Canada: uhh yeah just your grades. 6 best classes from your senior year of high school. Don't submit an essay or your activities, that's a waste of time
@@useyournoodle100 Also depends a lot on the program. Competitive programs and those in the health sciences tend to (but don't always) have supplementals
Largely yes, but despite applying to two programs in the same institution, one asked for a statement and the other didn’t. So we’ll do the statement sometimes. But considering it’s a school, it makes sense grades would be the most important thing really.
Yup. The USA is actually pretty simple to understand. If something doesn’t make sense assume the reason is money $$$. You will be right 99.9% of the time
I would say schooling came up in conversation in half of my hostels when I was traveling Germany and Switzerland. They always pointed out their education is free, wherever they were from in Europe. I had to keep saying "I know, I just can't move to another country because my field is in medicine." Not saying other countries in Europe aren't sufficient but in order to be licensed, my classes may not line up correctly to sit for those exams and I would end up having to take a US course anyway.
Austria/Switzerland/Netherlands: "Oh, you got a high school diploma? Cool. Study whatever you want. It's free. Everyone gets in. Your background, grades, activities or reasons don't matter."
@@dsracoon No it isn't. You can just go, unless it's something artistic. Finishing said "high school" might be tricky though, but it's not like you have to pick the right one.
Austria/Switzerland/Netherlands: "Oh, you got a high school diploma? Cool. Study whatever you want. It's free. Everyone gets in. Your background, grades, activities or reasons don't matter."
@@spacemanx9595that’s because most people don’t qualify for most scholarships. I put in the criteria of who I was and got one or two. Then you have to do homework to apply and they’ll probably say no anyway
@@spacemanx9595 found the butthurt emotional America defender. We could say something as insane as America has the highest Maternal mortality rates (mothers dying in child birth) while also having the absolute highest cost to have a baby especially without insurance and you would STILL rush to circle jerk your America
@@LoFiAxolotl ..Since when? Average NC for law in 2012-2015 was like 1,8 in winter, 2,1 in the summer semester. Edit: Looked it up myself. It depends on where you want to study, which matters a lot. Good universities in popular places definitely still have an NC going, up to 1,0 in Munich. They've overall gone down from when I started studying, but Jura is definitely not NC-frei everywhere, just in the places that don't have the best reputation.
@@catw4729 there's often a problem physically getting into those rooms, lots and lots of times people have to sit on the stairs or can't sit at all because there's just too many people.... usually changes after the first and second semester because those courses have insanely high drop out rates
@@OneCatShortOfCrazyNo I’m Irish and I hate it. Students are ranked against each other using a point system making it extremely competitive. I’m doing the exams next month and it’s too stressful. Why should a set of exams in June determine 13 years of education?
@@cian434 I guess you have a different grading system than us. We get grades trough all 3 years of school before uni, where the last year counts the most and maybe you get picked (at random) for 1 to 3 extra test exams in some subjects to have a more centralized look at your abilities rather than just your local schools idea of your abilities. And if you aren't happy with a grade in a subject( its split into many subjects: several levels of math, history, chemistry, social science, chemistry, English, mother tongue, another foreign language, general science, elective subjects 1 and 2, physics, and probably more I forget) every 6 months there are exams held in any subject that you can "fix" your grade if you need more points for your study of choice. I dont know what you need to do for those weeks but I'm sorry it's so stressful. I know you will do great tho because you sound like you care, and that's a good thing. Do you need such high points for what you want to study at uni ? Here each uni subject has their own point levels depending on who and how many apply.
I have been through Irish system as a student and teacher. The process is difficult and you’ve to make your choices early on in the year for something that could change. The study process is very difficult too and is even worse now than when I did it. The exams were probably technically more difficult but you had an idea of which kind of questions would come up and could say I’m doing Q 1,3,4,5,8 or something out of the choices and have more focused study. There are also a lot of subjects in the irish system - a good thing when you look back but also a terrible thing in the middle of exams. The variety is excellent because it gives students choices on what to do in the future and a broader education is a fantastic asset. However, examination-wise it’s terrifying as you may have to do a subject you don’t do well at to exam level. Being marked on 6 subjects out of 7/8 means you have to do relatively well on 2 out of the 3 core subjects too. If I were in charge we would have an education system that allowed you to focus on your preferred exam subjects, while the core subjects, were still accessible outside the exam space. This could also encourage a space outside of exams where students could see that learning can be for enjoyment too.
In my state in Australia, you literally submit your preferences to the Tertiary Admissions Council, your grades are uploaded there and then the universities just offer you a place
In Italy you just graduate high school and take a standardised test in most faculties. The real challenge is not dropping out while you are in university😅
What about facultieslike medicine, dentistry and other that have " limited number " admissions and students have to participate in a "concorso" in order to get in? Italian students still have to pay fees called taxes to enroll, to take certain classes with labs, etc. The amount a student pays is based on the region the university is located.
Netherlands: just have passing grades in the national exams please, nobody cares about your hobbies. (There are a few exceptions like artistic studies where you also need experience as an artist)
The exceptions are basically majors for where there is more demand than supply. Like if you don't have good grades and want to study medicine you have to enter a admission lottery to get a seat.
The “trauma” thing I think is like a similar joke to contests like the Voice and that where if you write a really soapbox essay about why you want to go to the school, then you’re more likely to be picked. And it’s turned from a joke to a requirement somehow (shrugs) just like one said talent shows
Same in Colombia but we have it twice a year because we have schools that end towards may and towards November. And I could apply in Brazil if I pass the Portuguese proficiency test apparently
Yes, America, that's SUPER weird... like WHY is it like that? Do we get an explanation or is there just not one? 😂😂😂 the family trauma part took me all the way out 😂😂😂
They probably try to take into account people who have faced obstacles like abusive parents, yet they pushed through it and were able to apply for university.
@@sjlee100 everywhere else they do that by asking income and living arrangements 👀 no further questions needed... the needy get what they, well, need... based on their circumstances and finances.
@@sjlee100 and then any extra needs you're just asked specifically about them, like do you have any specific impairments such as PTSD or mental health issues, an ailment or disability... there are even social workers to deal with abusive homes. But the actual educational body doesn't need to know that 👀
I never even had to write a personal statement for college admissions in the U.S. At some highly competitive, prestigious universities applicants may add all the trauma stuff to show how much they’ve overcome and how much more dedicated and hardworking they are than the other applicants. The vast majority of universities probably just look at your grades and SAT scores (if even that). They may require a personal statement, but I doubt it has much sway. Most of her videos about weird things in the U.S. aren’t wrong, but they are usually exaggerated.
Plus donations your parents have made to the school, 2 letters of recommendation, basically a full time job's worth of extracurriculars, and a million different tests
In the U.S., you can go to community college first, which only reqiured a high school diploma and placement testing when I went there. I then transfered to university with an associates degree from community college. I only had to take classes related to my major at university. I saved a bunch of money this way.
