When new students matriculate next Fall, their decision will mark the highest yield rate in Phillips Academy’s history. Yield refers to the percentage of students offered admission who choose to matriculate at the school. This Phillips Academy had a yield rate of 78%, which ties with last year as the highest in Andover history. Two hundred sixteen Juniors, 81 new Lowers, 18 new Uppers and 35 new Seniors and Post-Graduates will make up Phillips Academy’s 234th admitted class. Eighty-three percent of prospective students who participated in the Spring Visit program will matriculate at Phillips Academy. In comparison, 69% of students accepted to Phillips Exeter Academy are matriculating there, according to Michael Gary, Director of Admissions at Exeter. According to their Admission Office, The Hotchkiss School had a yield of 56%. St. Paul’s School had a yield of 67%, according to Timothy Caryl-Klika, Senior Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Financial Aid at St. Paul’s. Choate Rosemary Hall’s yield rate was 66%, according to Ray Diffley, Choate’s Director of Admission. In an email to The Phillipian, Jane Fried, Dean of Admission, wrote that Andover’s yield has “steadily risen to the current high of 78%.” She noted that in the early 1990s, Andover’s yield increased due to improvements in the school’s residential program that lowered the faculty to student ratio in dorms. Such changes includef renovating dormitories and decreasing the overall size of the school. “Today, I believe it is a combination of school qualities that inspires students to commit to Andover,” wrote Fried. Fried attributed the rising yield to Phillips Academy’s diverse community, faculty, arts opportunities, curriculum, athletics and school spirit. “Sometimes I think we forget how extraordinary it is for a secondary school to offer such a rich and diverse program,” explained Fried. “Andover is known as a place where students can find new passions and be themselves. That is a rare experience in secondary schools, especially in an environment where budget pressures are forcing cuts in programs and teachers.” The school’s need blind admission program has also helped attract prospective students in recent years, according to Fried. Forty-four percent of incoming students will be financial aid recipients. Each grade will grow in order to accommodate the graduation of the large Class of 2011. Next year’s new students will represent 42 states and 22 countries, compared to last year’s 34 states and 26 countries. Admissions has continued to notice an increase in students applying from China, a trend that has existed for the past five or six years, Fried noted. This year in particular, there has been an increase in applicants from the Middle East, especially female students. Fried wrote, “I predict that this trend will continue and we will see a new critical mass of Middle Eastern students on campus in the next decade.” This year, the Admission Office received completed applications from 73 foreign countries, compared to 50 foreign countries in 2007. New countries represented in the application pool this year that were not represented at all in the past four years include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Dominica, Haiti, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Monaco, Nepal, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Sri Lanka and Tunisia. Fried attributes the increasingly globalized applicant pool to the reach of the Internet. “There is no doubt that the Internet plays a significant role in new student populations discovering Andover,” Fried wrote. “In the past, we have described admissions as a funnel. Now, it is much more of a network.” The Admission Office is currently busy with the beginning of the next admission cycle, but between now and the start of school, they may continue to admit students from this year’s waitlist. Admission counselors have begun interviewing candidates and speaking at schools and student programs throughout the country. Fried added, “We are also analyzing how our strategies and processes worked this year and what we can do better. There is always room to improve.”
