Just need help understanding the US education system as I'm from Australia

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hey guys,

I’m just a little curious as to how the US education system works. I feel it is different to our system down under. This thread is created purely for curiosity purposes so please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong area. I’d like to know how the US education system works but first let me just give a brief on the Australian system (actually it will be the NSW* system) so you guys can reply with reference to my explanation so it makes it easier to understand.

NSW* = New South Wales. It’s a state in Australia.

Timeline:
----------- PRESCHOOL (from 4 to 5 years old)-----------------------

  • when you’re 4, you attend pre-school (this is just a school where kids go to just socialise and do recreational activities).

-----------PRIMARY SCHOOL (from 5 to 12 years old)---------------

  • when a child is 5-6 they start school and attend kindergarten (this is just the first year of school, essentially year 0)
  • attend year 1, 2, 3…6.
  • graduate from primary school.

----------- HIGH SCHOOL (from 12 to 18 years old)--------------

  • when a kid has graduated from primary school, they either go to their local public school or a private school.
  • high schools have no requirements for entry apart from being in the district/suburb area if it’s a local public school.
  • you attend year 7 through to year 12.
  • from year 7 to 11, school marks aren’t worth anything to universities. This meaning, you could essentially be an average student and if you perform well in the final year, you can get into a top university.

-------------------YEAR 12-------------------------------

  • in year 12 you do the HSC (high school certificate).
  • there are around 30 subjects (estimating) of which students choose to do around 5.
  • the whole point of year 12 is to receive an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank).
  • ATAR is a rank received at the end of the year which is how uni’s decide what the minimum rank required is (supply and demand). For example, a uni may have 1000 spots and say 4000 students have applied for it. They will make the minimum rank higher so that they accept the top 1000 students.
  • the ATAR is your rank amongst all students in the state.
  • in year 12, you do HSC assessments created by your individual school all year round.
  • all schools learn the same content.
  • at the end of the year, you are assessed by final exams which are given to all students in the state regardless of their school. This is done so that they can standardise all the students since obviously some schools will have easier assessments than other schools.
  • you get your marks for each subject which are then converted to your ATAR.
  • your ATAR ranges from 0 to 99.95.
  • 99.95 means you’re in the top 0.05% of the state and it progressively goes down. e.g. if you get an ATAR of 99.30 you are in the top 0.7% of the state.
  • universities care about your ATAR, not your marks, this is because your ATAR basically incorporates your marks.
  • the ATAR helps to compare students who did completely different subjects by giving them a number which takes into account your marks.

------------- UNIVERSITY---------------

  • to get admitted into uni straight out of high school, you just need an ATAR.
  • they don’t care about extra-curricular activities (from what I’ve read, I think US uni’s care about extra-curriculars?)

Ok, thats the NSW education system. So, again my question is, how does the US education system work?

  • is it like over here where each state has different systems?
  • do you guys have an ATAR equivalent?

Please try not to use solely acronyms (e.g. NSW = New South Wales) in your explanations. Also, if you have an questions, please ask me :slight_smile:

Thanks guys!

2

Very interesting, particularly that only final year grades matter. So a kid can just be a slacker the whole time in school until their final year, and still get into a top Uni?

I have a kid in high school, but in the U.S., states have the ability to make their own graduating requirements. Schools district can vary in their set-up, even from town to town within a state. As an example, my kids go to school in a district structured thus: all children in the district attend K (kindergarten), 1, and 2 at the elementary (or primary) school. They all move together to the intermediate school (3-5). Then middle school (6-8), then high school (9-12.)

However, this is unusual. Most American school districts follow a more typical arrangement of several smaller schools in a district for years K-5, then one or two middle schools for years 6-8, then one big high school for 9-12. There can be variations in middle and high school set-ups too. Some middle schools are only for 7-8 grades, some are 7-9, with only three years at a high school.

Graduation requirements can vary. My state makes kids take subject tests to ensure they have met minimum standards in core subjects such as English and science. Other states might have different requirements. Some states require that students take either the ACT or SAT.

I imagine that as a general rule, all states require kids to complete general education requirements to graduate. I am guessing typical requirements might be four years of English, three years of math, four years of Social studies, three years of gym, one year of foreign language, three years of science, a year of art/music/something like that. There’s no one answer because there are fifty states that all have their own standards.

3

The above is a very good overview. Here’s an example of graduation requirements in a specific state, Idaho:
Pass the US Civics Exam
Have a 2.0 GPA in core classes (English, math, social studies, science, health, speech)
Pass 48 credits worth of classes (If you take a normal courseload, you can only fail 6 semesters)
Take all required classes (4 years of English, 3 years of math, 2 years of history, 16 elective credits, 3 years of science, 1 semester of economics, 1 year of government, 1 semester of speech, 1 semester of health, 1 semester of critical reading, and 1 year of PE)
Pass state tests occurring in 10th grade
Take a college entrance exam (SAT, ACT)

Like mentioned above, each state is different, but I thought a specific example might be helpful. Another tidbit: middle schools go from 6 to 8, while junior highs go from 7 to 9.

4

Each state has different requirements. In some states their are only state requirements. In some states each district can add to requirements. A district is often a city by itself or consists of a group of local cities/towns. Our city requirements differ slightly from our neighboring city’s public high school graduation requirements.

We typically say grades are:

preschool (also called nursery school) - usually ages 3-5
prekindergarten - is preschool but is specifically the year before kindergarten - not all schools differentiate
elementary - k-5 with kindergarten being the first year of required school)
middle school 6-8
high school 9-12

It can vary quite a bit as to what grades are in what building
My husband 1 school k-6 another 7-12 but 7&8 was junior high, 9-12 was high school
me - 1-6 (no public kindergarten in New Hampshire at that time) elementary
grades 7 junior high on one wing of a elementary school,
8&9 in one building but 8th was junior high 9th high school
10-12th another building
for my girls k-8 (6-8 follows middle school curriculum), 9-12th

Our graduation requirements are:
4 years of English
4 years of Math
3 years of history (United Sates (US) history 1, US history 2 or AP USH, and a modern world history or ap world)
3 years of lab science
2 years of the same language
2 years of credits in art, music, business or technology
1.5 years of credits in physical ed
0.5 years of health credit
free electives to get to a minimum of 23 credits though many graduate with 28 credits
passing a state test in math, English, and science

The science state test is often taken at the end of 9th grade
English and math test are taken in 10th grade
there are chances to repeat each test if needed

High school graduation requirements are for all students but colleges may look for more classes beyond this for college entrance such as 4 years of each core course. SAT/ACT scores are often needed for college acceptances but more and more schools are adopting a test optional policy. There are many colleges that look at students holistically and considerer extra curricular but some do strictly go by grades/test scores.

community college is a two year college that typically grants an associates degree. Some programs give certificates which may require the same or few credits. Depending on the student, the associates degree may be the end goal or students may go there for two years then transfer to a 4 year school. For some students it is done to save money since it cost less and can be done part time while working if needed (takes longer), some students do to having not done well in high school, some are non traditional age and the location works best etc.

A bachelor’s degree is the typical degree for a 4 year college

a master’s degree is past the bachelor’s degree and often is 2 additional years. Many schools offer bachelor’s and master s degree

a PhD is a higher degree needed/wanted for certain fields of work. I think some require a master’s and some may be direct entry after a bachelor’s degree.

a college is typically smaller than a university and offers fewer majors
a university is bigger and typically has a bigger range of majors and often more research opportunities (as a generalization)

5

Also check out https://educationusa.state.gov/
You can talk to someone in Australia about how to apply to US Universities.