<p>It all boils down to each culture. Face it all you international students, you're parents probably push the crap out of you. Even students that come over here are pushed by their parents. I was talking to a Asian PhD that was giving a seminar in my town about the education system in America. He hates it. So what does he do? He schedules extra classes for his daughter in math and science from local tutors. He pushed her so hard that in 7th grade she got a 112 on her AMC 12. Not bad ehh? You know what my parents do? Well for a week before my AP test last year I actually studied for about 3-4 hrs a night. They told me I needed to get outside more...Do any of you honestly think that being pushed hard had no effect on this girl and that she is naturally smarter than Americans? I have a foreign exchange student friend, and he is probably one of the smartest people, knowledge wise, in my school. Yet he tells me all the time that I am one of the smartest kids he knows(that I pick up really fast), but I just don't try. He also said that even though most everyone here that has no chance of making our high school basketball team almost anyone could easily make theirs. It's all about the focus for individual cultures. American is obsessed on sports and entertainment. They are also stuck on teaching to the LOWEST level. I play game boy in every class I have, and still get the highest scores on the test. How challenging is that? Even my AP classes are a joke. America provides freedom so that someone who is truly self motivated can go very far, but it doesn't provide motivation for all of us. Also the IQ differences of the average Asian and American are negligible. </p>
<p>Also, to all you grammar sticklers, don't judge people on their bad grammEr, it doesn't mean they are stupid.</p>
<p>A point was made about Asian students dominating "for the US" at these international math/science competitions. And someone has said that it doesn't matter; they are still "American citizens."</p>
<p>But it does. The argument isn't that American kids are inherently dumber. It's that the American CULTURE and American EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM are flawed. These Asian kids are given cultural pressure by their parents, and most likely their learning does not happen in the classroom. Therefore, they aren't true barometers of the way the general American public learns. If anything, the fact that the American team is mostly composed of recent (1st and 2nd generation) Asian immigrants shows that our culture and system cannot compete at all, since the people who make the national team are "foreigners."</p>
<p>Also, dominance in a few competitions which only involve a few extremely-talented youth does not imply overall excellence. The math/science curricula of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian 'competitive' schools are simply more rigorous than those of American schools. In standardized test scores, the general trend is that the United States is lagging behind. Whether this indicates overall decline or a transferred focus to the liberal arts and humanities is unclear. But the Olympiads are the least of it.</p>
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Hey ScAR I'm sorry to say but you were being racist. If I had an Asian friend and made fun of them for being stupid that woud be considered racist. Same thing goes the other way. Actually I haven't been "living under a rock" (a very cliche and dull analogy if I don't say so myself). In fact I never said anything about India not producing the most doctors. All I said was that their poor are very superstitious and unable to let go of outdated beliefs. I KNOW that India produces a huge amount of doctors and scientists. But my statement about the superstitious poor and the outdated nature of their beliefs still stands.
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Well that's bound to happen, and you'd know that if you looked at thier population. It's population is 1 Billion+ and more than half of them half little or no education, whereas here, people can get education wether they're filthy rich, or dirt poor, but just aren't willing to take advantage of it. People in third world countries like India, Cambodia, etc are thirsting for education, and here we're being lazy bums (myself included) and not taking advantage of what we already have.</p>
<p>Yes. Exponentially harder than American schools... Especially for High School (or the equivalent in a given European country). You must actually be somewhat intelligent and have some analytical skills to pass (unlike the SAT). Everyone else drops out or specializes in Europe.</p>
<p>protege if you actualy read my whole posts you would realize that I was actually standing up for immigrants in the United States. At least I don't stand around and make fun of my supposed "friends". And as for the German school system I was just repeating what an exchange student told me. I would assume that they would have more knowledge on the topic than either you or I. </p>
<p>JackBauerPowerHour. I think you are excessively rude. It is that exact type of attitude that makes foreigners hate Americans. How exactly was I being immature anyway? It seems to me that attacking someone without an educated explanation is more immature and pointless than anything I was saying in my posts. </p>
<p>I think people are also forgetting that the U.S. school system is done on a state by state basis and also district by district. My smaller school district is not as good as the larger Anchorage district. It all depends on how much money that specific state or district wants to put into education.</p>
<p>I think this pointless attacking of others (I have been doing it) and other have been doing it to me is immature at best. Why bother quote boxing other's posts? The only reason it is done is to attack their statements. Controversial threads like this should be organized in a debate format where personal attacks are not allowed. Since I know that my posts and character will continue to be attacked (and when it is done I will say something mean about the poster) I am deleting my subscription to this thread. </p>
<p>Just remember if you don't have something positive or constructive to say don't bother saying it at all. Everything that is said is opinion anyway so why bother attacking someone else's beliefs? (And yes I have done this so I am a hyporcrite. I guess I realized how stupid it all was when others started to attack my character and I reteliated by doing the same)</p>