SPGS has issued interview invitations

[Guest55]

It's mad though isn't it, mad?

[tiffinboys]

Both are great schools in their own ways. Hope we can all agree on that.

[Stroller]

There's diversity on the grounds of the legally protected characteristics.
There's also diversity of thought.
Both posters may be right.

[Catseye]

The very Top Tier Schools are very good at maximising potential, in fact I would say at 18 they are maxed-out , they are about as good as they will get.

What I found at Oxford was that these young bright guns coped much better than us Comp kids for the first yr, we were like "rabbits caught in the headlights" by the intense pace of work but by the second yr, we had got the measure of things and competed well and by the third yr were consistently outperforming most of our ex-public school peers (and good friends).

Just my experience.

[Jean.Brodie]

Catseye,

We have recently visited some universities. It's been a chance for our daughter (Year 11) to firm up her A Level choices, partly on the basis of what different faculties want.

Anyhow, our Uni peers from the 1980s who are academics are now quite senior. Their views, at various Unis, exactly reflect your experience and they state it quite firmly in private. They are always looking for ability and potential, not accomplishment based on exceptionally resourced teaching and tutorials in their schools. And such potential they find most often and most impressively in those from 'ordinary' or 'tough' state schools.

This observation is not new. Unis have known about this phenomenon for generations, especially since 1945 and the comaprative 'opening up' of Uni education to most socio-economic groups.

[Daogroupie]

Gosh! I am actually going to agree with Jean Brodie! What a moment! I have seen this with some students from prep schools in DAO. As time goes on with an even playing field some students that have been spoon fed wait for opportunities to come to them instead of chasing them. Those using to fending for themselves overtake those who have been heavily supported. Some students confuse cheque book education with selective education and think they are somehow naturally better because their parents paid.

I don't think any of the students currently holding offers at any of these schools are super bright, they have just had a lot of help. When the support eases off that is when those who are genuinely academic come to the fore.

I know of students with double scholarships to indies that are not in the top sets at DAO because the places have been taken by state schools students used to grafting for themselves. Parents are puzzled as they think they have put them in a good school. But the knowledge needs to be applied, it does not drip from the ceilings. At QE boys are kept firmly on the case but what happens to them when they get to university and have to have their own work ethic? DG

[Stroller]

I don't think any of the students currently holding offers at any of these schools are super bright, they have just had a lot of help.

That sentence is a very sweeping statement. Although a solid grasp of fundamentals and exam technique help, no amount of tutoring will get an average child (in the mathematical sense of the word average) through the SPGS process, whatever about the other exams. No matter how much those who are so inclined may argue about how far to the right of the bell curve an individual girl may be.

The nuances between bright and super bright are in the remit of CAT scores, but bright isn't an antonym of academic. Not everyone has been spoon-fed everything they produce. Your comment suggests - surprisingly - that you don't seem to have experienced it or believe it, but it is possible for a child to be both (plain/very/super) bright and academic. Is there a basis for saying you don't think "any of the students currently holding offers at any of these schools are super bright"? If there is, I can't see it.

[ConcernedDad]

Hi Stroller, and shootmenow, I am glad you found my post interesting.

Agree that diversity is a perspective!

[MissWorry]

My worries dont leave me. Dd offered hbs ...

[Amber]

I'm an academic from a tough state school background. What I have noticed over and over is that people educated in the independent sector have masses more confidence in themselves and their abilities than state school pupils. As others observe, this may give them a head start at university; sadly they may also get an advantage when it comes to university admission. However, drive and determination from within oneself are worth ten times any other factors when it comes down to the knotty business of finals and, especially, postgraduate study. In my view those who have learned early on to fend for themselves a bit are more likely to be able to find these resources within themselves later.

Diversity of thought is the real gem - I don't know any of these schools but being valued for creativity and the ability to be a free spirit is more valuable than lip service being paid to the usual suspects/tick list of race, gender, orientation etc. A truly great organisation can see beyond all that and bring out the individual spirit in everyone.