What do you think of the US school system?

Whatever you do, don't send your kids to Edward Tilghman Middle. Ha ! Ha !

@dcam: Thanks I'll have to check that out! I always wondered if there were any exams like that online, like with my exams now I can find past years exams to download and practice on.

@slag: I'm hoping that I'll find it less stressful having more frequent exams spread across the year. The stress piled on at the end of the year trying to revise the whole year and knowing that if you do bad now you'll just have to wait til next year to try again is awful. Plus I hear that you get your results a few days later, whereas here we have to wait over 2 months to get our results and then pay to get our papers back a further 2 months later to be able to see where we went wrong. I'm really hoping that the community college I'll be going to will have classes that I can then transfer to a university. Funny you mention Zoology because that is what I originally intended on studying in the UK, they have zoology classes at the community college I'll be applying to, so I shouldn't take them?

@duskvamp: considering how expensive classes can get, and that you will have to take a lot of arbitrary classes like psychology or philosophy as part of your curriculum, it's really up to your wallet if you really want to take classes not directly related to your major - or basically not on the big ol' checklist you fill out for getting your major.

The biggest problem with schools in the US is the teachers' union disincentive teachers to actually do their jobs well. Luckily, you won't have to deal with that since you're past the grade school levels.

I don't know what your grades/situation look like, but I studied at the University of Chicago for a year and really enjoyed it (I majored in Economics, however, far from your Biology). I always enjoyed taking longer classes, only twice a week, as opposed to shorter classes daily. I felt like the longer classes allowed for more in-depth looks at subjects, whereas shorter classes were usually reviews of homework/reading, and were more difficult to schedule around because of their frequency.

I think you'll like it, makes the stakes on exams much less and for me anyway far more manageable. I think constant feedback really helps you learn the material better as well. Nothing worse than getting tested on something you did only once half a year ago. Not going to say our education system is better by any means than Europe's (since most reports seem to indicate it's not compared to Scandinavian countries in particular) , but that is something I do like about ours.

And yes, you understood exactly what I was saying. Take your Zoology where you intend to get your degree from and take your miscellaneous prereqs at the community college. Your Zoology professors and classes are what will ultimately get you employed in the field, You want the more prestigious professors writing your recommendations. Those faculty will be who gets you into the right grad schools and/or the right jobs. Do it right and you will have a powerful network connection for life. Not to mention the more specialized the class, oftentimes the harder it is to get full credit for it from another school (since they may handle coursework differently). e.g. Chem 101 usually transfers easily, Invert Zoo not quite as well.

I'd suggest talking to a professor at a University (e.g. maybe somewhere like University of Illinois, Northwestern or University of Chicago, you guys are from Chicago right?) you might ultimately like to go to about course strategy. Many are more than happy to do so,in your shoes I'd just look some up in the biology dept on their website in your intended specialty and email them. They will give you a better idea of what class credits might transfer and what won't far better than I can and more importantly what you should maybe take where. Just be to the point and gracious (as to be respectful of their time which they don't have to give you since you're not a student yet) and most will actually be super excited to talk to someone who shares their passion. All they can do is so no, you've got nothing to lose by trying. If you're lucky, they may even champion you with the registrar to get you in when it comes time to apply if they think you are a promising student.

@slag: Okay thanks, I'll have a look into getting in contact with some professors, thanks for all your advice!

The public school system makes kids (especially girls) into a bunch of ass-hats. Other than that it depends on what neighborhood the school is in.

The community college has the same classroom environment as high school, in that there are around 30 kids. At least here in Arizona.That's all I see that is similar to high school, besides remedial classes. The big difference you'll see is the scheduling of your classes by you and the 2 days a week in that class versus everyday like in high school.

You're doing biology and chemistry which are major components of my major (Biochemistry). I've been able to take all the sophomore level classes that are offered at the universities for a lot cheaper, around $80 a credit (normally 4 credits for a science class) versus $600 (that's In-State). You coming from another country would put you in the category of Out-of-state which is significantly more expensive (even for Community College). I don't know much about International Students but, you might try and talk to admissions to see if you could qualify as an international student, for the benefits. I see no reason to be in a hurry to take your 200 levels and below at the university. I've been able to get my Calculus and Organic Chemistry out of the way, which pretty much takes care of credits up to my sophomore year. You definitely should try to get the community college education first, if only for the price.