I chose the same route. My AS was accepted at 5 different schools, even the one D grade I had from freshman year. Wound up at a top university for my bachelor's and beyond.
In the Netherlands: you get in if you passed the exam of the highest level of secondary education and had the relevant subjects in your exam "package".
Germany: send us the grades and money and nothing more. The money ranges from 200 to 500€ per 6 month depending on the specific uni or hochschule. And in most cases people find a place everywhere
@@amilo5 hard part is passing the first and second semester, which have a drop of rate from between 20-80% depending on the field, the graduating rates are actually incredibly high
@@LoFiAxolotl Aaaah yes, the nostalgia I have for my student ticket. Made so many things that much easier. Who would've imagined we'd have something like it but even better now? 😙
Art college in czech rep.: "just pass our talent exam (takes a few days, can be pretty hard). nobody asks about your high school grades or familly situation." I'm so grateful for this :)
We do have rocket/aerospace scientists directly from state colleges it just depends on region and state. The B-21 Stealth Bomber was developed by US citizens, and so were rockets that sent many of the newest satellites in orbit. Now, the idea of first-generation engineers/scientists doing this. That's up for discussion.
@@robertn.4329 Ehhmmmm both were mostly designed by former Nazi and Soviet scientist by the way... that was like half of the US military science community till the late 70s/early 80s
@@LoFiAxolotl Theres the 1980s and there is now. The B21 Raider was presented last year. I dont think there is a former Nazi alive that works at Northrop let alone NASA....Unless their grandchildren work on them now.... :| bullocks!
To explain the trauma thing: Here in the US we are all in constant competition with each other. The number of spots available in a given college could be limited, especially for the "good" schools. So in order to get an advantage in the admissions process, it is recommended that your personal statement essay contain something that motivates them to pick you over someone else. This has led to students going for pity points by talking about their various challenges growing up as a way of crafting a "pulled myself up from nothing" narrative. This might make any individual admission seem more deserving than another, seem like a harder worker than someone else, or simply might make the admissions team feel they want to continue that individual's story and contribute to their success.
Your first sentence gets me, ‘all in constant competition with each other’ 😢. So you seem to compete even in (crafting narratives about) hardship growing up. However, the principle has nobility to it. (I’m from NL 🇳🇱)
@@marjetdejong6219 sort of. The principle alone has merit. In action, it's a source of constant division. In my experience, better in theory than in reality. Competition has its uses, but everything is poison at high enough doses.
Same in Argentina, grades are somehow important but everybody knows that *in general* kids until 18~19 don't care that much about grades, so they just vomit what they memorize in class, not very useful for real life (unless you are a sucker) Here the University is free and you can attend at whatever age you want to, we don't discriminate by age regarding education, everyone deserves the opportunity to progress if they want to
In Canada, grades are paramount. There’s nothing like the SAT, and legacy or trauma are irrelevant. Grades alone aren’t enough for some places, they want to see your extra-curricular activities, and like to get references to see if you’re a ‘well rounded’ student. Sports could be one of those things- and they might help for scholarships, but you’re not getting in unless your grades are up to snuff.
In Belgium to apply you need to : have a high school diploma and fill in an application file (and there's no selection you're automatically in if you apply) (except for some specific options)
Exactly, in my Master’s programme there was a girl who had gone to a vocational high school (BSO) but decided after graduating that she wanted to go to college. People should be encouraged to pursue further education instead of being judged by their background or high school career.
Afaik in Mexico we just kind of do an exam to enter university. I was lucky enough to enter a highschool kind of "integrated" to a system that also offered higher education, so it's kind of an automatic pass to university (just had to do an English exam because of my major). But even if you weren't in the "system" before, you just do an exam and that's it, doesn't matter your age, just as long as you finished highschool. That is, of course, public university. No idea how it works in private ones. Just know they're really expensive.
Sweden has various criteria to fulfill. First you need basic admittance criteria fullfilled, basically you need to have graduated high school. Grades don't matter as long as you have passed all admittance classes (english, swedish, math and a few others). you also need a certain amount of points (this is where your grades come in, the higher the grade, the more points you get). Some courses/programs can have additional requirements. You can also do "SAT" to improve you chances of getting in. Sweden has Trade school type of programs too. Those are perhaps easier to get into, they still require basic admittance scores and fucntion as UNI but are shorter and you are trained for a specific field, such as computerprogramming or plubming. You usually get a job right after graduation. The rules keep chaning and there used to be other ways to be admitted. But now, you need to graduate high school and get a good SAT score. No need for essays or life stories.
I mean I only went to a public university in Switzerland, where the process was: you got a high school diploma and 50 bucks? cool welcome. Oh and before anyone asks, yes the school was at the time, a top 100 university globally. now they kinda got pushed down to the 120ies but who's counting.
Some "legacy students" even get discounted tuition. If your parents went to Utah State, you get in-state tuition regardless of your state of residency.
I applied to the school that BOTH my parents went to. I was accepted but they offered me nothing else 😝 I was born because of that school and they wouldn’t offer any child support? Rude. Lol
July 2023, Students for Fair Admissions vs Harvard, race is no longer considered in college admissions in the U.S. Racial quotas in college admissions ended with University of California vs Bakke in 1978.
@@Christopher-td8wu (Though, as _SFFA v Harvard_ revealed, _Bakke_ was essentially being completely ignored. Well, not completely -- they paid attention to it insofar as it told them what practices they needed to mask.)
@@jacksyoutubechannel4045 stated quotas were illegal but race could be considered a limited factor in admissions. There was no “masking” or “ignoring” because the decision was very clear. The main determining factor in Harvard admission’s (besides GPA) is legacy/athlete/relative of staff or donor. 43% of white, Harvard students belong to this group. Harvard’s AA/African student pop is 9%. Harvard’s White pop. Is 35%, of which 15% fall into the legacy/athlete/relative of staff or donor. Harvard’s Asian pop. Is 22%. So, Harvard can easily keep everything the similar by using the same preferential system, it was not Afirmative-Action keeping Asians out.
Lots of people are joking about how their country only cares about grades, but tbh I prefer that. I had untreated ADHD and depression in high school and it was draining enough just ensuring I had good grades. I only had to focus on one thing, which was good for me as too many activities and tasks to juggle at one time (that I'm expected to excel at all of??) do not go down well as someone who struggles with time blindness, organization and focus. That's just me though
@@antigonarosaura7845 Oh for sure, I just wanted to throw out an alternative viewpoint. Most people have different strengths in different areas, so it's more equitable to look at all aspects
I remember hearing a great quote regarding college and sports; It’s been awhile but this is basically the gist of it If the highest paid member of staff is the college sports coach, it is not an academic institution, but a sports franchise with a degree program as a backdrop.
Lithuania: pass final school exams. Add relevant exams of your choice for specific fields (i.e. biology for medicine). That's it. For art academies, apply with a portfolio (visual arts) or an audition (music/dance). Based on your exam grades, you will get either a paid or free admission to uni (every specialty has an alocated number of free spots). Almost 60% of all lithuanians have a college or university degree (highest rate in EU).
