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Original poster

Eton College

88 replies

chimera1 · 13/05/2014 13:32

Has anyone got any information on college

OP posts:
grovel · 13/05/2014 14:13

What kind of information? And do you mean Eton (the school) or College (the house reserved for scholars)?

IndridCold · 13/05/2014 15:09

grovel according to another thread OP's DS has just been awarded a KS Confused.

chimera1 there are several Eton parents who may be able to help you, but you will need to ask a more specific question than this.

grovel · 13/05/2014 15:25

Good grief.

Original poster
chimera1 · 15/05/2014 09:36

Why choose Eton College as a boarding house as opposed to any other house?

OP posts:
scaevola · 15/05/2014 09:45

As you have been offered a KS, the school will be happy to talk to you for as long as you need to be sure of what you are doing and which house your DS would suit best.

I'm I sure you can compare to "any" other house. Did your DS have a conditional offer before sitting for KS? What was important to you when choosing a house?

Original poster
chimera1 · 15/05/2014 11:05

My son was initially given a B place, then last year promoted to a A place, but he was not assigned to a house, we were told that after the KS exams he would be offered a place when one becomes free, hence all the questions regarding college.

OP posts:
Farahilda · 15/05/2014 11:56

I'm confused.

If he had a conditional offer, that would be immediately followed by assignment to a house. And, as you will know from when you filled in the entry form for the KS, that place would be relinquished on winning a scholarship and thus a place in College.

Or has he simply secured an ordinary place via KS exam (rather than CE)?

Original poster
chimera1 · 15/05/2014 16:27

A B place means you are on the waiting list, an A place means you have entry to Eton but you may not have been offered a place. If you win a KS you are automatically offered a place in college. Our dilemma is we know very little about college, apart from the 70 KS live there.

OP posts:
IndridCold · 15/05/2014 18:57

Why choose Eton College as a boarding house as opposed to any other house?

You tell us! When you sit for the Kings Scholarship then you are, in effect, choosing College as your house (assuming you are successful).

As peteneras pointed out in your other thread, there really is not a lot to choose between them, no house will be 100% perfect, but boys become attached to their house, and the other boys in it, very quickly.

Most of the Oppidan house places will have been filled two years ago, so I would imagine that you will only have a very limited choice of house at this point, and obviously your son will not be a KS. (although they might make him as OS).

You should speak to Admissions if you are not sure College is right for your son.

Original poster
chimera1 · 15/05/2014 21:23

Thank you all for your help. We have been invited by the Master in college to tour the house and spend a morning with the boys.

OP posts:
Dapplegrey · 16/05/2014 07:42

Chimera - did you not do any research into this before your ds sat the scholarship? Congrats to your ds by the way.

Michaelahpurple · 16/05/2014 13:08

I hear College has the best food and is helpfully central

Original poster
chimera1 · 16/05/2014 17:26

My son and I are both new to Eton. I did not think he would win a place at college. Reading around the NET can only give you a limited amount of real life experience of what it is like to live in College. My concerns are, my son will be there for five years and so he will need to fit in with the other boys, and what can we do if college is not the right place for him. My belief, is a boy who is bright will do well in any of the boarding house. Therefore what benefits do boys who resides in college get? if any and is that an important deciding factor?

OP posts:
meditrina · 16/05/2014 17:40

10% off the fees is a clincher for many.

The biggest factor is what the other boys are like, and that is one you an neither predict nor control and is the same risk whether College or Oppidan.

ancientbuchanan · 16/05/2014 17:55

Wow, congrats to your DS. Clever him.

It's pretty unusual to turn down College, IME, and it's one of the houses where they are used to people having no background in Eton, so in many ways it's actually easier to fit in rather than one where some people had had family there for generations or where there is a strong school connection. It can be, r was, more socially mixed, therefore. The young men I've known from there and from the Winchester equivalent are delightful, intellectually first rate, sometimes as tedious as any other teenager, but prob more used to their intellectual and social assumptions being challenged than might be usual.

He would find a lot if intellectual challenge, but that doesn't mean that he is surrounded by just geeks, quite a few used to get into Pop. Lots of different talents. Masses of opportunities too.

IndridCold · 16/05/2014 18:26

chimera1 There is no reason why it should be harder to settle into College than any of the other houses. The school manages to be quite 'male' and competitive, but nurturing at the same time. My son has really grown in confidence in the two years he has been there. All boys make friends all over the place, not only in their houses. For example in tutor groups, lessons, sports team, clubs and societies, music ensembles. The school keeps boys busy nearly all the time and pastoral care is excellent, they not only have the masters looking out for them, but older boys in their house too. Your son will be fine, and the five years will be gone before you know it!

