CIS - thoughts & feelings?

JJsMama

Any parents with children from CIS like to share their experiences of the school?   Eg. Culture, cirriculum, quality of teaching, strengths & weaknesses, and whether the children are happy.  I've only very generic knowledge of the school and would love to get more insight to see whether it's suitable for my child.

Anything from reception to secondary level is godd.

Many thanks.

tea007

I would also like to listen more about Chinese International School, from either parents or those who have friends' children studying there.  Thanks for sharing.

Blythe_miki

i have friend's son studying in CIS, his son is not happy in this school, he is laughting by classmate becoz he is not living in 3000呎 house and the parents at CIS have many competitive.

Sweetiebarney

I also heard from my friend that 2 kids asked their parents why their house had no stairs (i.e. not a house) and why they didn't have a driver to pick them up from school.  

gogocat

朋友的小孩在CIS讀書,雖然有提及有很多同學也很有錢,但是也沒有不開心,因為他的父母也很錫他.我想在小學這情況相對中學沒有那麼嚴重吧.
for information, The kid's parents are both doctors. HIs mom told me that she believes her family is almost the poorest among others in the school. Anyway, she is happy with this school. I met her kid many times, his English is really really good.

JJsMama

Thanks all.

One friend jokingly said to me it's not only maid and driver, but body guards!  I supposed comparisons do happen amongst kids.  I mean, haven't we encountered our children asking, "How come so and so has this XXX and I don't?" But, whether that leads to inferior complex, I'd imagine depend on whether parents instill the right value system in the first place.  ...Agree?

MayMayFan

Even though parents could instill the "proper values" to the children, does it really help to reduce the hard feelings if they are being looked down or simply being ignored by the mass. (I heard the majority of CIS is very very much)

I just wonder.  . . .

alexlui

Sometimes being rich is a not an advantage for raising a good kid because they don't have a good reason to study hard. Some parents even lied to their kids that they are poor in order to make their kids work hard. If you are not very rich then you don't have the problem.

Cheer up.

tea007

I also heard a number of examples where children (from different families, none very rich) find their school life at CIS very enjoyable.

By the way, other than this aspect, does any parent or friend have any other thing to share about this CIS?  I think there are aspects about a school which are equally, if not more, important, such as whether the teachers are caring, whether the children's discipline is good, how is the academic standard, how do universities overseas view graduates from this school, etc.

Any sharing, first or second hand, would be much appreciated.

puibb

I know a few CIS ex-students.

One studied there since he was young. He then went on to study Law in a famous university in the UK.

One used to be in DGJS and DGS, she did say that she transferred to CIS because of the IB and because CIS has a good reputation that higher percentage of graduates could go to famous university afterwards. She is now studying in LSE in London.

Another one studied in Maryknoll primary section before going to CIS for Year 7. She is now in KCL in London.

All those ex/current CIS students I know said that they enjoyed their life a lot in CIS. Friends care about each other, teachers are always supportive. They don't really care about who is richer or not. What they really care the most is about their target in the future and happiness in their life and study.

One more thing is I know is that they like to go to pub/party, traditional parents in HK may not accept this. However, I think it is acceptable because it's a part of the early adult social life. So , parents who wish to send their students to Inl'l school have to be 'open d'....That's what I suggest.

Newton

puibb 寫道:
I know a few CIS ex-students.

One studied there since he was young. He then went on to study Law in a famous university in the UK.

One used to be in DGJS and DGS, she did say that she transferred to CIS because of the IB and because CIS has a good reputation that higher percentage of graduates could go to famous university afterwards. She is now studying in LSE in London.

Another one studied in Maryknoll primary section before going to CIS for Year 7. She is now in KCL in London.

All those ex/current CIS students I know said that they enjoyed their life a lot in CIS. Friends care about each other, teachers are always supportive. They don't really care about who is richer or not. What they really care the most is about their target in the future and happiness in their life and study.

One more thing is I know is that they like to go to pub/party, traditional parents in HK may not accept this. However, I think it is acceptable because it's a part of the early adult social life. So , parents who wish to send their students to Inl'l school have to be 'open d'....That's what I suggest.