Do other countries require application fees? Because that was the most limiting factor applying to schools when I was a kid. $25-50 per application wasn't easy
I’m Canadian, and I just submitted my transcript and basic personal information and got into all the universities I applied to. There are some programs that require letters of motivation and interviews, but just grades is the norm.
In Ireland, it’s just grades from a series of tests taken after graduation. We also don’t apply to a certain college, but rather to the individual course itself so there are different entries into one college, just depending on what you want to study. The college doesn’t see your name or anything about you, it’s just automated that of everyone who applied, whoever had higher grades gets in in order of grades, until the amount of places in the course run out
Meanwhile in Poland only the final exams called 'matura' matter, you could've barely passed high school, but as long as you have good results from the exams, you can get into any University you want
Argentina: you just sign up in your nearest college when you finish school, and take a levelling course to learn everything you haven't because of the ghastly state of secondary education.
In Brazil: For all public universities, wich are all free: 1 National standardized test + an argumentative essay about a surprise current issue in our society. Than you can choose on the unified system wich university and subject you want to take and the highest grades are approved. (Music and Art related things might require an specific test to ensure some pre existing skills)
In Brazil if the university is public and free 5 you have to do a very difficult test to try to get in. And if it's not public, if it's paid, you also have to do a test, but if you managed to write your name correctly, you're in
In the Netherlands there are no private schools*. Your high school diploma (of relevant level) is enough. In the rare case when there are not enough spots (only for specific majors) you either have to do an entry exam with highest scores getting in, or there is a random selection, or sometimes everyone who gets above a certain level in the entry exam is entered into the random selection. *There is one university level school and some college level ones, but they're generally not very well respected. The public schools are of high quality and cheaper.
In Chile 🇨🇱, we have a national exam that applies for ALL universities. Everybody does it to apply. Depending on the career you want to chose, the specific scores have more weight. Ex. If you want medicine the Biology test weights more than literature or history. In Engineering Math and Physics weight more than Biology. And they count your grades from high school. It's all about academic results, nothing else. And its very competitive, only the best scores can enter the specific career/university because spots are limited.
In the Netherlands you apply by filling out a form with your information and your grades. If there is no max students you get in. If there is a max students you have to wait for a draw and hop you get in. The students with the highest grades get in without the draw. But you don’t have a major subject and the freedom to take other classes. You pick what you want to be and only follow the selected subjects that belong to that.
I actually was shocked when I found out about the admission system in the US and how much it depends on personal information about student. Where I live admissions are automated and centralized so you just submit your exam grades, send them to universities you are interested in and the system automatically ranks all the applicants based solely on grades. The universities have no control over this system and don't even know the names of the students until they are admitted. Only art universities are allowed to require an extra exam where they could see applicants in person.
The sports scholarships for non sport schools never made any sense to me. If a person couldn't get good grades, why are they even enrolling in higher education?!
@@Tiffany_C_ why do you need education in physics to pursue sports? That's what i don't get. We have sport faculties for those who want to pursue sports.
@@dawnriddler you don’t. But the colleges use student games for revenue. A large source of revenue if the team is good and your games are televised. I encourage you to research the NCAA.
US universities are hard to get in, but easy to graduate with A (grade inflation). Europe universities (excluding the UK) are relative lax in admission, but not easy to graduate.
@@justhavingfun9798 That's a high school, not a university, and a not very good one. My high school in the United States didn't hand out passing grades for...showing up.
@@Domisthecoolestguyever statistics concerning public education are frightening. The amount of people in high-school AND college who don’t know the basics is astounding. It’s not just my experience. Overall we’re doing terrible as a nation in education. This has been going on for years. Even Harvard is a joke now. I wish I had saved those statistics so I could send them to you.
Depends on the major but I’d not say it’s easy to get an A in the US university. Easy to get a B but the gap between and A and a B is pretty wide in my experience.
In Bulgaria, it's just your grades that matter. Every university have their own entrance exams, then they also take certain grades from your school grades and are ranked solely based on your result. It's completely anonymous!
In Argentina, grades are somehow important but everybody knows that * in general * kids until 18~19 don't care that much about grades, so they just vomit what they memorize in class, not very useful for real life (unless you are a sucker) Here the University is free and you can attend at whatever age you want to, we don't discriminate by age regarding education, everyone deserves the opportunity to progress if they want to
In Ireland we have a set of tests at the end of high school that dictate what college course you might do. Literally nothing else comes into consideration (unless you choose medicine, where there’s also an additional aptitude test).
In Belgium you just apply and you get in as long as you've finished high school. You don't need to do anything. Only for certain challenging fields of study like medicine or engineering, you have to first pass an exam
at least in the USA we get to select our own class schedules and pick our own professors… i only recently found out that isn’t the case in lots of europe
That because we are much larger and have more Universities then most of them. Texas California Illinois New York each have more Universities them most countries.
Meanwhile for most subjects in Germany: We don‘t care, don‘t bother to apply, just enroll to the subject and we will kick you out after a semester if you can‘t keep up 😅
All of these are wierd to me. Where I live it's only about the grades you have. The grades become a score and that's what admission is based on. the process is automatic and 100% anonymous. All these personal essays and qualities you may or may not be able to fake should not matter imo. oh and university is free :)
My sister got automatically rejected from a huge school in our home state because we weren't in contact with our father. He walked out on our family 15 years prior, and they demanded it even after explaining our trauma.
In Brasil you just take a test (the major one is ENEM, it applies for all Federal Colleges, some spots for state colleges and discounts for private colleges) and if you pass both phases, you're in. Of couse, getting into a private college is far more easy then the public ones.
I think the difference is that in the US education is a service and a profit endeavor, while in most places education is still a sector that the government is supposed to fund and offer to the majority of the population at least in paper but it is still more public tailored than in the US were the only colleges and universities of any name are private. Usually the opposite in other countries.
Also in the US you usually apply to the university in general and can change your major whenever you want without any qualifications for a specific college
That's not true, and depends largely on the university and program you're trying to get into. For example, my university has very highly regarded STEM programs. For the most popular STEM programs at my school, like computer science, electrical engineering, and biology, students are required to take a set of notoriously difficult lower division courses for their intended major during their first two years and must meet a GPA requirement before being admitted into that major. In the US, these popular and competitive majors are called "impacted" majors, and vary from school to school.
I'm from Cali and I couldn't get in anywhere out of state for this reason (or in state as a freshman). But here you automatically get in if you pick a community college and then you can transfer to any 4-year in the state after you get your AA with no issues. At that point they literally do not care. idk how it is elsewhere with the community college system. They start caring again in grad school though, but this time they want you to explain in full detail how you're going to save the entire world if you get in.
I also think its weird that in american universities you have to do multiple subjects, even ones with no relation to the main thing youre studying. In the Uk we just study the subject we are getting a degree in
Netherlands. Just get the highschool level degree with the subjects needed for the program you’re applying to. Popular programs? You’ll get in through lottery system. Otherwise they won’t reject you as long as you got your highschool degree!
