Yaz asked about this on FB but I'll respond with a post on the blog.
This is about my school only, state schools are more or less different
The grading system is the same as in America, the classes taught are the same as those at GSU's Robinson School of Business in Atlanta (here comes the but...) but schedule is made for you, you can't choose anything, plus they have a tendency to change it from time to time and you don't neccessarily get notified. This is especially true for the first couple of weeks of the semester. Many professors have no respect for student opinion whatsoever. They just assume we will cheat, we don't want to study and anything we say is just an excuse to avoid something. In a lot of cases this is true because many students are there because their parents want it or their social status requires it. basically they just want their diploma without backing it up with actual knowledge. Because of them, everybody's treated bad (unless you prove yourself and attend Emory for a year or something of that sort). One thing that ruins the whole thing for me is that if you get a D, you have to pass the class again and this costs money, if you Fail and you're GPA is low, you take an extra year. for example; a sophomore with a low GPA will be a sophomore next year as well. Guess what; this costs money... and this money is a major source of income. Tests are made hard, policy is very strict and relentless to make students fail. No matter what the school administration says; I stay by this opinion.
Taking classes is simple; you take whatever is put on your schedule plus the classes you have to retake or something. I have never been through a retake but I took additional classes that I needed after I got home this summer. Books they sell are copies of originals, I'm talking about xerox machine type of copies... black and white and often shitty.
classes are on Saturdays as well, so off days depend on the schedule... if a class is canceled because of a professor, additional will be scheduled to compensate... that usually happens on Sundays.
But I gotta give it up to them in one thing: the quality of educaition is really good and passing CSB is like going through hell so after that you're ready for whatever. The system is improving as well, compared to what it was my first two years. Student body is more involved, the career center starting doing some work to organize career fairs... there are a lot of study abroad options available. I didn't qualify for a study in US program (GSU in ATL)... which is interesting cause then I got accepted to Emory through an exchange program. They have to review that system, don't they?
Now a classic song: Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
Update: School is 12 years, I had 11, it recently changed to a 12 year system, so you graduate at 18 and you have to pass national exams. before you decide on a list of universities you want to apply for. Basically you make the same decision as with science and humanities route. There are certain exams everyone has to pass, shich are: Georgian (grammar and literature) English (or any other foreign language) and some analytical tests. plus anything required by universities like Math, history, physics etc. If you make good enough results you make it into the school. it's like your scores are matched to the school you have as a number 1 priority... if you beat everyone else for the same spot, you make it there, if not you are moved to a number to 2 priority on your list and so on until you are accepted in the school or not accepted at all. 1st year classes are always general, but from the beginning you study for a profession you've chosen. It doesn't depend on the grade what you become. In my school however you decide as a junior what you want to pursue; financial route, marketing route, auditing, management etc. and it depends on your gpa and academic standing. most of the students want finance so there's always competition.
to graduate you accumulate credits and take certain amounts of classes. Then you can go to graduate studies.
1 comment:
OK cool. But I still have a question. Maybe it is better if I put the question in the context of a situation: SO In Egypt you go through the 3 basic stages more or less equivalent to elementary, middle and high school. But "high school" is 3 yrs (you graduate at 17-ie a year earlier than in the U.S.) However, here is what I am wondering. In Egypt in H.S. you declare a "major" so you can pick the science route..like (bio, chem, etc...) and this leads to careers in medicine, psychology, etc. or you can pick a humanities?...I guess it is like a social sciences track..(history, archeology..etc) this leads to careers in trade, law, business, etc.. and the last one I think is mostly the math/sciences field which is how ppl go into engineering.
Anyway..so you pick your field. I would pick sciences since I want to do medicine. 1st yr the classes are pretty much the same-the basics..Then 2nd year you begin to specialize and take really hard SAT/ specific subject type tests at the end of that year and the third year is the same. HOWEVER [as I understand it at least] the score you make your last year determines what career you can go into. Say you want medicine you MUST make in the 99th percentile (differs based on the year I think) if you make 98th..then you can only do psychology.. and 90th is something different. You can always choose a career below your score (if you make int the 99th but want to do psychology and not med..its OK) but you can never go up. So your test scores determine your fate in terms of college and future career. I know there are similar systems in other countries..but how is it in Georgia?
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