<p>It’s quite strange that we have a very different focus in academics here, instead of people being sorted into ‘no hope’ classes, we have a very strong focus on providing classes for those at the lower end of academics, and very good classes for those in the middle. Unfortunetly those at the top are just lumped in with the middle classes and given no way to excel. This even reflects in our tests, as grades have become easier to get, most people are at the top end. As a relatively high achiever, I would be surprised if I didn’t get straight (12) A*s at GCSE; there’s just nothing to reach for.</p>
<p>@CherryRose Where have you studied in Europe? It sounds like the essays you wrote were very interesting :)</p>
<p>@UKgirl23: Unfortunately, not yet in the UK. But you never know… As for the essays, I have not got the courage so far to re-read them. I sure hope they were, though.</p>
<p>Okay, I’m going to provide some perspective on junior and senior years in public schools in weavingtrial’s country.</p>
<p>Typically, teachers set exams that are so difficult that sometimes only 2% get A grades. It’s actually kind of demoralizing but it’s how the schools operate. They make students feel absolutely horrible about themselves (“Oh I didn’t study enough”, “Oh I’m not as good as …”, etc) and then use that to make students study harder. </p>
<p>People get really competitive during junior and senior years so the school environment is kind of tense.</p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying, 082349, but really? From what I’ve heard from my relatives (teehee I go to an int’l school and grew up in America, I feel lucky :P), these people are competitive starting from PRESCHOOL. Like, literally, it takes a LOT of work to get into a good kindergarten, and it just gets harder and harder. They call these “good” schools “zhong dian” schools, and if you start out in one, you’re more likely to end up in one at the next level. After kindergarten, you go through a short application process for elementary school. 5 more years, a more complicated and competitive one to get into a good middle school. Then the “zhong kao” or middle test to get into a good “zhong dian” high school, which essentially decides the rest of the kids’ futures, then after 3 years there, is the “gao kao” or higher level test to get into a college. These tests are insanely important - they are on the news every year, streets are cleared to make way for the students to get to the testing sites more easily… it’s a REALLY big deal.</p>
<p>And another thing I find really strange with this system - the universities do not consider ANYTHING /but/ the test score when accepting students. It’s basically above a certain score, can go to a certain tier of universities. No recommendations, no application essays, no extracurriculars, nothing considered but the test score, except for I THINK if you do a national exam for an instrument, language, or whatever (even ballet has them… I almost took the level one exam when I was 8 :P) then you get a certain amount of bonus points added to your higher level test score. So basically, in China, the primary/middle/high school education might in a way, actually work for getting people into good colleges, since you don’t need to be well-rounded at all, just academic and good at testing. Then again, you’ll swim/sink once you enter the real world.</p>
<p>@aaralyn Well, although you got the country wrong, the concept is still roughly the same except that its not to that extent of competiveness in Singapore. Parents do tons of volunteer work at prestigious primary school just so that their kids can have an advantage at entering them. Then they start with all the tuition (which is a waste of money at that age in my opinion) so that their PSLE score is good enough to go to a good secondary school where they work hard a gain to get to a good subject combination where they cram like crazy for their GCE Os for a good score to get into a top JC. Over there, they study like mad people again to get good GCE As and then they move on to Uni. And when they come out of uni, most of them really have no idea what they want to do.</p>
<p>@082349
Yeah, which is most of the population. Almost all the people I know have no intention at all to go abroad for studies. Probably they are afraid of leaving the comfort of their homes and wander into unchartered territory.</p>
<p>I totally get what you guys are saying about the education situation in Singapore - I’ve encountered my fair share of parents who are desperate to elevate their children’s academic status. Many are not comfortable with leaving their children to their own devices, and insist on hiring a whole plethora of tutors for their children - throwing away good money for a sense of security that they (collective parent + child, not just the child) have that tiny sliver of hope. The entire tutor business is extremely commercialized, and many even provide pretty hilarious courses that promise to get your kid into XX TOP SCHOOL or XX PROGRAM. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the situation in Singapore, though similar to that in China, is hardly any worse/better. They both produce kids who grow white hair (from stress) before turning fifteen, and are frankly too exam-centered for productive learning to actually take place, and too stifling for most to try new things. I’ve friends who would rather take the easy way out, or practice academic dishonesty, because they know it will raise their grades, it will give them that sense of security. I can’t say this for China, but in Singapore, education is definitively a game of pride for PARENTS. It’s often " I want you to go to XX school, this is the best for you (and children’s wshes may be overridden). " </p>