You have to pay to send in applications too 😂 and to take the ACT/SAT depending on which school you apply to because most only accept one or the other but you’ll have to pay and take both and get good scores to apply to multiple colleges lol
Don't forget the scholarships you can get for going through traumatic things! I'm applying for several, it's wild to have to write a short essay about some of the worst moments of my life for a few thousand dollars, or some as little as a few hundred, but I really could use the funds. Oh well.
I Germany you usually take the weighted average of your grades in your high school diploma and apply. The best get in. It sometimes differs though. And many universities admit a lot of students but have extremely hard tests in the first semesters so many people drop out.
Where im from it's literally just grades, no need for a damn essay. The college doesn't care about your personal life (an why should it?). The only thing they should care about is if you have the smarts or are able to keep up academically, so grades make sense. We also have a fully optional national test you can pay some money and take. It's basic Swedish, English, and math. The people who do best get a higher chance of getting into the uni they want.
So no entrance exams? Well that is something. We spend a month making assignments and depending on how well we do in them we are invited to an interview. And depending on how well the interview goes we are invited to the first part of entrance exams which is 2 days, each 9h long. And depending on how well we do in the first part of the entrance exams go we are invited to the second part of the entrance exams which is 3 days, each 9h long. So yeah, if I could just write a motivational letter it would be awesome. (Went through it three times. Got in finally. Only 3 of us were accepted that year.)
In Florida you can go to community college for 2 years and get a transfer degree to automatically get into any state university. You only need a GED or high school diploma to go to community college. You just need to meet your intended majors academic requirements to get excepted into that particular program. Oh, money, you need lots of that.
In australia you dont even have to write a personal essay. Normally you do need grades, but for me all i did was chat to the university and the next day they called to let me know i'd been accepted (and technically my friend tricked me into applying so i didnt even need knowledge i was doing it)
In Brasil: There are 2 types of college: public (free) and private (paid). For the private ones you just pay to be there, no questions asked, no crazy application process, no screening , nothing, because you are buying your education they don't care. They will also have a number scholarship (where students won't have to pay) but they have to pass a test and depending on your grade on this test , you will have a percentage of discount going fron 20% to 100%. For the public ones, first, in the last year of high school you will do a test called ENEM and the grade can be added to the score you will get in test you will go through in the public school that you trying to get to. The test is very difficult but the public schools (the ones you don't pay) are way better than the private ones ans there are 2 years paid courses to prepare you for this test. Which means, the rich kid who could be in the private one because they have money to pay for their education will actually pay to prepare to pass the public school test, taking away the chance of a poor person to get into a good college.
Norway🇳🇴: only your grades matter. You need certain classes for some. And taking harder classes can give u a boost. You never have to write anything. Just fill out. Things like haven been to the military, already studied or folkehøgskule/peopleschool* + being age can boost you if u are applying not the year after high school.
No joke a ton of European kids get to go to school in the US based on their sports abilities that could never afford it otherwise. A quarter of division I soccer is kids from abroad.
In Sweden, there’s different quotas. Either you have to have good grades all throughout “high school” (age 16-19) or you have to score well on a 5 hour test of math, Swedish and English that takes place every 6 months. The test is graded on a curve, but it actually makes sense because it’s the entire country.
Family trauma is cherry picked here. This typically applies to very prestigious and competitive universities which have extremely low acceptance rates. The idea of the personal statement is to differentiate yourself as an individual (as opposed to just numbers on a sheet of paper) so they can determine how you can contribute to campus life and culture. Life experiences (e.g. trauma) can also be relevant to explain certain things such as changes in grades here, but most often people are demonstrating their ability to write as well as their personal interests or things they're passionate about.
When I applied to University of Applied Sciences here in Finland, only things I had to do was to send an application, and later Entrance Exam. That's it.
Canada: uhh yeah just your grades. 6 best classes from your senior year of high school. Don't submit an essay or your activities, that's a waste of time
Depends on the University. Some want personal goals and plans.
Lol yeah i don't remember writing anything
@@useyournoodle100 Also depends a lot on the program. Competitive programs and those in the health sciences tend to (but don't always) have supplementals
Ooh I just got in on grades too
Largely yes, but despite applying to two programs in the same institution, one asked for a statement and the other didn’t. So we’ll do the statement sometimes. But considering it’s a school, it makes sense grades would be the most important thing really.
It's more about payment than anything. Schools make money off sports and multigenerational alumni are more likely to be donors.
Sad but true.
Yup. The USA is actually pretty simple to understand. If something doesn’t make sense assume the reason is money $$$. You will be right 99.9% of the time
I would say schooling came up in conversation in half of my hostels when I was traveling Germany and Switzerland. They always pointed out their education is free, wherever they were from in Europe. I had to keep saying "I know, I just can't move to another country because my field is in medicine." Not saying other countries in Europe aren't sufficient but in order to be licensed, my classes may not line up correctly to sit for those exams and I would end up having to take a US course anyway.
Capitalist "education"
Austria/Switzerland/Netherlands: "Oh, you got a high school diploma? Cool. Study whatever you want. It's free. Everyone gets in. Your background, grades, activities or reasons don't matter."
meanwhile in Switzerland: "You finished high school? See you in September!"
It's the same in France, unless you're aiming for a specific degree, college is open to anyone ^^
The trick part is finishing "high school" of the right kind of course ;)
@@dsracoon No it isn't. You can just go, unless it's something artistic. Finishing said "high school" might be tricky though, but it's not like you have to pick the right one.
Austria/Switzerland/Netherlands: "Oh, you got a high school diploma? Cool. Study whatever you want. It's free. Everyone gets in. Your background, grades, activities or reasons don't matter."
@@jonistan9268well you need to finish the highest level of high school right? At least that's how it works in the Netherlands.
Not to mention how absolutely outrageously priced it is here in the great old US
Millions of dollars of scholarships and grants go unclaimed every semester. Get to it.
@@spacemanx9595that’s because most people don’t qualify for most scholarships. I put in the criteria of who I was and got one or two. Then you have to do homework to apply and they’ll probably say no anyway
Well, gotta pay for all those state-of-the-art sports facilities somehow.
@@spacemanx9595 found the butthurt emotional America defender. We could say something as insane as America has the highest Maternal mortality rates (mothers dying in child birth) while also having the absolute highest cost to have a baby especially without insurance and you would STILL rush to circle jerk your America
@@spacemanx9595 found the American booty li¢ker
Germany: Do you have good grades? Yeah? Welcome aboard then.
Most of the time you don't even need good grades unless it's something super popular like medicine
@@edithputhy4948 or like 3/4rd of all courses these days except law... for some reason Law never has an NC while being one of the top5 courses
@@LoFiAxolotl ..Since when? Average NC for law in 2012-2015 was like 1,8 in winter, 2,1 in the summer semester.
