HKIS

sh00

We just got an offer from HKIS Reception One. It's not an easy decision though. Really appreciate it if parents on this forum could provide some insights. We have two concerns. 1. HKIS's Chinese program. How is it compared to other IS? How well will the students be able to read and write Chinese? 2. HKIS is an expensive school. Are we getting what we are paying for? What are the advantages of getting into the school? what strengths the school processes that justify its high tuition? Many thanks!

sh00

Shootastar 發表於 14-5-26 16:39
回覆 jolalee 的帖子

jolalee

Thanks for sharing, Shootastar. This is very useful information. I tend to look at "parents'  legacy" as a compound factor. That is, legacy is usually highly correlated with other factors that influence one's education attainment (e..g, family income, parents' education, even race/ethnicity, etc.). This means when we look at the legacy admission ratio, we are not looking at the isolated effect of legacy on admission. There are many other factors at work. Maybe I am complicating the issue too much. It looks like a topic for a book. Anyway, I've learned a lot in this thread. Thanks everyone for contributing.

Shootastar

回覆 foolish.mom 的帖子

There was a rumour amongst my son's classmate that one of his classmates was admitted to an Ivies by making a donation of US$8 million some several years ago. But I do not know how true the case is. Anyway, I think if you want to study at top top top US college, the odds are better if you are an US citizen or a green card holder.

Shootastar

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

jolalee
When my two kids applied for admission to the US colleges several years ago, I had bought and read several books on admission for reference.

According to the authors of the books (who previously worked in the admission offices to read the applications), the odds of applying under the legacy category is relatively higher, but the total number admitted under the legacy category, depending on the schools, ranged from several ten to a little bit more than one hundred.

Again the successful applicants under the donation category (Development Office Cases) would be around 5 to 10 each year. Having said that no body knows the exact figure. In any event, I know many of my kids' classmates whose parents are not alumni were also admitted by Ivies or other respectable colleges such as MIT, CIT, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern. I think the most important factor is whether you are a citizen of US or a green card holder. If you are, you will be placed in the queue solely for them. If not, you will be placed in the international applicant queue. The number of international students admitted each by Ivies ranges around 7% to 8% of the total number of spots.

foolish.mom

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

I think it must be a really substantial amount of donation, if it can influence the admission decision of a top US university.  Within the circle of parents I know of, no one made donation to the top US universities but their children still got an offer.

jolalee

回覆 Shootastar 的帖子

Do you mean the small percentage of parents actually studied in an Ivy League/ Oxbridge school? True enough, but what about donation to schools? They don't have to be an alumni to donate...

Shootastar

jolalee and foolish.mom

Thanks for your clarification. Given the "small number' of successful legacy applicant each year, I feel the admission list of each high school could tell us how good that high school is.

foolish.mom

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

When the year 10 returns to HK at year 11, the year 9 will become year 10 and go to Hangzhou.  Thus in the secondary school, there are always 120 students less than before. When there is no Hangzhou campus, total student population is 120*7 years. After Hangzhou campus in operation, student population in HK becomes around 140*6 years. It will happen when the whole year 10 goes to Hangzhou on a compulsory basis.

jolalee

回覆 foolish.mom 的帖子

Thanks for the info! Just wondering why student going to Hangzhou at year 10 will free up space for the whole secondary school, i mean they will return to HK after a year. Are you referring to the amount of physical classroom space?

foolish.mom

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

For CIS, after the reception intake, another mass intake will happen at year 7. There are 120 students at year 7, heard that the student body at year 7 will increase because year 10 at Hangzhou frees up some student space for the whole secondary school.

Shootastar

For Ivies, the percentage of students who receive financial aid each year amount to 60% to 70%. Some Ivies would not give financial aid to international students. If the applicants' parents are alumni of Ivies, I am quite surprised that their kids need to apply for aid. Although the admission process is never transparent, based on the figures, I am really surprised that the legacy admission of a particular college may amount to 30% or more.

