About Mayo College
It is a school that was designed to make British gentlemen out of Indian princes. Years after its first student, Maharaja Mangal Singh of Alwar, rode into the campus on an elephant in 1875, Mayo College in Ajmer still retains the quality to attract the crème de la crème of India. Today however, the school is not looking for princes to turn into Englishmen. It seeks to impart excellence in academics as well as sports to boys with potential.

IT IS a school that was designed to make British gentlemen out of Indian princes. Years after its first student, Maharaja Mangal Singh of Alwar, rode into the campus on an elephant in 1875, Mayo College in Ajmer still retains the quality to attract the crème de la crème of India. Today however, the school is not looking for princes to turn into Englishmen. It seeks to impart excellence in academics as well as sports to boys with potential.

Founded by Richard Southwell Bourke, The Earl of Mayo who was a Viceroy of India from 1868 to 1872, the school is regal in its reputation as well as its Victorian architecture. This residential school sprawls over 300 acres and caters to boys from class 4 to class 12. The boys are housed in eleven houses named after the princely houses of Rajasthan. Some are named after the luminaries of Rajput tradition and one after the Ruler of Oman. The uniform is a comfortable ensemble of shorts or trousers paired with shirts. The blazers, when used, are emblazoned with the school's emblem designed by Mr Lockwood Kipling, a former principal of the School Of Arts, Lahore, probably better known as the father of Rudyard Kipling.

Mayo College is one of the finest schools for boys in India but to get into this iridescent marble bastion, one needs to be, so to speak, a `cut' above the rest! Even though brothers of present students, children of Old Boys and seniority of registration are given preference as in many such schools, admissions to Mayo College are made on the basis of the Indian Public Schools' Conference (IPSC) entrance tests in English, Mathematics and Hindi conducted in the 3rd or 4th week of November every year at various centres in India.

To take the test for getting admitted to class 4, the child should have passed Class 3. It's wise to start applying now because by August, parents are notified if the child will be permitted to take the entrance test. Like many schools of this kind, boys are not considered for admission after the ninth standard.

How difficult are the tests? A set of earlier entrance exam papers, available with the prospectus, can serve as a guideline. The tests would be age- appropriate and are designed to evaluate the aspirant's command over English and Hindi as well as proof of his competency to compute. Those who qualify are called for an interview in February and March. Once the child has been given admission, parents have ten days to confirm their acceptance. New entrants join in April.

The fee covers tuition, board and lodging, stationery, washing, mending, bedding (not bedclothes), haircuts, ordinary medicines and games facilities. The school charges, among other things, a registration fee of Rs.6,000, an admission fee of Rs.10,000 and a tuition fee of Rs.80,000 for residents of India. There is a caution fee of Rs.40,000 which is refundable.

The medium of instruction is English and is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The boys are exposed to music, automobile engineering, woodwork, metal work and the fine arts. There are various societies like Geographical, Natural History, Museum Society, Photography, Lalit Kala Parishad and Mountaineering Club that meet once a month. In fact, the Mayo museum is quite easily the best school museum anywhere in the world.

The school takes part in inter-school competitions with other illustrious schools like The Scindia School, Gwalior, and The Doon School, Dehra Dun. There is a vibrant exchange programme with several schools in the United Kingdom, and it is not uncommon to see an exchange student attending class.

The Houses provide a home-away-from-home atmosphere to the boys who are cared for by senior teachers. Competition between the houses is healthy and continues throughout the year. Indeed it is in the field of sports that Mayo excels. Equitation is considered very important and the school has arguably one of the best junior division polo teams in the world. Cricket is another sport where Mayo performs superlatively. Above all, with the other two top schools in the country, Mayo offers a platform for providing a valuable social base on which to build the foundation of a successful career.

The college motto `Let there be Light', results in more than just light into a boy's life and personality. It provides a guiding principle that holds every graduate in its thrall, always encouraging him to do better than his best.