Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai

SHSID is the international division of a public Shanghai high school, run alongside the local-Chinese stream. Students are largely Chinese first-language; one ex-student called it "the 'international' division of a local high school" where Mandarin is the students' native tongue.
The academic load is the main thing parents and students remark on. One current student said culture is "mainly just study study study" with little support for life outside academics. A former teacher said weekly assessments and a test-focused model push some families to transfer out.
Outcomes are strong: graduates routinely place at Ivy League and equivalent universities. One ex-student listed Harvard, MIT, and Hopkins among classmate destinations.
Some foreign parents call the academic culture excessive. One commenter described the pressure as "pure children abuse" while noting local well-off parents seek it out.
Teaching package is competitive but the location (the Pudong campus is in Nanhui new city) is isolated. One teacher said they took home over USD 5,000 a month but "really struggled" during their years there.