May 18, 2012
The Phillipian
A7
News
State of the Academy Academics
WINTER 2012 GRADE POINT AVERAGE
WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT DEPARTMENT 280 IN TERMS OF GRADING?
Out of 637 responses
34.2%
Out of 574 responses
4.93 133
Overall Average
10.2%
61
6.8%%
28
21
11
5
Science RelPhil Art English History Math Language
Music
1 Theatre
1.3%
1.6%
3.0 or lower
3.5
Students’ Opinions on Attending a Top College Changed More people believe that attending Andover has decreased their chances of attending a ‘top college’ than those who believe it increased their chances, according to State of the Academy. Last year’s survey yielded the opposite result. 37.8 percent of surveyed students said that Andover increased their chances of attending a top college, while 45 percent of students answered with this response last year. Sean Logan, Director of College Counselling, said, “If you’re coming to Andover to increase your chances of getting into college, that’s the wrong reason to come to Andover... Andover’s an incredibly unique experience... I’ve probably visited three, four hundred high schools in my life, this is a pretty unique place with a pretty unique experience, so that’s why you should attend Andover.” He continued, “The top places where our kids go is a very good list of schools, but there’s no guarantee that you’re going to go there and
coming here depends on how you take advantage of the opportunities and depends on what you do. So, I hear a lot about ‘should I have stayed at home and gotten better grades,’ you could be the number one kid in your public high school and still not get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or you could come here and not be the number one kid but in the top 20 percent and still not get into Princeton too, but they’re completely different experiences.” Surveyed females spend an average of 4.6 hours each day on work, while surveyed males spend an average of 4.1 hours . Surveyed Uppers work the most at 4.84 hours per day, followed by Juniors, Lowers and Seniors at 4.42, 4.14 and 4.08 hours per days, respectively. The most common rounded Winter 2012 GPA was 5.0 overall. 34.2 percent of students answered that they achieved this GPA. This was the most common GPA for all classes except for Juniors, 27.1 percent of which achieved a 5.5 GPA, followed by a 5.0 at 24.8 percent. The results show that sur-
veyed females earned an average rounded Winter 2012 GPA of 4.97, compared to an average of 4.88 in surveyed males. The average Winter 2012 GPA for all surveyed students was 4.93. 65.1 percent of students reported that they received an honors GPA in the winter term. There were no significant differences in answers to questions regarding grading disparities between this year and last year. 48.8 percent of surveyed students said that the English department is the most difficult department in terms of grading, aligning with last year’s results. Answers to the question asking which subject required the most time were less agreed upon, as responses that History and Science required the most time were nearly equal at 26.9 and 25.6 percent, respectively. 88.2 percent of surveyed students answered that their workload was not spread evenly among their classes, showing no significant change from last year.
4.5
5.0
WINTER 2012 GPA BY GENDER 35.7%
Out of 637 responses
32.5% 25.4%
25.4%
Female Male
32.5%
18.7% 9.9% 10.5% 5.4%
3.0 or lower
3.5
4
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
WINTER 2012 GPA BY CLASS YEAR
4.98
4.95
2012
4.93
2013
4.90
Overall
4.87
2014
2015
HOW DO YOU THINK ATTENDING ANDOVER AFFECTS YOUR CHANCES OF ATTENDING A “TOP COLLEGE?”
15.4%
46.8%
17.1% Decreased chances
11.3% 8.0%
7.4%
hours
5
Increased chances
37.4%
26.1%
6
7 or more
AVERAGE WORKLOAD PER NIGHT BY CLASS YEAR 4.42
7.9%
1.5% 1.0% 0.9% 2.4%
30.1%
4
6.0
Did not change chances
WORKLOAD PER NIGHT
2 or fewer 3
5.5
Out of 637 responses
ARE THERE GRADING DISPARITIES BETWEEN TEACHERS OF THE SAME SUBJECT?
33.1%
64.8%
2.0%
4.85
Yes, to a permissable degree Yes, to an unfair degree
4.14
No
4.08
Hours
ARE THERE GRADING DISPARITIES BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS AT ANDOVER?
2015
2014
Out of 637 responses
STAFF REPORT
4
2013
2012
AVERAGE WORKLOAD PER NIGHT BY GENDER
Yes, to an unfair degree
No
WHICH SUBJECT DO YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME ON? 155
Out of 577 responses
148 106
hours
67
61
14
Theatre
15
Music
English
History
Science
RelPhil
Female
Yes, to a permissable degree
Art
Male
9.6%
Language
hours
4.6
36.9%
Math
4.1
53.5%
Out of 637 responses
34
24.2%
21.8%
7
4