Edit: Looked it up myself. It depends on where you want to study, which matters a lot. Good universities in popular places definitely still have an NC going, up to 1,0 in Munich. They've overall gone down from when I started studying, but Jura is definitely not NC-frei everywhere, just in the places that don't have the best reputation.
Isn’t the problem in Germany getting into some of the lectures/popular courses?
@@catw4729 there's often a problem physically getting into those rooms, lots and lots of times people have to sit on the stairs or can't sit at all because there's just too many people.... usually changes after the first and second semester because those courses have insanely high drop out rates
meanwhile, in Ireland, only your grades matter and you just have to submit one application with your college preferences listed in order
As it should be. In my coutry it's also 100% anonymous, some random person doesn't get to decide if they like your name or face.
@@OneCatShortOfCrazyNo I’m Irish and I hate it. Students are ranked against each other using a point system making it extremely competitive. I’m doing the exams next month and it’s too stressful. Why should a set of exams in June determine 13 years of education?
@@cian434as irish too i totally agree why is like 2/3 weeks of exams the deciding factor forever
@@cian434 I guess you have a different grading system than us. We get grades trough all 3 years of school before uni, where the last year counts the most and maybe you get picked (at random) for 1 to 3 extra test exams in some subjects to have a more centralized look at your abilities rather than just your local schools idea of your abilities. And if you aren't happy with a grade in a subject( its split into many subjects: several levels of math, history, chemistry, social science, chemistry, English, mother tongue, another foreign language, general science, elective subjects 1 and 2, physics, and probably more I forget) every 6 months there are exams held in any subject that you can "fix" your grade if you need more points for your study of choice. I dont know what you need to do for those weeks but I'm sorry it's so stressful. I know you will do great tho because you sound like you care, and that's a good thing. Do you need such high points for what you want to study at uni ? Here each uni subject has their own point levels depending on who and how many apply.
I have been through Irish system as a student and teacher. The process is difficult and you’ve to make your choices early on in the year for something that could change. The study process is very difficult too and is even worse now than when I did it. The exams were probably technically more difficult but you had an idea of which kind of questions would come up and could say I’m doing Q 1,3,4,5,8 or something out of the choices and have more focused study. There are also a lot of subjects in the irish system - a good thing when you look back but also a terrible thing in the middle of exams. The variety is excellent because it gives students choices on what to do in the future and a broader education is a fantastic asset. However, examination-wise it’s terrifying as you may have to do a subject you don’t do well at to exam level. Being marked on 6 subjects out of 7/8 means you have to do relatively well on 2 out of the 3 core subjects too. If I were in charge we would have an education system that allowed you to focus on your preferred exam subjects, while the core subjects, were still accessible outside the exam space. This could also encourage a space outside of exams where students could see that learning can be for enjoyment too.
In my state in Australia, you literally submit your preferences to the Tertiary Admissions Council, your grades are uploaded there and then the universities just offer you a place
same in Ireland, I'm so glad I never had to deal with any of this application submission to individual colleges bs
I like that. American education sucks.
plus its only based on a reference number (at least in my state) so its also anonymous - only based on your rankings!
Centralizing the process makes so much more sense. I live in Canada and you have to fill put these long ass applications for each individual school 😕
What state is that? that seems nice
In Italy you just graduate high school and take a standardised test in most faculties. The real challenge is not dropping out while you are in university😅
What about facultieslike medicine, dentistry and other that have " limited number " admissions and students have to participate in a "concorso" in order to get in? Italian students still have to pay fees called taxes to enroll, to take certain classes with labs, etc. The amount a student pays is based on the region the university is located.
Netherlands: just have passing grades in the national exams please, nobody cares about your hobbies.
(There are a few exceptions like artistic studies where you also need experience as an artist)
The exceptions are basically majors for where there is more demand than supply. Like if you don't have good grades and want to study medicine you have to enter a admission lottery to get a seat.
Same in Chile.
Same in Brazil 🇧🇷
Yeah... You can't study music without playing an instrument. 😅
Kinda makes sense
Same in Colombia, some majors or universities may require interviews but if you did well enough in the national exam not really.
That’s only true for big colleges, for local colleges they accept anyone who has a high school diploma or GED, no essays or anything.
The “trauma” thing I think is like a similar joke to contests like the Voice and that where if you write a really soapbox essay about why you want to go to the school, then you’re more likely to be picked. And it’s turned from a joke to a requirement somehow (shrugs) just like one said talent shows
Brazil: we really don't care about your hobbies, it all depends on this one national test that only happens once a year... Good luck 👍
Same in Colombia but we have it twice a year because we have schools that end towards may and towards November. And I could apply in Brazil if I pass the Portuguese proficiency test apparently
Yes, America, that's SUPER weird... like WHY is it like that? Do we get an explanation or is there just not one? 😂😂😂 the family trauma part took me all the way out 😂😂😂
They probably try to take into account people who have faced obstacles like abusive parents, yet they pushed through it and were able to apply for university.
@@sjlee100 everywhere else they do that by asking income and living arrangements 👀 no further questions needed... the needy get what they, well, need... based on their circumstances and finances.
@@sjlee100 and then any extra needs you're just asked specifically about them, like do you have any specific impairments such as PTSD or mental health issues, an ailment or disability... there are even social workers to deal with abusive homes. But the actual educational body doesn't need to know that 👀
also the admission exam is
Q1 can you answer a stupid question?
Y N
Q2 are you paying cheque or cash?
congrats you are in
I never even had to write a personal statement for college admissions in the U.S. At some highly competitive, prestigious universities applicants may add all the trauma stuff to show how much they’ve overcome and how much more dedicated and hardworking they are than the other applicants. The vast majority of universities probably just look at your grades and SAT scores (if even that). They may require a personal statement, but I doubt it has much sway.
Most of her videos about weird things in the U.S. aren’t wrong, but they are usually exaggerated.
Plus donations your parents have made to the school, 2 letters of recommendation, basically a full time job's worth of extracurriculars, and a million different tests
In the U.S., you can go to community college first, which only reqiured a high school diploma and placement testing when I went there. I then transfered to university with an associates degree from community college. I only had to take classes related to my major at university. I saved a bunch of money this way.
I chose the same route. My AS was accepted at 5 different schools, even the one D grade I had from freshman year. Wound up at a top university for my bachelor's and beyond.
They be asking fully grown adults WHAT.😅😭
Family trauma?!!
“Is tHAt wEirD” 🤣🤣🤣.
Y’all Ok over there ???
Nope
unfortunately no, no we are not ok
Not in the slightest, please send help
Help
No... thanks for asking
In the Netherlands: you get in if you passed the exam of the highest level of secondary education and had the relevant subjects in your exam "package".
Germany: send us the grades and money and nothing more.
The money ranges from 200 to 500€ per 6 month depending on the specific uni or hochschule.
