When it comes to P1 admissions, does parents' background such as academic level/achievement and profession matter? The reason I ask this question is:
Last year, my friend's daughter was accepted by an elite primiary school. According to my friend, his daugther was not performing very well at the interview but she got a place nonetheless. My friend, therefore, attributed partially the sucess to his background (graduated from Stanford, he worked in a highly sought after sector in the finance industry).
I think their first consideration is kid's capability, then family background (parents' profession) and parents support (to make sure they and the school are on the same page) come next.
It is hard to tell...unless you have insider information from the school directly. But even if it helped this time, she is still going to work hard on her own. She can't use her daddy's diploma and name card for secondary, university or job interviews.
原帖由 espana 於 09-10-20 10:56 發表
When it comes to P1 admissions, does parents' background such as academic level/achievement and profession matter? The reason I ask this question is:
Last year, my friend's daughter was accepted by ...
He put the big names down in the portfolio, alongside parents' education. As for award, I do not think the girl had any. My friend is not the type of "award" parents (In fact, I think he strongly opposed to such ideas). With that being said, he did take the daughter to swimming and English classes, etc.
For interview performance, the girl told his father that she forgot most of the manners, and she answered incorrectly a number of the games (the interviewers subsequently told her).
To me, the girl looks decent and educated…
原帖由 wootaitai 於 09-10-20 11:02 發表
How does the school know that the parent graduated from Stanford?
They put that in the portfolio?
how about the kid's portfolio/ kindy/ awards etc.... how did he know that the kid didnt do well.....
...
I think I did not make my statements clear enough. I tend to believe that my friend's daugther is smart (but she is too young for me to make any meaningfull estimates right). I was just saying that she did not perform well at the interviews.
原帖由 gingerale 於 09-10-20 11:16 發表
It is hard to tell...unless you have insider information from the school directly. But even if it helped this time, she is still going to work hard on her own. She can't use her daddy's diploma and ...
If you think the girl is smart, so, why do you think the interviewer could not make the same judgment during the interview? And do you know how 'bad' was the girl's performance during the interview? Or she just answered incorrecctly the questions but she behaved very well and gave an excellent impression to the interviewer? There are too many possibilites, therefore, I don't think there will be a definite answer unless the interviewer tell you.
原帖由 KK07 於 09-10-20 12:09 發表
If you think the girl is smart, so, why do you think the interviewer could not make the same judgment during the interview? And do you know how 'bad' was the girl's performance during the interview? ...
I believe parents' background does count. Just stand in the shoes of the school. How would you choose if two candidates show similar performance in the brief interviews? You would definitely compare other factors, right? And why do you think some schools interview also the parents?
Some schools may believe that smart parents have smart kids (i.e. genetics), some may believe that rich parents can give more opportunities for their kids to learn and participate in wider variety of activities, and some may prefer full-time moms for better care.
When preparing a portfolio, I think it would be helpful to put down more info regarding the parents rather than including the attendance certificates of many interest classes that the kid attended.
May I ask what you are referring to? Do you mean Stanford is not a good school? Or whether or not my friend has a good background has nothing to do with the schools he went to?
原帖由 good-boy 於 09-10-20 13:28 發表
yes, considered parent background only if every other aspects are the same. But Standford really means good ??
原帖由 gym 於 09-10-20 13:19 發表
I believe parents' background does count. Just stand in the shoes of the school. How would you choose if two candidates show similar performance in the brief interviews? You would definitely compar ...
Yes, i think it does count. But only for 2nd interview.
For the first round interview, I don't think they have time to look at >2000 application forms and profolios. So kids performance and luck is most important.
For 2nd interview, usually the principle will interview the kid/family one by one, and they will reveiw the profolio in detail.
But still, kids performance come first, family background will be counted only in borderline cases.
原帖由 espana 於 09-10-20 16:27 發表
> But Standford really means good ??
May I ask what you are referring to? Do you mean Stanford is not a good school? Or whether or not my friend has a good background has nothing to do with the sch ...
Honestly speaking, Standford, MIT, Cambridge so and so are those top uni that are the most difficult uni to get into (except that they made big donations). But this factor only weighs if firstly the child has good performance in the interview. I know a few children didn't get into SPCC (not even been selected into 2nd interview) even though their parents graduated from those top schools and were their SPCC old students. I don't know about other elite schools, maybe there are primary schools that weigh parents' background more than SPCC does.