<p>I am not really trying anything at the moment, i am in the process of perhaps getting into a PhD position at leyden University in a new research group there. If that works out i might be able to do some research abroad and then I guess I would be in a more comfortable position for transfer and exchange, already being in a heavily competed position.</p>
<p>If it doesn't work out would probably opt for a linguistics major in the UK (preferably Oxford or Edinburgh or Newcastle, they have high ranking programmes in Linguistics) or the USA (I'll have to find out what my reach schools would be then. Lots of talking with my study abroad office lol...I know 've seen a great programme at Berkeley)</p>
<p>To get into the PhD position in Leyden my MA thesis (which I should complete in November 2005/December 2005) needs to be graded between 8 and ten, preferaby above 8,5. i am working for a 9 of course, as i always do ;)</p>
<p>(working for a ten is no option...they don't give those out generally, especially in the case of theses)</p>
<p>I hope they know our Dutch system very well, esspecially the way how dutch teachers give grades, the different courses you can take and how less spare time you have to do EC's. This is reallly my biggest worry next to financial aid</p>
<p>@fwoukje Youre entirely right, In the netherlands every student from vwo has a basic knowledge of every subject. But I think we lack advance knowledge, because we spent useless time at a subject we dont like but which are compulsory. And Fwoukje about the study house, It's a total failure, the teachers at my school abandoned it, and now they are giving lessons as it used to be</p>
<p>For oxford and Cambrigde you must have an overall score of 8.0
At this point my overall score is 8,5, but my big problem subject Physics is upcoming</p>
<p>the study house as a system could be good, better preparation for uni at least, excpet they've stripped so many important subjects to a bare minimum...I remember i had to read 15 books fr englis, 12 for french and 25 for my dutc oral literature examinations. there is virtually nothing left of the language education as it was...</p>
<p>It's one o the reasons have decided not to bcome an english teacher in high school.</p>
<p>almost abandoned it, only the worst students are obligated to go to the study house
And I think my school have made the right decision, after all my school is ranked 4th at the 2004 Elsevier survey</p>
<p>My overall score for post-propedeutic (i.e. post junior year) in university is a 9.13. I work very hard to keep it this high. I cannot conceive of any way to get it higher. Since you both know dutch grading i think you will agree that it's very ard to accomplish higher marks, especially in a university study where many grades depend on essay-type tests.</p>
<p>I might be able to get into a good UK school with that i think.</p>
<p>The study house is more than a place, it's a curriculum change, no school can abandon that.</p>
<p>don't trust the Elsevier research, it relies too much on factors such as how many students fail classes. Especially in the dutch system tha is often not the school's fault. My school was a very good school, having slackers in my class didn't make its education worse.</p>
<p>Hi Nick...I do linguistics in the USA but am studying abroad in France right now. I should graduate in two years. I am considering gradschool in Canada and Europe, in addition to the US.</p>
<p>You are an excellent student. My husband and I both graduated from Universities in Nederland and indeed, 10 was not an option the way A is an option is in US or UK. But the study house, in my opinion, was a bad idea for high schools, sorry.
Trinya, 8 for Oxford? I do not know much about it, but 8 seems like a very low mark for the University that demand 3 A at A-levels. It may well be right for an Asian student (Oxford can earn good many from overseas students), but European students, I seriously doubt it.</p>
<p>Jup, especially sine in high School exam getting higher than an 8 is not all that difficult, at least, in my high school class there were 7 people with an average higher than 8 on their exams....7 out of 23 isn't exactly spectacularly rare is it :)</p>
<p>I mean you must have minimal an 8 before they even consider your application.
They have posted a minimum requirementlist on their admission page.</p>
<p>Trinya, I would not bet on it. Try to get better marks. And don't forget that Oxbridge (Oxford-Cambridge) interviews are notoriously difficult to pass. It is nothing like friendly interviews for US Universities. You need to prepare very well and you need to start now, because deadline for Oxbridge usually is 15 October.</p>
<p>nick (sorry, i thought you were a man....:$)</p>
<p>I agree on the tweede fase being wrong. the study house is just the methodology of getting students to be more responsible for they're learning, which could have worked well, hadn't the entire curriculum been trashed at the same time.</p>
<p>I am seriously sorry for kids losing out this way. Personally, if i were to have children in the near future i would probably send them to an international school. My parents almost let me go to a dual-language stream school in Oegstgeest, but i decided i didn't want to travel for an hour each morning and that I wanted to go to school with my friends in stead.</p>
<p>(I was rather good at English before going to secondary school, I was not bilingual, my parents are dutch, but I have been quite fluent in English from age 10 onwards becuase of language contacts and my generally freakish love for languages.)</p>
<p>So I have to agree with you, the tweede fase is a waste of time and talent. I so not want to be a teacher in this system.</p>
<p>I think I must let Oxford go, because they demand you must have for every INDIVIDUAL subject an 8. And that's something I can't expext,because for every subject I can get an 8,9 but there's no chance I will get an 8 for Physics
At which Britain University Nick12 was your daughter admitted?</p>
<p>Something funny, My father has an Cambridge certificate and I even dont knew it. I just found out.</p>
<p>haha, we both confused each other with our names, i thought you were a male</p>
<p>My daughter spent 4 years at a very good Dutch school and for us it took much soul searching and sleepless nights to make a decision to send her to International School. We were not rich, lived in a rented flat and just started to earn better money. It was a painful decision, because it meant lots of sacrifices, but we did it and never ever regretted the decision even for a second! It was a wonderful experience for her, pupils from 40 nationalities of different abilities, EC at school. But we are bitter, because apart from more expensive buildings and large sport facilities now in a new school in Amstelveen (before that even that was the same as in a state schools) there is absolutely nothing in ISA that many state schools in Nederland could not repeat! It all depends on attitude! Much work was enthusiastically done by PTA (parents). There are certain (but not strict) rules, but atmosphere is friendly, busy and relaxed. We were among the first who dared to make a step and sent our daughter to ISA. Now there many, many Dutch children there (they learn Dutch too), so if nothing changes in schools in Holland, you would make a great decision by sending your future child(ren) to ISA. But it is not cheap. Children are picked up by special busses, by the way.
Trinya, Cambridge certificate has absolutely no connection to education at Cambridge. It is a certificate of English language proficiency, something like TOEFL.</p>
<p>I have been reading up a little, I think my best shot would be to try and get into the coveted PhD position in Leyden and seek time abroad as a visiting student to do research.</p>
<p>Though I'd love to deepen my knowledge of linguistics by doing a second MA or even a Dphil.</p>
<p>At this moment, I have decided to prepare for the SAT I/II and Toefl as good as possible.
In August I will try to get good teacher recommendations. In the summer, I will go to America and there I will write several essays with my 2 cousins and nephew( all three berkeley graduates). And then I will see at which colleges I am going to apply.
In these upcoming months I am going to orientate which schools give financial aids and how much.</p>