need help finding a school for a 15 year old Chinese girl

November 5, 2013 8:16 PM

my associate in China wants his daughter to study in the US, learn better English, etc. She's only 15, speaks just okay English (not great).... He wants her to study here at a high school.... but i think it will have to be a private high school... and she will have to live at the school & be supervised... Can anyone help me determine what is involved ? Does she get a foreign student temporary Visa (or something like that) ? Also, he (& I) know nothing about this process.... so i think in terms of location, anything will do.... I need to provide him with choices, locations, costs, what accommodations they can offer, etc. If you need more info., please feel free to ask... one problem about my (& his) position is because we are 'ignorant' about this whole matter, we're not even positive about what the right questions are....
posted by foodybat to Education (20 answers total)

You are looking for a boarding school or residential high school.

If he wants a high status high school, look for a "prep school". Some of them have scholarships available.

The schools would be the best source for what documents would be required and what the application process would be. If she doesn't have a passport yet she can start getting one now.
posted by yohko at 8:24 PM on November 5, 2013

My public school district offers education, arranges homestays, etc for international students. This is in Canada, but I'm sure there are similar programs in the USA.
posted by ssg at 8:27 PM on November 5, 2013

One answer to this is "Boarding school." It provides the education, accommodation, supervision, etc and they will assist with visas upon acceptance of admission. The first decision is single sex or mixed; there will be different lists for each. Entry for top schools is very competitive and expensive; my sister's school now exceeds $50K a year in tuition.

If that's not an option, then you need to clarify that because I think the other options for private day schools and public schools are going to be specific, or district-by-district.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:34 PM on November 5, 2013

My son's high school has a pretty robust exchange program, bringing dozens of students from China each year and placing them with host families. A dorm is going to be built in the next year.

Your associate might look into it:

www.oxfordschools.org
posted by bricksNmortar at 8:39 PM on November 5, 2013

How long does he expect her to live in the US? Other than boarding schools, another option is doing some kind of "exchange" program for a year. A lot of public and private schools have them, and the student stays with a local family for the year. My high school had one but I think they had a relationship with one or two specific schools - IIRC we had a lot of German students and at least one British.
posted by radioamy at 8:41 PM on November 5, 2013

There are organizations that do this very thing...I know one of them is called Ivy International. You might try to google key words like "Chinese high school students U.S. organizations" etc to find more of these organizations- my sense is they are growing in number. These organizations help place Chinese students in American private high schools and also coordinate host families or dorms.
posted by bearette at 8:43 PM on November 5, 2013

There may be a something else going on here. Here is the perspective of an old man who has done business in Asia, but not in China-- I would interpret this as a veiled request for you to sponsor the daughter to come and live in your house with your family and attend a local (possibly private) school. This is certainly how I would have viewed this question 25 years ago working with Japanese and Indonesian businessmen in southeast Asia. I am not sure how things are different now, or if modern the Chinese business culture has this concept, but you should be aware that there are always differing cultural expectations on each side of the table.

Whether or not you are willing to host this girl, or believe that a significant business partner ought to make such a demand, I think you should try to determine what the real intent of the request was. By the way, I should mention that this sort of thing is extremely common among high-level business associates in that part of the world, and is considered to be part of the obligations that such a partnership entails, and is not shady in any way, but actually a mark of respect and honor that he feels you should view as a compliment. Now, remember, my experience comes in other countries in the previous century, and may not apply here at all, but you should at least consider what the "hidden" message is in this request. Best of luck with your decision!
posted by seasparrow at 8:55 PM on November 5, 2013 [7 favorites]

There are companies in China that will help you with this, one is Due West but I'm sure there are others. They can answer all your questions, and navigate admissions/applications/visas etc.
posted by cushie at 8:57 PM on November 5, 2013

There was JUST an article about this in the LA Times this week. It's becoming more common (in CA, at least) for public high schools to enroll Chinese students. They pay tuition to the school and also pay an agency that arranges their housing and handles logistics. It's not like an exchange program in the sense that they can do it for multiple years, and it's done as a feeder for getting them into US colleges. Here's an article about it that lists the name of some agencies you can check out.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 9:19 PM on November 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

Another option he may not be aware of (or maybe has considered and ruled out) is that there are schools in China that offer foreign curriculum in high school. Look for Sino-American or Sino-Canadian programs. I currently work in one of these programs in China. I teach Canadian curriculum, so the English level of my students is pretty high. I know this isn't what you asked, but it's another possibility if sending her to the US doesn't work out.
posted by sarae at 10:00 PM on November 5, 2013

A friend just unloaded on me about what entitled, spoiled brats these kids often are. Then I heard about talked about how one of his relatives really really wants him to check in one of their kids who is in a US high school *two hours away* two or three times a week.

