karin_and_boys

Hi Everyone,
We are still dithering about our decision to stay in UK or return to U.S (We have been back here in UK for a year). As my eldest had only reached 6th grade when we left, I am clueless about high school and how it works. So was just wondering, specifically:

1. Are there main exams like o levels and a levels or is it by continous assessment? Assume it is as I have never really heard of big high school exams

2. How does the college application process work? Do you just apply to all the colleges you fancy and hope you will get into one of them?

3. I have heard all sorts of things about college applications like for example being an eagle scout gives you a 'leg up', or being a great musician or whatever. Is this the case for all colleges or just the top notch ones?

4. How are you 'accepted' into a college, ie is it just based on your results from the last year of high school or interview or a mixture?

I have googled this but cannot get really specific answers. If anyone ha high school age kids I would appreciate any input to help enlighten me

Many thanks,
Karin.

Michael

No main exams.

Most states allow you to enter into one of the states colleges (or community colleges) out of high school no matter what were the grades as long as a high school diploma was received.

In the case of California, there are the community colleges, the state system, and the university system.

The community colleges (112 total) are two year colleges. To continue their education to get a BA, students usually attend one of the state/university colleges to finish their education. The entrance requirements are very low (not even required to have a high school education).

There are 23 state colleges (eg. San Jose State, San Diego State) which generally have low entrance requirements for students out of high school (generally a C or C- requirement). Usually if you meet the entrance requirements, you get your choice of schools but should register early in case classes are full.

The university system with 10 campuses (eg. UC Berkeley, UCLA) are more difficult to get accepted. As an example, certain majors at UC Berkeley require a near or perfect 4.0 GPA (straight As). If you are not at least a B student do expect to get into UC Berkeley on any major but you will likely get into UC Santa Cruz with a lower GPA.

Then there are the private universities (eg. Stanford, USC) that have tough requirements and very expensive. However, they may or may not be tougher than getting to top state universities such as UC Berkeley.

Generally when applying for the top universities, every bit may help (but probably not the eagle scouts) especially if that major requires a near or perfect 4.0 GPA. Whether an interview is required will depend on the university and the major.

Average annual in-state tuition costs:

Community Colleges: $624
State Colleges: $4,827
State Universities: $9,285
Private Universities: $30,144

Cost of books and other fees will be required.

The following are the average annual costs for in-state students living on campus (includes tuition, books and supplies, room and board, and misc).

Community Colleges: $12,384
State Colleges: $19,576
State Universities: $26,985
Private Universities: $45,175

karin_and_boys

Michael,
Thanks so much fior this info. So, are the gpa results calculated on your last year at high school, or do you have to have essentially been a straight a student all through high school?
My boys are (well, were) in a gifted stream in US so they do well. I would hope they would get to a state university.

tamms_1965

GPA is calculated from grade 9 - 12, continually changing as you complete grades. Each state varies on exams. Some states have a "state" exam you take in the 5 core subjects in order to graduate (pretty easy), but MANY are going towards an exam at the end of each core course (more national standardized). It is all linked to Obama's "race to the top."

Michael

Generally they consider the final 3 years of high school. However for the better universities or impacted majors in state colleges, they may (likely) also use Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores to determine admission.

In some cases, SAT scores can help a person with weak high school grades or home schooling being admitted to a university or an impacted major.

penguinsix

To get in to a competitive school, you will need to take a college entrance exam, called the SAT or the ACT (which is more common in the midwest).

Your college admissions will be based on a combination of the high school GPA (grades 9-12), the SAT or ACT score, extracurricular activities (Eagle Scout, Sports, student newspaper, etc), a personal essay about yourself and then a few other bits (are you a minority, handicapped, son of an alum of the school, etc).

But by far the most important are the GPA and the SAT/ACT score. The tests are usually taken in the junior year and the application process for college is in the Fall of the Senior year. Acceptances start in the Winter of the Senior year and by about May of the Senior year or so a student has to say yes/no (and then they go to the waitlist).

There are books, courses, counsellors--a whole industry based on the college admissions process. I would start with a guide book to US universities on Amazon. Just search "College Admissions" or "Best Colleges" or something and you'll have a ton of offerings.

Jerseygirl

The cheapest and easiest way to get into uni is through athletics. Parents plan their strategy carefully and it's taken very seriously. I know plenty of students who have gained early admittance into ivy league unis this way. How you perform academically doesn't seem to matter too much if you excel at a particular sport. Uni coaches are often the highest paid member of staff...even more than The Dean.

