Six form choice : Wycombe Abbey, Westminster, St Swithun

[Evachan]

My dd got accepted to all the schools listed in the subject. Any advice to us which one to choose from while she aims at a medicine destination in university. Thank you

Three very good schools all capable of getting your dd to read medicine. Different "feels" though - Westminster is a co-ed city school. WA is single sex and in the country. What is your DD like?

As Grovel says all academic schools with lots going onto do medicine. If you are looking at boarding then WA is the only one with proper full boarding. St Swithuns does have some full boarders but the numbers I believe are small and no Saturday school.

Wow . Well Done. Where will she hit the ground running? There will be little time for adjustment. Am sure all three will prepare her for Med School entry but will this be identified from the off. Am sure all three have good relationships with Medicine Faculties. Is she in co-ed now? At any other level then Westminster everytime but will she have time for the socialising , getting used to the cut and thrust (in a good way!) of co-ed. Will she weekly board. You can maybe go back to these schools and just check what fast tracking will be done for medics, though in all three am guessing everyone is some sort of fast track! Lucky girl

Well done to you DD. These are all great schools, but I'm a bit bias as my DD went to Wycombe Abbey and then on to medical school. As we live overseas, so full boarding is what we wanted. As far as I knew all her peers in her year who wanted to do medicine got in their chosen university. I think that says a lot. Most of the girls got straight A & A*. Very strong in science and maths.
I'm sure the other two are equally able to support able student for medical school application. So it all down to your DD preference, whether she wants co-ed (Westminster) or girl boarding.

Thank you all for the very valuable advice....

DD like Westminster better in terms of academic environment. On the other hand, she like WA campus a lot in addition.

Swithun is very nice in terms of learning environment and the people; both the teachers and the students, more friendly and easy going.

DD really has hard time to decide within a limited time.

More advices would be very much appreciated.

Thanks again to all great inputs.

All good schools. On the academic front she cant really make a wrong decision so she should go where she thinks she will be happiest.

Medicine requires high grades, but it sounds as she will have no problem achieving these. Medical schools are also looking for students who are rounded and grounded. I agree with others that she should pick the school that feels right and where she can quickly become part of the wider school life.

Co-ed is very different to single sex. As is country boarding to what is largely a city centre day school. If you discount the impact of taking in very clever girls into the sixth form, the results of WA will be roughly equal to those of Westminster. She should choose the environment she thinks she will be most comfortable in.

Thank you so much Needmoresleep! A very good point.

I like WA but some muns here said WA is strong in humanities. Can someone please advise?

Thank you all again....

Evachen, your daughter is obviously extremely capable academically (and hopefully is not considering medicine just because she likes science!)
I would consider which schools are best able to help her with finding work experience placements (unless you are doing that during the holidays) and taking her outside of her comfort zone for expanding her horizons.
If she has to be a full time boarder, I suspect Wycombe Abbey is more likely to provide the whole package.
All things being equal, which of the three does she feel would be easiest to integrate into and be happy socially as a new sixth former? Most people would say Westminster as all the girls are new.

Thanks summerends... integration is certainly very important element. Thanks again for that. WA seems to be able to offer her working experience opportunity.

Actually, Wycombe is strong in both science, maths and humanities, it all depends on what subject the girls want to study in University, in my DD year, many girls get to Oxbridge/Imperial/ London Universities to do Medicine, Physics, Bio chem, Maths, engineering etc.
I think your DD will be a new girl to any of these school, so it all depends how well/quick she can settle. Westminster is boy school, they takes very able girls in sixth form, it is in Central London, many are day pupils, not many board. My son got a boarding place in Westminster, but we turned it down and opt for Winchester for full boarding for that reason.
Wycombe is full boarding, saturday school and sports activities, really full on, sometimes girls goes to cinema on Saturday nights. She will be assigned a house in Lower six, and will move to Clarence House in upper six. That helps to prepare them for university. All the girls there are very able and bright and can achieve excellent results, so sometimes may be a bit of pressure for the less able one.

I disagree slightly with summerends. Westminster's girls may all be new but a good proportion, possible the majority, will have come from independent London days schools. If they dont know each other already they will only be a Facebook friend or two away. Boarders are a minority out of a fairly small intake of girls which will be fine if you form a friendship group with other boarders, boys and girls, but isolating if not. (Its really the point about whether she really wants single sex or co-ed.) Otherwise it could be isolating if your friends are day pupils with long commutes.

That said none of these schools will have offered her a place if they did not think she would integrate into the wider life of the school. If she is musical Westminster has fabulous opportunities, though competitive girls sports are less well catered for. WA will offer a broader boarding experience.

The various girls we have known who went to WA were all extremely bright, and on reflection all from international backgrounds. WA will do both humanities and science well, and a level of academic diversity amongst fellow students is a good thing.

She has done really well and both schools are more than capable of taking her through to the next stage. The choice should be based on where she feels most comfortable, where she will settle fastest, and where she feels she will have the richer wider school life. This is a crucial two years when children mature into adults. Results should be a given. She also wants to achieve independence, maturity and self confidence.

