• U.S. High School (age 14-18)

    In the United States, a high school is a school for children usually aged between fourteen and eighteen.

    High school students are required to take courses in maths, English, and sciences. Most schools calculate a student's grade point average (GPA) by assigning each letter grade a number and averaging those numerical values. The top-grade for GPA is 4.0.

  • At University

    At university, courses are assigned a certain amount of “credit hours”. Most courses are 3 credits however they depend on how much time is spent in class each week. Therefore, some courses can be 1, 2, 4 or 5 credits. In order to graduate, students must complete a minimum number of credit hours that their degree programs require. In the US, most bachelor degree programmes do not ask students to write a final thesis, however is required for most Master’s programmes.

  • College university

    Over a third of all college students transfer schools at least once during their degree. Famous transfer students include Barack Obama, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

  • Graduate

    A graduate school (sometimes shortened as grad school) awards advanced academic degrees (i.e. MSc).

    The general requirement for a place at graduate school is that students must have a previous undergraduate (bachelor's) degree with a high-grade point average. The majority of master's programs also require the minimum Graduate Record Examination score which tests a student’s quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, verbal reasoning, and analytical writing skills.

  • Doctorate

    A PhD is a degree awarded to people who have completed advanced research into a particular subject. PhD is an abbreviation for 'Doctor of Philosophy'. PhD qualifications are available in all subjects and are normally the highest level of academic degree a person can achieve.