<p>Honestly, I believe in “no kid left behind”. In Singapore, I can’t help but feel that once one slips up a little at the national examination after elementary school, it’s a downward spiral / it’s hard to recover from there. It’s dooming, and I’ve heard of people who want so desperately to attempt to achieve after doing not-so-well, but don’t have the guidance (from teachers), or the support (from classmates / school) to. Why do we have to push people so hard, and leave the weaker ones to struggle even harder under the care of teachers, most of which are jaded and have given up, and the remaining of which are flailing newbies (note: the teachers for good/weaker students are at both ends of the spectrum).</p>
<p>I know this is all off topic from elite boarding schools in Asia, but to all these exam-centered competition, I can only say “why?”</p>
Actually the only system that I’ve heard of that places so much emphasis on anything other than test scores is the US. In the UK, it’s really most AS grades with A2 predictions.</p>
<p>But that’s why it is so problematic when those families move here and expect the same system to be true of top American universities. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hosted an informational meeting and been asked if MIT turns down students with perfect scores (to which I reply - “Yes, all the time”). At which point the parents look at me (I’m usually the only URM in the room) and grumble about quotas and Affirmative Action. I feel sorry for those students because they’ve been prepped for the system they left at home and it leaves them wholly unprepared for the new reality which is that Admissions across the country is more holistic than that. Hence every time I see some lawsuit saying there is a quota on Asian students and that they got left behind for someone with lower scores I want to scream “Then why don’t you find out what attributes made the other Asian student’s applications more attractive than yours - many of whom also scored lower.” </p>
<p>Case in point, years ago I had a stunning applicant who was not perfect, admitted she hated a specific science discipline, admitted it, went to a summer program at Harvard, still hated it, and wrote a poem about it (which I submitted with my report because it was hilarious). She’d also been a drum majorette and compared her experience to trying to herding cattle. And she was Asian. Her scores were not perfect but she was incredibly interesting and vibrant. The Admissions Office agreed and she was admitted. I had another student that year who saw admissions as an entitlement, had done all the “right” things to fill his resume, had straight A’s, perfect test scores, played an instrument and demonstrated a passion about absolutely nothing. His parents believed his admissions decision was hurt by “Affirmative Action” or a quota. I tried to explain, politely, that Admissions is looking at a number of factors with diversity being the least of them initially. Leadership, passion, even eclectic interests make an applicant stand out. Perfect grades and scores just makes them “one of thousands.”</p>
<p>Maybe they needed less Tiger Mom and more American Mom so they’d stand a fighting chance to be noticed in a crowd. The most successful candidates are those that are busy enjoying and exploring life instead of thinking about how to “stack up resume points” for elite colleges. My interviews with those students tend to go longer because they’re just so darn interesting to talk to.</p>
<p>Grades/test scores are not the only predictors of academic, political, scientific, artistic or social success.</p>
<p>In Asia, there are schools in which test scores are virtually the only admissions criteria. We also saw extreme emphasis on civil service exams in ancient China. The thing is, that approach has limits(which is one reason China lost its war with Britain).</p>
<p>In the case of US prep schools:a lot of what they want is high levels of admissions to elite schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton. They need to anticipate who can get into those schools-and who it is that will actually bring recognition(and funding) to their own school. For example: Harvard admits a few students each year to write for the Harvard Lampoon. They may not be remarkable students-but they are <em>funny</em>. Princeton takes their interview process VERY seriously.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I personally think there <em>is</em> a niche for some elite, cost-effective international schools in Asia. The costs of good personnel and what not are a fraction what we have in the US. We see this on a graduate level with Duke National University of Singapore. It would really make sense to get say Exeter, SPS or Lawrenceville involved in something similar at the prep school level. There is clearly enormous demand for this style of education from Asian students and western Expatriates-and there is simply no reason this product couldn’t be delivered-and the costs might well be substantially less than the US equivalent.</p>