And in most cases people find a place everywhere
Exactly this. They only reject you if the are full. The hard part is actually graduating german college which is one of the hardest in the world.
the 200-500€ are mostly for a public transport ticket, administration fees are usually around 50€ per semester
@@amilo5 hard part is passing the first and second semester, which have a drop of rate from between 20-80% depending on the field, the graduating rates are actually incredibly high
@@LoFiAxolotl Aaaah yes, the nostalgia I have for my student ticket. Made so many things that much easier. Who would've imagined we'd have something like it but even better now? 😙
Art college in czech rep.: "just pass our talent exam (takes a few days, can be pretty hard). nobody asks about your high school grades or familly situation." I'm so grateful for this :)
Was it George Carlin who said: “ And they wonder why don’t have more rocket scientists anymore” ?
We do have rocket/aerospace scientists directly from state colleges it just depends on region and state. The B-21 Stealth Bomber was developed by US citizens, and so were rockets that sent many of the newest satellites in orbit. Now, the idea of first-generation engineers/scientists doing this. That's up for discussion.
@@robertn.4329 Ehhmmmm both were mostly designed by former Nazi and Soviet scientist by the way... that was like half of the US military science community till the late 70s/early 80s
@@LoFiAxolotl Theres the 1980s and there is now. The B21 Raider was presented last year. I dont think there is a former Nazi alive that works at Northrop let alone NASA....Unless their grandchildren work on them now.... :| bullocks!
To explain the trauma thing: Here in the US we are all in constant competition with each other. The number of spots available in a given college could be limited, especially for the "good" schools. So in order to get an advantage in the admissions process, it is recommended that your personal statement essay contain something that motivates them to pick you over someone else. This has led to students going for pity points by talking about their various challenges growing up as a way of crafting a "pulled myself up from nothing" narrative. This might make any individual admission seem more deserving than another, seem like a harder worker than someone else, or simply might make the admissions team feel they want to continue that individual's story and contribute to their success.
Nailed it. Couldn’t have said it better.
Your first sentence gets me, ‘all in constant competition with each other’ 😢. So you seem to compete even in (crafting narratives about) hardship growing up. However, the principle has nobility to it. (I’m from NL 🇳🇱)
@@marjetdejong6219 sort of. The principle alone has merit. In action, it's a source of constant division. In my experience, better in theory than in reality. Competition has its uses, but everything is poison at high enough doses.
And no doubt its going to get worse if you can't explicitly discriminate based on race for admissions any more.
@@FreshlyBakedLePain consider that maybe the system was making that a beneficial option to begin with.
In Italy we don't.....do any of these lol. I was an academic loser in high school and now I study Philosophy in one of the best universities in Italy
Same in Argentina, grades are somehow important but everybody knows that *in general* kids until 18~19 don't care that much about grades, so they just vomit what they memorize in class, not very useful for real life (unless you are a sucker)
Here the University is free and you can attend at whatever age you want to, we don't discriminate by age regarding education, everyone deserves the opportunity to progress if they want to
In Canada, grades are paramount. There’s nothing like the SAT, and legacy or trauma are irrelevant. Grades alone aren’t enough for some places, they want to see your extra-curricular activities, and like to get references to see if you’re a ‘well rounded’ student. Sports could be one of those things- and they might help for scholarships, but you’re not getting in unless your grades are up to snuff.
In Belgium to apply you need to : have a high school diploma and fill in an application file (and there's no selection you're automatically in if you apply)
(except for some specific options)
Exactly, in my Master’s programme there was a girl who had gone to a vocational high school (BSO) but decided after graduating that she wanted to go to college. People should be encouraged to pursue further education instead of being judged by their background or high school career.
I love how you do this, revealing some core things. And it's funny.
Afaik in Mexico we just kind of do an exam to enter university. I was lucky enough to enter a highschool kind of "integrated" to a system that also offered higher education, so it's kind of an automatic pass to university (just had to do an English exam because of my major). But even if you weren't in the "system" before, you just do an exam and that's it, doesn't matter your age, just as long as you finished highschool.
That is, of course, public university. No idea how it works in private ones. Just know they're really expensive.
She is completely wrong about the USA. In the USA, there is only one criteria to get into any good college or university: your check has to clear.
haha i wish. thats not how it works
Completely false.
Sweden has various criteria to fulfill. First you need basic admittance criteria fullfilled, basically you need to have graduated high school. Grades don't matter as long as you have passed all admittance classes (english, swedish, math and a few others). you also need a certain amount of points (this is where your grades come in, the higher the grade, the more points you get). Some courses/programs can have additional requirements. You can also do "SAT" to improve you chances of getting in.
Sweden has Trade school type of programs too. Those are perhaps easier to get into, they still require basic admittance scores and fucntion as UNI but are shorter and you are trained for a specific field, such as computerprogramming or plubming. You usually get a job right after graduation.
The rules keep chaning and there used to be other ways to be admitted. But now, you need to graduate high school and get a good SAT score. No need for essays or life stories.
I mean I only went to a public university in Switzerland, where the process was: you got a high school diploma and 50 bucks? cool welcome.
Oh and before anyone asks, yes the school was at the time, a top 100 university globally. now they kinda got pushed down to the 120ies but who's counting.
Some "legacy students" even get discounted tuition.
If your parents went to Utah State, you get in-state tuition regardless of your state of residency.
I applied to the school that BOTH my parents went to. I was accepted but they offered me nothing else 😝 I was born because of that school and they wouldn’t offer any child support? Rude. Lol
Also what race / gender you are determines whether there's room left on your particular quota. Shockingly.
July 2023, Students for Fair Admissions vs Harvard, race is no longer considered in college admissions in the U.S. Racial quotas in college admissions ended with University of California vs Bakke in 1978.
Well No longer so mediocre white students can no longer blame black people
@@Christopher-td8wu (Though, as _SFFA v Harvard_ revealed, _Bakke_ was essentially being completely ignored. Well, not completely -- they paid attention to it insofar as it told them what practices they needed to mask.)
@@jacksyoutubechannel4045 stated quotas were illegal but race could be considered a limited factor in admissions. There was no “masking” or “ignoring” because the decision was very clear. The main determining factor in Harvard admission’s (besides GPA) is legacy/athlete/relative of staff or donor. 43% of white, Harvard students belong to this group. Harvard’s AA/African student pop is 9%. Harvard’s White pop. Is 35%, of which 15% fall into the legacy/athlete/relative of staff or donor. Harvard’s Asian pop. Is 22%. So, Harvard can easily keep everything the similar by using the same preferential system, it was not Afirmative-Action keeping Asians out.
Lots of people are joking about how their country only cares about grades, but tbh I prefer that. I had untreated ADHD and depression in high school and it was draining enough just ensuring I had good grades. I only had to focus on one thing, which was good for me as too many activities and tasks to juggle at one time (that I'm expected to excel at all of??) do not go down well as someone who struggles with time blindness, organization and focus. That's just me though
I think that for most Europeans our system is way better than the one in the USA.
