Understanding the American Education System

The American education system offers a rich field of choices for international students. There is such an array of schools, programs and locations that the choices may overwhelm students, even those from the U.S. As you begin your school search, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the American education system. Understanding the system will help you narrow your choices and develop your education plan.

The Educational Structure

 

Primary and Secondary School

Prior to higher education, American students attend primary and secondary school for a combined total of 12 years. These years are referred to as the first through twelfth grades.
Around age six, U.S. children begin primary school, which is most commonly called “elementary school.” They attend five or six years and then go onto secondary school.
Secondary school consists of two programs: the first is “middle school” or “junior high school” and the second program is “high school.” A diploma or certificate is awarded upon graduation from high school. After graduating high school (12th grade), U.S. students may go on to college or university. College or university study is known as “higher education.”

Grading System

Just like American students, you will have to submit your academic transcripts as part of your application for admission to university or college. Academic transcripts are official copies of your academic work. In the U.S. this includes your “grades” and “grade point average” (GPA), which are measurements of your academic achievement. Courses are commonly graded using percentages, which are converted into letter grades.
The grading system and GPA in the U.S. can be confusing, especially for international students. The interpretation of grades has a lot of variation. For example, two students who attended different schools both submit their transcripts to the same university. They both have 3.5 GPAs, but one student attended an average high school, while the other attended a prestigious school that was academically challenging. The university might interpret their GPAs differently because the two schools have dramatically different standards.
Therefore, there are some crucial things to keep in mind:

• You should find out the U.S. equivalent of the last level of education you completed in your home country.
• Pay close attention to the admission requirements of each university and college, as well as individual degree programs, which may have different requirements than the university.
• Regularly meet with an educational advisor or guidance counselor to make sure you are meeting the requirements.

Your educational advisor or guidance counselor will be able to advise you on whether or not you must spend an extra year or two preparing for U.S. university admission. If an international student entered a U.S. university or college prior to being eligible to attend university in their own country, some countries’ governments and employers may not recognize the students’ U.S. education.

Academic Year

The school calendar usually begins in August or September and continues through May or June. The majority of new students begin in autumn, so it is a good idea for international students to also begin their U.S. university studies at this time. There is a lot of excitement at the beginning of the school year and students form many great friendships during this time, as they are all adjusting to a new phase of academic life. Additionally, many courses are designed for students to take them in sequence, starting in autumn and continuing through the year.
The academic year at many schools is composed of two terms called “semesters.” (Some schools use a three-term calendar known as the “trimester” system.) Still, others further divide the year into the quarter system of four terms, including an optional summer session. Basically, if you exclude the summer session, the academic year is either comprised of two semesters or three quarter terms.

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a science-based university located in the heart of London. The College focuses on the four main disciplines of science, engineering, medicine and business and is renowned for its application of these skills in industry, commerce and healthcare.

 

 

School Description

Imperial College was formed in 1907, when the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines and the City & Guilds College were merged. Today, Imperial is home to 14,700 students and 8,000 staff. The college attracts undergraduates from more than 125 countries and awards 6100 degrees every year.
The College boasts, 14 Nobel laureates and two Fields Medallists as alumni. To its credit, Imperial is a progressive college; it holds a Silver Athena Swan award, which recognises advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine in academia.

Johns Hopkins University - Bachelor's Degree

Johns Hopkins University – America’s first research university – is based in Baltimore. The University has four campuses in Baltimore, one in Washington, DC, one in Montgomery County and facilities throughout the Baltimore-Washington region as well as in China and Italy.

 

School Description

Johns Hopkins University, opened in 1876, was named after the 19th-century Maryland philanthropist Johns Hopkins, who believed in improving public health and education in Baltimore and beyond. Hopkins set aside $7 million in his will to establish a hospital and affiliated training colleges, an orphanage, and a university. Daniel Coit Gilman, the first president of Johns Hopkins University brought this dream to life. He built the University on the belief that “teaching and research go hand in hand... and that a modern university must do both well. He also believed that sharing our knowledge and discoveries would help make the world a better place.”
Johns Hopkins University has stayed true to this vision over the years. Today the University has nine academic divisions: The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; the Whiting School of Engineering; the Bloomberg School of Public Health; the Carey Business School; the Peabody Institute; the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies; and the schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Education, in addition to the Applied Physics Laboratory – a nonacademic division that supports national security and pursues space science, exploration of the solar system, and other civilian research and development.
Some of the University’s notable alumni include, four Pulitzer Prize Winners: Russell Baker, columnist for The New York Times; Richard Ben Cramer, journalist; James McPherson, historian and author; Caryle Murphy, journalist and longtime international reporter for The Washington Post. It also includes, the 28th US President; Oscars, Grammys and Emmys Winners; CEOs, scientists; famous conservationists and authors among others.

