Colleges are all different in the priority of what they are looking for - SAT scores, grades, course work, extra activities, application essay, etc. Each school has a different ranking of these items. For course work they like to see that the student took the most challenging path offered at their school - recognizing that not all schools offer advanced classes. If you can't take AP classes but take the highest level offered and do well in the class, then it should be ok.
Where SAS really shines is in college counseling - they lead the kids through the whole application and college selection process. Colleges visit throughout the year and kids are very well informed.

I agree with tnmom completely. The order is usually GPA, SAT, activites, and then essay/interview. For all schools I visited, the most improtant factor is GPA with the evidence of taking the most challenging courses offered at school. If you can show you extend yourself to take online advanced course not availabe at your school, that is a plus. My son took a EPGY advanced math course after AP Calculus BC at school. His college did accept the EPGY credit, that is a bonus for time and money saved. The book Making it into a top college by Howard Greene, and Matthew Greene is a good guidebook.

PS Hi, tnmom. Did you receive my email?

I found Concordia very cold. It didn't feel like a school at all. It was so quiet!!! It felt like we were in an office building not a school. The person that gave us the tour was very matter of fact and dry. There were no pictures or drawings on the walls and the kids were soooo quiet. It was really quite wierd. It was like the life was sucked out of the school...

just my experience, that's why it is so important to visit the school before you choose.

P

I am moving to Shanghai in Aug 2006 with two kids age 13 and 16. If SAS has no space for them, which other school wuld be alternatives? Help

Dear Reacher:

We are from Canada too

Hey jsun,

If you register now you shouldn't have a problem... don't wait till you get there.

I am guessing that your kids are in high school by their ages. I am not sure of the other high schools in the area.

Are you looking at living on the Pudong side or the Puxi side?

It's winter vacation. We decided that SMIC is of the best value.

Schools...what to do...what a nightmare...l have a first grader. 4th grader and a 11th grader and l am about to move Melbourne , Australia...In the next 8weeks...what are the best options? I don't know where to begin and what to look at for the varying ages? Would greatly appreciate any comments from those who have done this all before....Cheers Amanda

from Melbourne, Australia that should read above...

Does your company offer a look-see trip where you pick a house and schools? This is the best option - to work with the relocation agent to find both things that are relatively near each other and also near work. Since you are coming from Australia I think the grade levels may be mixed up - don't they start the school year now instead of August/Sept? I imagine the schools will be aware of that. This may be a difficult time to relocate since the schools are fairly full - which is why a good relocation service could help. We used FPD Savills and they did a great job - settting up school and house appointments and negociating our housing contract.

I guess I'm biased as I work at the British International School, Puxi Campus, but I think it's one of the best schools in Shanghai.

We are a brand new school (opened in September 2005), yet the atmosphere at our school seems as if we've been around a lot longer.

The school aims to keep ratios within 25% for any nationality, so we have a huge eclectic mix of cultures from all over the World, all studying within a UK National Curriculum context.

Located just around the corner from SAS in Puxi, BISS Puxi boasts great facilities and a very competent body of staff.

There is also a campus in Pudong for those who live on the other side of the river.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if you would like to know more.

I guess I'm biased as I work at the British International School, Puxi Campus, but I think it's one of the best schools in Shanghai.

We are a brand new school (opened in September 2005), yet the atmosphere at our school seems as if we've been around a lot longer.

The school aims to keep ratios within 25% for any nationality, so we have a huge eclectic mix of cultures from all over the World, all studying within a UK National Curriculum context.

Located just around the corner from SAS in Puxi, BISS Puxi boasts great facilities and a very competent body of staff.

There is also a campus in Pudong for those who live on the other side of the river.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if you would like to know more.

I guess I'm biased as I work at the British International School, Puxi Campus, but I think it's one of the best schools in Shanghai.

We are a brand new school (opened in September 2005), yet the atmosphere at our school seems as if we've been around a lot longer.

The school aims to keep ratios within 25% for any nationality, so we have a huge eclectic mix of cultures from all over the World, all studying within a UK National Curriculum context.

Located just around the corner from SAS in Puxi, BISS Puxi boasts great facilities and a very competent body of staff.

There is also a campus in Pudong for those who live on the other side of the river.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if you would like to know more.

rebirth wrote:hi joshua,

....you mentioned that the faculty turnaround rate is high at SMIC... why? can you share with me your comments between SSIS (Singapore international school) and SMIC? Besides the differences on school fees...

thanks!!