Unis here are looking for extracurricular activities and AP classes as well as GPA's and SATS.

Edit: Normally an undergrad degree is 4 years as opposed to 3 in the UK. A masters is usually another 2 years as opposed to 1 in the UK.

My best friend's daughter became a doctor after 5 years at uni in the UK...goodness know how long it takes here because normally you have to have an undergrad degree to be accepted at med school or law school.

Bob

Each uni is different...so perhaps have a browse around uni websites for areas you'd be interest to go.

Good uni's though pretty much require AP classes though to stand out from the rest of the crowd and even then you'd not be standing out.

Mummy in the foothills

In California the only exam they have to take to graduate is the High school exit exam, usually taken in grade 10 and repeated if failed till 12th grade.
For colleges Ds applied where he fancied he put those down on his paperwork for SAT's and the results were automatically sent to those colleges. Ds did the pre SAT's in 11th grade followed by SAT's in 12th, they had to be taken before end of November of senior year to count. His high school grades were also sent directly. All 4 years of classes and GPA'sa were counted to prevent kids taken a 12th grade full of easy stuff and getting straight A's for the final year.
There are lists of required and recommended classes to take in high school depending on what university system you are going to apply for, they give those lists out when choosing classes for the 9th grade.
We just aimed for the hardest colleges and went from there, so that meant 2 continuous years of a single language (not the same class twice) it told us how many science classes, art classes etc were needed for applications to Community college, CSU, UC, or Private colleges.
The councilor explained funding and what to do, they also gave out application for scholarships they knew about.
We applied for federal funding and filled out the FAFSA online every year he was in college.
Oh yeah extracurricular activities and hobbies count on on the college applications. Ds joined a couple of clubs in high school and played and composed music and worked part time at the local drug store.
Heck I didn't realize I had learned all that

lifehouse51

Medical Schools are 4 years minimum, and it's possible to extend it for various reasons (Taking a year off for research, travel, doing a MBA degree on top of MD, etc.). Undergrad years vary, although the standard is 4 years, people can graduate in 3 years or even less if they have had taken enough Advanced Placement courses in High school, or if they take an exceptionally high load each semester in college.

Sally Redux

Hmm that sounds optimistic, people around here seem to be saying at least 5 years for an undergraduate degree.

My son is a high school junior and I admit to being 'at sea' with the application pracess.

Jerseygirl

My friend's daughter in the UK graduated as a doctor after a 5 year uni course...she was 23. Worked in a hospital for just over a year and is now a GP...she was 25 last month.



'Normally an undergrad degree is 4 years as opposed to 3 in the UK. A masters is usually another 2 years as opposed to 1 in the UK.'


That's why I said 'normally' and 'usually'. I realise it's not always the case...my friend's son got his masters from UPenn in 4 years.

lifehouse51

Yea, medical education is shorter in the UK. In the US, realistically you can't really practice as a GP; you can get a medical license in some states after one year of post-graduate training, but almost everyone will finish at least 3 years of residency training in an area like Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, etc., get Board-certified as well. In the UK, I believe it takes quite long to finish a specialty training, but the way specialties are divided up are different as well (For Eg., I heard that you can go straight into Cardiology in the UK, which is not possible under the US system, which will be Internal Medicine->Cardiology)

Yea, I'm not saying you're wrong. in the U.S., a Bachelor's Degree is usually considered a 4 year program, but variabilities of course exist.

Also, just to clarify, Med school in the U.S. is 4 years minimum, and I have never heard of ways to cut it short, this is partly because you need a certain number of months for clinical rotations to graduate/be licensed, and unlike coursework credits, you can't just take more credits than usual to finish earlier.

lifehouse51

I did my Bachelor's in 4.5 years. I don't think people should consider completing in 5 years as a sign of deficiency in someone. Some people just choose to take longer due to Double Major, Extra Minor, or in my case, took half a year off to do an immersion program working with adults with developmental disabilities. The U.S. Undergrad education is quite flexible in that way, you can do a lot of extra things if you want, or just the bare minimum/acclerated track in less than 4 years.

Jerseygirl

After uni I think there is a requirement for all new doctors to work 1 year in various hospital departments...then you choose a speciality or as my friend's daughter did to go into general practice.