As parents are deeply concerned about the quality of education and the future development of their children, the craze for sending their children to study abroad continues to heat up, and it has become a social phenomenon that cannot be ignored. Parents generally believe that studying abroad can pave a way for their children to a broader stage, especially in the fierce competition of United States prestigious schools, early exposure to and adaptation to the United States education system can significantly improve their children's competitiveness.
Not only do they want their children to excel academically, but they also want them to take the opportunity to develop intercultural skills, independent living skills, and problem-solving skills, which are indispensable assets in the future society. In addition, parents also know that early enrollment in United States high schools can allow children to integrate into the local environment earlier, reduce culture shock, and lay a solid foundation for future college studies and even careers.
Therefore, more and more parents are setting their sights on studying abroad in United States high school as an important milestone in their children's growth. They carefully plan and strive to win this valuable learning opportunity for their children, hoping that the children can thrive in a foreign country and finally realize the leap of personal values and dreams.
01The number of applicants for international students in middle school has skyrocketed
According to statistics, the total number of international students who went to the United States for secondary education jumped to 51,272 in 2022, significantly reflecting the increased attractiveness of international education. Chinese students stand out in this large group, with 8,626 seats, a figure far ahead of the next closest Korea students, more than three times the number of the latter. This trend profoundly reveals the transformation of the concept of education in contemporary China, and they are increasingly attaching importance to broadening their children's international horizons and enhancing their competitiveness on the global stage through international education platforms.
According to data released by the United States Education Association, the number of Chinese students studying in the K-12 stage in the United States has increased significantly. Over the past 10 years, the number of Chinese students attending high school in the U.S. has surged by 98.6 times, far outpacing the 1.6-fold increase in graduate school and the 14-fold increase in undergraduate students.
02Introduction to high school physique in United States
There are two types of secondary schools in the United States: public and private:
1. Public secondary schools are funded by the government and are usually free for United States local students.
2. Private secondary schools are run by private institutions or religious groups and accept both local and foreign students.
High school grades 9-12 in United States are equivalent to the third year of junior high school to the third year of high school in China. If you want to apply to United States high school, it is recommended to prepare at the beginning of junior high school, mainly to prepare for language grades and extracurricular activities. International students can only study for one year in a public high school, while a private high school can complete the full four years. The extremely high teacher-student ratio and abundant educational resources and extracurricular activities are the biggest highlights of private high schools.
03 Advantages of climbing vines in the United States
From the perspective of international students, the biggest concern is whether they can adapt to the North American education system. Through United States education at the high school level, students can not only accumulate learning experience, but also obtain United States secondary school transcripts, which can greatly reduce the stress of going on to higher education.
From what we know, United States universities love students who have unique experiences and are up for challenges. If a person is able to travel thousands of miles to study in a foreign country and adapt to different living environments during high school, while also being able to manage interpersonal relationships and cope with the challenges of going on to higher education, such an experience can not only enrich the student's background, but also show their determination and ability to pursue excellence.
According to the undergraduate application situation in the fall of 2023, United States high school students have a significantly higher chance of getting into top universities (such as Ivy League schools) and the top 30 universities than domestic high school students. In the case of Harvard University, only 1 of the Chinese students admitted in the early application stage are from domestic high schools, while 5 are from United States high schools, highlighting the obvious advantages of studying in United States high schools to gain admission to top universities.
04Comprehensive education
United States high schools are very respectful of students' personal choices, allowing students to choose courses based on their individual abilities and wishes. There is a lot of freedom in the textbooks and courses of private high schools, and at the same time, with flexible course selection, students can show their outstanding talents, achieve excellent academic results and apply to first-class universities. Students only need to complete a certain number of credit requirements to graduate, and course selection is not one-size-fits-all. The curriculum of a normal United States high school is divided into general courses, advanced courses, and advanced placement courses, and students can choose according to their own situation. This flexible approach not only provides more opportunities for students, but also helps them develop their individual strengths.
For young international students, exposure to different cultures can absorb and compare multiculturalism before their thinking is completely fixed, which is more conducive to understanding the way of thinking between different cultures and promoting the collision of ideas. At the same time, when the pure academic pressure of the American high school is relatively small, he participates in more extracurricular activities and is more able to explore areas outside of learning.
05The evaluation is more comprehensive
Many parents are usually surprised when they receive a report from a United States school, because unlike the way they are evaluated in China, United States high schools value the full range of students, including many items, such as attendance, language ability, comprehension ability, classroom performance, and so on.
In China, it is basically only based on test scores and classroom performance (the focus of classroom performance is also different, in China more emphasis on cooperating with teachers' learning, while in the United States more concerned about whether students are actively thinking and performing). On the whole, the evaluation method of high schools in United States is more conducive to comprehensively improving children's various abilities, helping to fully understand children's potential and strengths, and is obviously more detailed than using scores as evaluation criteria in China.
06How to choose the right high school in United States for you
1. Geographical location: The geographical location is mainly concentrated in the northeast of the United States and the western part of the United States, in addition to the macro address, you can also consider specific geographical resources, such as which universities and which enterprises or scientific research institutions are close to the surrounding area.
2. School size: In the United States, small-scale schools with less than 300 students are generally enrolled; Medium-sized schools with 300 to 800 students enrolled; It is a large-scale school with 800+ students. Schools with a smaller number of teachers may be more attentive to their students, while larger schools are more likely to have more selectivity.
3. Proportion of international students and related policies: In general, the atmosphere of the proportion of international students between 10% and 20% is relatively benign, and the appropriate number of international students enriches the diversity of the school group, and is also conducive to broadening students' horizons and cultivating their cross-cultural communication skills.
4. Academic curriculum: High-quality United States middle school society offers hundreds of courses, from 100+ to hundreds, and the richness of the courses is used as a reference to examine the resources owned by the school. However, it is worth mentioning that we need to start from the child's academic interests and strengths and weaknesses to see if the school can provide the relevant number of advanced courses and specific subjects.
5. School characteristics: Peddie's advantage lies in golf; Berkshire's unique Aeronautical Science program gives students the opportunity to conduct flight training; St. George's, which owns a giant ship, offers a marine science program that allows students to sail to the Bahamas for 5-6 weeks.
6. Culture and values: United States some very good middle schools have religious or even military backgrounds, some families are very concerned that their children attend schools with such values, and some families are very interested in this kind of background, thinking that these schools may shape their children in a unique way and bring them a different learning and life experience.
7. University resources: For example, Westtown School has a very good relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, and from 2018 to 2022, more than 10 of their students have been promoted to UPenn; KUA students adjacent to Dartmouth College have direct access to Dartmouth's library, art museum, performance center, and more.
8. Tuition budget: Are tuition fees and expenses realistic for your family? Does the school have strong financial aid options? Are these expenses valid for your family in the long term? Overall, Connecticut, the District of Colombia and Massachusetts, where the top high schools are most concentrated, have the most expensive private high school tuition. It should be said that children's education investment always needs long-term planning, and many parents with strong economic strength hope that their children will receive international education as soon as possible, so they will inevitably consider the economic input-output ratio.
Choosing a school is a very complicated task, and parents do not have so much time to learn about nearly 1,000 high-quality private high schools in the United States, so it is also a very wise choice to choose a suitable consultant who knows enough about United States high school at this time. Study in United States Network has been established for more than ten years, and has successfully sent more than 600 students to study in high schools across the United States, and Director Shi has visited more than 200 schools and has a full understanding of high schools across the United States!