For many parents in China and students who want to go to high school in the United States, the first step to understand Gaomei is to understand its academic system, which is very different from that in China.
American academic system
Compared with China's nine-year compulsory education, the development of American education system is more mature, and its compulsory education is 12 years, also known as K 12 academic system.
educational system
The federal government of the United States does not directly provide education funds, but the state governments independently distribute taxes, and most States will spend about 40% of the taxes on education. At the same time, the state government also has great autonomy in setting up the academic system. On the premise of ensuring 12 compulsory education, each state can adopt different educational systems.
For example, the educational system is 6.34, that is, 6 years in primary school (kindergarten to grade 5), 3 years in junior high school (grade 6 to grade 8), 4 years in senior high school (grade 9 to 12), and 7.33.
The way.
Although the education system varies from state to state, all states require school-age children to attend school, and most states stipulate that children must receive education before the age of 16.
Public and private
American secondary schools can be divided into public and private schools. Public schools are funded by the state government, and children of eligible taxpayers can attend them free of charge. This kind of school is established according to the population density of school districts in various regions, which provides convenience for students to enter the school nearby.
Private secondary schools include non-profit private schools and for-profit private schools, which can be attended by both local and foreign students. A series of expenses such as tuition, accommodation and meals are borne by the students' families.
Gaomei course credits
American middle schools adopt the credit system, and each school can set its own credit requirements.
Simply put, school courses can be divided into compulsory courses and elective courses. Students must not only complete the required courses, but also meet the requirements of total credits before they can be promoted to senior grades.
course
There are generally three types of American middle school curriculum.
1, regular course
Such as English, science, mathematics, fine arts, foreign languages and other courses.
2. Top student courses
Honors course is a unique overall course form in the United States. Compared with regular courses, the knowledge learned in honor courses is deeper, wider and faster. Honor course focuses on cultivating students' critical thinking.
Thinking) and independent thinking ability.
3.AP course
AP course (advanced
Placement is college preparation, that is, studying freshman courses in high school. About12,000 schools (60%) in more than 20,000 high schools in the United States offer AP courses. AP course is the most difficult course in American high schools, and the difficulty is equivalent to the basic course in American universities, and high reward corresponds to high difficulty.
There are many parents who want to know more about AP courses, so let me introduce them to you here.
Generally speaking, students can apply for university credits by taking AP exams. At present, nearly 3,600 universities in more than 40 countries in the world recognize AP credits. In the United States and Canada, more than 90% universities take AP exams and grant university credits, including the top Ivy League universities in the United States, Harvard and Yale.
The AP exam is a five-point system. Generally, a score of more than 3 points can be exchanged for university credits (some top universities will require more than 4 points). Studying AP course is equivalent to attending college course in advance. If students can pass the exam and exchange a certain number of AP course credits after entering the university, they can graduate from the university six months to one year in advance. It can not only reduce the study burden of universities, but also save time and money.
Because the content of AP course is the content of American university course, the difficulty is much higher than that of middle school course. Therefore, students taking AP courses are usually excellent students in middle school. College admissions officers will also be more inclined to admit students who have taken AP courses in high schools, because such students are more confident in the face of difficulties and have stronger independent learning ability.
AP courses selected by most students in China include Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Physics B, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics Continuation, Chemistry, etc. In short, being able to take several AP courses in senior high school is of great benefit to students' growth and future university application.