Wycombe girls are no longer the naive country cousins however the environment is likely to do a lot more to keep her focused on her work than being in London with a load of boys. They're not exactly cut off from the world and there are a lot of co-ed socials if she wants to go dancing or debate with boys.
The extra curricular facilities are also superb so if she wants to learn to fly, to keep up with her polo playing etc etc, WA will give her the opportunity to do so. Have a look through old editions of the Dove etc to see what they get up to.
Socially and perhaps in terms of the old school tie connection further down the line, maybe Westminster would be more valuable purely because of the male bias in senior positions in the outside world.
As Needmoresleep says, settling into a good groove fast is going to be important when she's only got two hears. I know where my 16 year old self would have felt easier; unless she's also ultra confident in her appearance and social skills, all girls would be easier.

Take your point Needmoresleep. Difficult to predict for any particular year group how open they will be to a new person. The advantage of full time boarding environment is that there is more time to forge relationships in 2 years although the converse is that it can be pretty miserable if socially isolated.
Was n't quite thinking of polo when I was talking about expanding horizons in relation to doing medicine .

And in fairness to Westminster, the boys are not all confident outgoing types. It is a school that has more than its fair share of what DD would call Neeks (nerdy geeks). If your daughter is comfortable with clever boy next door types, and shares their interests (music, very clever academics, computer games....) she may well find that they don't notice she is a girl and she simply gets adopted into existing boy friendship groups. Some girls will be there, probably including a couple of former WA girls, because they want to be at a co-ed school in Central London, and will link up with boys who are similarly interested in forming mixed social groups. Other girls may simply form their own friendship groups with other girls, though the sub-set of girls who are boarders is small.

If either of the first two, then Westminster will be fab. If she instead is happier in the company of girls and wants a full boarding experience, then WA. Westminster, like WA, is quite an individual school. Neither are simply about results, which will be fine at either school, but about which offers the better package for your very talented daughter.

I also like the idea of polo as a key social skill. Presumably the flying helps enable you to fly daddy's plane. Not something that Westminster offers, though oddly it is very good at engaging non sporty kids in individual sports such as shooting, golf, fencing and climbing.

(I would add that in our experience, in very academic schools academics trumps money and so it makes little difference how well off you are. Struggling academically though is difficult. But not a problem likely to affect those accepted for sixth form.)

I would have a look at which school can help with work experience suitable for a medical career. This, as well as strong A levels, puts you in the best position for success. What links with former pupils do they have and what links to hospitals, hospices, care homes, anything that helps with the med school application? A strong track record for medicine is a must. All the schools are brilliant so teaching is not an issue but city vs country might be.

Dear moms and dads, my husband and I are overwhelmed by the responses we get in the last 24 hours. Our DD is reading all with us...every piece of advise is very very appreciated. A very difficult decision to make. A nice problem though. She is also contacting her friends group in both schools to learn more. We have till this weekend to make up our mind.

My DD went from a London girls' day school that WA compared itself to when I accompanied a friend's DD to an assessment, and is now in the third year on a very competitive Natural Sciences course. She also had a chance of Westminster but in the end decided she was better to stay where she was so she could hit the ground running in her existing social circle. She doesn't regret that decision for that reason, but she does think from an academic point of view it would have been academically more stimulating to have been in a mix of equally geeky and passionate Scientists, boys as well as girls. Academically it would have been a bigger pond IYSWIM.

I think all these schools will give your DD the opportunity she is seeking but I do think Westminster gives you a unique opportunity to be at the centre of London life, but it really is for your DD to decide whether she wants that.

Is your dd shy or extrovert? I'd say Westminster is not a good choice unless your dd is very confident. I know quite a few ex-Westminster girls, it's a school where loud, pretty girls have a good time and quiet girls are ignored (by peers, teachers will still notice them of course). Is she going to be a full boarder/weekly boarder or day? Westminster again, not a good school for full boarding, it empties out at weekends. Well done to your dd.

I am probably going to put this very badly, I am not a scientist but I think that my DD thinks Science is a very male dominated world, not just in terms of the representation of the sexes but also in the way scientific theories are developed and accepted via peer review. So as well as the bigger pond effect she also does not feel that it would have been of benefit to get used to male perspectives. I don't get the impression medicine is very much different. Obviously she may be overthinking this, as these courses seem to encourage them to do

To be honest, she will be perfectly fine in both school. If she is willing to work hard, she will get to the university of her choice.
Wycombe does have contact with local hospital, care home, and girls will do their community services and work experience there. The school also have a medical society for girls who want to be medic or in the related field which is very helpful and supportive, who my DD was once chairwoman in it.

Xpatmama88, Very pleased to know WA provide such great support for girls aiming at medic related studies. Your DD must be outstanding back in her WA years. She may want to be a Vet too??? In that case.....

My DD is also considering going to Vet school, a big hearted animal lover since she was 3. Anything that may influence my selection criteria?

She is not exactly the "loud and beautiful" group. If she could possibly be ignored at Westminster. That's not too good. I want her to have enjoyable social life as a full boarder.

candidates must also expect to have achieved the equivalent of nine I/GCSEs/GCEs at Grade B or above by the time they join Wycombe Abbey.

I am surprised that you only need Bs for WA, all the schools my DD applied to wanted 6A* or more.