Harrow school - lifestyle

[nokissymum]

Ds in in yr 5, we are very keen for him to go to harrow, however whenever we mention it people say " hmmmmm.....but there's a whole load of baggage with that!"

Infact I've heard it so much now we are sick of it. I am assuming they are referring to the cost of extracurricular activities, equipments and such.

I would be very keen to hear from if there MNERS here with dc at Harrow who could give us some more insight into the lifestyle that everyone is talking about. Thank you.

[OhCrumbsWhereNow]

I have a friend with a son there in Y9 - not from a boarding or public school attending kind of background. Kid is absolutely loving it and very, very happy. Was talking to parent the other day about pastoral issues with a different boarding school and they were saying how good their housemaster was on that front.

If you have any specific info you are after, send me a DM and I'll ask for you.

[MotherofAchilles]

Are there any mums with boys at Harrow?

We are looking at sending our son (provided all entrance exams are attained) and wanted some inside information about the school and it’s pastoral care. Thank you
M

[oxfordboy]

Harrow produced 50/150 with more than 10 A's at iGCSE. It got 22 into oxbridge, 2 into Harvard and many more into other very good universities. It has 89% A/A at iGCSE and 58% A*. It also withdrew from the league tables in 2012 so I don't know where you're getting your data from but Harrow is most certainly not academically average.

[Bonsoir]

My maternal grandfather and his brother went to Harrow - my grandfather was there from 1919-24, I think. They came from a professional family (their father was a Croydon GP) and went on to Cambridge, as did the vast majority of their contemporaries. My impression from my grandfather was that Harrow was not Eton at that time - Eton was for the stinking rich and for the aristocracy (and not always for the super bright - my cousins went there in the 1970s and they are not clever), Harrow was for the London professional hardworking sorts.

[FelicitywasSarca]

Harrow has not been 'weak' academically for some time now but reputations that are forged over hundreds of years are hard to shift...

In years gone by the boys were stinking rich, but dim. Good at rugby, rudeness and making very upper class fools of themselves after university.

Very little of this still holds true now. The only similarities are that a decent proportion will still be obscenely wealthy and there are still many macho, bizarre traditions- which are either endearing or hell on earth depending on your POV.

If you like the school you see now, send your son OP. Better that than sending your son to a school which has a great reputation from years gone by that is no longer sustained.

[2MuchT]

I was interested to see in the league table for the London Bborough of Harrow, that Harrow School itself came below a boy's day school which is pretty much next door to it and which has never had a great reputation - a teacher friend told me she left recently and had found it to be 'rough' with some of the children carrying knives - but apparently, academically speaking, better than Harrow!

[SerenityNOT]

I know a few Harrow boys who are ok, some very sporty, some academic...if you want to send your son there go for it - why not? Don't have regrets about not trying like a friend of mine who wanted to apply for a place at Eton and simply didn't send the forms in. Such a shame - her OH was left rather displeased!

[RillaBlythe]

Loved fhe cricket joke. What other school stereotypes are there

[happygardening]

I've just looked 93%+ got A-B at A level so I don't think it is still a school for Tim nice but dim!

[happygardening]

I'd definitely put Milton Abbey into that category and probably Shiplake!!

[happygardening]

I'm not a lover of Harrow but as far as I can see its results in the last few years don't indicate it's a school for the not very bright who struggle.

[ontheedgeofwhatever]

I've just come across this thread.

Oddly enough I joked to my dad yesterday that DS would go to either Harrow or Eton (no such hope given the fees ) and he immediately said "please God not Harrow". when I asked him why he said that it was because when he was at prep it was known as the school for not very bright boys who struggled - that was in the 1950s!

Interesting to find this and see little appears to have changed

[Elibean]

I met a Y7 (about to be) Harrow boy this summer - son of a friend - he is bright, quirky, not particularly macho, moderately sporty, and very funny. No idea if he's the norm, but his parents seemed happy with what lies ahead (even though their other son, who is older, didn't choose Harrow).