Harvard says it clearly that being a legacy, the admission committee will have another look on your application only if your application tie with others in the pool. Again, it is up to you whether or not you believe what Harvard says.

honeybunny7

回覆 HKTHK 的帖子

Legacy seems to play a significant role as I have been told.
For Penn, I was told that the acceptance rate of alumni kids applying during the Early Decision period was >40% this year.  

For Harvard, my colleague who's an alumni said the acceptance rate of alumni kids getting accepted was >30% this year, and on average each year up to 60% of the class would be filled by alumni kids.  

For Stanford, my other colleague who's an alumni said the the acceptance rate of alumni kids getting accepted was also >30%.

No info on MIT yet, another colleague will start interviewing for them this coming cycle so we'll know more.

But, what we know are just some numbers/stats, I would not claim to know the true effect of legacy.  Because I and my colleagues just started interviewing for our schools, we are NOT "senior" enough to see the stats ourselves.  We got the info from the committees, and we do NOT know how these stats were calculated, and we do NOT know how being kid of an alumni affect the acceptance evaluation committee's decision.   

Also, we need to take into account that alumni parents are probably more self-selective than other parents, meaning we kinda know what it takes to get into our schools so we would not push our kids to apply to our schools if we know they aren't up for the challenge.

And note the stats probably include children of professors - I heard that children of professors at Ivy League schools are automatically considered as alumni kids at any Ivy League school.  i.e. if your mom teaches at Penn, you are considered an alumni kid when you apply to any of the Ivy League schools, not limited to just Penn.   

jolalee

回覆 wiman 的帖子

I guess i can help answer the CDNIS one:
I am not sure exactly hom many applications CDNIS has this year for Reception, but most probably somewhere between HKIS & CIS (400-800). They shortlist and interview under 300 potential applicants from that. 80 seats are available at Reception, 40 at Pre-reception (but even parents with sibling priority finds it hard to get into pre-reception due to the limited spots) so the best bet is still Reception. I know many applicants holding Cdn passports cannot get a spot, so the competition is quite fierce.

Given CDNIS & CIS has 105 & 108 students respectively by secondary graduation, i am guessing there's another minor mass intake of 20-30 students besides the mass one at Reception, probably whist entering primary or secondary? Anyone who can enlighten us about this?

sh00

回覆 wiman 的帖子

sorry, wiman, I don't know about these two schools. Maybe some parents on the thread can help you with CDNIS? Or contact their admissions office. I am sure they have the numbers you need. Sorry!

wiman

回覆 sh00 的帖子

Shoo, as u explained, CIS has a very low chance to grt the seat compared with HKIS. So do u know how many applicants do CDNIS and HKA have on average and the successful rate on getting the seat? Thx

jolalee

sh00 發表於 14-5-25 20:44
回覆 jolalee 的帖子

I think you should go to the interview to have a feel of the school. You've alr ...

I was doing so many essay type questionnaires for so many school applications in one go that I've forgotten which school asked what questions LOL, but you're right, since I've done so much already (that's before my boy got the CDNIS offer) we may as well go though with the interview and get a good feel of the school.
In terms of class pet however, I wouldn't judge a school based on them. Yes my son's Montessori school had giant fat silk worms too and the school is great, but another "elite local kindergarten" we once visit has quite a few bunny rabbits as class pets and honestly that school is pretty crappy.  Anyhow it's great for kids to learn about life cycles and taking care of the living world around them.

HKTHK

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

Legacy and US citizenship both makes a difference.  Donation as well.   But I haven't seen anyone being able to adjust college placements for these factors so I always take those data with a grain of salt.

jolalee

bobbycheung 發表於 14-5-25 22:52
回覆 Shootastar 的帖子

Shootastar

Do you think similar situations happens at HKA & GSIS? We heard that many CIS parents made obscene "contributions" in elite institutions too to ensure their kids get into those schools....

Shootastar

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

bobbycheung
Thanks for your sharing. .

bobbycheung

回覆 Shootastar 的帖子

Shootastar
I know nothing about legacy admissions.  I came across the article below by chance.  Not sure if it's true though.
http://www.businessinsider.com/legacy-kids-have-an-admissions-advantage-2013-6