International Boarding Schools in Switzerland

Prep School Admissions
1

Hello,

I am an American student considering transferring to a boarding school in Switzerland.

I am considering Institut Auf Dem Rosenberg, Le Rosey, and Leysin American School. I am open to hearing about other options as well.

Can anyone tell me about the admissions process (considering that, although my family can pay full tuition for all of these schools, I do not have alumni connections) and provide more information about the academic program, college admissions, faculty, and student culture?

I would also love to hear more about the experience as an American student abroad (cultural and logistical).

I appreciate your time!

2

From a post several months ago:

You will not find that at a swiss boarding school.

But the main question would be, what would a Swiss school provide that an American school could not?

3

Priorities change quickly :wink: .

One obvious thing a Swiss boarding school offers is plenty of distance.

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4

Better chocolate?

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5

Yes. It is mostly at my parents’ encouragement. I hope I’ll be able to improve my French and German, and I enjoy skiing which I will find at Swiss schools. I also appreciate the multiculturalism. Are any schools a particularly good fit with this in mind?

6

Switzerland is like Belgium or Canada, in that there are many official languages, but relatively few people are proficient in more than one of them. While a good chunk of the population is multilingual, the second language is invariably English. From my extensive time spent in Ticino, German and French are pretty useless; it’s Italian or English. Similarly, it’s French in the French speaking cantons and German in the German speaking ones. Or English

Be aware that some schools, like Le Rosey, are pretty much in a bubble; there is limited interaction with the locals. Your most extensive use of French)German will be in the classroom.

I’m not sure 140K/year to improve your skiing is the best use of money.

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Thank you! How would you describe the student culture, faculty, and course load at these schools? Are American students well-represented? How does the college admissions program compare to that of schools in the U.S.?

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I’m really not familiar with Rosenberg, and have no recent experience with the faculty at the other two. For Leysin, the academics are IBDP. Le Rosey is either IBDP or the French Bac, so the academics are strong. Le Rosey caps Americans (and almost all nationalities) at 10%, so there will be geographic diversity. But make no mistake, these kids are all from super rich families. Their free weekends are spent jetting off to Paris and London.

College matriculation depends on you. No US uni admits boarding schools. They make their decisions based on what the student has to offer.

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9

I believe there is a CC member currently attending a BS in Switzerland…you may have luck searching for previous conversations about Swiss schools. I am familiar only with TASIS as I spent a few years in Lugano. Friends who attended love it, but my knowledge is quite dated now.

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10

If you just want to get a taste of Switzerland (rather than commit to having your full high school education there), a great option is Swiss Semester in Zermatt.

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11

For roughly $140k you could live in Vail for 3 months, get a season pass, and a full-day private instructor every single day. If you eat at Nobu every night you’d need to up the budget.

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12

I lived in Switzerland for two years but have no direct experience with the schools you’re considering. My children went to the International School of Geneva, which no longer offers boarding. But I’ve read a lot about Le Rosey, and it certainly offers rewards beyond skiing. (Not that the skiing is bad – the whole school relocates to Gstaad for the winter.) The global community of alums, the anciens Roséens, is said to be a lifelong resource. As noted, you won’t encounter American-style racial or ethnic diversity, but you’ll meet a highly international cohort of the scions of the superrich. If your family has the means, it’s a hard opportunity to turn away, if you ask me.

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13

Was about to suggest TASIS. Lugano is a neat place.

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As I said above, I have a lot of experience and love for Ticino and its people. And TASIS is a relative bargain at $95K/year.

But I don’t think the OP has adequately expressed a valid reason for a Swiss school. Because it won’t be diverse, certainly from a SES PoV. Not will it be diverse from a racial PoV; with the exception of some children of crazy rich Asians, it’s whiter than a loaf of Wonder Bread. It won’t improve college admissions decisions. It won’t improve their French or German outside the classroom. It won’t have superior academics. It might improve their skiing, but so would Holderness and others in the US.

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