Mallya Aditi alumna, taking questions

Hi LovelyGoldiePinky

Welcome to expat-blog!

Thank for your sharing, this might be helpful for concerned members.

Thank you,

David.

No problem. I'm surprised at the lack of questions though!

Hey!
Most expats I know prefer other schools other than MAIS. They prefer IB.   
They also prefer lesser number of students in  class.  But please keep trying as MAIS IS THE BEST PLACE TO BE. Trust me -been there 12 years.

Haha, well I don't know that it's necessarily the "best" place because there's no objective best school - it's all about what is best for someone's particular child.

MAIS used to have tiny class sizes, like 12 students in a class. That has changed though.

Well, experience wise -its the oldest International School in Bangalore. Whats best is always subjective. :

Yes, and don't get me wrong - I got an amazing education there and went on to an elite college in America. Since then I've met kids who went to the best private schools in Europe and New England and I've found that my education and experience at Aditi was very similar to their experiences of private school life. So while TISB has the IB program, and is a good school as well, I don't think it's actually better than Aditi.

Btw, there were quite a few kids in my class who transferred to Aditi from TISB - we heard horror stories of dorm life there and cockroaches in the food!

(That's just old girlish rivalry talking - I don't mean to seriously disparage TISB)

Hi LovelyGoldiePinky, i am looking for international school for my children, aged 15, 10 and 5 next year. You specifically mentioned about Mallya Aditi so i am hoping to know a bit more about the school. My main concern is the distance from where we'll be staying, Cambridge Road in Bangalore. I was informed the traveling time will be about 2 hour bus ride, is this so? We'll be arriving in Bangalore in Dec 2013 and i am also concerned about the timing of the kids' enrollment to the school, whether they will be able to catch up..I believe most schools in India follow British syllabus, is that so? My children have been to International American school in south America, so i am a bit worried if they can cope.  Hope to be 'enlightened' about this school matters..thank you.

Hi mamcinconinos,

Congratulations on your move to Bangalore! Thanks for your questions.

There are more than 10 bus routes from what I remember, so no matter where you are in the city, there will be a stop nearby. From what I remember, Cambridge Road is near Indiranagar and Ulsoor, where a lot of Aditi students, so you'll be fine. I've never heard of a 2 hour bus ride! Did you get that information from the school? With morning traffic definitely anticipate 45 minutes to 1 hour or maybe slightly more, but I've never heard of 2 hours. 

Arriving in Bangalore in December is definitely a little awkward as the school year runs from June to March - for your eldest child especially. Are you currently educating your eldest child according to the GCSE or ICSE syllabus in Kuala Lumpur? Because that is the curriculum he/she will enter into as a 15-year old at Aditi, and all the kids will have already chosen their classes and gone through half the syllabus for the year. Catching up is always doable, but you don't want to hurt your child's chances of getting good grades.

Definitely consider letting your kids finish the current academic year in their present schools, and move them to Bangalore with you in time for the new school year. It might make their academic and social adjustment easier.

Up until the 8th grade (age 13 or so), Aditi does not strictly follow a British syllabus, American public school syllabus, or Indian state school syllabus. They get an excellent all-rounded education in social studies, English, maths, science, two extra languages, music, and art. The teachers are all trained abroad and are VERY interactive and supportive of kids with different learning styles. It's not at all the strict, draconian, "beat them with a ruler" type of Indian school. And the syllabus was international and yet had a strong Indian foundation. For example, we all had basic training in Carnatic and Hindustani music, in Indian history as well as world history, and benefited from Indian arts programs like SPIC MACAY, which sponsored classical dancers, folk dancers, classical and folk musicians, etc to perform and lecture at the school.

From 9th to 12th grade, you get split into either the British syllabus (GCSEs and A-Levels) and the Indian national syllabus (ICSE). Both programs are demanding, although you get more freedom in the British syllabus to blend a science-and-arts curriculum, as opposed to ICSE where you get streamed into Arts or Science. The kids are definitely extremely hard-working and the teaching is rigorous, but not insanely so. And it's not an unfriendly competitive environment (for the most part). The whole atmosphere from 9th to 12th is all about building up your application for college - so everyone's going to have tons of extracurriculars and community service going on as well as trying to get the best grades. I remember it was a more stressful environment than college, but it is also intellectually rewarding to be in that atmosphere.

