Compare the Pair (Austalian/US High School Education))

International Students
1

<p>Hi everyone. I'm an Australian Year 12 student, hoping to study in the USA. I've looked high and low but I'm yet to find a resource comparing the high school education standards of the two countries.</p>

<p>I've included a few questions from last year's exams for Chemistry, Maths Methods [Regular Maths], Specialist Mathematics [Advanced Maths] and Physics. I study these subjects plus English and last year I took Year 12 Accounting.</p>

<p>If anyone has some time to burn, I'd be enormously grateful if you could look at the questions I've provided and tell me how the Australian system measures up to the US, it'd be very helpful in my application (i.e. could I claim Specialist Maths is like AP calculus)</p>

<p>Note: All exams take 90 minutes and have 90 marks. The marks per question should give you an idea of the time it is assumed students will need to complete them</p>

<p>Chemistry:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/CH13.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/CH13.jpg&lt;/a> [3 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/CH21.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/CH21.jpg&lt;/a> [1 mark]</p>

<p>Maths Methods [Regular Maths] No Calculator Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MM14.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MM14.jpg&lt;/a> [4 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MM22.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MM22.jpg&lt;/a> [2 marks]</p>

<p>Maths Methods [Regular Maths] Tech Active (TI-83/84) Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MMT13.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MMT13.jpg&lt;/a> [3 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MMT24.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/MMT24.jpg&lt;/a> [4 marks]</p>

<p>Specialist Mathematics [Advanced Maths] No Calculator Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SP13.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SP13.jpg&lt;/a> [3 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SP23.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SP23.jpg&lt;/a> [3 marks]</p>

<p>Specialist Mathematics [Advanced Maths] Tech Active (TI-83/84/89) Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SPT21.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SPT21.jpg&lt;/a> [1 mark]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SPT32.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/SPT32.jpg&lt;/a> [2 marks]</p>

<p>Physics Mid-Year Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHM13.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHM13.jpg&lt;/a> [3 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHM22.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHM22.jpg&lt;/a> [2 marks]</p>

<p>Physics End-Year Exam:
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHE12.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHE12.jpg&lt;/a> [2 marks]
<a href="http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHE22.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Kirkaine25/PHE22.jpg&lt;/a> [2 marks]</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Two of the four specialist math questions you posted involve calculus, but it is very basic calculus - differential calculus with polynomial/power functions. I don’t know how representative they are of what you actually covered in the course. Did you talk about how to differentiate or integrate other types of functions (exponential, trig, logarithmic)? Did you do integral calculus (integration by substitution, integration by parts, etc)? Did you cover sequences and series? If not, I wouldn’t claim that it’s equivalent to AP Calculus.</p>

<p>The physics questions you posted look like questions we worked on in a college-prep physics course for juniors or seniors, but it was not an AP course.</p>

<p>I can’t say anything about chemistry because I did not take high school chemistry in the US.</p>

<p>By the way, it is not necessary for you to tell the admissions office what the American equivalent of your courses is. They read hundreds of international applications each year, including some from Australia, and know what different school systems cover at what time. Colleges who do not have this experience will ask for an official evaluation done by an educational evaluation service.</p>

3

<p>Here are some sample AP questions if you would like to compare the courses yourself:</p>

<p>Chemistry: <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;

<p>Calc AB (the easy AP Calc): <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;

<p>Calc BC (the hard AP Calc): <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;

<p>Physics B (the easy AP Physics - many colleges won’t give you credit or placement for this one): <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;

<p>Physics C, Electricity and Magnetism: <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;

<p>Physics C, Mechanics: <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;