<p>international school of beijing is supposed to be really good. is it easy for foreigners to get in? thanks!</p>
<p>ISB is a pretty prestigious school in BeiJing, academic and sports-wide. The chance of students getting admitted is the same for everyone. From my experience, it’s usually not too hard. The only thing is the waiting lists that end up being 100 kids long.</p>
<p>There are other great schools such as WAB and Dulwich BeiJing.</p>
<p>ISB has a good reputation on the surface. I live in China and International School of Beijing is considered all about surfaces and facades. One of my friends visited that school and refused to go there and went to our school instead. Apparently, all the students told her that in ISB, it’s okay for everyone to cheat in order to get good grades and morale is not a very high standard. Another friend of mine went to ISB for half a year and immediately came back to our school. She HATED how everything was fake and overdone. Students are mean and they will do anything to be better than you.</p>
<p>That is what I’ve heard from other international students who live in China, but I do not speak from experience, just from what other people told me.</p>
<p>However, I do recommend WAB and two of my friends go there and they are very happy.</p>
<p>If you like the traditional private school experience, I’ve heard good things about the Harrow School here.</p>
<p>I’ve heard international schools in that area are ridiculously expensive - like college-tuition at private schools. I could be wrong though…</p>
<p>International schools in China only accepts foreigners; people holding a China passport cannot apply to international schools unless they have a green card as well. I heard ISB is quite a good school but as with the students I’m not sure. I have a friend who did went to WAB and said that WAB is really artistic in general… so I guess if you are an artistic person you may be interested in WAB. I’m not too familiar with the internation schools in beijing since I’m currently attending an international school in Shanghai (Shanghai American School) but I must say… students here are really competitive!</p>
<p>They are pretty ridiculous. High school costs around 50, 000 dollars per year. If you’re going to Shanghai though and manage to get into Shanghai American School, the tuition is much lower!</p>
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<p>Absolutely untrue. From my experience and that of people I’ve known, ISB’s reputation for excellence (in both academics/athletics) is well-deserved. Students there are, for the most part, extremely friendly and hard-working. Cheating is actually quite rare, as ISB has a <em>very</em> strict academic honesty policy with punishments severe enough to discourage it. WAB, on the other hand, has the reputation of being much more academically relaxed and a “party school”. To be fair, WAB also has gorgeous facilities (in comparison, ISB’s are rather dull) and a great arts department.</p>
<p>To answer limmering’s original question, it shouldn’t be too difficult to be accepted to ISB as long as you have a decent academic record. The length of the waitlist will depend heavily on which grade you’re entering.</p>
<p>ISB’s campus is not as pretty, but their academics is much more well developed than WAB. WAB is a relatively newer school, with many of their programs (especially the IB) being still in their infancy. ISB is one of the best international schools in China, sending many students off to top colleges around the world.</p>
<p>Only “foreigners” are allowed to enter the school, likewise to most international schools in China. That means that local Chinese without a non-Chinese passport/Green Card will not be able to enter the school.</p>
<p>How is the school doing this year with regards to college admissions? Ten to MIT? :P</p>
<p>Although WAB is a younger school graduates have gone on to schools such as Cambridge, Oxford, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, University of Chicago, USC, Berkeley, University of Toronto, McGill, Tufts, WUSTL, Brown amongst others. Students have been admitted to great schools such as Northwestern, Columbia etc. So even though it’s only have four graduating classes, it hasn’t taken long for the school to prove itself.</p>
<p>At ISB this year, college admissions are outstanding, in my opinion. There have been acceptances to Stanford (3), Yale (1), Cambridge (1), Princeton (1), Brown (2), UC Berkeley (17), UCLA (21), Georgetown (2), Northwestern (4), USC (15), UPenn (2), Carnegie Mellon (1; I’ve only HEARD, not know for sure), JHU (2), NYU (17). That is all I remember right now. But with the exception of Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth and MIT, which we do have several people waitlisted, we have acceptances to every top school.</p>
<p>i have like a 3.42 uw (so like mostly b’s). however, i have all A’s in english. could i get in?</p>
<p>Okay, I AM CURRENTLY A STUDENT AT ISB. I’ve been here for a while, so I have a lot of experience.</p>
<p>@parisrosaries: Yes, ISB is definitely one of the prestigious schools in China. It has pretty close ties with the other international schools in Beijing as well as in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and there are always competitions (for extracurricular activites) with other schools in East Asia, so it’s not only limited to China. HOWEVER, the chances of getting in ARE NOT THE SAME FOR EVERYONE. Because it’s affiliated with the US embassy, it is easier to get into if you’re an “embassy kid”. There was a girl with an incredible record (she was an amazing athlete and she was quite smart) who was Asian-American and didn’t get in, and she is definitely smarter than a significant portion of people in my grade. Just saying. I am biased (but I definitely criticize ISB… well, I criticize it a lot, actually) but I think ISB is indeed the best choice for someone living in Beijing, just because there isn’t a whole range of suitable schools for foreigners to go to. Well, there is, but… well, ISB is the oldest and it has a lot of experience. This year was its 30th anniversary. Not that good, but good enough, I guess.</p>
<p>@hellohurricane: Harrow and Dulwich follow the British curriculum I believe. However, in terms of academics, sports, and other ECs, I think ISB is better.</p>
<p>@chocogyrl: definitely not! Cheating is highly discouraged at ISB and trust me, we’re very strict about that. I will admit that ISB is VERY ACADEMICS-ORIENTED, and though we <em>encourage</em> (using this word cautiously here) involvement in extracurriculars, I feel as though a lot of ISB students do it for college apps and whatever. Again, VERY academics-oriented. Grades are important here.</p>
<p>@everison: I completely agree with you. The campus at ISB sucks. The interior is fine… I hate the outside. It’s ugly. But yes, WAB is definitely more arts-oriented, and it’s much more relaxed and is…well… let’s just say people there like to let loose more often.</p>
<p>@tentonsoffun: how did you even get those stats!? I’m assuming you’re a senior? I know three people who are matriculating to Berkeley, but I didn’t know that many got in. The graduating class this year is definitely very impressive.</p>
<p>@purplepoppy: I’m actually not sure what the admissions process is like. I would think that whether or not you get in truly depends on what school you came from, as well as your extracurriculars and whatnot. It also depends on what your parents do and where you come from. If your parents work for Microsoft (though that might change; we’re moving into a one-to-one macbook program starting next year), Dell, Caterpillar, or THE US EMBASSY I believe you would have a higher chance of getting in.</p>