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.

Why on earth did you feel the need to use an educational consultant @statesmom ?. My DS attended a state (Grammar) school, we earn a reasonably good salary but he still received a very generous aid package. We will end up paying close to what we would have if he went to university here..He practiced for the SATS on Khan Academy (it's free) and scored a 1600. He applied early action to his top choice and was offered a place. He also had offers from Cambridge and the LSE.

Neither of us has been to university and I hope he enjoys his experience. I grew up in a council house and I am very proud of his achievement. When I see posts on here from parents who send there children to the Westminster/ Winchester etc I am so thankful that my son was educated with such a great group of young people from all backgrounds.

Their children*

I find it tragic the way Americans continue to have a lifelong obsession with where they went to university – there are parents at dcs’ school who still use their heart email addresses. Talk about insecure.

My old university, Oxford, would send me would send me a similar number of emails sper week and month except I’ve unsubscribed and blocked them on my phone. Why would you want constant contact? it’s like comparing it to you. Had a good relationship with your late teens. Not a marriage.

I’m not sure what the basis is for this accusation of bad teaching since you have no experience of UK universities but I’m sure once you’ve had another gin we will have another vissupsrous (good use of thesaurus) comment from you

My nephew went to Stanford Uni but didn’t need a consultant to get him in.

@Bettydrapers - this is how it should be!

Well done to your son, incredible achievement and more than proves to the rather insane and goady OP that there’s no substitute for the truly academic. Your son will obviously go places…without the vast amounts of money spent on private schools/tutors/consultants!

Thank you @flowerdress , that's so kind of you.

I was talking about top tier universities.

Big congratulations to your DS. He’s definitely top of the class. I read the following about SAT scores - out of the nearly 2.2 million students who take the SAT each year, only around 660 students will score a 1600.

Approximately 1,000 to 1,500 students achieve a perfect score of 1600 on the SAT every year, with fewer than 50 of them being from the UK. However, scoring 1600 doesn’t ensure admission to Ivy League universities, just as earning five A* grades at A-level doesn’t guarantee a spot at Oxbridge.

It's not a big difference between score 1600 or higher than 1570. It is just if you are luchy or not.

😂😂😂

Yes, dear. Of course you were.

Why 'tragic', just as a matter of interest?

And what is it about the phenomenon you have observed that makes you call it an 'obsession'?

Also 'insecure'?

Are you aware that American university endowments dwarf those of UK universities - even third-rate American universities are far better set up financially than the vast majority of British universities? Plenty of Americans unsubscribe from their university mailing lists, but plenty contribute to fundraising drives.

The American degree structure actually descends from the Scottish one. Also there are some universities (in both UK and US) where a BA vs a BSc in a subject matters, but you need to know the specific university to know if it does.

Statesmom isn't entirely right about the American degree structure. The percentage of credits spent on your major can vary by subject. Engineering may be 3/4 of your classes. The required core classes vary substantially by institution.

And not everyone in the US is obsessed with where they've gone. There is a joke: "How do you know if someone went to Harvard? Don't worry, they'll tell you!" But most people I know aren't remotely like that, and remember, far more Americans don't go to that tiny slice of elite universities. If anything, outside that slice, you see more people who support their university's sports teams. (And the amount of attention paid to athletics at some universities is a thing I very much would complain about.)

To me it smacks of tragic insecurity to define yourself by an institution you attend from roughly the ages of 18 to 22. It’s what you do after university that should really matter. I also applaud American philanthropy but would personally rather see alumni gazillions directed towards other causes than a new changing room at their alma mater. My words such as obsession were in response to the OP’s last post. Of course not all Americans are like this

It's sort of the difference between a marriage and a Mexican whorehouse.

Amazing. 😂

Showing your ignorance there OP -never heard of Edinburgh - its in Scotland believe it or not and ranks 2 below Yale and way ahead of some of the Ivies.........

@statesmom

I was talking about top tier universities.

Edinburgh is ranked in the top 40 universities globally by the three main global university ranking bodies...

Out of around 1,500 to 2,000 universities ranked by each of them.

So it's absolutely top tier.

Bit strange (or ignorant) to suggest otherwise, no?

And what about St. Andrews!

Is this a joke?

What, in the last 100 years, came out of the "University of Edinburgh?"

Seriously people. I know the city well and have friend there, but you're going to put that nursary school agains the Ivy League?

Penn itself has over 1,000 chemistry labs and revenue of well over $10 billion dollars. "Edinburgh" has revenue of less than 10% of that.

We are talking about the major leagues and pre-school here.

These institutions are not even close in their global impact.

I'm sorry, but the ignorance and folderol coming out of many posters here makes me wonder how informed many of them are.

Do yourself a favor (if you care): google "Penn annual report" and "Edinburge annual report" and you will see a universe of difference.

Good heavens.

The more you talk (spew?) the more I understand why your son needed quite so much assistance getting a place.

To anyone whose kids are thinking of applying to the US, mine literally decided post-A-level, during gap years, to give it a shot. A little SAT tutoring (actually one did the ACT) and that was it.

And speaking of American philanthropy, this is actually pretty cool
https://x.com/BloombergDotOrg/status/1810287464512098651/photo/1

No its not - believe it or not academia is about intelligence rather than money (at least it is in the UK). In global league tables Edinburgh sits just under Harvard and considerably ahead of several Ivies - sorry to burst your bubble but there it is.

I'm so glad I had my education at two world class institutions in the UK where they teach you how to think - if you are an exemplar of the US system.

We are talking about the major leagues and pre-school here

I thought we were talking about universities, not sports or 3-4 year olds?

OP, what is the point of this thread? It seems you started this simply to show off and demonstrate an obsession with status and money. What seems to be overlooked is that the vast majority of UK students will want to attend university in this country because that is where they are from. This doesn't mean they're not ambitious, or that they won't reach the top jobs in whatever sector they choose to pursue, if that's what they want.
But for most the idea of travelling to another country for their whole degree is just completely unnecessary. It's not a negative to want to be able to travel home to see one's family for the weekend or want to become a student in a UK city which you've previously enjoyed visiting and fancy living there for a few years. Of course if a UK student wants to go to the USA to study that's fine, go for it. But it's narrow minded to believe that this is the only way to get a great degree and pursue academic success.
And whilst it's normal for most parents to be involved to some degree in their child's university application process, the idea of paying an educational consultant thousands of pounds over several years, sounds quite frankly bizarre to most of us - clearly there's a lucrative business to be had there. Most people don't show off about how much money they spent to get their child a university place. The most impressive students will likely be the ones who's parents couldn't afford this and they also got a place.
Good for your son, I'm sure he's a nice chap and will do well, but lots of students will go on to do equally well and ultimately the reasons behind this will be because of their work ethic, character, emotional intelligence, and passion for their subject, not because their parents paid people or even because they necessarily went to a particular university.
And do not mistake the challenge you are getting from other posters as ignorance; that is definitely not how it comes across to everyone else.

Maybe IQ but little EQ going on here.

for what it’s worth, both of my old unis (ox and ucl) constantly send me stuff and stay in touch. I get magazines from ucl and my old college, and get invited to stuff all the time. Not sure how that compares to a us university since I’ve not studied there. I expect part of the us “life long” relationship is to get money out of their graduates (to be fair I also get asked to donate by my old unis).