The principal, Mr J, is the nicest and most paternal man ever. He is the dream principal for every student and every parent. He knows all the kids by name, lets any student drop by his office to talk about anything, acts as an informal counselor, and is just a very supportive influence. He will do anything for his students, even after they've graduated.

Most of the other school administrators are not quite so friendly and absolutely have their noses up in the air.

The student body is definitely cosmopolitan. The Indian kids are from well-traveled, highly educated families, and there are a lot of kids from the Indian diaspora too, usually Indian-Americans and British Indians but also from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, etc.

There are Korean, Japanese, and Chinese students, Brazilian students, African students, European students, and literally someone from every world region I can think of.

Among the Indian students, there wasn't necessarily a heavy Hindu predominance either.

However, one aspect in which there is not much diversity is the socio-economic aspect. Most of the kids are affluent. The school does a good job of curbing excesses though - the kids wear the school uniform so there's not much opportunity to wear designer clothes, and you're not allowed to wear jewelry or expensive watches. But it is important to teach your children not to take any snobbery they see seriously. There will be students who come to school with bodyguards, or who fly away to Japan for a weekend, or who boast about their Bollywood relatives or whatever.

However, there are also a lot of level-headed, hard-working, extremely talented middle-class kids who got into the school on merit scholarships and plan to go to MIT after graduation. So despite the snobbery, your kids will also have a chance to make friends with nice people.

Hi LovelyGoldiePinky, thank you for your immediate feedbacks, i fall in love with the school already!!  And i think the two hour bus ride might be referring to other international schools: TISB or INDUS.. I received some recommendations of these two from a friend, who was my son's high-school councillor when we were in South America. Now that you mentioned about the school year that start from June to March, i feel a bit worried for my children. When we moved to South America in 2010, my children started school in the second semester which was in February, i guess i must have thought it would be the same in India and took this lightly.. and i do agree with you it will be a challenge for my 15 year old girl to catch up on the syllabus.. Do you by any chance know of any other international schools that offer American curriculum so that my timing to arrive in December is not a crazy plan? By the way, in Kuala Lumpur, our education system in a bit similar to GCSE..i look forward to hear from you, thank you so very much.

No problem, I'm happy to help.

Indus and TISB are both very good schools and I encourage you to visit them as well as Aditi. In fact, all three of those schools are ranked among the top ten private schools in the entire country, so you've got a good pool to choose from. 

Indus and TISB are a little bit more expensive than Mallya Aditi because they are boarding schools, but they have the IB program, excellent college counselors, and great facilities. If you can take your kids with you while touring the schools, do that too. It's important that they feel they are in the right place. Aditi is a good school but it doesn't necessarily need to be the best fit for everyone.

The 2 hour bus ride probably refers to TISB. Most of the kids I knew there decided to board for the week and go home for the weekends, because the trip in and out of Bangalore was too much of a hassle to do every day. You'll learn quickly, when you get into town, that Bangalore is a small city but its traffic is so bad that it takes hours to cover quite small distances! So if you put your children in Indus or TISB, be prepared to consider whether or not you and your children would be okay with weekly boarding. The boarding facilities are apparently pretty good at those two schools, but the idea of boarding might not be something you signed up for.

Don't take my word for it re: joining in the middle of the school year. If you get admission, the school may accommodate you. Definitely compare how Indus, TISB and Aditi handle that transition (they are the three best international schools in Bangalore so there is no need to search beyond them) and what kind of extra services, like coaching, they'll offer your daughter to help her catch-up. You want to make sure a mid-semester transition in a new school and a new country is as easy as possible for her.

If your school system in Kuala Lumpur is more GCSE-based, then definitely stick to either that or IB in India. The two Indian alternatives, CBSE and ICSE, are very different.

