Shrewsbury School review by University of Oxford student.
At Shrewsbury there was possibly more of a focus on humanities than sciences. More students opted to take humanity subjects for AS and A2 levels. This may have been because humanities are just more accessible and because the school did not accept pupils purely on their academic potential. However, being a scientist myself, I can say that the maths and science departments of the school were very strong and on the whole had excellent teachers. The nature of the student body was collegial rather than competitive. Students felt neither pressurized to work nor that they could not pursue their interests inside and outside of the classroom. The school's academic program prepared me very well for exams. This was not the focus throughout the year but towards exam season it became more important. It also helped me to learn outside of the classroom. I had teachers who were very relaxed about what topics i chose for coursework and were very happy to let me pursue a personal interest and just ask for help when I needed it. This meant that I was keen to learn outside the classroom and therefore that I developed the ability to do so. The school's teaching philosophy was to provide pupils with the facility to learn, but not to force learning on us. The classes were small and so at any point in a lesson we were encouraged to ask for help or for a more detailed description of a topic. As I sad, the class sizes were small, no more than about 25 and some were as small as 12. All faculties were friendly to everyone since we had all been taught by most of the teachers at some time in our school career. Even pupils who were not very talented at a subject were encouraged to take it if it interested them. For students with learning troubles there were learning support classes at an extra cost. For talented students, most teachers were happy to discuss anything in a lesson or, if it was a large topic to cover and nobody else was interested, to wait behind after the lesson. Sometimes teachers would recommend a book or lend one of theirs to you.
The school had a careers department, with leaflets and prospectuses from many universities and places.... Get the real inside story on college counseling at Shrewsbury School as experienced by former pupil and University of Oxford student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
Sample insights on college counseling
They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...
I am not sure what is meant by Alma mater or high school. I went.... Get in-depth insights and personal advice on admissions to Shrewsbury School by former pupil and University of Oxford student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
Sample insights on admissions
For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...
Pupils stayed in houses with a housemaster and a matron. The houses held between 60 and 120 boys each and there were 11 houses (now 12). Some housemasters were more strict than others. Most would be more leanient with the sixth form and let them do what they like (to an extent), whereas the lower years were controlled more heavily (pocket money controlled and number of trips offsite counted and controlled). The school cafeteria provided healthy food but often not very nice and often not enough for second helpings. There was a certain amount of tension between the residents of the town.... Get the real inside story on quality of school life and extracurricular offerings at Shrewsbury School as experienced by former pupil and University of Oxford student — Login or Sign Up to access full review