Please explain the american educational system to me.

[Xalista]

I'm particularly interested in the system after highschool.
What possibilities are there?
What degree's can you get?
How does this major and minor thing work?
What are your possibilities after a university degree?

Stuff like that.

I'm from Holland and this is how it works here:

After our "Highschool" (we are between 16 and 18 at this point) we have 3 major options

MBO : Which is were you learn a profession at a medium level. I don't believe you get a degree when you finish this. These are very practial educations so you can [edit] NOT [/edit] do something like Math or Physics here.

HBO : Here you learn a profession at a higher level. You either get a "Ing." degree (for a technical study) or a "bachelor" degree (for everything else) when you finish this. Again, this is quite practial (No REAL studies here)

University : Which I guess means more or less the same all over the world. We either get a "Ir." title (if you complete a technical study) or "Drs." (if you don't).

After Univeristy we can "promoveren" which grants a "Dr." degree.

After this you can be granted a teachers position at a University which grants you the "Prof." degree. (This doesn't mean all teachers in our universities are Profs.)


Thanks in advance.
Xalista

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Kindergarten
1-8 (elementry/ Jr. high)
9-12 High school
Then it depends on the college

 

[durin]

Associates, BS/BA, Masters, PHD - in ascending order.

 

[TripleJ]

We don't know the function of colleges. Are they Uni's or something?

 

[iamwiz82]

Associates is a two year degree
bachelors is 4 years
master is 6-7 years
doctorate(Phd) 8+ years

 

[LordJezo]

The major minor thing:

A major is your primary field of study. Mine is Computer Science so almost all of my classes are related to it. It is also what you are going to (hopefully) get your degree in.
A minor is generally just something you take classes in to diversify yourself.. to learn something else that you normally wouldn?t.

As for what degree's you can get.. well, the list is huge at every school. For example go here Going into school you can choose just about any one of those topics to get a degree in. Each person decides what they want to do usually after they start. I began as an engineer but left for computer science and economics...

hope that helps.

 

[cheeseball]

People generally start college around the age of 18. There are several degrees to go for. There is the associates degree which is designed for two years of study. Then there is the bachelors degree designed for four years of study and split into two categories a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts. After that people get their Master degree (if they want), then on the the PHD which allows them to be called doctor.

 

[MustPost]

A masters degree is not 6 or 7 years in America. Its usually 2 or 3 maybe 4

 

[iamwiz82]

MustPost, i was adding it to the years already spent in college getting your bachelors

 

[Woodie]

To clarify (muddy the waters?) a bit:

Associates Degrees (two years) are usually vocational in nature--ie, they lead to task-oriented work. Computer Technician, laboratory assistant, accounting staff-member. Degrees granted by small schools, usually "community colleges" and some for-profit companies.

Bachelors Degree (four years) are tremendously varied..degree can be obtained in just about any area of interest. Flavors: BS/BA--Bachelor of Science/Arts. BS only granted if the student has taken some number of science classes, usually with laboratory portions (actual hands-on experimentation). BA for all others. (For example: A person majoring in Business, will typically get a "BA in Business Administration", however some students may take a few science classes, and will get a "BS in Business Administration". Oviously, if you're majoring in physics or biology, you would get a BS). Degrees granted by accredited institutions, small or very large, no for-profit companies (?). Many state run schools, many private. Can be either a "college" or a "University". Some classes completed at a "community college" may be recognized for credit towards a BA/BS.

("Post-graduate&quot
Masters Degree: (two years) are less varied in name, than they are in scope. Prerequisite: a Bachelors degree. Degrees granted by accredited institutions, usually larger ones, no for-profit companies. Almost exclusively granted by "Universities". To my knowledge, there are no schools that offer post-graduate degrees that don't offer Bachelors as well. Fields that one sees a lot of Masters level degrees are: business (MBAs), academics, teaching, fine arts (music), management in general, engineering, social work (MSW)...

Doctoral degrees: (2-4 years) JD (lawyer), MD (Medical Doctor), DDS (Dentists), Priests (don't remember the degree) and most others are: PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). Prerequisite: a Bachelors degree, and in many cases, a Masters degree. Almost exclusively granted by "Universities". To my knowledge, there are no schools that offer post-graduate degrees that don't offer Bachelors as well. Other than the "Professional" fields with specialized schools, most of these are granted by "Universities". Fields that one sees a lot of Masters level degrees are: Medicine, academics, teaching, fine arts (music), science--research,...

I hope this helps.

Key differences from other countries (France in particular, since I'm a little familiar with it.)
1. You can apply to just about any school, at any age. (I finished a BS at 26, at my third school) You can also go "back to school" at any age, to get another degree, (a second BS) or more often, a more advanced degree. (get BS, work, get MS, work)
2. There is no nation-wide test that determines what schools you can go to. (like the "Bac" or "A-levels&quot
3. It's up to the student (+family) to figure out how to pay for school--the gov't does NOT pay for it. (It will help--loans, GI bill, etc...but the onus is on the student. and many schools also provide help)


--Woodie

 

[Xalista]

Excellent info Woodie, thanks.

 

[OSUdrunk]

After a Master's you can also get a Ed.D instead of a Ph.D. An Ed.D I think stands for Doctorate in Education which basically leads to a role as the head (principal) of a school or something related. Superintendents (heads of a city school system) also get them. (Or people that want to be called Doctor to boost their ego).