Cornell University - Bachelor's Degree

Cornell University – located in Ithaca, New York – is the federal land-grant institution of New York State, a private endowed university, a member of the Ivy League/Ancient Eight, and a partner of the State University of New York. Cornell has been described as the first truly American university because of its founders’ revolutionarily egalitarian and practical vision of higher education, and is dedicated to its land-grant mission of outreach and public service.

• Average Tuition USD 65,494
• Acceptance Rate 14%
• Students 21,679
• International Students 10.1%
• Scholarships 260,996,946
• Student-Faculty Ratio 9:1

School Description

Cornell University was founded 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. 45 Nobel laureates affiliated with Cornell as faculty members or alumni. Morrill Hall was the first building it constructed on the main Ithaca campus in 1868; today the Ithaca Campus includes 608 buildings on more than 2000 acres. Today Cornell has seven undergraduate units and four graduate and professional units in Ithaca, two medical graduate and professional units in New York City, and one in Doha, Qatar. The Cornell Tech campus in New York City is the latest addition.
Cornell has had many firsts over the years such as: Cornell endowed the nation’s first professorships in American history, musicology, and American literature. Established the first four-year schools of hotel administration and industrial and labor relations. Awarded the world’s first degree in journalism, the nation's first degree in veterinary medicine, and the first doctorates in electrical and industrial engineering. The first US University to offer a major in American studies. The first university to teach modern Far Eastern languages – Cornell's IMPAC program now provides intensive study of Mandarin Chinese. And the solution to the Poincaré Conjecture, one of the most famous problems in mathematics, was first posted on Cornell's arXiv.org. 45 Nobel laureates are affiliated with Cornell as faculty members or alumni.

University College London - Bachelor's Degree

University College London – better known as UCL – is situated in the heart of London, with the British Library and the British Museum in close proximity. It is one of the world’s leading multi-disciplinary universities. For UCL, quality research is key in undergraduate teaching, hence the most up-to-date research discoveries, developments and ideas are incorporated into programs. Over 100 UCL undergraduate degree programs include study abroad as an integral part of the curriculum.

School Description

UCL was founded in 1826 on the premise of making higher education inclusive to those who had up until then been excluded from it. It went on to become the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms with men in 1878.
Twenty-nine Nobel Prizes have been awarded to UCL students and academics, past and present. The most recent addition (in 2014), is John O'Keefe (Medicine). UCL has also been awarded six Athena SWAN awards (fourteen of which are silver) and the Equality Challenge Unit has also awarded the university a Race Equality Charter bronze award.

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a science-based university located in the heart of London. The College focuses on the four main disciplines of science, engineering, medicine and business and is renowned for its application of these skills in industry, commerce and healthcare.

• Average Tuition GBP 28,000
• Acceptance Rate 15.2%
• Students 15,317
• International Students 38.2%
• Student-Faculty Ratio 11.3:1 

School Description

Imperial College was formed in 1907, when the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines and the City & Guilds College were merged. Today, Imperial is home to 14,700 students and 8,000 staff. The college attracts undergraduates from more than 125 countries and awards 6100 degrees every year.
The College boasts, 14 Nobel laureates and two Fields Medallists as alumni. To its credit, Imperial is a progressive college; it holds a Silver Athena Swan award, which recognises advancing women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine in academia.

University of Pennsylvania - Bachelor's Degree

University of Pennsylvania’s, 302 acre campus located in West Philadelphia, reflects its rich heritage with more than 200 buildings and many notable landmarks. Penn is one of the world's most powerful research and teaching institutions; it has four undergraduate schools of Engineering and Applied Science; Nursing; Arts and Sciences and The Wharton School. Additionally it has twelve graduate and professional schools of Arts and Sciences; Dental Medicine; Engineering and Applied Science; Design; Nursing; Social Policy & Practice; Veterinary Medicine; Law; Medicine; Communication; Graduate School of Education and The Wharton School.

 

 

School Description

University of Pennsylvania is America’s first university, founded by Benjamin in 1749. Franklin served as president of the institution from 1755 until his death in 1790. Over the years, Penn went on to obtain a collegiate charter (1755), graduate its first class (1757), establish the first medical school in the American colonies (1765) and become the first American institution of higher education to be named a university (1779). In 1802, the University expanded to a new campus, but outgrew this space in 1860s, so in 1872 the trustees built a new campus in the street-car suburb of West Philadelphia.
More than 250 years after Ben Franklin broke new ground in founding Penn, its faculty, students, and alumni continue to make breakthroughs in research, scholarship, and education. Its many subsequent ‘firsts’, include the world’s first collegiate business school (Wharton, 1881), the world’s first electronic, large-scale, general-purpose digital computer (ENIAC, 1946), and the first woman president of an Ivy League institution (Judith Rodin, inaugurated in 1994) as well as the first female Ivy League president to succeed another female (Amy Gutmann, inaugurated in 2004).