Robert College

In Brief

The headline thing to know first. Robert College is not really an international school. It is a Turkish high school taught largely in English. Entry is by a Turkish national exam taken in 8th grade, in Turkish. Students who get in score in the top 0.02 percent. Foreign kids are very occasionally admitted as "special students" but it is not the norm. If your friend's child does not already have a path through the Turkish system, this school is unlikely to be the right fit. Worth raising before they fall in love with the campus.

If they do qualify, here is the honest picture.

The campus is genuinely beautiful. 65 acres on the Bosphorus in Arnavutköy. Old buildings, woods, views. Most people in Istanbul will tell you it has the best location of any senior school in the city.

It is the most prestigious school in Turkey. Founded 1863. Alumni include Orhan Pamuk and two Turkish prime ministers. Around 60 percent of graduates go abroad for university, the rest into top Turkish universities. 100 percent go on somewhere.

The student body is bright and motivated. According to one parent, "the kids are amazing" and "solid." The flip side: it is academically demanding and pressured. Students arrive having already won a national lottery of effort and that culture continues.

A note on teaching. Roughly half the staff are Turkish, half international, and turnover is lower than at most international schools. One former teacher said it is "run more like a Turkish institution than a US or UK school" — meaning ministry rules around absences and exam grading apply, which can frustrate Western parents expecting an international-school feel.

Cost. Among the highest fees in Turkey. About 1 in 4 students are on financial aid, which says something good about the school's mix.

Bottom line for your friend. If their child is on a Turkish track and can sit the exam, it is arguably the best high school in the country. If they are moving as an expat looking for an international curriculum (IB, American, British), this is the wrong school to be looking at — there are dedicated international schools in Istanbul that fit that need better. Worth getting that question answered before anything else.