I can understand why you might be feeling a bit apprehensive right now, but I am sure that you and your son will have your minds out at rest once you have had a chance to visit College and meet the boys and the Master.

summerends · 16/05/2014 20:28

I can echo what the others have said in that my DS's friends who went to College were pretty normal and kind. The boys there might be a bit more competitive and there will be some that socially might be less comfortable but otherwise they will mainly enjoy the same things as most boys.

Original poster
chimera1 · 16/05/2014 22:03

Thank you all for you words of wisdom, I will report back when we have had the tour of college.

OP posts:
4happyhours · 10/06/2014 10:42

Depends v much on what experience you want for your DS. College is slightly more removed, bigger, elite. Oppidans houses have a wider range of abilities (all bright enough, and still competition at the top end). There is more integration between houses outside of college as colleges can be perceived as a bit quirky ... That can be good or bad! Some boys would only cope in college as they are SO quirky. I guess it depends on what Opp house you're offered. We narrowed our Opp choice down to seven houses we'd be really really happy with ...

violetsareblue11 · 12/08/2014 23:17

I'm late in saying this, but DS1 has just finished his first year at Eton College and is in an Oppidan house. However, one of his close friends is a Kings Scholar and so stays in the College. He says the College is a lovely house, and has "easily the tastiest food" and a lovely matron, and is conveniently close to a lot of the classrooms. The boy himself also seems to be a lovel boy, very bright. Congratulations to your DS on getting a scholarship at Eton, it really is a wonderful school and DS1 adores it!

IndridCold · 13/08/2014 13:34

chimera1 how did your tour go and what did you decide in the end?

Original poster
chimera1 · 20/08/2014 19:24

IndridCold: The parents of the Scholars were all invited for lunch at College. This gave us the opportunity for the parents and the boys to meet each other. The lunch was very formal, the other parents were very open and welcoming. All the boys seems to be enjoying their time in the lime light and my son left feeling relief that all the other boys were just like him. He is now excited and can't wait to start school. Yesterday we bought his chair, lamp etc in readiness for the 3rd Sep. Thank you all for your time and advise.

OP posts:
IndridCold · 20/08/2014 19:42

I'm really pleased to hear that chimera 1 Smile.

Well done again to your son (and you!) I'm sure he will have an amazing time. The time passes very quickly...

peteneras · 21/08/2014 11:57

“The lunch was very formal, the other parents were very open and welcoming.”

OP, meals at College Hall are always formal - candle light, silver cutlery, chefs, butlers, etc. You now have the honour to say you have something in common with many great and famous men and women from the present going right back to medieval times including Elizabeth I who had dined there. Soon your son will be doing it everyday for the next five years! Many congratulations to the both of you! And welcome to College.

I’ve had many interesting chats with other KS parents and I hasten to add with many more Oppidan parents too simply because they outstrip KS parents by a ratio of almost 19:1. You’ll find most of them (if not all of them), courteous, friendly and very humble given the background of some of them.

”All the boys seems to be enjoying their time in the lime light and my son left feeling relief that all the other boys were just like him. He is now excited and can't wait to start school.”

So I assume Evans’s (Oppidan house) is now quickly consigned to history? Grin You may remember back in May I said boys at College are no more different from boys at other houses or colleges (middle paragraph).

Please rest assured your son will be getting an education second to none (honestly) both in mind and body. There are of course, others who think “education” is just for academic reasons only and nothing else. Well, all the best to them and the sooner they realise the world is much bigger and more complex than that, the better. Very often, all the “education” you’ve had at school will be recalled just to stand your own ground in the world at large.

peteneras · 21/08/2014 12:13

IndridCold, sorry for not showing up much at MN in the last few months especially on the Eton threads. I’ve just moved house to another place in north London. It was a major upheaval and very stressful from beginning to completion (four months); took two days to move, two months for BT to set up my phone line and broadband (long story) and am only now 80% unpacked.

Glad to learn your DS has enjoyed his first two years at School. The next three years will be even more exciting as he will be allowed to do more things he couldn’t do when in Blocks ‘F’ and ‘E’. Over the next three years your son will mature and change almost beyond recognition - for the better, of course!

A mother once said, “I gave Eton a boy and they returned me a man” Smile

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