@@antigonarosaura7845 Oh for sure, I just wanted to throw out an alternative viewpoint. Most people have different strengths in different areas, so it's more equitable to look at all aspects
Meanwhile Netherlands you have finished secondary school at the desired level and you’re in (unless you want to study medicine).
In Spain it is that + an official exam for public universities. In private universities it is a bit harder, but entering in a public uni is easy.
I remember hearing a great quote regarding college and sports; It’s been awhile but this is basically the gist of it
If the highest paid member of staff is the college sports coach, it is not an academic institution, but a sports franchise with a degree program as a backdrop.
Germany: You finished high school successfully? Ok.
Lithuania: pass final school exams. Add relevant exams of your choice for specific fields (i.e. biology for medicine). That's it.
For art academies, apply with a portfolio (visual arts) or an audition (music/dance).
Based on your exam grades, you will get either a paid or free admission to uni (every specialty has an alocated number of free spots).
Almost 60% of all lithuanians have a college or university degree (highest rate in EU).
Do other countries require application fees? Because that was the most limiting factor applying to schools when I was a kid. $25-50 per application wasn't easy
I’m Canadian, and I just submitted my transcript and basic personal information and got into all the universities I applied to. There are some programs that require letters of motivation and interviews, but just grades is the norm.
In Ireland, it’s just grades from a series of tests taken after graduation. We also don’t apply to a certain college, but rather to the individual course itself so there are different entries into one college, just depending on what you want to study. The college doesn’t see your name or anything about you, it’s just automated that of everyone who applied, whoever had higher grades gets in in order of grades, until the amount of places in the course run out
Germany: Did you do well at school in 4th grade and got transfered to a Gymnasium?
And managed to not get kicked out of Gymnasium! 😂
Meanwhile in Poland only the final exams called 'matura' matter, you could've barely passed high school, but as long as you have good results from the exams, you can get into any University you want
Argentina: you just sign up in your nearest college when you finish school, and take a levelling course to learn everything you haven't because of the ghastly state of secondary education.
In Brazil: For all public universities, wich are all free: 1 National standardized test + an argumentative essay about a surprise current issue in our society. Than you can choose on the unified system wich university and subject you want to take and the highest grades are approved.
(Music and Art related things might require an specific test to ensure some pre existing skills)
Austria: have a highschool degree, do the paperwork, done. (With few exceptions that require an entrance exam.)
In Brazil if the university is public and free 5 you have to do a very difficult test to try to get in. And if it's not public, if it's paid, you also have to do a test, but if you managed to write your name correctly, you're in
In the Netherlands there are no private schools*. Your high school diploma (of relevant level) is enough. In the rare case when there are not enough spots (only for specific majors) you either have to do an entry exam with highest scores getting in, or there is a random selection, or sometimes everyone who gets above a certain level in the entry exam is entered into the random selection.
*There is one university level school and some college level ones, but they're generally not very well respected. The public schools are of high quality and cheaper.
In Chile 🇨🇱, we have a national exam that applies for ALL universities. Everybody does it to apply. Depending on the career you want to chose, the specific scores have more weight. Ex. If you want medicine the Biology test weights more than literature or history. In Engineering Math and Physics weight more than Biology.
And they count your grades from high school. It's all about academic results, nothing else.
And its very competitive, only the best scores can enter the specific career/university because spots are limited.
Also US colleges: GIVE US MONEY
In the Netherlands you apply by filling out a form with your information and your grades. If there is no max students you get in. If there is a max students you have to wait for a draw and hop you get in. The students with the highest grades get in without the draw.
But you don’t have a major subject and the freedom to take other classes. You pick what you want to be and only follow the selected subjects that belong to that.
I actually was shocked when I found out about the admission system in the US and how much it depends on personal information about student. Where I live admissions are automated and centralized so you just submit your exam grades, send them to universities you are interested in and the system automatically ranks all the applicants based solely on grades. The universities have no control over this system and don't even know the names of the students until they are admitted. Only art universities are allowed to require an extra exam where they could see applicants in person.
A lot of school are wanting personal statements that are NOT trauma dumps now-
The sports scholarships for non sport schools never made any sense to me. If a person couldn't get good grades, why are they even enrolling in higher education?!
Money!! Do you know how much money is made on Division I NCAA sports??? It’s Really sad because education should be the focus but it’s not
@@Tiffany_C_ why do you need education in physics to pursue sports? That's what i don't get. We have sport faculties for those who want to pursue sports.
@@dawnriddler you don’t. But the colleges use student games for revenue. A large source of revenue if the team is good and your games are televised. I encourage you to research the NCAA.
US universities are hard to get in, but easy to graduate with A (grade inflation).
Europe universities (excluding the UK) are relative lax in admission, but not easy to graduate.
In my USA high school a D was a passing grade. The only thing you had to do to get a PASSING GRADE (a D) was just show up 🤦♀️.
@@justhavingfun9798 That's a high school, not a university, and a not very good one. My high school in the United States didn't hand out passing grades for...showing up.
Grade inflation only excite in ivies
@@Domisthecoolestguyever statistics concerning public education are frightening. The amount of people in high-school AND college who don’t know the basics is astounding. It’s not just my experience. Overall we’re doing terrible as a nation in education. This has been going on for years. Even Harvard is a joke now. I wish I had saved those statistics so I could send them to you.
Depends on the major but I’d not say it’s easy to get an A in the US university. Easy to get a B but the gap between and A and a B is pretty wide in my experience.
In Bulgaria, it's just your grades that matter. Every university have their own entrance exams, then they also take certain grades from your school grades and are ranked solely based on your result. It's completely anonymous!
In Argentina, grades are somehow important but everybody knows that * in general * kids until 18~19 don't care that much about grades, so they just vomit what they memorize in class, not very useful for real life (unless you are a sucker)
Here the University is free and you can attend at whatever age you want to, we don't discriminate by age regarding education, everyone deserves the opportunity to progress if they want to
In Ireland we have a set of tests at the end of high school that dictate what college course you might do. Literally nothing else comes into consideration (unless you choose medicine, where there’s also an additional aptitude test).
In Belgium you just apply and you get in as long as you've finished high school. You don't need to do anything. Only for certain challenging fields of study like medicine or engineering, you have to first pass an exam
UK wants to look into your academic transcript. USA wants to look into your soul.
You forgot the most important American part: paying a $50-80 application fee PER college
at least in the USA we get to select our own class schedules and pick our own professors… i only recently found out that isn’t the case in lots of europe
That because we are much larger and have more Universities then most of them. Texas California Illinois New York each have more Universities them most countries.
Meanwhile for most subjects in Germany: We don‘t care, don‘t bother to apply, just enroll to the subject and we will kick you out after a semester if you can‘t keep up 😅
All of these are wierd to me. Where I live it's only about the grades you have. The grades become a score and that's what admission is based on. the process is automatic and 100% anonymous. All these personal essays and qualities you may or may not be able to fake should not matter imo. oh and university is free :)
My sister got automatically rejected from a huge school in our home state because we weren't in contact with our father. He walked out on our family 15 years prior, and they demanded it even after explaining our trauma.
