State of the Academy 2019
On March 29th, The Phillipian, vol. CXLII, sent out the 2019 “State of Academy” survey to all Andover students in the hopes of obtaining valuable information about the school community.
This year, The Phillipian received a record-high participation rate of 93.5% of the student body— 1,052 participants— surpassing the previous record of 92% set in 2017. The anonymous survey asked a comprehensive set of 122 questions,
comprised of eight sections: General, Politics & Worldview, School, Wellness, Community & Diversity, Drugs & Alcohol, Sex, and Discipline. This year’s State of the Academy issue includes eight sections of data graphics and information. The 2019
issue is the first time that the Community & Diversity section has been allotted its own page within the paper. The Phillipian will also publish more extensive results from the entire survey in a State of the Academy website
(sota.phillipian.net,) to be viewed in tandem with the printed copy. We sincerely thank members of the student body for their willingness to share information and personal experiences for this special issue of The Phillipian, and we hope that
the State of the Academy will serve to inform, enlighten, and create a more holistic narrative of the students at Andover.
Editor’s note: When the survey was initially sent out, the class of 2022 was not an answer choice for the question,
“What class are you in?” The error was corrected within six minutes after the survey’s release. Responses submitted before that time were discounted, and those respondents were notified that they would need to retake the survey.
total number of respondents in this year's survey
of the student body participated
*Asexual - without sexual attraction, Bisexual - sexually attracted to both men and women, Demisexual - sexually attracted only after developing an emotional connection, Heterosexual - sexually attracted to the opposite sex or gender, Homosexual - sexually attracted to the same sex or gender, Pansexual - sexually attracted to others, regardless of sex or gender
*Aromantic – without romantic attraction, Biromantic – romantically attracted to both men and women, Demiromantic – romantically attracted only after developing an emotional connection, Heteroromantic – romantically attracted to the opposite sex or gender, Homoromantic – romantically attracted to the same sex or gender, Panromantic – romantically attracted to others, regardless of sex or gender
At Andover, students spend an average of four hours on homework per day. This year, the survey allowed for students to select several departments that they believe to have grading disparities. 93% of students believe that grading disparities between teachers of the same department exist, and 42% have switched teachers in order to attain a better grade. With the exception of the class of 2020, the majority of each class believes that attending Andover positively impacts their chances of attending a selective college. Additionally, although a four is defined as a “good” grade in the Bluebook, over 75% of respondents did not consider a four a good grade.
average school-wide Winter 2018-2019 G.P.A
average hours spent on coursework outside of class each day
average GPA of those who prefer STEM courses
average GPA of those who prefer Humanities courses
At Andover, a majority of students, 61.1%, have felt the need to censor themselves due to their political leaning, including 95.2% of self-identifying conservatives. 96.4% of students support the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of sexual equality, 86.0% support Black Lives Matter, and 83.6% believe gun control laws should be made stricter. Over half of the Junior class believes reverse racism exists, as compared to 33.6% of Seniors. 45% of students believe there is a rape culture at Andover, defined as “a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse”, and by gender, 29.8% of men believe there is a rape culture as compared to 58.6% of women.
On average, Andover students sleep just over 6.8 hours a night and spend 1.97 hours on social media each day. 17.2% of respondents find that social media impacts their life more negatively than positively. 33.3% of students believe that Andover students are not happy in general, but only 17.7% of students report being unhappy. 75.3% of students have reported feeling insecure about their own intelligence at times. 89.2% of women have reported feeling insecure about their physical appearance, compared to 58.7% of men. Still, 74.9% of respondents feel as though they have an adequate support system on campus, with 89.0% of students finding support systems in their friends.
average hours of sleep each night
average hours spent on social media by men
average hours spent on social media by women
At Andover, 27.8% of Juniors, 34.4% of Lowers, 49.8% of Uppers, and 63% of Seniors have engaged in sexual activity—defined as digital, oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Of those who have, 11.1% responded that they do not use barrier methods, and the most common number of sexual partners reported was one. 88% of responding students believe there is a hook-up culture at Andover, down from 91% percent last year. 45.9% of respondents reported that they have hooked up with someone they were not in a committed relationship with. Additionally, 77% of men feel comfortable telling their friends they masturbate, while only 33% of women feel the same way. 74% of respondents said that sexual education at Andover is adequate, up from 66% in 2018.
71% of students believe that the use of recreational drugs and alcohol is normalized at Andover, while 37.8% of students believe that recreational drug use significantly influences their friendships. 28.3% of respondents have consumed recreational drugs or alcohol on campus, and of those students, 45.6% do so primarily to relieve stress. According to State of the Academy from the past 5 years, marijuana use has risen from 32% to 37% of the student body having used marijuana.
When an Andover student has committed a major offense, they are called upon a Disciplinary Committee (D.C.). 6.5% of SOTA respondents have sat before a D.C. 46.2% believe that the D.C. system effectively disciplines students who are caught breaking school rules, although 80.2% believe that the discipline system favors students of privileged background. Out of all SOTA respondents, 41.9% have committed a major offense without being caught. 47.2% of respondents have had parietals (legal and/or illegal), and over 88% believe that parietal rules should be made more lenient.
Although 42.5% of respondents have considered leaving Andover permanently, 89.4% would still come to Andover in retrospect. 56.7% of respondents believed that political beliefs are a source of social divide, while 68.6% of respondents believed that race is a source of a social divide (respondents may overlap). This year, students were asked about their level of comfort within the classroom. When correlated by ethnicity, the Latinx community had the highest percentage of students who felt that their ethnicity significantly affected their level of comfort, at 64.8%, and white students reported the least percentage, at 12.1%.