Phillips Academy Andover and Groton School stand as two of the most prestigious and storied private high schools in Massachusetts, each boasting a rich history and a strong commitment to academic excellence. This article delves into a comparative analysis of these renowned institutions, exploring five key areas. By examining the similarities and differences between Groton School’s more intimate, community-focused approach and Phillips Academy’s larger, more diverse setting, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview that helps prospective students and parents understand what sets these schools apart in the landscape of elite secondary education.

Important Findings

• Faculty Information: Andover and Groton outshine the national average with excellent student-teacher ratios, and Groton’s 85% of faculty with advanced degrees is notable. Despite less clarity on Andover’s faculty qualifications, both schools are known for high educational standards and teaching quality. Both institutions also provide comprehensive college counseling from the 11th grade, underscoring their dedication to student academic and college preparation success.
• Academic Scores: Both schools are recognized for their strong academic achievements, as indicated by sources like Niche. While the SAT scores for Phillips Academy on Niche are unofficial, they still underscore the rigorous academic environment at both schools. Academically, each institution offers a wide range of challenging courses, many of which prepare students for Advanced Placement exams, including some courses not officially designated as AP.
• College Matriculation: Despite differences in class sizes and structures, Andover and Groton consistently send a considerable number of applicants to elite universities like the Ivies, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. Andover, with its larger senior classes, notably sees more admissions to these universities.
• Extracurricular Activities: Philips Academy Andover features a dynamic extracurricular environment, offering 67 teams across 21 sports and more than 125 clubs, including the esteemed “The Phillipian” newspaper and renowned ice hockey teams. Groton, despite its smaller size, presents a rich variety with 46 teams in 14 sports and over 50 clubs, effectively meeting diverse student interests.
• Tuition and Other Fees: Andover generally has higher tuition fees than Groton for both boarding and day options, with boarding tuition at Andover being $9,605 more and day tuition $7,230 higher. Groton stands out as the only top US boarding school with tuition under $60,000. The total estimated cost for four years of boarding at Andover is around $278,400, compared to Groton’s $239,980.

School Overview

Phillips Academy Andover: In its 1778 constitution, Phillips Academy is charged with ensuring its students learn “the great end and real business of living.” Inspired by this charge, they seek to cultivate in their students the capacities of analytical rigor, imaginative thought, and nuanced skepticism necessary to identify and attain an excellent and worthy end: human flourishing.

Groton School: Located in Groton, Massachusetts, Groton School was established in 1884. The school was originally established as a boys’ boarding school and later became coeducational in 1975. Groton School’s mission is to inspire lives of character, scholarship, leadership, and service within a diverse, inclusive, and close-knit community.

Basic Information

School Name	School Ranking (Niche)	Grade Offered	Total Students	Average Grade Size	Asian Student Percentage	Address
Phillips Academy Andover	#4	9-12	1154	289	26.2%	180 MAIN ST, ANDOVER, MA 01810
Groton School	#10	8-12	378	95	20.7%	282 FARMERS ROW, GROTON, MA 01450

Comparative Analysis of Five Key Areas

Faculty Information

	Average Class Size	Percentage of Faculty with Advanced Degrees	Student-Teacher Ratio	Faculty Details
Phillips AcademyAndover	13	–	7 : 1	232 teaching facuty, 35% faculty of color
Groton School	11	85%	4 : 1	95 faculty

Andover and Groton both excel in maintaining student-teacher ratios that are significantly lower than the national average of 18:1, ensuring more personalized and focused attention for each student. Groton, in particular, boasts that 85% of its instructors hold advanced degrees, highlighting the high level of expertise and education among its faculty. However, detailed information regarding the percentage of Andover’s faculty with advanced degrees is not publicly disclosed, making it challenging to compare this aspect directly with Groton. Despite this, both schools are renowned for their exceptional educational standards and the quality of their teaching staff.

While neither institution provided data on student-counselor ratios, both are known for offering valuable college counseling services.

• Andover: Counseling begins in the winter of the upper year (11th grade) and continues through the fall and winter of the senior year. Each student meets with one of the six college counselors individually to discuss his or her own academic profile and school search.

• Groton: Beginning in the winter of Fifth Form (11th grade), college counselors hold group information sessions, individual meetings with students and their parents, and parent presentations. During Sixth Form (12th grade), students continue with individual meetings and have the opportunity to talk with more than one hundred college representatives who visit Groton. In addition, families and students have access to the school’s computer-based college counseling program, which provides statistics, college searches, links to scholarships, and other information.

Academic Scores

	Average SAT	Average ACT	Total AP Exams	Students with Scores of 4/5
Phillips AcademyAndover	1480	33 English-34 Math-32 Reading-34 Science Reasoning-32	–	80%
Groton School	1490 (2023-2024)	33.5 (2023-2024)	2582 (2018-2022)	80%

Although Phillips Academy does not release official average SAT scores, preventing a direct academic score comparison with Groton School, the information available from sources such as Niche indicates robust academic achievements at both schools. It’s crucial to remember that the SAT scores for Phillips Academy on Niche serve merely as a reference and are not official figures. Nevertheless, this available data still reflects the strong academic ethos and performance characteristics of both institutions.

Regarding academics, both schools provide a challenging and diverse array of advanced courses to meet students’ needs, and many courses prepare students for Advanced Placement exams, including some not designated AP.

