Your Potential Classmates: Some Profiles of the Newly Admitted Class
One of the things that distinguishes Phillips Academy’s student body from that of other schools is that Andover students are not only smart—they are also interesting. You may wonder how the admission committee, with such a large and diverse applicant pool, keeps track of all these talented candidates. We have special codes we use to remind us of a student’s major interests. For example, we use “ART” to note a student’s interest in visual arts, or “AVB” to indicate his/her participation on a high-level volleyball team. However, some students’ interests defy labels. We use a special code for these applicants—the UNA code—to indicate a unique interest. The following are profiles of some of the students who were coded “UNA” during the selection process:
A young woman from Milton, Massachusetts, who at the age of 12 won $20,000 in a special “Back to School” edition of the long-running television game show, “Jeopardy!” She is also a straight-A student and a talented actress. She is a well-respected leader in her current school community: she serves as co-president of the student council, leads the One World Club which raises awareness of issues of diversity, and helps her teachers coach younger students on the math team and in the dance club.
A young man from New York, New York, whose number-one interest is diabolo, a form of juggling. After picking up the skill at summer camp, he began practicing with the Columbia University Juggling Club. He is also a talented mathematician and school spelling bee champion.
The recipient of the Masssachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals “Young Hero Award,” one young woman from Andover campaigned tirelessly to place the Greyhound Protection Act on the 2008 ballot in Massachusetts. Passed by voters in November, this act will phase out greyhound racing in Massachusetts by 2010. The MSPCA praised her for her bravery and compassion, and her story will be published in a forthcoming book about teens who have made a difference.
An intellectually curious young man from North Guilford, Connecticut, who has competed in the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge and recently completed a year-and-a-half-long independent science project. It involves exploration of the use of extremely powerful neodymium magnets and electromagnets to assist the rotation of an automobile flywheel. His initial trials with this magnetic assist attained an increase in rotational efficiency by up to 250%. He hopes to enter his project in the Connecticut State Science Fair, and ultimately to create a way for a standard automotive internal combustion engine to have improved gas mileage, i.e. to create an environmentally-friendly, gas-mileage-efficient car.
An outgoing young woman of Iranian heritage currently living in Plano, Texas but attending boarding school in France. She speaks Farsi, French, and English and has studied Spanish and Arabic. She hopes to add Chinese to her list when she gets to Andover! Truly a citizen of the world, she is making a documentary on the humanitarian work she has done in Mumbai, India, where she helped establish an eye clinic.
A young man from Boxford, Massachusetts, whose multiple talents and interests earned him the title “Renaissance Man” around the admission committee table. A three-sport athlete, he is particularly talented in baseball where he is a left-handed pitcher and third baseman. He has been the captain of his school’s undefeated math team for the past two years and has played the trumpet for five years.
A young woman from Helena, Montana, who excels in track and field. She competed in a pentathlon for the first time last summer, winning state and regional titles and going on to a national competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This young woman is also ranked #1 out of 383 students in her class and registered voters as a volunteer with the Obama campaign.
A young man from Dedham, Massachusetts, who is captain of his school’s wrestling team and winner of last year’s New England Junior Prep School wrestling tournament. He is a motorcycle and moped aficionado who rides his moped to his after-school job as a receptionist at a local hair salon. He is also a talented visual artist and jazz guitarist.
A passionate filmmaker from Geneva, Illinois. This young woman has film-editing software—including a “green screen”—in her basement. Quite the entrepreneur, she has made a little business out of turning people’s raw footage into highlight videos and such. This spring, she will compete in two filmmaking competitions: one with music videos and another called “sweet 16” in which she’ll have 16 hours to finish a script, shoot a video, and turn it into a final product.
An earnest young man from Pacific Palisades, California, who started playing gypsy jazz guitar at the age of 10. He is a Russian scholar who has even traveled to Novosibirsk, Siberia, to take part in a Russian language camp (he was the only non-native speaker there). He is also a talented tennis and squash player.
A talented student, swimmer and actress from Andover, Massachusetts. This young woman and her older sister maintain a backyard garden and have entered their vegetables in the annual Topsfield Fair junior vegetable competition. This past fall, they won first prize for okra and eggplant as well as the Championship Award for “Best Vegetable Plate.”
A multi-talented young man from Princeton, New Jersey, who last summer had the opportunity to participate in a program called “Students on Ice,” a scientific expedition to the Arctic. He also plays soccer and hockey, studies Arabic outside of school, and serves as co-president of his middle school chorus.
A scholar-athlete from Swampscott, Massachusetts, who wrote an excellent essay about her interest in Native American weaving. This talented softball pitcher also loves to dance and play the violin, but her most unique interest is the flying trapeze!
A young man from North Hollywood, California, who came to the United States from the mountains of Peru only four years ago. A serious student, he reads books about quantum physics and international governments for pleasure. At age 13, he is currently studying AP Calculus BC.
A dedicated cross-country runner and basketball player from Lebanon, Maine, one young woman has spent most of her free time fundraising and speaking on behalf of a non-profit organization called Invisible Children. This organization is dedicated to ending the ongoing war in Northern Uganda as well as ending apathy in young Americans. She has rallied her school community as well as youth across the country to contribute to her cause. She will travel to Uganda this summer to visit the elementary school which has benefited from her good work.
A young man from Augusta, Georgia, who, three years ago in the interest of conserving energy, co-founded the Bike-to-School club at his school. He and his friends ride 15 miles a day, round trip. He also performs a wealth of community service work through his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and the Youth Board of his local Red Cross chapter. He is passionate about Model United Nations and looks forward to joining Andover’s MUN club, which recently placed second out of 116 schools at the annual national conference at Georgetown University.
A young woman from Tirane, Albania, who enjoys volunteering with orphaned and physically challenged children through the Red Cross and competing in international science competitions. She recently competed in Intel’s 2008 International Science & Engineering Fair on environmental management with the topic “protecting children from air pollution.”