Last week, the groups of students living in a stack for the 2026-27 school year were announced. At Andover, a stack is a small dorm (5 to 13 people) that a group of students may apply for together to live during their upperclassmen years. The Phillipian reached out to students living or who will be living in a stack next year to share their thoughts on or anticipations for their experience.
Cyrus Law ’27, living in Draper Cottage this year:
I wanted to live with my friends in a smaller community. Before this, I lived in Fuess, which is one of the bigger lower-class boys dorms. I remember in Fuess, my most fun social times were not necessarily with all the people I didn’t know too well, but with a select group of friends I was closest to… If you have a good group of friends, then [I would] 100 percent recommend [stacking]. It’s important to have the experience of living in a bigger dorm when you’re new so you can get to know more people. I’m glad I was placed in a dorm like Fuess with nearly 40 kids rather than one of the smaller non-stacked dorms. That helped me build a broader social circle. From there, I found the people I resonated with most and ended up stacking with them. It’s helped me find a good balance in my social life at Andover.
Quentin Cynn ’28, living in Andover Cottage (AC) next year:
We were a big group of 13 people, so we ended up applying for AC. We were considering AC, Bertha [Bailey House], and Alumni [House]. I think Bertha went down to 11, and it was unclear whether Alumni was a stack or if it was still going to be an all-gender one, so that added some confusion. We ended up going with AC because it allowed everyone to come.”
Joshua Chang ’27, living in Draper Cottage next year:
“Next year, I’m going to Draper. Most of my friends are in Draper right now, so I know everybody in the stack. It’s going to be pretty fun. Last year, I was planning to go to Draper if I didn’t get Prefect, so I already had that place in mind. Since I’m familiar with everybody, it’s easier to get along and hang out. It’s also my last year, so I just want to experience it once. I did almost nothing because my other friend, who got to proctor it, did most of the applying. He asked if I wanted to join, and I said yes. I just had to sign something saying I was going to join Draper next year.”
Papa Paintsil ’26, living in Bertha Bailey this year.
“Being in a bigger dorm has its perks, but there’s something special about being in a small dorm where you know everybody’s name and everyone knows you. I also liked the idea of being able to stack with my friends and go through our final year together, just being able to have a good time in a closer setting. Our house counselors are amazing. Ms. Clark often makes us pastries for dorm meetings, and on a snow day she even made us pasta so we wouldn’t have to walk up to [Paresky] Commons. It’s little things like that that make the stack community feel more like a family than anything else. When I’m going back at the end of the day, it feels like I’m going back to my house rather than my dorm.”
Daisy Kim ’26, living in Smith House this year:
“Some advice I would give is to make sure that you find a group of friends that you feel like you would get along with. The key to having such a great stack is really knowing everyone that you’re choosing to live with, because you’re spending an entire year together and it’s such a tight space. Also, [another piece of advice] I would give is figuring out your roommates very early, just to sort of get that situated and making sure that everyone has a person to be with just in case. Stacking is really special to me because it always feels like I can come back to my dorm and see people in the common room that I’m really close with and just talk to them.”