There might be University pathways offered by your community college which might offer benefits to you. For example, my transfer program will lock-in the current University price for credits. They might also offer an honors program; this program, for me anyway, paid my tuition and I just had to take a "Honors Class" which made me do a project outside of class. For example, my Bio 181 had me go teach 6th grade students about rain water run-off, how they need to plan a city to combat this issue, and how to research for and write a research paper.

I could ask one of the guys I know about permanent residency. He's from England and he has to grapple with the immigration issues as well. Here, in AZ you'll end up getting deported quickly if you aren't in line with immigration.

As far as classes go, depends on what you're taking. Tenure is hard to get at a university so you won't have those teachers that just sit there like you might see in some YouTube videos or satirical cartoons. There are those classes, that you'll definitely have to take, like General Chemistry where you'll have 60 or so people at the start and by the time the semester is over there are only 20 or so left. Books can be expensive but, professors will tell you if you need it or not. You could also rent the books. Schedule a meeting with one of the school counselors so you can get a major map going and you don't end up bouncing around majors and possibly wasting money. My community college uses a Learning Management System which is a really nice online application that allow you to communicate with anyone in your class and teachers.

In the end, it's most likely going to come down to cost for you.

I should also mention, you most likely going to have to take an entrance exam. Take it seriously. There were a lot of people from my high school that thought it was just a test to see where you were at in education which it was but, it wasn't one of those one you take and don't count. My friend ended up having to take a remedial reading course where they literally had to read paragraphs and answer questions like, "what was the subject?" Do well, and you'll be exempt for some classes.

@duskvamp "I've always wondered about that because you're right, in the UK if I take a biology degree in university then all my classes will be strictly biology. So in the US could I theoretically take "easy" non-biology related subjects just to earn credits and raise my GPA?"

Not necessarily. There is a required number of higher level classes that need to be taken at a university. Higher levels are 300s and up. You can't just fill up your schedule with easy classes and think these credits will count towards my graduation. There will be those years where you might just be doing higher level Biology classes.

"I'm hoping that I'll find it less stressful having more frequent exams spread across the year. "

I don't know how it is in England but, you can definitely have those weeks where all the tests are on the same day or week. Even though they are in the same week but on different days it could add up to a lot of hours of studying that you may no have. I had an O Chem exam and the next day I had an Integral Mastery (for Calc 2) which I had to pass in order to pass the class. The stress can add up.

As somebody how lives in Belgium every time i think about US college i think of these things. It's way easier to get a degree in the US but you have to pay like 30.000 us dollars for a year witch is crazy when the price you need to pay in Belgium is like 250 euro's around 300 $ for a year. For the same degree and my Belgium degree is Worth more in the EU then if i had the US one. If i had the choose witch country had the best Educational system it would probably be a Scandinavian one and my guess is you're probably best of in Finland

For real. My experience at community college was nothing but positive. I got my general education classes out of the way, at a far lesser price, and I had no problem at all transferring into a university. I had plenty of college professors who had taught at a community colleges and also at high level universities, and the myths are not true - professors do not make their course load easier or alter it in any way just because they are teaching at a community college as opposed to the traditional four year university. In fact, at least here in Massachusetts, there are transfer programs offered to students who meet a certain GPA requirement. For me, I was guaranteed to have a certain amount of credits transferred towards a four year program and I get something of a discount on tuition.

My experience may be a little different than others in the US, as Massachusetts is known for its educational programs, but I would wholeheartedly recommend that anyone entering college in the near future to at least explore the avenue of community college. You can get the non-major class requirements out of the way and may avoid a sizable amount of student debt. Check out and apply to any scholarships that you may qualify for, as any little bit helps, but from what you have mentioned you may be able to opt out of a lot of requirements, as you may have already fulfilled them.

The United States became the world's largest economy well before either of the World Wars (most estimates place the date shortly after the American Civil War). While World War II certainly allowed the US to obtain a great deal of relative power (over 80% of world GDP was attributed to the US after the war) it wasn't as if the US economy hadn't been the largest before it.

My advice. Go to Canada to do your studies. The schools are rated equally and the costs are about a tenth of the price. Right now I am paying about a thousand dollars per semester for four courses. This is at a university for fourth year studies as well, not a college.