	Phillips Academy Andover	Groton School
Mathematics	– AP AB Calculus I, II, III – AP Accelerated AB Calculus – AP BC Calculus I, II, III – Multivariable Calculus – AP Statistics I: Data Analysis – AP Statistics II: Inference – Topics in Data Analysis and Applied Statistics	– AP Calculus AB – AP Calculus BC – AP Statistics – AP Computer Science – Data Structures and Advanced Programming – Multivariable Calculus
Science	– Topics in Advanced Biology – Cellular Biology – Organic Chemistry – Environmental Science: Global Climate Change – Calculus-Based Mechanics – Foundations of Modern Physics	– AP Chemistry – AP Biology – Environmental Science – Calculus-Based Physics Honors – Advanced Physics – Advanced Ecology
English	– Seminar in Literary Studies: Critical Theories of Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ability – Seminar in Literary Studies: Interactive Literature	– Women Writing about Women – Literature of Resistance and Resilience – Magical Realism
World Languages	– Advanced Topics in Chinese – Introduction to Chinese Literature – Ancient Greek: Homer and Classical Authors Fourth-Level Latin – Advanced Topics in French – Advanced Topics in German – Japanese 600 – Advanced Topics in Russian – Approaches to the Hispanic World (Spanish)	– Chinese 6: Advanced Readings – AP French Language – AP Spanish Language

While the list provided isn’t comprehensive, it’s evident that Andover offers a broader spectrum of courses, particularly in the Mathematics and World Language departments. For instance, in the realm of programming courses, both Andover and Groton provide options, but Andover’s curriculum spans a wider range, from introductory to advanced levels, as well as opportunities for independent research. Their offerings cover various programming languages, including Python, HTML, CSS, and Java. This extensive course selection can likely be attributed to Andover’s larger school size and more substantial faculty resources, allowing for a more diverse range of subjects and levels of study.

College Matriculation

Based on the information Andover’s school profile provides, in 2023, Andover had 338 graduates. As for Groton, the average grade size is around 95 students. Therefore, from 2019-2023, there are around 475 students graduate from Groton.

Matriculation Statistics for Phillips Adecemy Andover Class of 2023

Brown University	10
Columbia University	8
Cornell University	6
Dartmouth College	3
Duke University	2
Harvard University	12
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	7
Princeton University	3
Stanford University	11
University of California, Berkeley	2
University of California, Los Angeles	2
University of Chicago	21
University of Pennsylvania	7
Yale University	12

Matriculation Statistics for Groton School 2019-2023

Brown University	10
Carnegie Mellon University	5
Columbia University	10
Cornell University	7
Dartmouth College	8
Duke University	5
Harvard University	16
Northwestern University	8
Princeton University	12
Stanford University	13
University of Chicago	35
University of Pennsylvania	13
Yale University	17

While horizontal comparison between the two schools is not applicable due to different class sizes and year ranges, it is apparent that Ivy League institutions, as well as Stanford, and the University of Chicago, consistently draw a substantial pool of applicants for both schools. Specifically, Andover typically maintains larger senior class sizes, resulting in a greater number of successful admissions to these universities. Remarkably, students from Andover exhibit a pronounced preference for the University of Chicago and Yale, with 14 admitted students for both schools.

Extracurricular Activities

• Philips Academy Andover boasts a rich and diverse extracurricular landscape, with 67 interscholastic teams in 21 different sports and over 125 clubs throughout the school. It has the oldest high school newspaper called “The Phillipian” founded in 1857, where students can actively contribute as editors, digital editors, commentators, and more. Also, Andover’s ice hockey teams are very competitive with multiple players who have played in the National Hockey League (NHL). The boys’ ice hockey team is also a member of the New England Preparatory School Ice Hockey Association (NEPSIHA). Andover’s girls’ ice hockey team is also one of the earliest high school girls’ ice hockey teams in the United States. As a team competing at the top level in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), the girls’ ice hockey team made it to the Final Four in last year’s New England Elite 8 playoffs in the region.

• Groton has fewer diverse extracurricular activities due to its smaller school size, with 46 interscholastic teams or 14 sports, including field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, etc. What’s more, Groton holds more than 50 student clubs and organizations, including the Applicational CS Club, East Asian Student Alliance, International Community Advising Program (ICAP), etc.

Tuition and Other Fees

In general, Andover set higher tuition fees for both boarding and day options. For boarding tuition, Andover’s tuition is $9,605 higher than Groton’s, and for day tuition, Andover’s tuition is $7,230 higher than Groton’s. Based on information from Groton’s website, among the US top boarding schools, Groton is the only one whose tuition is less than $60,000. Additionally, if you choose to enroll your children at Andover from Grade 9 to Grade 12 for boarding, the estimated total cumulative tuition would be around $278,400. Similarly, opting for Groton for the same duration would result in a projected expenditure of approximately $239,980. It is worth noting that, the tuition data for both schools doesn’t include book expenses and incidentals (art & class supplies, bus vacation travel, etc.).

Furthermore, additional fees may include application fees, after-school program fees, or donations. When factoring in all of these fees and tuition, the total cost can approach nearly $300,000.

• Primary Data Source: Phillips Academy Andover Official Website, Groton School Official Website
• Secondary Data Source: Niche

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