<p>Everyone at my school who takes AP courses, including me, have been going to school this past two weeks. Perhaps policies vary from school to school?</p>
<p>And you’re telling me that A-Level classes are not geared towards the A-Level exams as AP classes are? Absurd. Look, we can disagree about this all we want, but the main thing that we can glean from this thread is that A-Levels are England’s APs. But, hell, I think we all knew that before this thread came along.</p>
<p>Re Oxford - take a closer look at the website and see what else is expected of candidates applying with APs. And did you notice, Oxford asks for 3 A’s at A-level - not 5. I was going to ask what your source was for your reference to ‘5 A-levels’. Having said that, the people I know at Oxbridge applying from private schools took at least 4 A levels (and we’re not counting General Studies). I wouldn’t say A-levels are harder than APs. I would say they demand a different skill set. And your school, TomtheCat, advises that Oxbridge accepts only APs taken in the final year. So AP Euro taken in 10th grade doesn’t count. I’m not sure your school is correct on this point but if they are, they’re saying a student needs to take 4 APs in 12th grade.</p>
<p>ttc- As for A-levels, yet again, those aren’t comparable to the AP –
That is what you said 3/4 posts ago.
Thus I answered what I answered.
“Look, we can disagree about this all we want, but the main thing that we can glean from this thread is that A-Levels are England’s APs. But, hell, I think we all knew that before this thread came along.” – what you wrote after my post
Clearly, we all did not know that.</p>
<p>sorta kinda past-ish, but HADES over Eton any day, mostly because I’m female, so I don’t think that would work, but also because I’m given to understand that Eton is less meritocratic than, say, Exeter.</p>
<p>To sum it up:
Comparing Eton to HADES is like comparing Oxford to Harvard- they are both the top and get worldwide recognition as being great.
From what I’ve heard (a close friend looked into it), Swiss boarding schools do not focus on academics nearly as much as HADES or Eton.</p>
<p>It is quite clear to me in reading this thread that the overwhelming majority of contributors have absolutely no experience of one system or the other. I happen to have first hand experience of both the classical English educational system - ie A Levels - and the regular US system - ie leading to APs or equivalent advanced classes.</p>
<p>It is absolutely true that an A level and an AP are the most advanced regular options available in these countries. But they are NOT equivalent. The A Level is a significantly more advanced qualification. This is hardly surprising because for the last two years in England students typically only take 3 or 4 subjects. A prospective engineering student may well, for example, only take Pure Math, Applied Math and Physics. By the time you have done two years of this curriculum you have done a lot of math.</p>
<p>A relative of mine taught Physics at an English university. Transfer students from the US just didn’t have the same mathematical preparation. Such students were typically smart and motivated but they had to catch up.</p>
<p>Anyone who fondly imagines that HADES schools are more academically demanding than Eton, Westminster, North London Collegiate or St Pauls has been smoking crack. The biggest difference is just that in the UK the students specialize younger. They have to because the college classes demand earlier specialization.</p>
<p>The English school system is very similar to the way American prep schools used to be. The education is good, however, it is secondary to the family ties of the pupils. In addition to this, bullying is an important part of the system across the pond. The Prince of Wales had no friends in school because anyone nice to him was accused of being a suck-up. The same occurred with Prince Harry. Also, there is still, while much less so than before, the tradition of relationships with students.</p>
<p>Nepotism and family still prevail in England.</p>