CBSE is the state curriculum/board exams and ICSE is the national curriculum/board exams. CBSE is very easy and not really challenging. The ICSE curriculum is at a much higher level of rigor and intellectual expectation, and yet I also feel that it rewards a rather robotic way of thinking. I also don't think you want your daughter to be limited to an Arts-only or Science-only stream, which is what happens in ICSE. So definitely stick to the GCSE/A-Level system or IB program.

If you want to figure out some of this stuff before moving to Bangalore, I definitely think you should email the Aditi Principal (his name is Sathish Jayarajan - his email should be on the school website) and see if they can make accommodations for a mid-semester admission for your kids. And do the same for Indus and TISB.

I don't know if you've started to think about college placement at all, but it does play a role in which school you choose. Indus has college counselors who used to work at Harvard. I don't know if TISB has that. Aditi didn't have ex-Ivy counselors, but the school director is a member of the MIT Media Lab. Also, they host campus visits from major American and British universities. Historically I think MAIS has been a feeder into elite British universities like Oxbridge more than America, although a very large proportion of Aditi kids do go on to the Ivies, Seven Sisters, elite LACs and STEM giants like MIT/Stanford/Caltech, etc.  But I don't know if the proportion is as high as it is at Indus right now. So if you're gunning for elite college placement that is something to think about. 

You are such a great help!! I am so tight up with a long of things before the move and i feel so grateful to bump into you.. Such a great insight about children's education, their college and all..something that i never took time to think for now..thanks again LovelyGoldiePinky!! Will definitely write to the schools..

Ps: i did write to TISB but they didn't address my questions, instead they asked me general questions about my children's age and stuff like that. So i was a bit turn off.. maybe i'll write again to them.. I don't know

Glad to Join Expat Forum!

There are few more best international schools in Bangalore like Inventure Academy, which has academic excellence. Students of Inventure Academy has scored the highest scores in ICSE Exams in the state. Inventure Academy is also ranked among Top 10 International Schools in India.
Inventure Academy Website

Hi LovelyGoldiePinky

I have been living in the U.S for about 20 years. We are planning to relocate back (2015) and most likely to Bangalore (even-though we are from Chennai).

We have a 10 year old and 6 year old who are presently studying in the U.S. Looking at your experience as well as the Mallya Adhithi International website and their overall ratings, I'm quite impressed.

Could you please me guide me with the following?

1) General admission process (who, what, when etc.,)
2) What is the expectation on language requirements (my kids only know English at this time)
3) What are the initial cultural shift that the kids may have to face?
4) How would you compare the education that you received in the U.S and your assessment on Adhithi School.
5) Considering the school having high income kids, what is the general attitude of the kids towards others (are they too much of themselves / self-centered OR more responsible )?? - This is a big one for me. I dont want the kids to be spoiled brats. No offense intended

I believe the other International schools that you consider to be good are Trio International, Indus, TISB and Inventure. Personally i think, TISB and Indus are too expensive.

Thanks in advance

Hello murali_usa and welcome on board

Just for info, the last interaction by LovelyGoldiePinky is over 10 months old. If however you do not get any response to your query, I kindly invite you to create a new thread and address your post to the forum members who may be able to help.

Regards

Kenjee

HI
Not sure if you have time still to answer some questions on schools in Bangalore.
I have an 8 year old son and we are considering moving back to Bangalore after 15 years. My son was born in US and although he has traveled to India 8 times already, he is pretty happy with being in US. however, we feel we need to move back to be close to family. I am very confused about the schools in Bangalore. i want a good environment for him, because if he is happy, we will be happy. He is a good kid, shy and needs a nurturing environment. Most people are suggesting we move to whitefield. I am ok with the location but I really need to know the good schools from the bad. I hear mixed reviews on all schools when I search online. Any advice will help. He will be entering grade 3 next year. we are looking for a good education/environment as well as clean and safe infrastructure.
please help!

Hi Lovely Goldie Pinky,

We are considering moving to Bangalore from UK and want our daughters aged 7 and 12 to go to Mallya Aditi school.
I have found your feedback most useful. I have exactly the same thoughts/ queries as Murali _usa and Anks_P

If you could please share your thoughts about those 2 posts it will be most useful for us. Your help is much appreciated

Mum