Braintreegirl

Hi again,

Could somebody explain to me what the Advanced Placement scheme is that they seem to have in the High Schools over there? What exams are the children expected to take and at what stage? Obviously we have the GCSEs over here and the SATs taken at 14.

The school I am thinking of placing my son in (Montville High School) appears to have the AP but not the IB - is this a bad thing? Should I only send him to a school that does the IB or doesn't it matter really?

Also, what chance do they have of getting a scholarship to University to avoid paying the exhorbitant costs?

Thanks for your help.

TouristTrap

They have to be permanent residents or USC's in most cases to get scholarships, but there are some available to non-residents. You just have to really search for them. One way to get around the exorbitant fees is to send them to a community college for 2 years, where they get their Associates Degree. If you've lived in the state for a year, they're usually much less expensive than a regular university and they can transfer to a unie for their junior and senior years (3rd and 4th).

They don't have the GCSE/A-Level type exams here, they write the SAT's. AP is Advanced Placement, which means they're in classes that are a bit harder than the regular classes. In the IB program, they write exams very similar to GCSE's but that is in their senior year and it doesn't really matter if they don't do it - their SAT scores will count.

To get into university here you just have to have finished high school, and not even then. If you drop out, you can make up and do a quick few weeks course and get what they call the GED and you get into university that way. You write the SAT's in your junior (second to last year of high school) usually.

It isn't like they have to be in the Advanced Placement or I.B program to get into college if that is what you're trying to line up in your head. There are no exams as such that they must write in order to qualify, such as the A-Levels. Every Tom, Dick or Harry can go to unie here

Braintreegirl

Thanks for your advice - very useful

How soon do they place them in the Advanced Placement? Would this make up for the fact that they are probably a year ahead in their studies over here? I'm a bit worried that they will get bored if they are not kept stimulated in some way.

mandpete

My 10 year old was considered by his teachers in England to be extremely clever and they wrote a detailed report for us to bring to America. This meant nothing to the school over here and he was placed in a regular (not PACE) 6th grade class. Like I said in my previous post at his age we felt it was extremely important for him to be with children of his own age rather than put him in a class of older children.

At High School students are not necessarily placed with children of the same age, it works on how many credits they earn from the previous year as to which level of english, algebra, etc., they will be in. My son was the only sophomore in his french class last year, all the other were seniors. A student can be in regular class one year, honours the next year and then back to regular class. To be placed in an AP class also goes on how they performed the previous year.

Your children will not get bored as there are so many different things they will have to learn. English grammar over here is very different as is the way they teach algebra and calculus. Not to mention history and geography.

PS. All their immunisations need to be up to date before they start school in NJ, particularly Hep B which is not routinely given in UK.

penguinsix

AP classes were basically designed to give students a chance to test out of introductory college courses. At the end of the year they can take an AP test in say English and if they score high enough, that will count toward their required coursework in university (most US universities have a basic set of required coursework in English, Math, Science, Philosophy, etc. A couple even have a swimming test (yea, you can't graduate if you can't swim).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement

AP isn't necessarily the same as Gifted / Honors program classes, which are similar but may not have the testing element at the end. You'll need to check with your school district to see just what exactly they offer. As other posters mentioned, while they might be advanced by a year, don't necessarily think that will translate to one year more in study than their US counterparts. It varies by subjects and by teaching methods and in some areas you may find your kids are behind (such as US history).

And on top of that, there are a tremendous number of extra-curricular programs at schools, and your kids would do well to take up some of them. Everything from student newspapers to lacrosse teams to theater--kids in the US (and the parents who have to drive them to the functions) have a lot of scheduled events. Many expats can report near exhaustion just trying to keep up.

Welcome to New Jersey.

Oh yeah--definitely get them uptodate on their shots. They won't be allowed in school without them (they take it very seriously in some districts).

Braintreegirl

Thanks, this has been really helpful.

Did you guys sell your houses in the U.K. before you moved over?

penguinsix

I'd start a different thread with that in the subject field, or do a search. The recommendations will vary. Many think it is 'burning your ship' which can be a real pain 6 mnths from now when you decide you hate the US

Elvira

This is the agency that runs SATs and APs:

http://collegeboard.com/splash/

Note the information about AP is on a separate part of the site:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/.../ap/about.html

For the 'better' universities APs are a necessity - as are sterling SAT score - not just the general SAT, but also 2-3 subject SATs.

