UK and America are two countries separated by a common language, UK and US Q&A

[Pipbin]

Continuation of the previous thread where posters from the UK ask questions like 'what the hell is going on with the gaps in US toilet doors'; and posters fro the US ask things like 'what is with wearing stripes'

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2149133-to-think-there-is-something-wrong-with-Americans?msgid=48969042#48969042

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Solo cups are everywhere, especially at outdoor parties, and they come in other colors than red.

I was 17 when I graduated from high school; my children were 17 and 18.

Prom depends on the school. In the school my children attended, the prom was for Juniors and Seniors (so 11th and 12th grade) so each person could go to prom in 2 successive years.

[lettertoherms]

I don't think they would hold any child back by more than a year or two. It's a rare thing, and usually only happens in the younger years, when a student might be found both academically and socially younger than their peers. By high school, you wouldn't generally be held back an entire year. If you fail classes, you might do them over in summer school or simply take a younger class while being in a higher year. My brother, for example, did 9th grade math in 12th grade.

[steff13]

Are red cups just a prop in movies and tv shows or does everyone really only drink out of red cups at parties?

I buy huge packs of red Solo cups at Costco. There's even a song about them.

[wobblyweebles]

My oldest is 13 so it's really interesting finding out more about what life is like as they get older. I feel a bit sorry for her sometimes, being the one blazing the trail and having clueless parents. Neither DH or I went to school in the US so we turn up at local school meetings and say things like 'So what IS study hall?' 'So what IS homecoming?' 'So what does honors mean?'

[Tikimon]

Prom depends on the school. In the school my children attended, the prom was for Juniors and Seniors (so 11th and 12th grade) so each person could go to prom in 2 successive years.

I got to go for 3 years, because you were allowed to attend if you were the date of an upperclassman. I had a Senior bf as a sophomore and then I was a Junior.

[wobblyweebles]

SquirrelledAway that is odd then - here you only find lambs on organic 'back to the earth' farms so they cost about $12 a lb. And yes, I try to avoid the $0.99/lb beef too :-)

[Pipbin]

So does a high school diploma cover all subjects then? And are they graded?

Briefly, in English secondary schools ( I think it is different in Scotland) you decided at 14 which subjects to take. Everyone has to do things like English and maths but other subjects are, to a degree, your choice. You then spend the next two years studying, completing course work and taking exams. That results in a GCSE which is grades A* to F. You then go on to do A-levels and then to uni for a degree.
The school leaving age has changed but I'm sure someone with children the right age will come alone soon.

[Onedropoflove]

Whenever I watch tv in hotels over there I'm amazed at the amount of channels and everyone has adverts every five minutes. How does this work in the home? Can you actually watch Big Bang or some other show without having to put up with the adverts? I tend to watch shows here that I've recorded so I can fast forward and don't watch live tv much. Is it the same over there?

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Tikimon There was a big brouhaha in my children's school when they limited it to Juniors and Seniors. People who were dating Freshmen and Sophomores or college students (not unusual for Senior girls) were very upset. The school stuck to the rule and people adjusted.

[Pipbin]

I thought that too Onedrop.
I remember turning the TV on and there being 5 minutes of adverts followed by 5 minutes of program, just the 'next time on Ice Road Truckers' bit, before the credits rolled and more adverts.

Over here the BBC channels are ad free and the panther channels have about 5 minutes of ads every 15 minutes.

I found ads for prescription medicine odd too.

[AliciaBotty]

When I lived in America I rarely watched tv because of all the adverts. You'd just start watching something then it would switch to adverts so you'd start flicking through the channels and then forget what channel the first thing was on and spend ages going up and down searching for it. You'd find it just as they were heading for another ad break.

The news is really shouty and dramatic. Sort of theatrical!

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

We often record and fast forward through the commercials.

[lettertoherms]

It covers all subjects.

Then there are electives, which are required, but are of the student's choosing.

They're not graded, it's more like a certificate of completion. It's possible to graduate on the honor roll or with honors, meaning with a high GPA and taking honors/advanced placement (AP) classes. But that's only important for universities, a job would rarely if ever look at high school performance, besides having a diploma.

Then there are the SATs or ACT, which are graded standardized tests you take in junior year, and those scores are sent to the universities you apply to.