It's been a while since this question was asked, but I think it is a good one. Does anyone know how Shanghai Singapore International School holds up in comparison to others? We just moved here (2 days ago!) but I've been researching schools for months now. I'm about to decide to send my 6-year-old daughter to SSIS, and I'm wondering why no one talks about this school - it is mostly Asian population and is a bilingual school with very good facilities, small student to teacher ratios.... and lowest price out of all international schools. So does anyone know something I'm missing about this??? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi All:

My husband is very likely to relocatr to Shanghai in the middle of this year, therefore my family will be in the city after July . Dose any one know a good map in internet of Pudong area? My husband will be working in Pudong , so ideally we will live in Pudong , thus so as the kids school. We would enrol our kids into British school, but I heard the BISS is bit far to travel from the expat residential area. OR dose any Australian out there can shad some light on schools in Shanghai simular to the Australian education system. Any comment would be much appreciated.

"
I" have y kids at SRIS and I am very happy there. And so are they.
Academically speaking, it ranks amongst the top british schools. And I am not just talking as a happy mother. they post the SATS results (tests taken at the age of 7, 11 and 14 by ALL kids in the UK-government organised AND corrected) on their website and the kids' scores are much higher than the average UK scores! In spite of the fact that over 30% of all children are non native speakers!
Most british schools in Shanghai do not even take part in the official SATS testing as they are afraid of the outcome."

man, that was funny


i would just gloat at the education i got now.

Lisa,
We looked into schools and finally settled on YCIS (Yew Chung International School). SMIC is a school made up of 50% (I believe) students whose parents work for SMIC, and I wasn't that into the idea of sending our kids to a school run by a corporation unrelated to schooling.... But from the website it looks ok. There are better options. Also, a great option is Shanghai Community International Schools (SCIS). We looked at this one, and it was very beautiful, very friendly staff, and kids from all over the world. The reason we ultimately chose YCIS over SCIS was because YCIS is a bilingual school, and the location is better for us. Both were great.
My advice to you is to plan 1 or 2 days when you get here to go look at all the schools you are curious about (I would say to look at atleast 3 schools). All the international schools are quite expensive, but if you're coming on an expat package they should give you some allowance for this.
Last, you also have the choice of some local schools (and there are some very prestigious schools that allow foreigners) which is great for Chinese immersion, but we decided against this due to the high academic demands and the very long hours (7:30-4:30 for primary school, + 2 1/2 hours of homework per night!)
Good luck to you!
Emily

eje wrote:Lisa,
We looked into schools and finally settled on YCIS (Yew Chung International School). SMIC is a school made up of 50% (I believe) students whose parents work for SMIC, and I wasn't that into the idea of sending our kids to a school run by a corporation unrelated to schooling.... But from the website it looks ok. There are better options. Also, a great option is Shanghai Community International Schools (SCIS). We looked at this one, and it was very beautiful, very friendly staff, and kids from all over the world. The reason we ultimately chose YCIS over SCIS was because YCIS is a bilingual school, and the location is better for us. Both were great.
My advice to you is to plan 1 or 2 days when you get here to go look at all the schools you are curious about (I would say to look at atleast 3 schools). All the international schools are quite expensive, but if you're coming on an expat package they should give you some allowance for this.
Last, you also have the choice of some local schools (and there are some very prestigious schools that allow foreigners) which is great for Chinese immersion, but we decided against this due to the high academic demands and the very long hours (7:30-4:30 for primary school, + 2 1/2 hours of homework per night!)
Good luck to you!
Emily

I would like to retract my statements about YCIS. After 3 weeks of our daughter attending this school, we are not happy with it. It is a complete disappointment: language immersion is not what it's cracked up to be, and it is not worth the money. We are now looking for a local/private school... though most don't have websites, so it's all by word of mouth. If anyone knows of a good bilingual school that is not exclusive to expats, please please post it, or contact me!
Thanks!

eje wrote:It's been a while since this question was asked, but I think it is a good one. Does anyone know how Shanghai Singapore International School holds up in comparison to others? We just moved here (2 days ago!) but I've been researching schools for months now. I'm about to decide to send my 6-year-old daughter to SSIS, and I'm wondering why no one talks about this school - it is mostly Asian population and is a bilingual school with very good facilities, small student to teacher ratios.... and lowest price out of all international schools. So does anyone know something I'm missing about this??? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

Whoa! Lowest price of all international schools? SMIC is cheaper than us! OK, maybe it's not considered an international school (not operating on such a licence, I believe)...hmm...but I'm pretty sure we're not the lowest price (though we are among there).

It has to do with our target clientele (the business people without a fat expat package offered by their companies). Perhaps it also has to do with the fact that Singaporean companies (Singaporeans are about 25% of our enrolment) don't give very fat expatriate package too.

