Middle schools in America are divided into public and private schools. Public secondary schools are funded by the government for local students to study for free. American private secondary schools are generally in grades 9- 12 (equivalent to grades 3-3 in China). Private secondary schools affiliated to private institutions or religious groups are funded by the people and recruit local or foreign students. There are nearly 2,000 accredited private middle schools in the United States, including hundreds of famous private middle schools. The annual cost of private middle schools in the United States ranges from 1 10,000 to more than 30,000 dollars. Famous private middle schools usually have talent scholarships and grants. Generally speaking, the proportion of students who attend American private prestigious schools and enter American prestigious schools after graduation is much higher than that of public middle schools. For example, there are many well-known private middle schools in new york, USA, and the number of students who successfully enter Ivy League institutions far exceeds that of public middle schools in the city every year. According to statistics, in the past few years, the proportion of American private high school graduates who successfully entered Harvard, Yale and Princeton is much higher than that of American public high school students, and the proportion of some famous private high school graduates who entered Ivy League schools is dozens of times that of public high school students. Although the outstanding students in the first-class public middle schools in the United States are not worse than those in the first-class private middle schools, the advantages of private middle schools lie in the relatively uniform level of students, the difficulty in curriculum setting and the high teacher-student ratio. The school attaches great importance to students' preparation for university counseling, which is beyond the reach of famous public middle schools.

According to American law, public middle schools in the United States are only allowed to accept short-term exchange students, and the legal maximum period is one year; Public schools may not accept foreign applicants as independent students to study in public schools for a long time. Private secondary schools in the United States can accept foreign students as holders of student visas for long-term study according to school regulations until they graduate from high school and are admitted to universities. Kai Tak Education Network www.EIC.org.cn Life Sanmen caobin.BOKEE.com Editor: King Cao/Xian Siqi

The difference between private and public:

1, private school students can directly apply for the F- 1 student visa, while public schools can only apply for the J-1 visiting scholar visa for the longest1year (the law stipulates that the J- 1 visa cannot be signed in the United States for two years);

2. Private schools are generally smaller than public schools with fewer classes (the teacher-student ratio is generally between 1: 6 and 1: 16);

3. Private schools have high teaching level and strong teachers;

4. Private schools pay more attention to students, especially boarding middle schools;

5. Private schools provide a wider range of extracurricular activities, such as sports, arts, academic and community services;

6. Graduates from private schools have much greater opportunities to enter prestigious schools than those from public schools;

Second, the American private secondary school entrance requirements:

Private high schools in the United States generally require applicants to provide transcripts, letters of recommendation and English test scores of TOEFL, SLEP, SSAT and ISEE in the past three years.

Introduction to SLEP exam:

SLEP is the abbreviation of middle school English proficiency test, that is, middle school English proficiency test (English proficiency test for middle school and high school students whose mother tongue is not English). The examination papers are provided by the Educational Testing Service Center (ETS) in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. SLEP test was established in 1980, and has a history of more than 20 years. SLEP test is an important basis for middle school English teachers to judge the English level of foreign students.

The SLEP test consists of two parts: listening and reading. There are 75 questions in the listening section, and the test time is 45 minutes. Reading part 75 questions, the examination time is 45 minutes. All of them are multiple-choice questions, with a full score of 67.

For the convenience of candidates, Kai Tak purchased SLEP test questions from ETS, and students can take the SLEP test in Kai Tak's office.

Introduction to SSAT and ISEE exams:

Many famous private schools require applicants to take the entrance examination of SSAT or ISEE, which is a very important reference index. The performance of SSAT or ISEE directly determines whether the applicant can be admitted to the applied middle school. Only by successfully passing the exam can you enter a famous private middle school. Almost all famous private middle schools in the United States require applicants to provide SSAT or ISEE scores (except short-term exchange students).

SSAT and ISEE are two national private middle school entrance examinations in the United States, which are selected by private schools in the United States and Canada. SSAT is an acronym for Middle School Entrance Examination, which stands for Middle School Entrance Examination. ISEE is the abbreviation of the entrance examination for independent schools. SSAT and ISEE have similar examination contents and the same difficulty, but the examination forms are different. Both SSAT and ISEE exams include English, math and composition. Although these two kinds of examinations are mainly aimed at middle school entrance, they are also widely used in the fifth and sixth grade entrance examinations of private schools.

SSAT test was established in 1957, proposed by ssatb (middle school entrance examination Committee) and located in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. SSAT exams outside the United States and Canada are held every year in 1 1, 12, 1, March and April, and the deadline for registration is four weeks before the exam. The United States has seven exams every year, and countries and regions outside North America have five exams every year. SSAT mainly measures students' mathematics, English level and comprehension. Essays in SSAT exams will not be scored, but will be sent to the admissions department of the school applying for admission as a reference. The SSAT test is divided into two types: the lower grade (candidates in grades 5-7) and the upper grade (candidates in grades 8-1/kloc-0).

Sponsored by the Independent School Entrance Examination Office (ISEE Operation Office) and the New York State Education Records Bureau, ISEE mainly examines students' reasoning ability of words and numbers. Like the SSAT exam, the ISEE exam also has short essays, but the essays are not scored and will be sent to the school admissions department for admission reference. In order to take care of students who enter school at any time, ISEE has set up a three-level test: the primary test object is students in grades 5-6 who want to apply for admission in grades 6-7; 7-8 grade intermediate students who want to apply for 8-9 grade admission; High flyers is in Grade 9-1 1, and wants to apply for Grade 10- 12.

At present, only SSAT has test sites in China and Shanghai.

Deadline for application: Admission in autumn is generally 1-2 months, and some schools can enroll students on a rolling basis; Some schools offer spring admission.

Third, the curriculum of American private middle schools:

Compulsory courses: American high schools have a wide range of courses. Basic compulsory courses include English, natural sciences (such as biology, chemistry, physics or geography, environment and debate), social sciences (American history, world history, economics, psychology) and mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc.). ).

Elective courses: There are many elective courses in American high schools. Generally, American high schools require students to take certain credits. Common elective courses are:

Visual arts (painting, sculpture, oil painting, photography);

Performance art (chorus, drama, dance, film, band, orchestra);

Vocational courses (carpentry, metalworking, auto repair);

Computer/business courses (word processing, programming, image design, computer club, web design);

Sports (American football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track and field, swimming and water polo);

News/publishing (school newspaper, calendar, TV production);

Foreign languages (generally French, German, Spanish);

Family and consumer science, health (family economics, nutrition, early childhood development)

American high schools adopt the credit system. Generally, you can get an American high school diploma with 18-23 credits.

skip a year

AP(Advanced Placement) is a pre-university course, that is, a one-year college course in high school. AP exam is a national unified exam sponsored by the University Committee, and 60% of more than 20,000 high schools in the United States offer AP courses. Including Harvard, Yale and other prestigious schools, more than 3,000 universities in 22 countries recognize AP courses. After students enter these universities, they can deduct AP courses that have passed the exam from university credits and avoid taking relevant university courses, thus shortening teaching hours and saving tuition fees.

At present, AP exam has 19 majors and 34 courses: mostly computer, economics, English, British and American literature, American government and politics, physics, history and other subjects. AP uses a 5-point system, from 1 to 5 points. Scores above 3 points are accepted by most universities and can be credited to the university in the future. A few top universities require 4 or 5 points to get college credits. In 2003, Harvard University stipulated that only an AP score of 5 can be recorded in Harvard University.

When studying in private high schools in the United States, students have the opportunity to take AP courses, which will further seize the opportunity than domestic high school students.