University acceptance differs, but is usually a varying combination of three factors - High School GPA/honors, SAT/ACT scores, and extracurriculars, community service, and essays. Different schools value each factor differently.

[Bogeyface]

You can leave after 16 and completing GCSE's but you must go into either a college to do further education (sub degree level, but many courses will leave you with enough points to go on to uni), be in some from of employment training such as apprenticeships or have a job. Leaving and signing on to benefits is not an option.

In the UK it goes School, College/6th Form then University.

I still get confused when people say they graduated from high school and then when to school at Yale (say)!

[mathanxiety]

In the DCs' HS students who fail a class have to take it again in summer school. You can also use summer school to do extra art or to take bridging classes to advance a level in math without having to devote a whole school year to it. You get six weeks, four hours each day and several hours of homework on top of that, to cover a semester of work. You can also do a subject required for graduation like Health in summer school.

In high school you don't always advance through the classes with your peers anyway, with everyone in a certain year doing a certain level of subject more or less. There are lots of different tracks in my local HS. So 14 year old freshman students can find themselves sitting in Algebra 1 with other students who are 15, 16, 17, 18, and have worked their way up to Algebra 1 having started anywhere up to four levels below that. Otoh, some seniors find themselves sitting with freshman in BC Calc. The school has a very varied intake.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

Speaking of TV, I am always amused when I am in the UK at the morning shows where the presenters sit around and show the headlines from the print newspapers. You would never see that here.

[sweetnessandlite]

Why are Americans so godamm cheerful?

I watch Man v Food, and some of the customers are so OTT happy? WHY?

What are you lot ON??? can I have some

(i mean that affectionately - I love your country) even though I don't understand some of your crazy ways

[CheerfulYank]

"Red Solo cup/I fill you up/Let's have a party..." :o That was just on the radio!

I graduated a few weeks after I turned 18. With my DS, I held him a year before kindergarten (called "redshirting" here, more and more common in recent years) so he will be 18 for his entire senior year.

When I went to prom it was just for juniors and seniors, but tenth graders could go if asked by one.

What's this free hours at nursery thing? I am

[sweetnessandlite]

OTT = Over The Top (like you're on something)

[CheerfulYank]

I'm cheerful sweetness and make no apologies for it. It's in my name an' all so don't say you weren't warned. :o

[steff13]

You have to record a show on the DVR or Tivo or similar in order to watch without commercials.

So does a high school diploma cover all subjects then? And are they graded?

Most schools do quarters, and you get a report card for each class for each quarter. My son right now is taking Spanish, Geometry, Biology, English, Computer something, Art, and History. When he gets his report card in October, he'll get a grade for each of those classes for that quarter, and he'll get a new report card for each subsequent quarter, then in May he'll have a final report card for each class, which is the average of each class for all four quarters.

As long as you pass each class, you get credit for it. You get your diploma and graduate as long as you've achieved the minimum number of credits. So, the credits are cumulative for four years of high school. I graduated early, because I took advanced classes, which are "weighted," meaning they are worth more credits than an average class. You also have to meet the minimum course requirements to graduate, you can't just take four years worth of art and music classes and graduate, you have to take a minimum number of math, English, etc.

That said, different school districts do things differently, so what my local schools do may be different that what others do.

[lettertoherms]

We record and fast forward.

There's a formula. A 30 minute show is 22 minutes of the show, and 8 minutes of ads. Usually four two minute breaks. They're timed the same, so if you switch one primetime show during a commercial, the other shows will have commercials on as well.

I think the formula has changed some since recording shows became the norm, but the basic 22 and 8 is still done. Premium channels like HBO don't have commercials, you're already paying through the nose for them. Channels like PBS offer commercial free programming.

[CheerfulYank]

I was terrible in school but am quite good at taking tests, so I managed to slide into a decent college on ACT scores alone.

While there I failed spectacularly but I did meet DH so that's something :)

[Bogeyface]

Help me with the school year thing!

Senior year is the year you leave, Junior year is the year before that......what is a sophomore and a freshman? I thought Freshman year was first year of college.

Confused!

Its funny actually because since the UK went to the grade system like you have (except its YR, Year 1, Year 2 etc instead of K, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade etc) there is a definite distinction when you talk about it. Someone will say "I was in year 10" and some people nod and the rest of us ask "Is that 4th year seniors?" like it was for us :o