Explain American education system to me??

[ApresMidi]

I've been educated in England, can someone explain GPA to me?? So confused. Had US family members try to explain but to no avail.

In UK,you barely ever ever get held back, like out of everyone I know ,ever, one of them was held back a year,we just start GCSES at 15 ,get qualifications for that at 16, in maths, english,biology,chemistry ,physics, a language, a humanity etc
16+ start A LEVELS til 18-19;Uni, where you choose a subject ,shock horror! ;)
For example ,people who choose Geography...just do geography ;)

But in usa ,you basically do every subject??
Hmmm.

I dont think I would like the threat of being held back a year, or pressure of GPA,as long as you get coursework done and pass exams at end of two years, your fine ;)

Do you think its a good system or would you prefer uk system or the european one?

[Jess]

GPA is the grade point average

I found a site that lists all the percentages and their corresponding GPA: http://faculty.washington.edu/mbarreto/courses/gpa.html

in the US, yes you do every subject, if you mean math, science, social studies, and English.

sorry if I didn't explain well :P

EDIT: thank you Bethany for a more detailed explanation

[Bath]

Pre-school: the age depends, but usually you start pre-school around 3 or 4. It's also optional.

Elementary school:
Kindergarten - age 5
1st grade - age 6
2nd grade - age 7
3rd grade - age 8
4th grade - age 9
5th grade - age 10

Middle school:
6th grade - age 11
7th grade - age 12
8th grade - age 13

Usually these are the years when you go to period scheduling.. meaning, multiple classes in a day. Elementary school, you only have one teacher for everything. The meaning of middle school is to prepare you for high school.

High school:
9th grade (freshmen) - age 14
10th grade (sophomore) - age 15
11th grade (junior) - age 16
12th grade (senior) - age 17

Then you graduate at 18. Then you decide what you want to do... most people go to college (or university, it's the same thing here) for a degree, then get a job. But it all depends on the person.

Mind you, this is how it works for most of America. Some counties in some states might do it slightly different, like including 6th grade in elementary school. But that's not usually how you'll find it.

You need a certain amount of credits to graduate high school. It varies depending on the state. For example, here in Florida, you need 24 credits... Four credits in English, three credits in math, three credits in science, then various elective (electives are similar to GCSEs, you know, art, music, languages, stuff like that) credits. Credits just mean you passed the class.

As Jess said, GPA is just a formula used for your overall grades. 4.0 or higher is very good, 3.0-3.9 is average. I don't know about other states, but here in FL you need a 2.0 to graduate, which isn't that hard at all.

It sounds very complicated, but growing up with it, it isn't really.

[Jess]

Pre-school: the age depends, but usually you start pre-school around 3 or 4. It's also optional.

Elementary school:
Kindergarten - age 5
1st grade - age 6
2nd grade - age 7
3rd grade - age 8
4th grade - age 9
5th grade - age 10

Middle school:
6th grade - age 11
7th grade - age 12
8th grade - age 13

Usually these are the years when you go to period scheduling.. meaning, multiple classes in a day. Elementary school, you only have one teacher for everything. The meaning of middle school is to prepare you for high school.

High school:
9th grade (freshmen) - age 14
10th grade (sophomore) - age 15
11th grade (junior) - age 16
12th grade (senior) - age 17

Then you graduate at 18. Then you decide what you want to do... most people go to college (or university, it's the same thing here) for a degree, then get a job. But it all depends on the person.

Mind you, this is how it works for most of America. Some counties in some states might do it slightly different, like including 6th grade in elementary school. But that's not usually how you'll find it.

You need a certain amount of credits to graduate high school. It varies depending on the state. For example, here in Florida, you need 24 credits... Four credits in English, three credits in math, three credits in science, then various elective (electives are similar to GCSEs, you know, art, music, languages, stuff like that) credits. Credits just mean you passed the class.

As Jess said, GPA is just a formula used for your overall grades. 4.0 or higher is very good, 3.0-3.9 is average. I don't know about other states, but here in FL you need a 2.0 to graduate, which isn't that hard at all.

It sounds very complicated, but growing up with it, it isn't really.

also, the age can kinda vary as well, obviously because of when people's birthdays are...for example there are juniors who are 17, and there are seniors, like me, who are 17....also, I am going to graduate at 17, not 18, as my birthday isn't until August (bleh)

but Bethany got everything :)

[Stronger]

also, the age can kinda vary as well, obviously because of when people's birthdays are...for example there are juniors who are 17, and there are seniors, like me, who are 17....also, I am going to graduate at 17, not 18, as my birthday isn't until August (bleh)

but Bethany got everything :)

Also just adding a little piece, depending on your birthday, you can be 6 years old, its called starting late or something, but pretty sure its possible.

[Cognizant]

Most high schools shape their credits around the colleges around them. For instance, in our area, we have UC Berkeley, and Stanford. For example, to get into UC Berkeley, you need at least 1 year of theater/the arts. So, the schools in our district make it required that we do 1 year of the arts.

[Wonder.]

As Jess said, GPA is just a formula used for your overall grades. 4.0 or higher is very good, 3.0-3.9 is average. I don't know about other states, but here in FL you need a 2.0 to graduate, which isn't that hard at all.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the average GPA is around 2.5.

If it was 3.0, there would be a lot less people getting held back/getting summerschool/dropping out.

[Aves]

I believe that the age of what grade your in has been perfectly established above.

As for GPA, it is calculated as such

GPA Score
A = 4.0
B = 3.0
C = 2.0
D = 1.0
F = 0

Percentages
A's are generally from 90%-100%
B's ~ 80%-89%
C's ~ 70%-79%
D's ~ 60%-69%
F's ~ 0-59%

Each percent differs per school, however.


Then you take the GPA score of each class you've taken and then divide by the number of classes.

Let's say you've taken four classes, got 2 B's, 1 A, and a D.

4+3+3+1= 11

Now take 11 divided by 4(number of classes taken). 11/4 = 2.75

[Steve Jobs]

Exactly in your position right now! I went through the British education system too and I'm now living in America. It's just as hard for me to learn how they work here as it is for them to learn how it worked for me.

It's such a mess. Cambridge works marvels.