Urgent Advice needed: CDNIS vs. GSIS

L

littlesunshine2

Registered User
My child has been accepted to Canadian International School and German Swiss International School (international stream) for KG2 starting September. I would like opinions on those two schools (positive & negative) to help me with the decisions.

Thanks
LS
 
Congrats ! Thought the interviews were still going on for CDNIS / GSIS would be in March. And results would be out in March end / April ?
 
Both are very very good schools. Even though I am European, I would probably choose CDNIS, based on the IB-curriculum, which we really like. I don't think you can wrong with either school but would probably decide what kind of curriculum is more attractive to you and which one better suits your child.
 
littlesunshine2: thanks. but gsis interviews are being held in march. they just had an open house for everyone on feb 15 / 16th. we went for that and there were lots of parents. for cdnis i know a few freinds who kids are appearing for interviews in the coming weekend for KG2 intnl stream.

just asking because i am still a little cluless about the admssion process here. if some seats are allocated before everyone is interviewed - then would help to keep expectations even lower. sigh
 
i was just at CDNIS today and asked the head of admissions about the offer letters. They only go out in march after all interviews are over. She assured me no letters have gone out at all, not even sibling offers!
 
Lav - exactly what we were told. We do not have any priorities or debenture, so if seats are allocated even before all interveiws are completed our low chances went even lower :)

Peainpod - the interveiw letters / mails came some time back.
 
I do know people who have had an offer for GSIS with the need to confirm and pay the deposit by the end of next week. Not sure if they are still interviewing though, but definitely offers going out from GSIS.
 
If you believe everything the schools tell you, I ave a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

Jokes aside, our neighbors son who is Canadian, got an acceptance last week. They our from Ottawa so maybe that helped. Both my children attend CDNIS and they really love it. The Chinese program is fantastic and the school produces well rounded pupils. I have heard people complaining that the school is very local but that is a plus for us.

Don't know much about GSIS except that they have an intensive academic bent and the Chinese program is poor.
 
Our son interviewed before CNY at CDNIS for Reception and we have not heard and he also has sibling priority. Did your neighbour's child get accepted for the 2012/2013 year for Pre Reception or Reception? I am with others on this thread who said letters have not gone out yet. CDNIS was still doing interviews today for Pre Rec and Rec b/c we know kids that were testing. We have been told that we won't hear until March.

That being said... our daughter loves CDNIS (she is in Reception). The Mandarin programme is great, the class size is small 20, her teachers are quick to respond to our queries and other teachers/staff/Principals know her by name (not because she is bad) which I really appreciate. We love the warmth of the school. As for those who say it is too local - I can see it in the older grades, but her class is a good mix.
 
GSIS has had a reputation for a long time of having an administration that is very dismissive of parental concerns.

Their extra-curricular program is not even in the same ball park as CDNIS'.

Also, the curriculum at GSIS is more limited - they only offer a very narrow range of subjects for matriculation. CDNIS' IB package is growing every year.

I would go with CDNIS.
 
HappyV

How does the academic standard at CDNIS compare with the elite schools like CIS and GSIS, particularly at the Secondary level? The IB results from last year seem prett mediocre.

Also, do you know much about the University placements from CDNIS. From the CDNIS website I do not see that many students attend the top universities (Ivy Leagues or OxBridge) rather most end up at Tier II or III unis.

Finally, the student body looks to be pretty local at the secondary school level but I hear that that is changing. What is your view?
 
just a question: are you judging its "localness" by photographs or by some other method. remember, just because people look chinese, does not mean they are local. they very well could be overseas chinese.

also, is it really important how many of the kids go to ivy league or oxbridge unis? i thought there was more to education than passing exams and getting into the very, very, very top universities.... but that's just me.
 