In Brasil you just take a test (the major one is ENEM, it applies for all Federal Colleges, some spots for state colleges and discounts for private colleges) and if you pass both phases, you're in. Of couse, getting into a private college is far more easy then the public ones.
Which is crazy because American Uni is so much simpler than most other developed countries, Uni on easy mode rlly.
I think the difference is that in the US education is a service and a profit endeavor, while in most places education is still a sector that the government is supposed to fund and offer to the majority of the population at least in paper but it is still more public tailored than in the US were the only colleges and universities of any name are private. Usually the opposite in other countries.
Also in the US you usually apply to the university in general and can change your major whenever you want without any qualifications for a specific college
That's not true, and depends largely on the university and program you're trying to get into. For example, my university has very highly regarded STEM programs. For the most popular STEM programs at my school, like computer science, electrical engineering, and biology, students are required to take a set of notoriously difficult lower division courses for their intended major during their first two years and must meet a GPA requirement before being admitted into that major. In the US, these popular and competitive majors are called "impacted" majors, and vary from school to school.
Here in Chile you take a standarized test and regarding your scores and grades in school, you get accepted or rejected.
My application essay was literally 70% trauma. I was accepted.
I'm from Cali and I couldn't get in anywhere out of state for this reason (or in state as a freshman). But here you automatically get in if you pick a community college and then you can transfer to any 4-year in the state after you get your AA with no issues. At that point they literally do not care. idk how it is elsewhere with the community college system. They start caring again in grad school though, but this time they want you to explain in full detail how you're going to save the entire world if you get in.
I also think its weird that in american universities you have to do multiple subjects, even ones with no relation to the main thing youre studying. In the Uk we just study the subject we are getting a degree in
Netherlands. Just get the highschool level degree with the subjects needed for the program you’re applying to. Popular programs? You’ll get in through lottery system. Otherwise they won’t reject you as long as you got your highschool degree!
You have to pay to send in applications too 😂 and to take the ACT/SAT depending on which school you apply to because most only accept one or the other but you’ll have to pay and take both and get good scores to apply to multiple colleges lol
They also look at the colour of your skin
Don't forget the scholarships you can get for going through traumatic things! I'm applying for several, it's wild to have to write a short essay about some of the worst moments of my life for a few thousand dollars, or some as little as a few hundred, but I really could use the funds. Oh well.
Germany: "Oh, and the tuition fees usually don't involve massive debts that you'll spend years upon years trying to pay back..."
I Germany you usually take the weighted average of your grades in your high school diploma and apply. The best get in. It sometimes differs though. And many universities admit a lot of students but have extremely hard tests in the first semesters so many people drop out.
In Brazil we have to do an entrance exame to go to any university or college and all the best ones are for free!!
Germany: „Yeah just put your name on this list“
Where im from it's literally just grades, no need for a damn essay. The college doesn't care about your personal life (an why should it?). The only thing they should care about is if you have the smarts or are able to keep up academically, so grades make sense.
We also have a fully optional national test you can pay some money and take. It's basic Swedish, English, and math. The people who do best get a higher chance of getting into the uni they want.
How close is this to reality? On point. 😅
So no entrance exams?
Well that is something.
We spend a month making assignments and depending on how well we do in them we are invited to an interview. And depending on how well the interview goes we are invited to the first part of entrance exams which is 2 days, each 9h long. And depending on how well we do in the first part of the entrance exams go we are invited to the second part of the entrance exams which is 3 days, each 9h long.
So yeah, if I could just write a motivational letter it would be awesome.
(Went through it three times. Got in finally. Only 3 of us were accepted that year.)
UK cares about trauma also! it’s called ✨contextual admission✨
USA: we believe in meritocracy.
Also USA: but we give preference to certain non-academic skills and family history.
Yup, that tracks.
In Florida you can go to community college for 2 years and get a transfer degree to automatically get into any state university. You only need a GED or high school diploma to go to community college. You just need to meet your intended majors academic requirements to get excepted into that particular program. Oh, money, you need lots of that.
An American college: tell us about your family trauma
Me: whips out a slideshow about family trauma
As a German, I suddenly feel very lucky
In australia you dont even have to write a personal essay. Normally you do need grades, but for me all i did was chat to the university and the next day they called to let me know i'd been accepted (and technically my friend tricked me into applying so i didnt even need knowledge i was doing it)
I was SHOCKED when I learned about "legacy" admissions. It sounded like legalised nepotism
I can undestand that for a school, but not for uni.
In Brasil: There are 2 types of college: public (free) and private (paid).
For the private ones you just pay to be there, no questions asked, no crazy application process, no screening , nothing, because you are buying your education they don't care. They will also have a number scholarship (where students won't have to pay) but they have to pass a test and depending on your grade on this test , you will have a percentage of discount going fron 20% to 100%.
For the public ones, first, in the last year of high school you will do a test called ENEM and the grade can be added to the score you will get in test you will go through in the public school that you trying to get to. The test is very difficult but the public schools (the ones you don't pay) are way better than the private ones ans there are 2 years paid courses to prepare you for this test. Which means, the rich kid who could be in the private one because they have money to pay for their education will actually pay to prepare to pass the public school test, taking away the chance of a poor person to get into a good college.
Norway🇳🇴: only your grades matter. You need certain classes for some. And taking harder classes can give u a boost. You never have to write anything. Just fill out. Things like haven been to the military, already studied or folkehøgskule/peopleschool* + being age can boost you if u are applying not the year after high school.
Let’s not act like the UK doesn’t give preferential treatment to kids with… family history💰💰💰
In Mexico you get in through an entrace exam, the results required to pass vary in every faculty. They usually won't look at your school grades.
I love my country, but I sure do miss when we had meritocracy
No joke a ton of European kids get to go to school in the US based on their sports abilities that could never afford it otherwise. A quarter of division I soccer is kids from abroad.
Portugal: we just care about your grades in the school and in the national exams
It's crazy how this process is a lot easier here in Brazil and still not many people go to college :(
In Sweden, there’s different quotas. Either you have to have good grades all throughout “high school” (age 16-19) or you have to score well on a 5 hour test of math, Swedish and English that takes place every 6 months. The test is graded on a curve, but it actually makes sense because it’s the entire country.
Similar in Chile, but we have a combination if both scores, grades in high school + the national exam.
Family trauma is cherry picked here. This typically applies to very prestigious and competitive universities which have extremely low acceptance rates. The idea of the personal statement is to differentiate yourself as an individual (as opposed to just numbers on a sheet of paper) so they can determine how you can contribute to campus life and culture. Life experiences (e.g. trauma) can also be relevant to explain certain things such as changes in grades here, but most often people are demonstrating their ability to write as well as their personal interests or things they're passionate about.
When I applied to University of Applied Sciences here in Finland, only things I had to do was to send an application, and later Entrance Exam. That's it.