One important difference about the US high-school system is that it's based on modules (instead of following a step-by-step curriculum). You have to make sure that your kids complete not only the requisite courses to be able to graduate from high-school, but also get those required by the universities they are considering attending (whose requirements may be more arduous...)

Of course, they can't just pick the courses they're interested in - they have to meet certain prerequisites, eg to be able to do Calculus, they have to have done all the algebra, trichonometry etc. It can get complicated, which is why it is important that you involve your kid's counsellor at an early stage. (But you must do your homework, because some counsellors are too busy and/or not as competent as they should be.)

TouristTrap

Great point about extra-curricular activities.

To get into a good college here, you have to have participated in this kind of thing. If you don't, chances are you'll have a hard time. It helps to take something that stands out.


To graduate in New Jersey, you need to have these credits:

Graduation Requirements for New Jersey High Schools

The Department of Education requires the following subjects be taken before students graduate from high school:


Language Arts Literacy (20 credits)
Mathematics (15 credits)
Science (15 credits)
Social Studies (to include 2 courses in US *History) (15 credits)
Health and Physical Education (3.75 credits per year)
Technology
Performing and Visual Arts (5 credits)
Career Education and Consumer, Family, and Life Skills (Practical Arts) (5 credits)
World Languages (5 or testing)
Electives taken from CCCS areas (15 credits)

Basically, you do the work, pass the tests and you've earned the credit. There are no exams taken in order to pass the course.

Language Arts would include grammar and literature.
Math would include Algebra 1 and 2, and some kids do Pre-Calc and Calculus as well. Most go to the local community college in their junior year (second last year) of high school and take Calculus, etc, there and earn some credits toward their degrees. In fact, many kids enter community college as young as 14 or 15 and get an A.A. degree before they're through high school!
Going onto University for their two final years.

Plus, I don't know about NJ, but down here, they have to do 80 hours of community service over the period of their 4 year high school years to graduate.

It can be a tad confusing to figure out but once you're here, it will all fall into place. The possibilities are endless

As Elvira said though, you have to take the SAT II's in order to get into a good college.

Jerseygirl

We kept our house for 2 years after moving here. We didn't want to rent it out because I was hoping we would return and I didn't want strangers living in my home. We were worried about squatters, the house being burgled etc because it was obvious the house was empty. Also various repairs needed to be done...so in the end we decided to sell. Bad decision...it would be worth quite a bit now and we had no mortgage.

mandpete

Just to let you know schools in NJ generally finish for the summer mid
June and go back the first week in September. However, administration and guidance should be available at the schools throughout the summer.

jumping doris

The SAT's here are not the same as SAT's in the UK.
I really wouldn't worry about your children being too far ahead. As I said before there will be a lot of stuff they have never done here and there will be a period of catching up and adjusting.

The IB programme is just a different way of learning, more emphasis on team work and more opportunity to explore side issues. At our high school the students can take some IB classes or do the whole diploma. We arrived too late for my eldest to slot into the diploma course so once she had found her feet she took some IB classes.

For example, she is very good at French, had done it since primary school and spent all her summers for a few years in Lyon with friends. She is fluent.
But when we moved here she struggled; they use different grammer...she felt it was a bit dated, and they pronounce stuff with a US accent.
She spoke in class as she would speak in France (not slang, just todays French) and she was marked down.
She learned to listen more closely to the way they speak here and adjusted her grammer and, hey presto, within 6 months she was in senior IB french.

This happened with my middle daughter and Latin.
Also, when we first came here, we couldn't have just put our kids in honours and AP. They had to prove they could do it. We had our own weight in stuff from their UK schools but on the whole it is meaningless here.

When my friend moved over here she insisted her daughter went into a higher grade because she felt she would be repeating a year if she went into the correct US year and she is a very bright child. She struggled and ended up being moved down a year, which was very upsetting for her.

Bob

Without being a USC or LPR, that leaves pretty much private bank loans and private scholarships through employers.

Another thing to watch out for, if planning on going to uni in the UK, need to be a UK resident 3 years prior to entry or you'd have international fee's, which aren't cheap, cheaper than the US though probably.

jumping doris

The costs are not always that bad. There are masses of colleges here and some of them are very reasonable. We looked into UK art schools for my eldest and although the tuition was cheaper, we found accomodation costs much higher.
Comparing what we are paying here with what her friends are paying in the UK, for us it's very similar.

If you're looking at Oxford/Yale type ivy league colleges then it's different.