<p>There are VERY good international schools(Brent in Manila strikes me as one)-but they aren’t the same as a residential experience with the mix of athletics and extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>I am sorry to not understand but do you really think boarding bchools can predict the HYPS admission success of a 12 or 13 year old applicant? And how would these future HYPS admissions bring funding to said boarding schools?</p>
<p>I don’t think that you can accurately predict the HYPS admission of individual students(Though if the last name is Bush from the right family and they can read, it is a pretty good bet they’ll get HYPS acceptance). However, there is a statistical correlation here-and if these schools haven’t hired a competent statistician, one could easily do this estimate for a <em>group</em> of students. This type of thing is done all the time in other areas. </p>
<p>HYPS admission are enormous career boosters-which means wealthier alumni potential donors. Also, VERY rich folks will pay enormously for the “right” peer group for their less talented kids–which makes a lot of sense in terms of wealth preservation. A peer group really can influence kids-and what those folks are doing really does have a logic to it.</p>
<p>Now, I don’t know if AO take this into consideration, but I’d be hesitant to take a kids from a billionaire family if there was no visible record of public service-and one visible sort would be donations to schools that service that community.</p>
<p>The “private” institutions in the UK/US were backed often by folks that had both wealth and a strong role in government-so the line is sometimes a little blurry.</p>
<p>Somehow settting up truly great educational institutions strikes me as a better long term investment than huge piles of foreign currency past some point.</p>
<p>There is also a lot to Asia besides China. Greatness doesn’t have to be limited to big countries. I think Singapore is doing something VERY interesting with their institutions-and how they back education for their citizens.</p>
<p>"… how [Singapore] they back education for their citizens"- 98671highlander</p>
<p>Now this, I have to agree with. Everything in Singapore is so incredibly RUN by their government- everything. For example, the car prices there are very high so people there will take public transportation, which in turn reduces parking space/need for more roads, highways (land is precious in that tiny country). Even most of the “HDB” housing is government controlled. Although there are very obviously flaws in its educational system, its government ensures that it is much more internationalized, in edu. opportunities and curriculum, than (IMO) anywhere else in Asia. It’s all like a oiled machine that runs smoothly.</p>
<p>@blehjoints; What you said about "I can’t say this for China, but in Singapore, education is definitively a game of pride for PARENTS. It’s often " I want you to go to XX school, this is the best for you (and children’s wshes may be overridden). “” ← I completely agree with this. This weekend I was sitting in piano/singing class and was trying to get her to help me improve songs I’d already been working on instead of new songs, and she asked “But don’t you want to learn new songs?” and I replied “Well my dad wants me to do those,” and her reply brought me to a revelation… “So whatever he says goes, huh.” This struck a chord in me, because it made me realize just how much of my life is controlled by my parents, even in something as simple as which songs to learn. I’m only a freshman in high school and my parents have already planned out my life. Apparently, I will attend Yale for law or Harvard for business/finance, then either become a successful lawyer or business woman. I suggested Cornell for veterinarian medicine once, it is something I actually WANT to do, but no - shot down immediately. I tried to bring up the topic of liberal arts colleges, which at a guest speaking at my school today I learned actually has a high correlation to having a job (resilience to unemployment, in other words) and in the long run is safer for ANY career. But no, I have to go to the Ivies, no choice. This is how generation after generation of Chinese children have been raised and this is exactly why the insane sense of competition exists here in China. It really really sucks. :D</p>
<p>@98671highlander; “There are VERY good international schools(Brent in Manila strikes me as one)-but they aren’t the same as a residential experience with the mix of athletics and extracurricular activities.” Gosh, Brent is INSANE. My school is in league with them for APAC sports and such, and wow. If I remember correctly, they were the champions of APAC basketball and volleyball and their dance team is incredibly good too. </p>
<p>@CherryRose; Wow I’m glad the machine runs smoothly. Imagine what would happen if those incentives didn’t work with each other… xD</p>
As for the essays, I have not got the courage so far to re-read them. I sure hope they were, though.</p>
I’m a ■■■■■■.</p>