16 year old at private International School in Europe. Anything to ask?

So after seeing the popular Eton College thread, I thought I'd make one of my own.
I've been at this International School in Switzerland since 2006, so know the ins and outs of everything.

Fire away!

Reply 1

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by ReddingtonZoey

I'm curious, why would your parents waste money on a Swiss international school (and deprive you of the chance of learning a second language) when Swiss public schools are excellent?

Reply 2

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by Snufkin

I'm curious, why would your parents waste money on a Swiss international school (and deprive you of the chance of learning a second language) when Swiss public schools are excellent?

I've learnt fluent Swiss/German through the school I went to :smile:

Reply 3

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by ReddingtonZoey

I've learnt fluent Swiss/German through the school I went to :smile:

Native level or IB-standard? The latter isn't fluency.

Reply 4

Dejomony

If Brexit actually happens, what happens to you?

Reply 5

jb1702

How much are your parents paying to send you there? And what's it like being removed from the struggles of ordinary people?

Reply 6

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by Snufkin

Native level or IB-standard? The latter isn't fluency.

I mix of both, I suppose. German classes have taught me a lot, but also just being about in Switzerland helps so much. I never don't understand anyone, the only weakness I may have to a native speaker is that they know vocabulary that would be rarely used in conversation!

Reply 7

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by Dejomony

If Brexit actually happens, what happens to you?

Haha I'll be honest, I'm not sure! I'm planning on going to university in England but the rest of my family will remain in Switzerland, so I'm guessing that it won't affect us hugely until we've all left - if we do.

Reply 8

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by jb1702

How much are your parents paying to send you there? And what's it like being removed from the struggles of ordinary people?

I think the base fee is CHF40,000 per school year, so about £31,000. Honestly, I think everyone at the school is a normal person. Some people have only been here for a year or two, and before that they were in another country in a local school. Others, such as myself, have been at other international schools, and others have been here their whole life. There are obviously some mega-rich students but the majority are here purely because of their parent's jobs. When I'm out in public in Switzerland or another country I don't think to myself "Pff, all these people are such ordinary peasant's." It just happens to be that I have different experiences to most people.

Reply 9

Antediluvian

What level are you studying at?

Reply 10

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by Antediluvian

What level are you studying at?

I start the IB in 3 weeks :smile:

Reply 11

Vanilla Cupcake

Original post by ReddingtonZoey

I start the IB in 3 weeks :smile:

what subjects will you be doing for the IB?

Reply 12

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by Vanilla Cupcake

what subjects will you be doing for the IB?

HL English Lang&Lit, HL German, HL Economics
SL Maths, SL Biology, SL Geography

Reply 13

rolaah

3 cheeky questions...
Is your family Swiss?
Also would you speak English or German in school (in and out of classroom)?
Which nationalities are prominent there?

Reply 14

ReddingtonZoey

Original post by rolaah

3 cheeky questions...
Is your family Swiss?
Also would you speak English or German in school (in and out of classroom)?
Which nationalities are prominent there?

No my family is not Swiss, Swiss people aren't actually allowed to come to our school!

Every class is in English except German/French/Spanish class. With school friends everyone speaks English to each other (unless, for example, two French kids are talking to each other). Everyone speaks different levels of languages though, so sometimes I'll speak a language with one friend that another friend can't understand if I don't want them to know what we're saying! But everybody speaks fluent English. Out-of-school-friends are normally Swiss, so I'll speak Swiss with them.

There's a lot of English and Americans there, in my grade at least. Quite a few Belgians and Dutch too, and a handful of Germans. Maybe 10-15% of the high school is Asian, but there are barely any Eastern Europeans. Overall the school is really diverse and there are multiple people from each continent (except Antarctica :wink: