<p>How do the UWCs (and the IB diploma) compare to the academics at a HADES school?</p>
<p>It depends from school to school - on one hand you could attend a school that teaches the IB terribly, and on the other hand you could attend a school that teaches it extremely well. It’s not the program itself that makes the IB difficult - one can pass the diploma and not be considerably intelligent. It’s how well one earns the diploma.</p>
<p>By the same token, I’m sure it’s possible to just scoot by at HADES schools, depending on your classes. So, in conclusion, I’d suppose that the answer to your question all depends on what school, what teachers, and how good you are as a student.</p>
<p>Vague? I guess so.</p>
<p>UWCs are effin awesome. Really.</p>
<p>What is UWC?</p>
<p>The United World Colleges (UWC) are a group of twelve international schools. Founded during the Cold War, the United World College movement aims to promote understanding between different nations through education and through interaction between young people from different countries, living and working together. UWC selects students from around the globe at a pre-university level, based on merit, regardless of their financial status and ethnic, religious or educational background making UWC scholarships highly competitive. The schools are very famous worldwide since they give the students the opportunity to develop a global and tolerant mind combined with strong academic skills. UWC graduates have access to a wide array of opportunities to further develop their intellectual interests at many universities and organisations worldwide.</p>
<p>The UWC international organisation is a British based foundation that comprises twelve colleges in Canada, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Swaziland, the United States, Venezuela and the United Kingdom, and, as of August 2006, newly opened eleventh and twelfth Colleges in Costa Rica and Bosnia and Herzegovina; National Committees in more than 130 countries; a network of more than 36,000 graduates from more than 181 countries[1], and an International Office in London. The United World Colleges usually accept students who are between 16 to 18 years old, with exception of the Colleges in Singapore and Swaziland, which also accept younger students. Each UWC typically comprises between 200 and 300 students from about 90 different countries.</p>
<p>I have one son who graduated from a UWC this May (United World College of the Atlantic) and one son who just finished him freshman year at Northfield Mount Hermon.</p>
<p>Both the UWC’s and HADES schools offer excellent academics and fantastic opportunities – so it really depends on the individual.</p>
<p>The UWC schools are only 2 years – and you take the same classes (3 higher level and 3 lower level classes) for both years. Sports are nothing more than minor extracurriculars – so if you are a sports person, the UWC’s are not for you. Students selected from the US are given a full scholarship for room and board plus tuition, regardless of how much income/savings their family has. College counseling is minimal at the UWC’s – and not necessarily focused on top US schools; since the population of the UWC is international, the college counselor (there is usually one for all the 100+ kids) has to work with colleges in all countries. The ivies and many top LAC’s do recruit from the UWC’s – and they send many kids to top, top schools (in the US and abroad). Some of the teachers are great – others are so-so. All graduates of an UWC school are given a need-based scholarship to over 90 US colleges that can be used to offset unmet need, including loans and work-study. Fantastic experiences are the big plus – meeting and interacting with students from other countries and traveling to places around the globe.</p>
<p>US boarding schools, particularly HADES schools, are well-known for excellence in education. Sports are a major offering. Cost is a factor – even students with significant aid may struggle to pay their share. college counseling is excellent and focused on US schools.</p>
<p>You have to decide what you want – both will give you an excellent experience, one more focused on the cream of the crop educational system in the US, the other a fantastic opportunity to become part of an exclusive international community of students.</p>
<p>The woman above me answered the questions with information pertaining to only one of the schools. I attended the school in USA and had an amazing experience. Two of the things she said, Sports and College Advisement are very opposite at the UWC-USA. </p>
<p>Our college advisor, Tim Smith, is considered by many college recruiters one of the best. We have over 120 universities visit the school and often more than a quarter of our students attend Ivies and many more are accepted with full scholarships to great schools. I personally received more than 450,000 worth of scholarships including two full rides. I believe that the school in Hong Kong also is well known for their advisement. From what I have been told UWC-AC or Wales is the worst.</p>
<p>As for sports, I can only really speak for UWC-USA but we have a soccer team that competes against New Mexican Colleges, an active wilderness program, a rock wall, two squash courts, a weight room, mountain bikes, a swimming pool, a absketball court, and three tennis courts. If you want to be active and competitive you can. We have many students who have also played on national teams for their respective sports and so the level of talent is immense.</p>
<p>Just thought I should clear it up.</p>
<p>i’m looking at applying to the uwc’s (with my top choice being AC) so i’m pretty curious about this. would you mind elaborating upon what you mean when you say there is minimal college counseling?</p>
<p>bump? i’m interested as well</p>
<p>I’m hsmomstef’s son, the one that just graduated from Atlantic College, so I’ll try answering your question on the college counseling.</p>
<p>College counseling at AC was done by one of the two Vice Principals, who arranged for recruiters from various universities to visit the college, advised students on what universities they might want to consider, whether or not universities they’re already considering are too much of a reach, etc. Now, seeing as there was only one person doing all of this for a few hundred students, it’s impressive that it worked at all. However, speaking from personal experience, it wasn’t too helpful. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an American, because I had already decided which universities I wanted to apply to or because I’m just cynical, but I didn’t find the process terribly helpful. Which isn’t to say other students didn’t find it helpful, but from what I noticed it did seem to be international students who found the advise and assistance useful, while several of the American second years I spoke with had the same reaction and thoughts as I did. So, I guess in the end it depends, like most things, on who you are, what your situation is, etc.</p>
<p>However, I would say that, generally, the pros of attending UWC far outweigh the con of slightly-less-than-satisfactory college counseling.</p>
<p>Justin</p>