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Skipped a grade at Andover
From Korea to East LA
He had arrived from South Korea at nine, speaking no English, and ended up bused to a junior high in Boyle Heights, in East LA, that was about 98 percent Hispanic. A mini magnet program for gifted children was housed there. Someone at his elementary school told him to take the test, and even without the language, the IQ test placed him in the program.
Skipping a grade
Andover came recruiting to that program and picked one student a year. In his year he was rejected for being too immature, which ticked him off. He applied again the next year and got in, starting in ninth grade. Determined to get back to his regular year, he went from ninth grade to 11th, took the advanced math classes, and graduated in three years, which had never been done before.
Choosing Andover
He applied to no other boarding school and didn't know Exeter existed. John F. Kennedy Jr. and the Bushes had gone to Andover, so it seemed pretty good. Andover is now an investor in his funds, and the story sounds so unlikely that people ask whether it really happened.
How did Boyle Heights get a gifted magnet program?
Los Angeles created magnet programs in the 1970s as part of court-ordered desegregation efforts. They placed specialized programs in schools in lower-income neighborhoods to attract students from across the district. Gifted magnets drew students by testing, and the programs recruited children whose families had no previous connection to elite education. Boyle Heights sits just east of downtown Los Angeles.
Why is Andover called Phillips Academy?
Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, was founded in 1778 by Samuel Phillips Jr. and his family. Phillips Exeter Academy followed in 1781, founded by his uncle John Phillips. The two schools have a long rivalry and are often compared as sister institutions. Both are among the oldest boarding schools in the United States.
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