American High school system.. help please :)

Hii there

I was just wondering about American high school system, cause in UK, I'm currently in year 12(sixth form) but in USA it would be Junior year (Grade 11?)
I wanted to ask about the subjects in grade 11/12. i heard you must take core(compulsory) subjects such as maths, Science, History.. etc and then choose electives?? but in uk you only take 3 to 4 subjects of your interest to study in Year 12 & 13(A levels).. Can somone please tell me little about the subjects and courses you have to take in Grade 11/12 in USA. and what sort of exams/qualification are there?

i've done my gcse's which won't be any use in America or will it?
I'm asking this because my family has decided to move to America next year.. possibly after my Year 13 (a levels are done). I want to know what grade will i be put in or will i be able to go straight to University in America becuase i will have done my A levels here in UK??

THANKS to all in advance x

Hi! I'm in my last year of American high school, and I'd be glad to help!

Like you've said, we have Grades 1-12. "High school" is considered your last four years: Grade 9 (freshman), Grade 10 (sophomore), Grade 11 (junior) and Grade 12 (senior...like me!).

I'm not totally familiar with the UK system, but I know that your GCSEs are basically equivalent to a high school diploma. We don't specialize as much as you do, so everyone basically gets some of "everything." There are certain graduation requirements: for example, my school requires that you complete 4 years of math, 4 of English, 3 of Science, etc...but it's at the same level as your GCSEs.

Sometimes, juniors and seniors have the opportunity to take "AP" exams, which are technically at the level we would take at university. That's the closest approximation to an A-level I can come up with.

Chances are, if you decide to go to high school, you'll be a senior. Or I'm pretty sure you'll be fine with UK qualifications (especially A-levels) to apply to university (we call it college over here! )

Either way, good luck! Hope this helped.

ooh that sounds interesting. There's just so much of difference between Uk and Usa but non the less, Thankss a lot for the information!! It certainly has helped me generally speaking american system sounds so much cooler than uk. lol
we have 1 american girl this year in our school and she's completely devastated by the fact that she got put back 2 years in school after she was meant to be in senior Year in Usa! ouch. so i just hope i dont have to go back a grade and get qualifications according to american system. oh yea i thought so.., i don't hear a lot of people say university in America, so i'll have to change my way into saying college lol but thank you once again.

... haha indeed you seem very friendly and jolly and i see the difference in spelling "realized" American style with the "z" aww

OP to get into a College in America you would have to take SATs independently (correct me if i am wrong.)

I wish I went to school in America. The typical high school jocks, the cheerleaders, own lockers, american football and basketball etc.

As you can tell I been watching too many of those american teen dramas lol

Surely the high school diploma or whatever has elements of things above GCSE level.
OP to get into a College in America you would have to take SATs independently (correct me if i am wrong.) if you have finished your a-levels by the time you move, you won't need to go to high school in america.

ohh i see.. Yes indeed i would have done my A levels by the time we move there, in that case i would have to apply to colleges rather than going to a high school?
and also do my a levels count much while applying to colleges there? would they convert my Gcse's and A level grades to their GPA??

.. well that sucks having to do SATs after doing painful 2 years of A levels.. :|
but i've heard about SATs are not that bad from some of my cousins that live in America (north Caroline)

Thanks for help though

I wish I went to school in America. The typical high school jocks, the cheerleaders, own lockers, american football and basketball etc.

As you can tell I been watching too many of those american teen dramas lol

Yeah, i'm not sure how you would go about that and whether you would be classed as an international or home student though.
I would look into taking your SATs over here, many people who apply to colleges in the USA from the UK do this.

I wish I went to school in America. The typical high school jocks, the cheerleaders, own lockers, american football and basketball etc.

As you can tell I been watching too many of those american teen dramas lol

I wish the movies matched the actual American HS experience. Far from it.

I wish I went to school in America. The typical high school jocks, the cheerleaders, own lockers, american football and basketball etc.

As you can tell I been watching too many of those american teen dramas lol

Really? How different is it from the movies? Oh out of curiosity, I assume you go to a High School in Atlanta... is everyone black there? Or do you have a diversity of students from diffferent ethnic backgrounds?

Lol same

LOL. Its funny how people immediately associate blacks with Atlanta. I think the main reason is that so much of the civil rights movement was developed here. Atlanta is actually very diverse, it's not all blacks and its not all whites. I go to a public high school (one of the top ones in the state), and something like 45% of the student population is jewish, 10% black, 10% mexican, some indians, some asians, and the rest are white christians. The closer you get to metro Atlanta, the less diverse the student population. It's not at all what the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" makes it out to be. And to be completely honest, I'm surprised they don't have a "white version" of Real Housewives of Atlanta, because Buckhead ( predominantly white) is definitely more on par with the housewife stereotype.

Anyway, on to your question. Its completely different from the movies (at least at my high school). The jocks aren't cool, some of the cheerleaders weigh more than I do (no joke, and I lift--about to hit 160), etc. I think the only times the HS stereotype fits is in rural towns where football is the only thing that goes on, on friday nights. At least this is my experience, and I have friends from all types of high schools (both public and private).

If this was true and we were in a typical US High School I would be the star player of the Basketball team with a ball in my hand and a bitch on the other. What about you? High School dropout turned rapper?



When I think of Atlanta, I think of Ludacris, T.I, Atlanta Hawks and a whole lotta black people in general. But 45% of the student population is Jewish you say?
Thats a suprise. Clearly my perception of Atlanta is heavily distorted. It shall be one of the places that I will visit when I go to the US alongside Chicago, LA, Miami and Seattle. Oh whats the Lennox Mall like? Heard its a huge shopping centre in Atlanta.

No probs, you're welcome!

Haha that's funny 'cause I think the UK system is SO much cooler...you guys go into "uni" knowing what you're going to do. That's why I wanna go to school over there sooo bad!

I'd think that it'd be MUCH easier for you to come here for hs, as opposed to someone going from the US to the UK. Your schools sound great!

Aw, that stinks about that girl in your school. I know a kid in the grade below me who's from Manchester...he moved here in the eighth grade, though, so he's just going with the flow for now.

And haha I didn't "realise" how many spellings are so different 'till I joined TSR. Even if I do get into uni, I'll never bring myself to spell "colour" and "favour" and "connexion" though haha.