Gurgaon Schools Review - My experiences with Nursery admission process

Hey There!!

Before I start getting into details of the admission process I would like to share the reason why I am writing this post. While researching about the schools for my boy I reached out to friends who have kids in schools, read through blogs and posts, requested feedback on FB forums where people have shared their personal experiences and I really thank them all in helping me out with information. So I feel obliged to do the same and share mine.

I had not gone through process for many schools since we finalized quite soon so below are schools I would be talking about

1. Lotus Valley International School- Nirvana County, Gurgaon

2. Scottish High International School - Sushant Lok, Gurgaon

3. Suncity World School - Suncity, Gurgaon

Lotus Valley

- Forms were out in last week of August and you could fill forms over a period on 2-3 days and submit at school reception.

- Advertisements are put up on school website and newspapers week ahead so keep checking,

- First day when we reached only after 1/2 hour of start time of form distribution there was quite a long queue, that was because many like us were under impression that admissions are on first come first served  basis which was not true

- Better to download form that is available at website fill it and then go to submit if you don't want to spend too much time in queue as there is single line for one coming to collect form and submit.

- You need to get birth certificate that is notarized only then your form will be accepted.A requirement that I found non value add and just a practice to trouble you since we all know how documents are notarized in this country. 

- Earlier I was thinking admission is FCFS but when I asked the lady there she told its not.They were also not transparent and did not share any information on what's the admission criteria.

- When I asked the lady on reception how many seats are there then she told me" they can't reveal" may be it's a secret ;)

- Since we had already downloaded and filled the form we just submitted it and collected receipt of Rs 1000 as form fee.

-  After a week I got a call from school calling both parents for interaction with the kid.

Scottish High

- Forms available in last week of August for 2 days.

- They were very clear about admission process, its first come first served.

- Siblings admissions are done separately as they give them preference.

- We reached hours before the actual time of start of forms since they offer very limited forms.Found this a positive since they are not making money from forms sale.

- Getting form was a task as we had to wait in long queue with parents for hours.

- To everyone waiting firstly a slip was distributed and then once our turn came we paid Rs 1000 as form fee and collected form along with school brochure and a video school intro CD  after which student council representatives guided us to a separate section to fill and then submit form.

- It was quite a test of our speed since earlier you submit better is your chance.

- I think only 300 forms were distributed for about 200 seats.

- They were quite quick in process, the day we submitted form we got a call same evening to visit school next day with kid and were given a time slot.

- Next day we had interaction with chairman and my kid had a separate interaction for few minutes.

- Same day in evening we got a call confirming the selection and were asked to submit fee in next 2 days.

One thing would like to mention, if you are called for interaction in a time slot make sure you stick to it else you loose the chance as they were very particular about this.

Suncity

Suncity forms are also available in last week of Aug and you can fill form online and then you need to visit school for filling another form along with registration fee. We went for a school tour and I found their facility quite nice.They told that they follow points system where in siblings, distance are some the the criteria.

My Feedback and experience

Since my kid will start his nursery from  session that starts in April 2014 so I really can't comment on actual schooling experience but we finalized on Scottish high and thus our nursery admission process ended quite soon.

There is nothing like best school, you should choose school that is inline with your thought process and works well with your schedule and life style.I chose this school because:

- Found their process quite transparent and as per what they promised. They said first come first served and it was. No complex points systems or interviews,

- Although I had heard and read on forums that Scottish high staff is rude and snobbish what I found was stark opposite of that.Right from receptionist to teachers and even students who were involved in process were really nice and more than willing to answer all queries unlike what I faced in Lotus valley where lady on reception was making facing while I was asking about seats and process.

- Also interaction with Chairman was good and he was quite polite and told that they have only limited seats after siblings and pre-nursery so we stand a good chance but then there will be elimination

-Scottish sells limited forms which I found good practice since they don't believe in making money from this practice.

- One of big reasons for choosing this school was day boarding from class 1st. Since we are both working so this works well as they have all infrastructure and facilities under one roof and I don't have to bother about running around for dance, music or sports classes. Once my kid is home he is there once and for all.

So overall found the school quite professional and policies transparent.Hope future experience is also good.

I am putting below the fee structure of both these schools for ready reference.

Hope this helps.