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Hi all,
I randomly came across this forum and was totally surprised by everything I saw. I was totally impressed by parents efforts and dedication they have spent in analyzing international schools.
I graduated from an ESF secondary school recently, (the traditonal 5, not one of the newer ones) and made the choice of going to a local university - the most elite one, and did the most elite course at that university. Thats the only reason why I stayed in Hong Kong. But I have deeply regreeted this and eventually made the choice to transfer to study abroad.
It appears that things have chnaged so much from say 6-7 years ago when I entered high school and so thats why I felt the compulsion to write some of my insider thoughts. Especially since it appears that many parents who are discussing on this forum have not gone through an ESF or an overseas education....and they appear to be just getting all their information from random people's opinions, rumours etc.
Everyone seems so concerned about getting in - yes, that is important, but I just wanted to provide some more long term advice.
1st point - you really shouldnt consider sending your child to a local HK university, unless you really cannot afford overseas. I made this dreadful mistake, mainly because I was attaracted by the course I was offered at this elite local university.
And one other point - if you are considering a career in business/ commercial / investment banking, corporate law etc - as many ESF grads go into these fields - you must go overseas for your education. All the biggest and best firms (who pay the most!) recruit almost exclusively from overseas universities, and almsot always from the best ones.
Fortunately - as an ESF graduate, and if you arent too dumb or anything - you should make it into an "elite" overseas university quite easily - it just happens, dont ask me how. We're are not particularly smart but just that LSE/Ivy League etc seem to take alot of us every year. It's easy trust me - i know for a parent it seems so far away - but beleive me - your child will get into a good university if he / she makes it into a ESF or any other good International school.
So dont waste his/her potential - dont go back and then send him back to a local university.
And its not just in terms of career, but also the people - ESF / International school kids VS Local kids are just totally different. We do not mix well. So going to a local university wasnt great in this aspect. So expect your child to come out being different, come out expecting him to be an i"ntl skool kid"....but thats prob the main reason why you are all considering sending your child to an Intl school rather than a local school - cuz you want your child to stand out.
And some parents ask about ranking of Intl schools - i think this is very hard to give. And one post which I read described the situation very well - group them into tiers.
Top tier will always be the traditonal and well established ones with western origins -
ESF (i think in my opinion all ESF are almost the same....same culture, same uni entrances...and when we are overseas universities and see ESF people, we tend to hang out and associate with each other very well, since we went through the same sort of education.)
ESF/GSIS/FIS/HKIS/CIS
In my opinion these are the best intl schools (in no ranking...its a tier, ok?)....all about the same. All have very good acadmic standards, get into good universities. But yes, I would generally agree that GSIS is slightly more rigourous. But if your child is smart, getting into say LSE/Ivy League should be equally easy whether he went to ESF or GSIS.
But they do have different foccus and culture:
GSIS - widely regarded as being the most academic and indeed this is true, best uni entrances, best A-Level etc.
ESF - mainly professional class, more down to earth, determined kids working for their aim. Not filled with "yee sai jo" rich kids. So the work atmosphere is good in all ESF schools (the 5 traditional ones i mean - IS, WIS, KGV, SIS, SC). Good uni entrances - we get into elite London Unis (LSE, UCL, KCL) quite easily as well as US Ivy Leagues or near-IVy Leaguges without much difficulty....provided your kid is decvent;ly smart. But if at a local school - many of these Unis would be very hard to access, unless your kid was super smart)
HKIS - more of a rich kids school, party school, but yet very high academic standards since many get into good Ivy Leagues. If you think your child has Ivy League potential and would enjoy an American culture, then this is good (btw....not everyone likes / suited for an American culture/education)
CIS - more of the local chinese rich people. business man, but also high standards and good uni entrances.
In my opinion, how to get in
I entered ESF in P6, many years ago, after having come back from overseas ( i was one of the kids from the migration generation). So for me, it was quite easy and back then the waiting list wasnt as long.
I know ESF teachers very well, they are nice, kind people - nthey are our firends by the time we come to Year 12-13....so dont get intimidated by them. What they really like and what they are really concerned with isnt academic ability alone - you have to be WESTERNSIED. You have to make your child behave as if he was brought up overseas. Back in my days, most of my classmates were retrunees from Canada, Australia, USA etc...so it wasnt as hard ...cuz we were genuinely "overseas". But I suspect what ESF teachers like is someone who will fit in with them - someone is isnt too "local"....for example...try to learn about life overseas (i know its hard, if you come from a totally local family)....in the interview....show international insight (if your child is old enough for this), when asked about past times - say things like "i play cricket with my dad" or I play rugby at the HKFC etc etc....not that Im saying you should lie - but rather eneterring ESF is a logn term thing - you shoudl try and make your chiold more international from a young age....take him to play western sports, hang out with western people or at least returnee chinese....the culutre betwen local and international families / returnees is very different. Try to mix and immerse with these people somehow - be it sports clubs, kowloon cricket club...that sort of stuff.....your child needs to feel international in order for the interviewer to feel comfortable admitting him / her. They are gwai los afterall, they dont like to be surrounded by parents/children who are totally different from them..
Whilst eveyrthing that I have read in this forum is very important and well said - like brushing up on your child's English, chosing the rightr address, strategically chosing schools based on their catchment zones etc...whilst all this is good - dont lose sight of the big picture - the gwai lo interviewers are looking for people who are like them - who are like their kids - who can fit into the school.
ESF in the past used to be very international - cuz it was mainly westeners, returnee chinese etc.....but nowadays the migration trend is over and most people who apply fopr ESF are locally born and bred - the ESF teachers want to preserve the atmosphere that was prevalent back in the late 1990s.
Thats my own opinion about ESF schools - they are not that harsh and unfriendly. They are nice people. But they are being so tough in the admission mainly bevcause of demand for places has risen so much and as such they want people who can genuinely fit into their culture - dont lose sight of the bigger picture in the search of a school for your kids. Good luck!!
Hope my insights have been of some help. |
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發表於 07-10-13 08:02
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(I am more unlucky in this sense