Anyone with good knowledge of German Abitur? specifically pros/cons of the different Zweige

[ErnesttheBavarian]

My dd is in the 4th Class. I'm totally stumped about which school she should go to next.

We're near Munich, and I'm trying to choose a Gymnasium for her.

I was really keen on a girls' school, as is she, but both of them only offer languages or music. I'm disappointed none of them have a science route. She is (only just) learning piano. Does anyone know if you have to be musically gifted to follow the music Zweig? Is it well regarded? Tough?

How on earth do you choose the right Gymnasium. I phoned the Schulberatung which was utterly useless, and just told me to visit the various schools on their open days

Musischer Zweig usually just means that they have some extra music. This will not be at the expense of other subjects.

In Germany Abitur is very generalised and you usually have to keep virtually all subjects until the end of Year 13.

Having said that, there can be differences in what schools offer in Oberstufe. It might be worth investigating which subjects and combinations are possible at the different schools.

Ooh! An answer! Our local gymnasium is languages and science. 2 of my DS go there and are doing science. But I don't want to send dd there.

I was keen on girls school, but none offer science Abitur. How will I find out about the Oberstufe? I really don't feel like I know enough about this to make a decision.

‘zweig’ really means ‘extra focus on’ so a music ‘zweig’ school might have an orchestra, big band, theater etc
language ‘zweig’ might offer ancient languages (greek, latin) in addition to the usual offerings.
the curriculum of the state is the same as in any other gymnasium of the state. which as pp said a whole range of subjects is covered until abitur.

in year 5 your dd might not know which major subjects she will want to do in oberstufe. she can change school then.

If she did start on the musischer (or Sprachlicher) Zweig, would she not then block her own chances of changing later if because she hasn't studied (at all, or in enough depth) some subjects ? I don't want to bank on her having the option the change, as I changed school when I was 13/14 and it was awful. I feel like I need to get it right now. she's only 9! Seems bonkers to have to make such a big decision already. And with no information

no, the core subjects should be the same until year 10.

what purple said.

and I think pianos are not that interesting for musischer Zweig as they are not generally played in the orchestras.

We've just gone through similar with DD (also in Bavaria) who is in year 5 at Gymnasium. For her the choice was between two gymnasiums, one with zweige in languages or science, the other with zweige in languages or business. She opted for the latter school based on gut feeling alone. I did ask at that school what implications it has for studying / career choices and I believe it has no bearing at all. From her school, the Abitur is broad enough i.e. covers enough science that you could study anything scientific or medicine. Being in one zweig seems to make a difference of three or four lessons a week (and even then only in later years). With DD, she has English in year 5. In year six, she chooses between taking either french or latin in addition to that. Then in year seven she picks her zweig. If she wants to delay the decision as long as possible, she should take latin in year six because if she takes french in year six, she can't then pick up Latin and is automatically in the business zweig.

Reading that back I feel I might have confused you further! Sorry about that. What I am trying to say is I think it isn't that important about the zweig choice and it's more important to find the school with the right feel and fit. That's what DD has done and so far so good (fingers crossed - this Bavarian Gym thing is quite scary to me!)

regarding musischer Zweig: there is a Gym near us with a music Zweig and while the school looks fab, I think a place like that is a magnet for really talented musical superkids and someone like my DD (lazy piano player and no Wolfgang Amadeus shall we say ) would underwhelm in that setting.

You might be able to see a timetable for the Zweige. My DD's school gave us one and it really highlighted that Abitur is basically the same very broad education, but e.g. in the business zweig, they will have a couple of hours a week of business law in the Oberstufe. And in languages, they have english, latin and french all the way through. And if they drop Latin, they take up Spanish.

OK I will stop blethering on now....