Abingdon or Dulwich

[dynamicequilibrium]

I have received offers from the above two schools.

Which one should I pick as i know both are top schools. I would love to get into a top-notch university in the UK. i am considering medicine or engineering.
For Dulwich, I will be doing Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths.
As for Abingdon, I will be doing Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Maths, Further Maths.

I am currently residing outside the UK and I am studying Physics, Computing, accounting(business+accounting), Maths and an additional Maths. I am studying Chemistry on my own and I have some brief understandings on economics as I studied for it one year and I also learnt it in Accounting lessons (business part).

The school fees and living costs are slighly cheaper at Abingdon but I wonder will it take me a lot of time to travel from Abingdon to other cities.

Thank you very much.

First, how do you define a "top-notch" university? Please give some examples of the universities you would like to go to in the UK.

Next, it would help matters tremendously if you can make up your mind now which subject you'd like to read at university.

I assume you would be going as a boarder?

Dulwich College has an excellent head and is currently strong across the board. I would choose it above most other schools.

Not that many boys board though, but the number increases for the sixth form. What the weekends would be like is something you need to check for both schools, plus whether your curent interests, or things you'd like to try, are covered in the co-curricular programme.

Haven't you already asked similar and also got other offers , or are those now ruled out? Abingdon is not a city but Reading is a good train hub to other areas of UK, avoiding London, and not far. However you also may be restricted at weekends as to when and how far you can go from school. Where would you hope to visit? Dulwich is within easy reach of central London.

Both of these schools are excellent and your chosen A levels give options for both medicine and engineering. My son is at Abingdon doing GCSEs and it is academically excellent and its size allows a massive range of extra curricular activities. It’s also close to Oxford. Worrying about how easy it is to get to other cities is a rather unusual criteria as most people worry more about stuff like subject options, academic quality, extra C and pastoral support. You might get better advice if you say more about what you are interested in doing outside your subjects.

I have not received the offer from Abingdon when i first post my message here. Now I got accepted by both schools. I really have great ambition in getting into Oxbridge or Imperial if I will be doing Engineering.
Thank you very much for your response.

I love doing sports and watching plays. I play basketball, I watch rugby and football and I am willing to be better in the above fields. I also do orienteering. I would like to do Public Speaking or participate in Speech Festivals. I love Science, Maths and History as well. I love visiting historic sites or museums. I also love reading scientific questions.

You need to look back through recent news and annual reviews on the websites to see what external opportunities they encourage and the societies you could get involved in. Both locations would offer opportunities regarding history , theatre etc but most of the debating opportunities for example will be via school. You may not find it easy to do so independently or have a lot of free time to seek them out. Have you been to UK before? Where do you currently live?

I have been to England plenty of time and currently I am resding in HK.

So Abingdon has good support for all your interests and regularly sends boys to Oxbridge and Imperial. Oxford has some amazing museums close by, including the Ashmolean, Natural History and Pitt Rivers. But as LIZS has suggested, lots of web research will help you decide.

Thank you very much. I guess there is a new sixth form centre in abingdon school, isn't it? Actually based on the objective factors after I have searched through the Internet and asked my friends as well, both schools rank almost the same. So I'd say it will not matter much if I choose any one of them.
Thank you for your advice.

I have not received the offer from Abingdon when i first post my message here

Congratulations on all your offers (although the above is a bit confusing in view of your first post stating I have received offers from the above two schools.)

This is not a factor for your school choice but if you are the applicant (rather than a parent or agent) then be wary of the essays in economics being quite demanding for you especially as a fifth subject.
Are EAL sessions part of your requirements? If so it would be useful to know how flexible the timetable is for them.

A minor point for your choice is that Basketball will be larger scale at Dulwich with I guess more practices and fixtures.
Otherwise, since as you say both schools are good it depends whether you prefer being in London and whether you already have friends or family nearer either location to ease the transition.

Thank you very much for your response.

'although the above is a bit confusing in view of your first post stating I have received offers from the above two schools ' --I actually had another post about the above schools in which I had not received an offer from Abingdon but Dulwich when the first one was posted.

EAL is required, but they can't tell how often I have to attend the classes until the semester starts in September.