Recruitment fairs are events held in locations all over the world that are meant to help boarding schools with their Recruitment of International Students. For example, Linden Educational Services holds Recruitment Fairs in both the Fall and Spring from locations such as East Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, Africa, and Europe. It's been doing this for 9 years. Aimed at parents and students who live in locations all around the world, these recruitment fairs put admissions staff from dozens of boarding schools on location in various International cities. You can meet school representatives and ask all the questions you have about American, Canadian, UK, and Swiss boarding schools.
Why would students from overseas consider coming to the overseas to attending boarding school?
There are many reasons. The main one, as a rule, is that parents want their children to have a world-class education. An International boarding school education will strengthen your child's language skills. Not just English, though it is pretty much the lingua franca in the business and professional world today, but your child will also be able to learn a host of other languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese, to name but a few. International boarding schools generally offer a rich array of courses in many subjects. As you meet with school representatives, have a list of questions handy so that you will remember to ask about matters pertaining to curriculum.
Boarding schools also offer a superb preparation for tertiary or college level studies. While most boarding schools will follow the American Advanced Placement studies program, many schools offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma program, while others offer IGCSE/A-levels program. That gives you some solid options as you begin to plan your child's college preparatory education.
Will my child fit in?
Going away to boarding school is certainly a major undertaking. Both for you and your child. However, don't worry about such basics as where he will live or what he will learn. Your primary challenge will be dealing with your own angst and worry about having him so far away from home. But, as you will discover from your visit with the school representatives when they come to your region or possibly even your city, your child will be in good hands.
Soon you will realize that your biggest challenge will be planning a vacation in North America when he is off at Christmas and the couple of other times when school closes for vacations. Of course, he will have lots of new friends some of whom will probably invite him to come to their homes and spend the vacation with their families.
It's all about growing and adapting. I suspect that your child will be so immersed in his new culture and ways of doing things that his maturity and confidence will amaze you when you see him for the first time after he leaves home.
Preparing for Recruitment Fairs
It just makes good sense to do the same thing as any parents do when it comes to preparing for recruitment fairs. Parents go through a lengthy process of identifying schools which they think will meet their requirements. You need to do the same. Visit the school web sites. Watch the videos. Order the brochures and catalogs. Email the admissions staff if you like and ask questions.
Then develop a short list of schools which appear to meet your requirements. The wonderful thing about boarding schools is that they are unique. They teach what they want to teach. They teach the way they prefer to teach. Which makes them all different. The thing which binds them all together is that they are passionate about teaching young people to learn. And not just math and other academic subjects either. Boarding schools seek to develop the whole child. Not just his intellect.
International students comprise approximately 18% of North American boarding schools' student population. Shouldn't your child be enjoying the benefits and advantages which you can give him by sending him to boarding school in the United States, Canada, UK, Switzerland, or elsewhere? The overseas recruitment fairs will give you an opportunity to explore that idea further.
