Three months after Commencement, Andover’s newest alumni have spread out to 106 colleges and universities. Compared to previous years, members of the Class of 2012 have matriculated at a slightly larger variety of schools, as the Classes of 2011 and 2010 matriculated to 103 and 102 schools, respectively. The number of schools to which Andover students apply also increased from previous years. The Class of 2012 applied to 306 total schools, compared to 265 schools in 2011. Each member of the class applied to an average of 9.8 schools, the largest average in the last five years. Members of the Class of 2011 applied to an average of 9.0 schools. “I think we had a very successful year in terms of students being accepted to excellent schools across a wide range of schools,” said Logan. Many schools also saw significant changes in matriculation. The number of students attending Ivy League schools decreased from 2011. Overall, 22.4 percent of students in the Class of 2012 matriculated to these schools, while 26.7 percent of students in the Class of 2011. However, this was still an increase from 2010, when 22.0 percent of graduates attended Ivy League schools. Of the eight Ivy League schools, Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania saw more Andover students matriculate than matriculated from the Class of 2011, Columbia had the same amount of Andover students matriculate and the remaining schools all received fewer Andover grads. Even though five of the Ivy League colleges saw decreasing numbers of Andover students, only one of the universities had more than a three-person drop. The number of students attending Harvard fell to nine from 15 in 2011. Although there was a decrease in Ivy League matriculation by Andover students, there was an increase in matriculation to colleges in the United Kingdom (UK) via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). This year, the number of students that are going to the UK for college has increased by nine students even though the total number of applications to colleges in the UK has only increased by one. There has been a steady increase in the number of applications to UCAS colleges in the last four years, but the number of students matriculating to these schools had remained consistent until this year’s jump. “Cost is a big issue. They’re cheaper. So these are really terrific institutions, but the cost typically tends to be less than a US private school,” said Sean Logan, Director of College Counseling. Members of the Class of 2012 are attending eleven schools to which no Andover student has matriculated in the last five years. These colleges include schools such as Elon University, Maine Maritime Academy, Korea University and the University of Waikato. Wesleyan University also saw a big increase in Andover matriculation. The number of students who matriculated to Wesleyan this year, 11, was equal to the number of students who matriculated there in the past four years combined. Demographically, the majority of the Class of 2012 graduates, 35 percent, are attending college in New England. 30 percent, the next highest portion, will attend school in the Mid-Atlantic. Both the West and South have 11 percent, and the Mid-West has 10 percent. Three percent of Class of 2012 graduates are attending college outside of the United States. According to Logan, these numbers are similar to previous years. In regard to size, 41 percent of graduates are going to large schools, 27 percent of graduates are going to mid-sized schools and 32 percent of graduates are going to small schools. Large schools are classified as schools with more than 10,000 students, mid-sized schools are between 4,000 and 9,999 students and small schools are between 500 and 3,999 students. Logan believes that so much of the Class of 2012 went to larger schools because they wanted to have the experience of going to a bigger school after Andover. Eighty-five percent of the members of the Class of 2012 are going to private institutions, and the other 15 percent are going to public college and universities.