In spite of this, I believe we offer value for the amount that you pay (as in, a good education for a fair price). But there again, this is a biased account (I head a department at the Xuhui campus), so listen at your own risk !

StMichael wrote:
Whoa! Lowest price of all international schools? SMIC is cheaper than us! OK, maybe it's not considered an international school (not operating on such a licence, I believe)...hmm...but I'm pretty sure we're not the lowest price (though we are among there).

It has to do with our target clientele (the business people without a fat expat package offered by their companies). Perhaps it also has to do with the fact that Singaporean companies (Singaporeans are about 25% of our enrolment) don't give very fat expatriate package too.

In spite of this, I believe we offer value for the amount that you pay (as in, a good education for a fair price). But there again, this is a biased account (I head a department at the Xuhui campus), so listen at your own risk !

Umm...Im a student from SMIC and I was once from SSIS.
SMIC is much harder then SSIS and SSIS's price is twice as much as SMIC...

Hi, ex-pupil! Do I happen to know you?

Why not share with the forumers here from the perspective of a pupil at SMIC what you mean by much harder, so that the parents here can benefit?

Another option not mentioned before is Shanghai United Bilingual School (aka Xiehe Bilingual School aka Shanghai United International School) - it is a Chinese school with a International track in Hongqiao and they are talking about opening a campus in Pudong in the next year. They have a low teacher student ratio (9:1) because they have a Chinese native speaker and English native speaker teaching every class. They also offer pullouts for CSL and ESL so the kids have the opportunity to catch up with their peers if they aren't fluent in both or either. It is an IB school. And much lower price than it's big name counterparts.

emselst, have you gone there for a visit? and where is your daughter now? You previously posted that she wasn't happy at YCIS.

Yes, I've been to SUBS/SUIS/Xiehe (they've recently changed their name, and I'm not sure which one is official) for a visit. It had a small school feeling, with a lot of attention paid to the individual needs of the children. They boast that they combine the best of Western and Eastern teaching methods by having a Chinese and English teacher in all classes at all times. And, unlike YCIS (which also does this with the teachers) they actually teach subjects in English and Chinese, instead of teaching subjects in English and Chinese in Chinese. I also have a friend that has had her kids there for 3 years, and they are quite happy with it. They are older children (10-12 years) and they are both bilingual now.

Currently, we have our daughter at a local Chinese kindergarten, which is much more play oriented (ironically) than YCIS. YCIS just didn't pay careful attention to detail and was not attentive to her individual needs. She started halfway through the year, and so she was behind and they just threw her in and expected her to just figure it out. There was a lot of damage done because of this sink or swim attitude. But, that said, I know several people who really are very happy with YCIS. It all comes down to everyone is different. It didn't work for us, but that doesn't mean it is a bad school.

They're in Puxi right? well, something to keep in mind since we are now in final negotiations for a house in Puding.

yes, they're in Puxi. But, they have "plans" (nothing specific yet) to open a campus in Pudong. They told me 1 year from now, but nothing is for certain.

Good luck with your house!

I'm always very curious over one thing - for a school to get top notch teachers, they probably have to pay top-notch salaries. How do schools which don't command high fees pay their teachers? They must have some secret that my company does not...hmm...

Yes, that's true. In logical terms, you are abolutely right. But it is really much more complex than that.

I think some reasons the REALLY expensive ($20G/year) international schools charge so much is because:

a- they can because what other choices do parents have when they feel so out of place? Plus, to attend these schools, you HAVE to have a foreign passport, which means that most of the people who attend receive an education allowance that covers all or most of the tuition.

b- they generally build new facilities (as I said, SUIS is a Chinese local school with an international branch, which means it is not a western facility)

c- they import teachers so they have to pay them a lot more, packages etc... whereas the bilingual schools only import about 1/2 of their teachers, and the other 1/2 are local and don't receive packages. YCIS is an exception to this, although they may import many of their Chinese speakers as well since they are a Hong Kong based school, I'm not sure.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons, and I'm not an expert. I am only making observations. It seems a very bad idea to assume that just because the school is expensive that they pay their teachers well, and that because they pay their teachers well, it means they are top notch. It is not always as it seems.

It is my opinion that quality teaching doesn't necessarily have to do with how much you are paid, the facilities you are teaching in, or what country you come from.

Hmm...you do have a point there...

i have to fully agree with emselst - that just because some international schools pay their teachers well, doesn't mean they are top notch, nor does it means that the kids are getting a reasonably good education.

It would be not be wise for anyone to assume that low salaries means the teachers in that school is of low teaching standards.