St Pauls vs Harrow vs Merchant Taylors

[HappyBirthday]

We are in a quandary. Our DS has managed to secure himself a place at all 3 schools, and we are really quite confused as to which one we should go with. We have no family history with any of them, but do have an initial perception of them all (we could be wrong, and would appreciate any corrective guidance here).

Our DS is really competitive, but has benefited from attending a fantastic junior school that had wonderful pastoral care and we have always focused on the social aspects, not just the academics. He has a preference to go to Harrow based on the entire experience of boarding, the ability to learn independence in such an environment, and the sports facilities. He is also open to St Pauls as a day school alternative, but he is less keen on MTS because he thinks it is too sporty. Mind you, all his closest classmates have been accepted at St Pauls and are likely to go there; and yet he still prefers Harrow slightly

Our perceptions on the schools are (in no particular order) -

St Pauls - academic, quite liberal, urban, edgy attitude.
Harrow - traditional, less academic, focus on boys life outside of the classroom (or is this just the nature of boarding?), friendly attitude.
Merchant Taylors - half way between them both, but quite sporty.

Can anyone provide some advice/guidance/experience on the above 3, given the choice? Between them, his mum is keen on St Pauls to naturally keep him closer at home, and his dad is open to Harrow because of the broader life experiences it will provide. I think all in all, we'd be happy with any of the 3, and we're quite thrilled that he's worked his socks off to get himself into this position!

So we've all chosen to sacrifice less, work less and earn less than you so our kids have to go to a comp? This is quite honestly the funniest statement I have seen on here. I am delighted, as I imagine many others are, that my hard earned taxes are not being used by you.

Some parents choose to work less, sacrifice less, earn less, and can subsequently only afford to send their kids to a comp, regardless of their kids ability
don't be silly

Old School tie utterly works now. Especially for work placements and the like. The old boys network at Harrow is very influential. There are also plenty of academic boys there so everyone can do well at something. There are some strange views held here that Harrow is not academic, it is.

Curious about your timing. Is your DC in year 8 and so had been sitting in three conditional offers for up to 3 years now, at the cost of three deposits? In which case I think you wasted your money on MT as why would anyone go there ahead of Paul's, if Paul's would suit your child

And if in year 7 then hold Paul's and harrow to retain the boarding vs day choice and agonise a bit longer

On the P vs H, so hard - we have a similar debate for our DS and I just don't keno where we will end up

I think MT is a year 8 exam (correct me if I'm wrong). If it were my choice I'd go for Harrow if the boy is up for boarding and the parents too - read some of Happygardening's posts about parents really have to let go and relinquish control if the DC go boarding - it can be hard if coming from a nice cosy prep school environment! Harrow is a great all round school - it is academic but unlike some boarding schools, you don't have to be a sports god to survive! Strong house system, lots of inter house competitions, full on experience, full boarding with set exeats.

SPS - I would want my DS to be in the top 2/3 academically otherwise I think it is a tough place to be.

Good luck with your decision. Well done to your DS.

So we've declined MTS. Between MTS and SPS, there's little reason to choose MTS over SPS in terms of the day option.

Between SPS and Harrow? So we recently revisited both, and also spent some time with the Harrow housemaster our DS has been accepted at. There is a definite sense of welcome at Harrow, and the pastoral care feels strong.

SPS? It's leaving us a bit cold at this point in time. No doubt a superb cookie cutter with the finest materials... but still a cookie cutter. Perhaps.

Purple,
Yes our DS is in Y8 and we applied to all of them (he was accepted at Charterhouse as well, but we turned it down as soon as Harrow offered). All their timings were slightly different, but the strategy was to apply for 2 boarding and 2 day, one a 'safety' option and one a 'reach' option.

Charterhouse - safety boarding
MTS - safety day
Harrow - reach boarding
SPS - reach day

Applications are costly, but I was keen to secure the option (the deposits are refundable up to a certain point in time) and let things play out depending on how our DS performed in Y8.

D1D2,
our son is in Y8 and was accepted at all 4 schools. The exams were/are only in Y8, except the screening interviews were last year. So much changes within a year for the boys, so I feel it is important to not over commit too early.

Michaelah isn't your son at WUS? Are you considering sending him somewhere other than Westminster for senior school? (sorry off topic)

Well, I don't know about Harrow (other than trivial stuff about boaters and boys walking around the town not looking) but SPS is definitely not a cookie cutter, whatever that means. It 's full of all sorts of different boys doing all sorts of different things. Looks a lot better now they have the new science block too.

Sounds like you are leaning towards harrow.

You say you want a 'special' education, your son sounds keen to board, you like the housemaster... It's a no brainer for your son I think.

If he wants the experience of boarding and the experience of striking off on his own without his prep friends, then I think the day school would be limiting for him.

MTs is in a good location (I drive past it most days and have come across many ex pupils over the years' and it can be reached on the underground if you don't want to be a constant taxi service.

My sons play Harrow at sport. The post match food is served by chefs in chef hats. They serve 'potato slivers' which in the real world are called chips. I'd reject a school for that ridiculous affectation alone.

In your shoes I'd opt for MTS, it has an authentic Norf Lundun vibe and the boys are keen on 'keepin it real, awlraight?'. Plus it's the only school f the three that incorporates a term on 'knife crime' as part of its enrichment programme.

St Paul's is so ordinary.

TheBV looks from your first paragraph that your recent thread is completely redundant then.

If I was choosing a private school for my DC I would actively avoid any whose pupils speak in that fake 'street" way you describe theBV

There is nothing more excruciating than private school kids pretending they are from the ghetto.

I often wonder if the people spouting off tired cliches about schools really know anything truly in depth about them. I don't know anything about Harrow or MTS, and would never trust second or third hand information about them. I would even be sceptical about first hand knowledge as people often have different recollections/accounts of the same experience. I can say that I agree with singersgirl that I don't recognise the "cookie cutter" image of St. Paul's. I do, however, agree that the boys there look "ordinary" - i.e., not standing out, but rather like normal, generic teenage boys and displaying a range of personal styles. Some people might not like this and prefer their sons to stand out with penguin suits or boaters, I am, however, comforted by the rather ordinariness of the boys.

Well, in the end, the decision was made. Night before the deadline to notify the schools on our decision, and our DS was clear with where he wanted to go. He is keen to have the experience of boarding and all the extracurricular activities that he can benefit from - in addition to his academics - even though he was prepared to go to day school because of the academic reputation of St Pauls. So someone else was probably very happy to take our DS' place at SPS, and we are committed to making the most of the next few years at Harrow where he is genuinely excited to attend.

At the end of the day, there seemed little point in forcing him to go to SPS (because of the academic reputation) when his heart was not really there. I think had he been 'made' to choose SPS over Harrow, he would probably have always been wishing or at least wondering what Harrow would have been like. This way, we are happy to support him in the choice, and he knows that it's now down to him to make the most of the next few years at the school he's chosen and wanted to be at. Life moves on.

Thanks everyone for your inputs and thoughts - they've been insightful and given us things to consider through the process.

Posadas, you are right, I have a son at WUS and expect him to go to the upper school, but also have looked around in attempt to avoid sleepwalking, as it were. Plus, there are no guarantees, so one has to stay in touch!

Michaela -- do the boys at WUS have to go through the same application process to Westminster as boys from other schools? Assuming you get the option of Westminster for you son, is there anything you've seen at other schools that would encourage you to consider sending him somewhere else?

Thanks for updating us - always lovely when OPs do that and I wish him well x