Eton College 2028 Entry

[Calculusa]

Hello,
Does anyone know when we will be making our House choices for the 2028 entry?
Thank you!

Last year, we were contacted in the third week of September to start the process so if you haven't already heard, it shoudl happen soon but maybe worth a polite chaser (/check your spam?) if you haven't yet. You can nominate one house to look at, they will then pick the other two. If the process and timing is the same as last year, you'll then find out which houses you're going to look at in mid October. House visits/ interviews then take place between Nov & Feb. You can then file a preference form and the house masters do the same. If you have a match, then you'll find out your allocation in March (we found out mid-March). If you don't have a match, then there's a further process but I'm not sure how it works.

Have faith in the school and the process - they have done this many times before and all the feedback I've heard is that its rare for parents and boys to be unhappy with the house choice. The HMs are apparently very good at picking boys that they think will get along.

Thank you very much for explaining the process and sharing your experience. That’s really helpful and reassuring.

We haven’t heard anything yet, so hopefully we’ll hear from the school soon.

It’s good to know that the process is well established and that the HMs take the boys personalities and friendships into account.

May I ask what criteria you took into account when deciding which house to choose?

I was pretty brutal and went through discounting any HMs that I thought wouldn't suit DS (i wanted someone really kind - DS is a gentle boy but needs someone that believes in him 100%). I also was looking for HMs that had some experiences outside the boarding school bubble - i was put off by ones that had boarded since age 8 and then only worked in boarding schools. I also discounted ones who'd been in the role for >9 years as they would be leaving very early on in DS's time there (I think they do max 12-13 years).

In the end, however, I didn't warm to the HM that we'd selected, and was a bit put off by his Dame who was very dismissive of my questions/concerns. We found one of the HMs we saw a bit meh - nice, but not enough va va voom to give DS the encouragement he needs). But we loved the other one we saw (and loved the house and adored the dame). I tried not to stress about it, but totally stressed about for months, obsessively!!!

It should go out this weekend as it's short leave, it usually goes out then.

Also the usual reminder that choosing a housemaster off the list doesn't choose that house - it does nothing more than guarantee you have an interview, and informs which other two houses you are given as they want to give a contrast eg. if you choose a Bekynton house they usually give you at least one other catering house to compare. You also don't have to choose a housemaster to interview with, you can ask for a random selection of three. Also, don't get hung up on eg. a house being close to the playing fields, as pretty much every house has its pros and cons (if you're near one set of playing fields you'll be far away from another set, and your DS will probably be playing on all of them at some point in his Eton career!)

Generally the best reason to pre-nom a house is if you have a connection with it already and want to make sure you at least get a chance to interview there, and then go in with an open mind like @ArtHistory.

It sounds like you put a lot of thought into the decision, and I can imagine how stressful it must have been, especially when you didn’t immediately warm to the HM you had originally selected. It’s reassuring that you eventually found a house and a Dame that you really loved.

To be honest, I don’t even have an idea of what questions I should be asking to the HM and dame.

Thank you very much. I think I’m probably overthinking the house choices a little. This has been really helpful.

I got the email today and need to list four houses within one week. I feel the time is quite tight, so I’d really appreciate any advice or information about the houses and what to consider when choosing them.

Thats a new process then, as we could only select one house.

I've been told that the most important thing is how your DS clicks with the housemaster. You can only get so much from the profiles, but have a read and see if any of them jump out (either for good or bad). e.g some of them sound like they really value sport (esp rowing) so that may not be ideal for your son if he's not into sport.

You shouldn't get too hung up on eat in v Bekynton but probably worth looking at one of each.

Although you can't read too much into a single paragraph, you may as well judge them on smaller things. e.g. I looked for humour in their statements as that's the sort of personality I think suits my DS (don't take life too seriously). I also like people who mention dogs or their family or who described their dame in warm terms .

I know its easy to say, but don't worry too much - everyone seems to end up in the "right" place somehow.

Yes that's a new process for this year! I wonder if they did that because too many parents thought that pre-nominating one housemaster meant that they were guaranteed a space in that house rather than just an interview. No advice from me then apart from trust the process, and go in with an open mind.

Also remember that housemasters and dames also change/retire/get promoted even outside their term, so no matter what happens at this point, you may lose your HM or dame at some unexpected point and then will just have to trust the process of replacement.

Ask them about what’s important to you. Try to be balanced though - don’t just dwell on ”what if” crisis/risk/safeguarding stuff.

If they (I mean HMs and dames here) are new/ish to the role ask what changes they would like to make/have made to the house (physically and in the way it is run). Ask how often they speak to each boy individually, and what kind of boy they especially enjoy helping. How do they think the boys would describe them? Ask how they support quieter boys, and those who aren’t picked for sports teams, and how they handle friendship issues, any signs of bullying and homesickness. You should ask HMs what in the house makes them really happy and really cross - this is very telling. Ask them about the cadence of their communication with parents and what form that takes. If photos are important to you ask them about that. Ask how they feel about parents taking boys out for dinner on Saturday nights. How often does the house organise socials with girls schools? When are they next due to do a house play? How long has the house chef been there? Who chooses what food is served?

Thank you very much. This is incredibly helpful and gives me a much clearer idea of what to ask. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your advice with me.