rosiejo said:
Ok guys I need another American
The one thing I really do not understand is your education system... ages between schools - junior high - freshman - alma maters - sorority sisters...
Can someone give me a lesson - from starting school age through graduating with your final degree... ages - what type of school - exam names etc etc and enlighten me?
I'd be most grateful
I'll give it a try:
Typically school's in our area fall in the following categories (some other parts of the country may be different, others can correct me or add on):
Elementary School (also called grade school or primary school) consists of Kindergarten and grade 1 through grade 5. Kindergarten starts in the year in which the child is 5 years old, or will turn 5 years old by Dec. 1 of that year (Cutoff is Sept. 1 in other areas). Then each year the child progresses to the next grade from Kindergarten to grade 1 through grade 5. (Some areas are now offering Pre-Kindergarten for 4 year olds)
Middle School consists of grades 6 - 8 (In some districts it may be 5 - 8, or 6 - 9 or some combination) When I was younger they called it Junior High School and it was grades 7 - 8, Elementary was K - 6. In other words which grades are in which schools can vary based on the district, or how much room they have in the schools etc.
High school consists of grades 9 -12 here.
After high school, students can go on to what we typically call college, but it can be a College or a University. (My son goes to the Georgia Institute of Technology which is a University, but within the
University he is enrolled in the
College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, but we still say he is in College, rather than in University.) College can be a Community College which is typically a 2 year program, or a University which offers a 4 year program. In Community college one can obtain a 2 year degree called an Associate's Degree, or just complete the first 2 years of a 4 year program before transferring to a University. A 4 year program is called a Bachelor's Degree. Anything up to a bachelor's degree is called Undergraduate Studies. You can then go on to what is called Graduate School, where you can get a Master's degree, or a Doctorate Degree (PhD or Doctor of Philosophy, different than a Medical Doctor, or a Medical Degree or a Law Degree). You need an undergraduate degree to go to Graduate school, and you need a Master's degree to get a Doctorate degree as far as I know. In undergraduate studies you can also choose a program that is pre-medical or pre-law with the intention of going on to Law School or Medical School, and I am not familiar with what those entail, but I assume when you complete Medical School and you can come away with various Medical degrees. (Maybe Jen can chime in here.)
When you are in High School or College a first year student is called a Freshman (9th grade, or first year college), a second year student (10th grade, or 2nd year college) is called a Sophomore, a third year student is called a Junior, and a 4th year student is called a Senior.
Alma Mater refers to the school from which you obtained your degree. A Sorority (typically women, thus members are sisters) or a Fraternity (typically men, called brothers but could be both men and women) is a group that has Greek Letters for names, and has something in common or a specific purpose. Hopefully someone else can expand on this area.
As far as exams, this may vary, but here is what our schools have. There are usually 2 semesters per year of school, and in High School and College there are usually Mid term exams at the end of the first semester, and final exams at the end of the second semester. In New York State (and maybe others as well) there are Regent's exams at the end of the year in High School that every student must pass in certain subject areas that are standard exams across the whole state. These usually take the place of a final exam for classes where there is a Regent's exam.
There are also classes in High School called Advance Placement (AP) which are college level courses in High School. There is an AP exam for each AP class that is given on the same date for the whole country, sometime in early May. Depending on the score you get on the exam, and what college you attend, you may be able to get College credit for the course, but each college can decide what classes and what exam scores they want to accept.
Hope this helps, like I said there are probably some differences across the country, but in general this is how it works.
Ellen
Well, this past week I decided I was going to bite the bullet and come back. I saw that the other board had closed (you go Baloo) and found this one. unfortunately, I did not get through all 83 pages, but I did skim through most of them.
I'm not the kind to get my knickers in a twist over something like that. People in glass houses....you know? 
L