Now, maybe I was just being treated to unfair stereotypes, I don't know. Point being though, you should know. What is expected of *you* in this arrangement. If this kid ends up being like the nightmares my friend was telling me about, how many times do you want to find this kid a new school when they get expelled from the last one for cheating?

It does sound like a boarding school arrangement though. Some boarding schools probably have experience with foreign students in similar arrangements, and may be able to make a referral to an immigration attorney they've dealt with in the past. One way or another, you're going to want to consult an immigration attorney.
posted by Good Brain at 11:26 PM on November 5, 2013 [2 favorites]

A friend just unloaded on me about what entitled, spoiled brats these kids often are.

Super-true, and not just the kids: placement families often do it because they want the stipend from some exchange student program, and have no cultural understanding of the kid's origin country (or desire to understand). Mrs. Machine was actually an exchange student originally, and later worked as a state-side liaison for placements. For a very short time.

We had placement families calling us and complaining because the kid was cooking rice in the kitchen rather than eating the good honest American food that everyone else ate (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I am not kidding). We had exchange students calling us and asking whether the placement family was required to provide their own car(?!). We had an exchange student who got drunk, and naturally the placement family called us (note: not actually my wife's problem!). They also all had the habit of calling around 11 PM.

Do not get into this situation.
posted by sonic meat machine at 4:27 AM on November 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I used to work at Gould Academy in Maine and they actively recruit students from China - members of the faculty take regular trips there. So they have a good understanding of the culture, have some students from China and so on - this might make your associate's daughter be more comfortable there.

I'm not sure about all the logistics but if you call the school's admission office they will be more than happy to have someone give you all the details. It's a fantastic school that offers a wide variety of opportunities in a beautiful setting. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about it.
posted by mikepop at 6:25 AM on November 6, 2013

Many US private high schools have programs for international students, with dorms. But they charge a LOT for that service -- basically it's the kids of rich families who couldn't get into good schools at home. The other option is nonprofits that place kids in public schools with a host family for a lower cost.
posted by miyabo at 6:50 AM on November 6, 2013

I echo some of seasparrow's comments above.

I have experience with modern day China, and this expectation of you hosting your associate's daughter is still prevalent there.

The fact your associate is not familiar with the process (many middle-class Chinese know exactly how the process work) is a rather strong clue that he is looking for some level of hosting/hand-holding by you. Very few from Asia send their daughter thousands of miles away without some personal connection looking out for her (the school will only go so far). Typically it's a family member located in the US.

Evaluate from the point of view you may need to provide more than just some 'guidance and color brochures' regarding boarding schools in America.
posted by Kruger5 at 7:08 AM on November 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

A very recent LA Times article (picked up by the Seattle Times) might have info you can use: Chinese students paying to get into U.S. high schools
posted by Carol Anne at 7:13 AM on November 6, 2013

From your previous questions it appears that you have a daughter around the same age? This Chinese man knows this? I agree that he might be asking you to invite the girl to live with you and go to school with your daughter. If that is not at all a possibility you should tell him, but perhaps phrase it as you wish you could just invite her to live with you but you have no room, are caring for aging relative, whatever. And then offer some options. If she has no family in the US then he may also want someone he knows to be there for her in case she gets ill, or during vacations, so check out boarding schools near you, if there are any.
posted by mareli at 7:21 AM on November 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: To be clear, my associate is not looking for his daughter to live with me & my family or anything like that what-so-ever (not sure how anyone got this idea). However, the cause for concern regarding my role in this situation is well noted.
posted by foodybat at 3:22 PM on November 6, 2013

I think the bit about the boss expecting foodybat to host his daughter is speculation, and probably wrong.

I teach in the international (IB) division of a private school in Shanghai. Each year, about 6-8 of my students leave to study in the US, some with their parents and some along. I've been asked for advice of this kind in the past, but my school pretty much leaves this up to the parents and we don't have great resources/advisors for middle schoolers. The school puts more work into graduating high schoolers because that brings much more prestige.

That said, I was just asked this by a student that I have a good relationship and who is in the same situation as the daughter of your boss (wants to board, open to anywhere in the US, no special requirements as far as sports/activities/academics), so I did some research and the best I could come up with for DIY is AdmissionQuests's list of boarding schools, which is searchable by area and other things. Browsing around through some of the schools, I found that some address international students directly on their website, have international student centers/dorms, have special ESL curriculum for international students. So I told my student to look for those kinds of schools, as well as to look at some of the sister schools of our school.

I like the option of public school + homestay programs, but I haven't found a list of that kind of program. I suspect that the above-mentioned international student advisers could recommend specific programs, but my impression from anecdata is that there is a lot of sketchiness in that industry. I'll contact some of my former students to see how they found their schools and get back to this thread if I find anything substantial.
posted by msittig at 4:50 AM on November 7, 2013

Response by poster: that sounds extremely helpful & promising..... thank you !!!
posted by foodybat at 7:57 AM on November 8, 2013