I would like to clarify one point. In term of academic standard, there is no match between band 1 local school and international school. The major difference is the HK A-level and GCE A-level where the former is much harder.

A CCC HKAL grade is more or less equivalent to AAA GCE AL. While LSE and KCL is still a very good school, even the hottest subject in LSE (Economics) needs only average AAB. Such grades can be attained quite easily by 2nd tier local schools. The trick is whether those students can afford to go overseas and know the big advantages of taking GCE A-level.

I also had read the university list posted by CIS and do not find it outstanding overall. I would reckon that if DGS F7 students all apply for LSE through GCE, they probably will all be admitted.

Prema

HI Newton,

I have a son at home studying in Kinder.  If compare DBSPD  to good Internation School in HK, which one has a better chance to entre top university in UK or USA?  

I have been thinking this for long time. What is your opinion? Many thanks!

Newton

Is DBSPD=DBS?

If you really want to put him to top U in the UK or US, the best route I think is to put him to local school and take oversea university entrance exam.

However, I do not think it is a good way to select IS and local. In short, I think local schools put too much emphasis on books and it hinders the development of a child (and suppress the real interest of learning - spending too much time on preparing examination which I consider to be a bit waste of time). Since it is relatively easy to get into a decent school (not top but decent) in both UK and USA, I myself will put my son to IS for sure.

Between UK and USA, USA is even more easy to get into a decent school if you know the trick. e.g. UC Berkeley is not a bad choice for even the smartest students in the world. It is relatively easy to get in compared to Ivy League but the real easy route is to go through California community colleges where a real hopeless student by HK standard may still have a chance. (It is actually the backup plan for my son).

Prema 寫道:
HI Newton,

I have a son at home studying in Kinder.  If compare DBSPD  to good Internation School in HK, which one has a better chance to entre top university in UK or USA?  

I have been thinking this for long time. What is your opinion? Many thanks!

Newton

che 寫道:
newton,
quite agreed with you.  that's why after reading the list, my feeling is that this school is not bad (but not really outstanding).

do you have any thoughts on other "top" int'l schools in HK?

I guess CIS has already been the best in term of preparing student for top oversea universities. But everything has a trade-off.

My real "top" int'l schools are those exercising alternative method of education and believe in arousing internal interest of learning (Montessori). Whether the kid can get into top U is only secondary to me.

I am a bit philosophical here.  

Myjewel

"If you really want to put him to top U in the UK or US, the best route I think is to put him to local school and take oversea university entrance exam."

Hi Newton,
What is the "oversea university entrance exam" that you mentioned? Also can you share more on the California community colleges? which one is good ?
Thanks,

CherylMum

Re: CIS - thoughts & feelings?

[ 本帖最後由 CherylMum 於 09-11-17 15:50 編輯 ]

Newton

Myjewel 寫道:
Hi Newton,
What is the "oversea university entrance exam" that you mentioned? Also can you share more on the California community colleges? which one is good ?
Thanks,

For UK, it will be GCE A-level. For US, it is SAT and its associate subject tests which are even more easier than GCE A-level.

Community College should really be the last resort since it is not really a university. It is somewhat like the associate degree in HK which last for 2 years. Unlike HK, the transfer from associate degree to undergraduate degree is very common in the US and in California, the tie between community college and public school is very strong. Since students in community college are usually some elderly or part-time workers and grading curve is applied to students, most of the HK students who are mediocre in HK can score top GPA of 4.0 easily. UC Berkeley is one of the public school and allow transfer to 3rd year if GPA in community college is around 3.5. Although Berkeley undergraduate cannot compare with Harvard (but still top tier), its PhD programs can beat any schools in the world (including Harvard, MIT, Oxford and Cambridge). Therefore the teaching quality is the highest in the world.

While it is relatively easy to get into Berkeley by this route, not too many students are willing to spend 2 years in community college where quality and facility are quite poor and can no way be comparable with any university even in Hong Kong (although tuition fee is also very low).

However, unless my son is really hopeless, I won't take this route neither.