Gurgaon Admission Experience: Meet Amya A. Kshetrapal, now a proud TSRS parent

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Alright, so it is that time of the year again… anxious and clueless parents with their unending questions about Gurgaon Admission. They leave no stone unturned to take the most important decision for their child- the school- where their child is going to spend a good part of his/her young life.

I am Amya, a mum based in Gurgaon blessed with a beautiful daughter. And here I share my own experience of Gurgaon admission process last year. The main cause of the worry and stress of most of the parents including me was that we were all so inexperienced in the beginning!

To each parent who is having sleepless nights - Please RELAX. Eventually, each child reaches the perfect place meant for her/him to grow into a beautiful human being. I know Gurgaon school admission can be nerve wrecking but if you are well informed and clear about the process, it won’t be too bad!
Okay, so to begin with, while it is important to be aware of the opening dates of the admission forms in different schools, it is equally important to keep yourself guarded against the unnecessary panic created as a result of the rumours doing the rounds. Check all information yourself about Gurgaon admission process. Do not rely too much on the word of mouth.

My advice to parents would be to first create a list of schools that you are interested in applying for. Make sure your child fits the age criteria. Gurgaon admission course begins with the age criteria where the child must be three and a half years on 31st March. The list you prepare will depend a lot on your personal choice such as the board you want to select (CBSE,ICSE,IB and so on), the fee structure, the proximity of school from home, the method of teaching, the ranking of the school in Gurgaon, so on and so forth. The information on SchoolWiser.com can be godsend especially in this phase!

Based on these factors for Gurgaon school admission, I had shortlisted the following schools for my daughter:

1. The Shri Ram School Aravali (TSRS Gurgaon)

2. The Heritage School Gurgaon

3. Shikshantar School

4. Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon

5. Kunskapsskolan, DLF Phase 1, Gurgaon

6. DPS Sector 45, and

7. Lotus Valley International School

I was quite enamoured by the ideology of Shikshantar Gurgaon. They focussed less on competition and more on building creativity and experiential learning. However, later on after some research, I found that their free approach to education is well implemented until the junior school but after the fifth standard, it is a little scary to leave the children to cope up with the exam pressures and the competition. Also, the feedback from other parents on the school transport and administration was not the greatest.

The Shri Ram School undoubtedly tops the wish list of the parents for a number of reasons. Firstly, for its established name for years as compared to the many Gurgaon schools that are relatively new. Secondly, for a good and consistent academic record it has maintained. And thirdly, for an overall sound administration in the school. I would like to also add their smooth application procedure. They have a short application form which you fill and submit online with no application fees, no hassle of going to the school and standing in the endless queues. Similarly, Heritage was also on the top of the wish list after Shri Ram primarily after interacting with a number of children from our society who were extremely courteous. Their infrastructure is good too and the teachers appeared to know their jobs well.

Shiv Nadar School has good reviews too. My neighbour recently moved her daughter there and her overall progress was quite remarkable. However, during the last year’s admission process, they opened the issue of forms for a very short time and in that duration their website had crashed. Many parents were clueless about their application as there was no intimation by the school authorities. This was not a very good sign in terms of the administration. I cannot say more about Shiv Nadar because we didn’t apply as we had already taken admission for our daughter in Shikshantar by then.

My husband and I along with our friends went for a school tour at Kunskapsskolan and we quite liked the classrooms and the stress on experiential learning that they have. I would definitely recommend it to the parents. The only reason why we kept it as a backup was because it was still new and one was not sure of their future. DPS Sector 45 was another backup. While DPS is an established school, however, I was not very impressed with the infrastructure and also the fact that the focus is too much on academic excellence and I was looking for a school that aimed at an all encompassing development of the child. Lastly, Lotus Valley is also quite a sought after school in Gurgaon, which was the main reason why we applied there but after a visit, I found the school way too ‘business office-like’ with its sparkling floor and air conditioned corridors, something that was not on my agenda for a good school.

