Eton waiting list

[PetiteGrenouille]

My son has been offered a waiting list place and I noticed on another thread that the comment on the offer was identical to the comment we received. I'd be interested if this was written on other waiting list places as I'm not sure if we should be hopeful of a place coming up. If anyone's son did move off the waiting list can you give an indication of when this happened. Apparently 40% of waiting list applicants (around 40 boys) get offered a place so it would seem bizarre for that many to drop out as late as Year 8. I would also be interested to hear why a child would drop out as I wouldn't apply to a school I had no intention of sending my son to or paying the acceptance deposit to only to turn it down later.

Firstly, congratulations to your son for being offered a waiting list place. This indicates he?s good enough to enter Eton, it?s just that there are far too many applicants (many from overseas) for limited places. I?d say, insofar he?s not being rejected there?s always the real possibility that he may still enter the school.

Don?t know about 40% of waiting list applicants get offered a place - things must have changed significantly over the last decade or so. In the early 2000?s I?ve never heard of anyone turning down an Eton place. I guess the final analysis is all about money, or the lack of it. A possible explanation is that many not particularly viable parents put their sons? names down first in order to meet the very stringent datelines hoping things will turn for the better when the time comes for their sons to enter the school but unfortunately, not being able to meet. The commitment is not a short-term, one-off affair.

We were told around 40% of the waiting list get in when we sent our son for the test. I think there are a large percentage that apply to Westminster and Winchester too and the results for those won't come out until July. It may be that there is some movement then.

2 of the 10 boys who entered my DS's house with him were originally on the B List. So there's hope.
peteneras, we were not 100% sure that our son would go Eton after he passed the Eton test at 11. We waited until he was 12 before deciding definitively against the "gentler/less robust" school we had in reserve.
I think the main reason for boys dropping out is probably that they win scholarships to other schools.

A few years ago I went to a talk by the chap in charge of admissions ?Bill somebody. This is what he said: If there are 200 places (I'm just using this number for my example) then about 70 - 80% are offered as definite (you still have to pass CE) and then a sizeable group like your DS are offered waiting list places, their justification is that they liked the boy but they wanted to see how he matures. So on that basis quite a few are then offered places anytime right up to CE: you and your DS's head need to keep Eton informed of you DS achievements; captain of rugby lead role in school play etc. So its not a complete loss cause. Although a friend whose son did not get offered a place a few years ago said in a way it was a relief because they could move on.
What I'm trying got say, maybe not very well, is that spaces don't necessarily come up because people drop out, spaces are available because Eton have opted not to fill them the first time round. Having said that we know of a family who were offered a places three days before term started because somebody did drop out they had already paid the first terms fees for another school but they still took the Eton place.

HG your description is close to what I have. Obviously, until Eton give a full details of admission process, one's experience and hearsay could be a clue to a complete picture.

What Eton, and other public schools with competitive entrance system, is trying to do, is to balance between a finance and academic quality of pupils. All applicants are graded. Weighting factors among school report, interview, and computerised test, are not known, though.

The school, then, balances between the grades and bursary requirements, within the pupils with conditional offers. Bursary applications are reviewed a couple of times until the year of entry. Some registrations could be turned down each stage. If many good applicants need financial support in certain year of entry, Eton tends to look for academically equivalent but more affordable applicants from waiting list, and vice versa.

Even if Eton has fairly deep pocket, it has a limit for each entry year while keeping the quality of inlets. For Eton, it is quite clever system, but for applicants in waiting list, it depends on the situation. Even if one is offered the place from waiting list, financial support, if needed, can be limited. In this turbulent economic situation, I presume needs for financial support may increase.

I believe many boys in waiting list are capable of getting scholarships or any kind of financial support. If it is the case, value between such achievement and name value of Eton (or its ethos) would be judged by individuals.

My DS is on the waiting list for 2012 entry (I have posted about it in another thread under a previous name). We too were told that normally about 40% of B list boys are offered places.

We are in a very frustrating position of DS being number 16 on the list, which in a normal year would mean he would almost certainly be offered a place, but for this entry year hardly anyone with a conditional place has withdrawn. Apparently if he was due to go in 2013 he would have a place by now as 20-30 people have already dropped out, but for 2012 only 3 have! No-one knows why.

Some people do drop out because they get scholarships to other schools during the Easter term, so it can be quite last minute. A friend of a friend was unpacking her DS on his first day at the fallback school when they got the call!

I understand your frustration OP, and hope you don't have to wait as long as us to get good news. Do keep in touch with Admissions Office, they are really nice and helpful and will always give you tips on how to improve your DS's position.

I'm very interested in IC's comments. Is there a "number" in the waiting list that Eton releases?

Where did you get the number of drops for 2013 entry?

The letter states that the waiting list places are not in any order. Will that change when the others are added to the list? IC, when did you find out about your son's position on the list?

We had a place at Eton, we needed a scholarship and bursary for our ds to attend. We also got a place at Harrow and prefered the pastoral care and their overall interest in our ds, so we decided not to pursue Eton. Eton also have strict rules on the age of entry. Our ds has an August birthday so would have been one of the youngest, Harrow suggested he come a year later as he would hit the ground running, we liked their thinking.

DS got a place, but we MAY not take it up. He is sometimes keen on the idea of boarding, sometimes less so. We have applied to a couple of day schools also, therefore.

The thing is, boys are 10 when they apply, and in ds' case nearly 14 when they go - a lot of maturing and changing goes on during that time. The school's advice was that boys tend to get keener on boarding as they get older, so we have paid the large chunk of wonga to secure the place while we wait and see how he goes on.

We weren't given any idea about an order of the list until this summer, and I don't think that the school has much idea until then either!

In July the Admissions Office told us that by that stage (ie with one academic year to go before entry) there were broadly 3 groups on the list - top (likely to get a promotion) bottom (NOT likely to get a promotion) and middle (could go either way depending on numbers). DS is borderline top and middle.

Later he rang DS's current Head, and told him about the comparative drop out rates between 2012 and 2013, he then told us.

have you heard anything from eton???

My DS was promoted from the waiting list and offered a conditional place at the beginning of March, for entry this September.

IndridCold, that's great news.

Which House is he going into?

Thanks grovel, we are really pleased! We haven't chosen a house yet, we have to wait until some vacancies come up after the Scholarships next month and successful boys switch to College.

I don't suppose they gave you any other information such as how many had moved up the list?

Colleger Sorry no, it was all done through DS's present school.

Indrid - congrats on your son getting a place. He will have a great time.

Thanks dapplegrey, when we looked around the school we really felt that DS would thrive there and I'm sure he will have a wonderful time. It's been a long old though!

Long old wait

We received an email from Eton stating my son is offered a conditional place on 13 December. We believe the actual letter will arrive in the next few weeks, to our Asia address.