Is Westminster School the best school on Earth? STATESMOM returns

[statesmom]

I have a lot to say, don't know if anyone remembers the thread. Let me know if you want to hear from me.

Had to do a search on your name and scanned the thread, curious how it went for your ds.

The days of Nick Clegg are long gone. The future belongs to the VAT applied schools Reigate Grammar and the Channings.

I've just looked at your last thread too and would be interested in an update. Is your son 18 now? Just done A-Levels or IB?

No idea about the thread but please do tell-!

@statesmom well? Where is your update?

My update is that my son did indeed go to Westminster School, and after using the best college counselor in London he is at an Ivy League University!!!

My feelings on Westminster, however, are frankly mixed. It is underfunded, out of date, cramped and has lost what must have been the edge that gave it its reputation.

That they are admitting girls now is a clear indication that they have thrown in the towel and need the better academic performance that girls currently deliver to boys.

The debacle of the last head trying to make money out of a venture in China still stings.

Westminster was not sufficiently focused on US universities, in my view. They have a woman running it who is basically clueless and everyone uses external providers (at HUGELY steep costs, though not the $1.5 million 5 year plan of Ivy Coach in Manhattan). So this was a real disappointment. Those are some initial feelings. Would I send him there again? No.

Thank you for your update and feedback.

not too surprised by your mixed feelings but I think "not being focused on US unis" isn't a fair complaint, it really shouldn't be the expectation that this is what they are about and to my knowledge parents at all the other schools looking at Ivy Leagues use external counsellors (or do it themselves) as well. I don't think any other London day school does much more than inviting US college counsellors and US admissions people over to give talks.

But I am sure all other criticism is valid. As you note yourself, even parents at top private schools in Manhattan get external help so clearly their schools aren't "focused on US unis" either.

To ncsurrey22:

I did not say that; parents at top private schools in Manhattan do not necessarily need counsellors for $1.5 million (by the way the article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/magazine/benjamin-bolger-college-harvard-yale.html) quote: "In the world of elite college coaching, this isn’t exceptional: A five-year plan from the New York firm Ivy Coach costs as much as $1.5 million."

Top private schools in Manhattan have relationships with Ivies, as does Eton, Harrow, ASL and many others.

That I had to spend so much ca$h on a consultant really peeved me off. But they got the goods and I'd happily pay it again. Thank goodness we could afford it. But they did provide years long guidance so I guess 5 figures can be expensed over time!!!!!!!!!

All of the top kids are going to university in the US. Who would take Oxford over Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Chicago? Only a moron.

The US is the future. What are you going to tell your kid? You want to succeed? Move to Verona! Silicon Valley is so overrated.

At my DCs academic London school the 'top kids' are generally going to Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial etc with the odd one going to the US. It's only the rich ones ( or the sporty ones) are going to the US!

Re: US applications, it depends on the school. Schools with very international families are putting more effort into US / international applications. Eg Sevenoaks, Latymer upper. I think they're now sending 10-20% to the US and they now have staff to assist US applications. This is partly in response to the drive by Oxford and Cambridge over the last 5-10 years to increase the percentage of their intake from state schools, which has the knock-on effect of decreasing the numbers getting in from the top private school. The private schools can "offset" the dip in oxbridge places by pointing to more places at Yale etc.

Re: Who would take Oxford over Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Chicago?
Well, plenty. The international rankings show that Oxbridge, Imperial and UCL are on par with the ivies. There is also nothing in the US quite like the oxbridge college tutorial system. A lot of it comes down to cost. As a home student, you can get a bachelor's degree in the UK for £28k in tuition fees. That's a steal given the international students are queueing up to pay £100k for the same degree. Unless you have scholarship in the US it's going to cost an awful lot more. There are more scholarships on offer in the US than here but they're not all needs-blind. A friend's son is going to UCLA this year because they offered a full scholarship - he also had a place but no scholarship at Harvard and the cost was a bridge too far. A second consideration is length of training - there's not much difference just for primary degree, but if you're going all the way to PhD, then in the UK you can be qualified and earning in as little as 6 years (I knew someone who obtained their PhD at 23 having started uni at 17), whereas in the US a 4 year primary degree followed by their more elongated "graduate school" means you'll typically be nearly 30 before you're done.

To Izzy:

You can make all the money arguments you want, but the fact is if that you go to a US university you are more likely to meet your spouse there, get a job out of college there, spend your 20s there and so spend your life there.

The same goes for the UK.

A couple hundred grand in fees? Who cares!!!?? We are talking about a life. I wouldn't let my son even apply to one of these useless universities here.

So my argument is simple: Do you want your kid to stay in this dilapidated country, or have a chance to become a participant in the greatest civilization the Earth has ever known?

It's a simple question, which answers itself. Simple really. I mean, come on!

Are you for real?

Do you want your kid to stay in this dilapidated country, or have a chance to become a participant in the greatest civilization the Earth has ever known?

Errr ok. Enjoy Trump's second term in your 'great civilisation'

Missed your original thread but why did you lower yourself to come to this dilapidated country with your kid at such a crucial stage in his development?

Indeed, the US is a great civilisation and has produced many geniuses, among them Mark Twain, who said "never argue with an idiot - they'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience". Enough said.

If the OP is genuine I think he/ she is showing that the majority of those who have children at US universities are loaded. It really still isn't the norm for all the bright children! Among certain parents a US university education is seen as a status symbol as it shows they have money...

I'm hoping this thread is a joke but I fear not. The arrogance of the OP is outstanding. I'm sat here wondering what the OP's son thinks of them. Not being allowed to apply to the university of their choice. There is something profoundly sad when you see parents pushing their children to fit their own dreams and where the thoughts and desires of the child to have agency in their own life is utterly irrelevant to the parent. I really do hope that in 10 years, your son will have had the courage to forge his own path and maybe if you are lucky, he will still be in touch with you.

whats the point of all this effort?

Do you really want to get into a debate about whether you want your child to forge a life in the United States or in the UK or Europe?!

If you're a top flight 18 year old in Athens, let me tell you, you are not staying in Greece, OK? Hello?

Any top kid growing up in the UK, with a brain, can pretty clearly see that there is a better future for him in America. I mean, is this a debate?! Please.

And so of course we set out son on a path to the Ivy League. Because we love him.

If we were selfish and wanted him to live near us we'd have him apply to Oxford Community College or whatever it's called.

I ask anyone reading this: If you had a choice to send your child to Stanford, and be near Silicon Valley's opportunities, or to Cambridge for, I don't know what, punting on the river; which would you choose?

Give me a break people!

The more you write the more I think it's a comedy thread..

Standford vs Cambridge, which university with more protestors that caused classroom disruption?

Joke thread

I think you need to lie down in a dark room, with a very cold compress on your forehead, @statesmom, as you are clearly very unwell...

This thread is hilarious. Rishi is that you?

I bet the OP didn't go to either an Ivy League school or Oxbridge.