning out Ivy Leaguers is the one that stays with the general populace. In these final weeks of the term, when sports have ended and clubs are winding down for the year, it is easy to be like “Forbes” and get caught up in the belief that the only important aspect of a school is academics. But it is important to remember that this machine that sends 33% of its graduates to the Ivies, MIT or Stanford is not a machine at all. The machine is rather the body of contributing individuals who make up our school and, in turn, make it a desirable and reputable institution. Derek Farquhar is a two-year Lower from Andover, MA.