[happygardening]

Harrow is often seen as the fall back for those who don't make it into Eton but as I understand there are more applicants for each place at Harrow than Eton getting a place having been turned down by Eton is not a given. Friends DS's who did it were strongly advised not to mention Eton at any stage in the admissions process!!!!

[Peppin]

Sorry, obviously meant "kid at Harrow"

[Peppin]

I don't know anyone currently with lid at Harrow but have a good friend who is an old Harrovian and although you can tell he went to public school, he absolutely is not "posh" and is one of the nicest and most unassuming people you could ever meet. He enjoyed Harrow but always refers to it as "a school for thickos". Could that be what people mean by "baggage"? As my friend is now a Consultant (doctor), I'm not sure how "thick" you could really say he is (!) but perhaps this is something along lines of "didn't make it to Eton so went to Harrow"?

[reshetima]

I don't know the school, but this reminded me of a very touching documentary about a scholarship which places bright children at the school. It certainly gives some insight into the school's atmosphere.

I think this is the one I'm remembering: www.channel4.com/programmes/too-poor-for-posh-school/4od/. You might be able to find it on YouTube.

[iamamum]

We are at the pre testing stage only, so limited contact really. Two visits have convinced me that full boarding would be quite ok. I like that it is close to London for convenience, yet still has a village atmosphere. Staff we have had significant chats with seemed outstandingly bright yet very capable of offering good pastoral care. Their speciality is boys after all!

[Rocky12]

My DS has tons of friends who go to Harrow although he is somewhere else (even better IMHO!) I have listed the in's and outs in my view and I hope they are useful:

1. You have to be accepting of FULL boarding, no coming home at weekends
   
2. You have to like the uniform. It is very quirky
   
3. You are on the outskirts of London. The boys grow up very quickly, far more so I believe that some schools in the countryside
   
4. There are people your son will rub shoulders with who have pots and pots of money
   
5. It is a very macho male environment
   
6. There will be some very very clever boys there (often Asian) who have been tutored to death and are often lacking in social skills
   
7. It is a bugger to get to and is spread on all over Harrow On the Hill

[Colleger]

FWIW every Harrovian my OH knows is very sllippery and devious. The Etonians are charming, discrete and very hard-working and the Wykehamists are the same but a bit wet!

[carltonscroop]

Well, I started a thread about looking at Eton, and there's another one going that compares the two.

I'm not going to apply to Harrow for DS. Despite liking the school more than I'd expected, I just can't get past how peculiar I've found all Harrovians I've known. This is of course largely amongst men my age, so could easily be out of date, and is totally subjective.

But there are so many good schools, it seems pointless to move towards one if it feels wrong (even for a flimsy reason).

[qumquat]

While working at a university with quite a few old Harrovians I have to say I found them particularly arrogant when compared to other ex-public schoolers, but I gues that belief you can conquer the world is part of what you pay for. Hopefully a few years on they'd realised they weren't all that!

[Colleger]

The old Harrovian's I know are rude, arrogant $#*¥ but with few great options I would still send DS there if he didn't get into Eton. I think the staff are amazing and the social network is very tight so an old Harrovian will look after boys just leaving. There are aspects of Harrow that I prefer to Eton but there is no getting away from the ghastly location. Although not as academically selective it is more over subscribed than Eton.

I suspect you would get a similar reaction if you were looking at Eton!

[grovel]

You must know the old stereotype. An Etonian, A Wykhamist and a Harrovian are watching a cricket match. A woman comes to talk to them. The Etonian offers her a chair, the Wykhamist goes to get one for her and the Harrovian sits in it.

[propatria]

Had a chat with someone who has two boys at Harrow,they said the extra curric costs were no more than at any other school.
Could this baggage be something as simple as the little green eyed monster,what schools are the children aiming for that have parents talking about baggage?,it could be that they simply cant get into Harrow be that for monetary or intellectual reasons,take no notice of them
Youve been to Harrow youve met the products,go with your instinct not tittle tattle.
Good luck.