Tuna108 said:
How does the academic standard at CDNIS compare with the elite schools like CIS and GSIS, particularly at the Secondary level? The IB results from last year seem prett mediocre.
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They dont really compare.
GSIS is a high pressure, very academic school.
CNDIS is a well rounded school with emphasis on school work as well as music, fine arts and sports.
Also, do you know much about the University placements from CDNIS. From the CDNIS website I do not see that many students attend the top universities (Ivy Leagues or OxBridge) rather most end up at Tier II or III unis.
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CDNIS is not known to be nor meant to be a high pressure academic school. One should not expect a lot of their students to end up in IvyLeague universities. Many of the families I know that have their kids attend CDNIS have their sights set on Canadian Universities.

Finally, the student body looks to be pretty local at the secondary school level but I hear that that is changing. What is your view?
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The student body at most foreign top end universities also look to be pretty asian. How/Why is this relevant to the discussion on hand?
 
All good points howardcoombs and carang. that is why my kids attend CDNIS. from the sound of it, GSIS is a fairly academics focused one dimensional school.
 
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I think there are some construction issues at GSIS in the next decade that might affect a child starting school now. I'm not sure but I though some of the primary students would be in a temporary campus for a few years while redevelopment was underway at the Peak.

You're not going to get a 'bad' education at either of these schools. I think what you should ask yourself is where are you going to be in ten years, and where is your child going to study in maybe 20? If North America, than you might consider CDNIS, if Europe, GSIS might be more in line. You'll want to try and minimize disruptions in education systems moving forward.

You should also ask your pre-school "what kind of learner" is my child? Do they do well on their own, or do they need a group. Will they perform well in a new surrounding, or is it better that they be with some friends from the pre-school. See if they have thoughts on which school might be better-suited for the learning style of your child.
 
I would dispute the assumption that any school which is not Ivy League or Oxbridge is a "Tier II or III school". Many fine universities exist outside these narrow boundaries - for example, Michigan U or UCLA in the USA or the London School of Economics or University College London. It should depend more on what you want to study - one example being Fine Arts. IvyLeague/Oxbridge wouldn't be in the top ten for the worldwide leaders in this field.

As the IB curriculum has been introduced, CDNIS has become much more academically selective, and each parent has a view on where they stand with that.

I would always go for the IB over A levels, not the least of which because I would guess that by the time a Reception student gets to that age, the A levels will have (should have) been changed dramatically. There is a growing consensus, both within the UK and outside of it, that the field of engagement is too narrow when you are only asked to study 3 subjects. I like the idea of the "English Baccalaureate" which is really IB-lite, but still much more broad than the A-levels, without losing any depth.

Walk through each school again - try to get a feel for the community there.

In my experience, GSIS does not have anywhere near the community feel that CDNIS has. Certainly, the facilities at CDNIS exceed those of GSIS, but I know that GSIS has an (ongoing?) building project. I assume that someone looking to enrol their child will have looked into this thoroughly.

And CDNIS is not 'local' - although a fair proportion of students has grown up in HK, only a very small percentage have transferred from the local school system. A large number of nationalities are represented, which you may not know about if you go only on visuals.

I would agree that CDNIS is more Canadian/North American in style, and GSIS is more European. But there have always been a good number of North Americans at GSIS and more and more European/UK students at CDNIS.

As to how CDNIS compares with CIS, a few points to make:
Although CDNIS will remove students who do not been certain academic standards, CIS is a much more ruthless academic environment. Again, each parent will have a position on that.
CDNIS has only been offering the IB Diploma for two years, whereas CIS have been running it for 20.
I do not agree that the CDNIS IB results were mediocre: in every subject they were (well) above world standards: although CIS gets better results, that does not make CDNIS 'mediocre'.

But I am not sure that the CDNIS/CIS debate is relevant here, as the OP is only considering GSIS and CDNIS.

If the original poster wants more info on GSIS or CDNIS, they can PM me.
 
My kid got an offer from CDNIS. How about you, happyhk66? Is you kid going to CDNIS? Do you know anything about the school.......would ilke to know more info about the school.
 
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