Once you have shortlisted the schools, it is important to visit their websites often. Following is a table of dates of the opening and closing of the forms for all these Gurgaon schools from LAST YEAR so you get a rough idea as to how it works:

I would also advise you to prepare an excel sheet of the dates. Almost all schools put up the important dates on their websites. Joining groups like ‘Gurgaon admissions’ on facebook and ‘#SchoolWiser on Twitter/Facebook’ helps to be updated about the issue of Gurgaon admission forms. Mention the dates on your excel sheet along with the fee structure and other positives and negatives that you have heard about the schools.

A big drawback of the Gurgaon admission process is that due to the gap in the dates of the announcement of lists in various schools, you will need to make quick decisions. For instance, we had to finalise admission in Shikshantar right after the draw of lots since their last date to pay the fees was out even before many schools of our choice had not even issued their forms. So we had paid Rs 1,60,000 out of which we received the refund of Rs 40,000 after my daughter received admission in Shri Ram. But, most schools except Shikshantar return back a major portion of the money, holding back about 15-20K on an average.

Also, another thing you need to know about Gurgaon admission procedure is that most of the schools take out a number of lists before closing the final admission. So even if your child could not make it to the first list you should pursue further and keep following up with the schools. There is a good chance that your application may be considered.

A number of schools have a ‘draw of lots’ where they pick up chits and if your child’s name appears, you get the admission. Heritage, Shikshantar, DPS follow the draw of lots method. These are done in front of the parents so you can be rest assured of their transparency. Kunskapskkolan does accept application in the mid-session also but you need to do a lot of following up. Lotus Valley School gives a lot of preference to children from the neighbourhood. So if you are a resident of Nirvana you are sure to be called for the interaction. You should also keep aside a good amount of your budget for the Gurgaon admission procedure as the purchase of the application forms can definitely burn a hole in your pocket. You would normally not expect these to be more than 500 or a thousand bucks, right? Just to give you an idea, the total application process in Shikshantar is more than Rs 3000, similarly, Lotus Valley was about Rs 2500.

I was quite happy with the application process of The Shri Ram School. No application fee, no draw of lots, no queues. You fill a simple online form with a couple of questions with an essay type and the list is out. They follow points system where you are given points for the distance from school, first born, sibling points, points for the essay type answer and others- the details of which are available on their website. We were quite happy and excited that our daughter’s name appeared in the first list. All the hard work and stress of Gurgaon admission process was finally over. Although we lost a good amount of money at Shikshantar, but we didn’t mind too much as our daughter was selected in the school on top of our wish list! An additional piece of advice that I would like to share with all those who are aspiring for The Shri Ram school, please try to be as honest and as original in writing your essay type answer. The more you search for clues on Google and other sources or try to copy paste it will only weaken your chances. I’m often asked about what to write in the essay type question. I remember writing the answer the first time I opened the form and poured in my honest thoughts- something I truly felt about the asked topic.

I guess that’s all I can really think of. I remember being extremely stressed out during the Gurgaon school admission time mainly because I had heard different things from different people and had no clarity whatsoever. Seeing the parents all stressed and irritable can have a bad impact on the children, so most importantly- stay calm. Even if your child does not make it to the best schools there are ample options open. For example, DPS International and Kunskapskkolan do accept applications in the mid-session. Even after you have taken admission for your child in a school, you can follow up with the school of your choice and keep inquiring about late application.

My aim is to somewhat give a sense of direction based on my experience on Gurgaon admission. My choice and opinion of schools may be different from yours, so don’t go by each and every word I say about the schools. Do your research on Gurgaon school admission procedure- jot down the dates, pointers, fees and just relax. Follow the information on the respective websites of the schools in Gurgaon, keep passport size photographs of yourself and your child ready, some schools may ask you for your address proof and a copy of your child’s birth certificate. If you have the documents ready and your excel sheet is updated you can avoid a lot of last minute tension. Hope this article equips you to handle the process with ease and calm; instead of wading through the waters of uncertainty like me. Enjoy the journey and make it a memorable one!!

And of course, I am happy to help with questions from my fellow parents on the gurgaon admission journey – so keep them coming below!