20 Facts About Robert College

American Robert College of Istanbul, often shortened to Robert, RC, or RK, is a highly selective, independent, co-educational high school in Turkey.

Robert College is consistently ranked as the top private high school in Turkey.

Robert College is a member of the G30 Schools group, and is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.

In 1863, Robert College was founded in Bebek by Christopher Robert, a wealthy American philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a missionary devoted to education.

Six years after its foundation, with the permission of the Ottoman Sultan, the first campus was built in Bebek at the ridge of the Rumeli Castle, very close to a Bektashi tekke, whose leaders maintained an excellent relationship with the Congregational and Presbyterian founders of Robert College, according to Friedrich Schrader, a German lecturer at Robert College during the 1890s.

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Hamlin, who became the first president of Robert College, was so preoccupied with the construction of the campus that George Washburn acted as the de facto head of the college from 1871 onwards.

Since 1971, the current-day Robert College has functioned only as a "high school" on its Arnavutkoy campus, yet it retains the title of "College".

Robert College stands as a token of the close cooperation between Turkey and the USA.

Robert College accepts 180 to 220 students each year, who have scored within the top 0.

Robert College is a five-year high school, with the first year being the English immersion year that prepares students for rigorous curriculum, which is mostly in English.

In 2006, Robert College ranked first in all three sections of OSS, a formerly-administered Student Selection and Placement System test, among private high schools in Turkey, with 76 out of 132 students taking the exam scoring in the top 0.

Robert College has a rich history of co-curricular activities and sports, with about 100 student activity clubs as of 2015.

Robert College introduced basketball to the Ottoman Empire in 1907.

Robert College International Model United Nations is a THIMUN-affiliated Model United Nations conference organized annually by the Robert College Model United Nations Club since 2006.

Robert College has consistently ranked as the most expensive high school in Turkey by tuition.

The first, entitled "Heresy in Robert College" was an attack on the school's LGBTQ week.

In 2018, Faruk Arslan published another article, entitled "The Headscarf Hate of Robert College", claiming that Islamic headscarfs were banned by the school dress code.

Arslan claims that the 137 million dollars that Robert College acquired within a 5-year span is a result of "the exploitation of Turkey's resources", and is being used for "US interests".

In reality, Robert College raises funds through tuition and voluntary donations by its alumni.

Since the Ottoman period, Robert College alumni have played a leading role in numerous fields including the arts, academia, science, engineering, business, civil society and government administration.