Didn't know where else to send it, but here is your school review...
Formal schooling consists of K-12: Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Informally, most kids go to preschool or "Pre-K" at age four and then start kindergarten at age five. Some school districts offer pre-k, but many people pay for a private preschool. Kindergarten through eighth grade are considered primary school while grades nine through twelve make up secondary school.
Except for private or religious schools - schools where you must pay tuition, most primary schooling is broken down into an Elementary School and then either a Middle School or Junior High School. The difference is in what years the school covers. Middle School's usually have sixth through eighths grades while Junior High Schools begin in seventh grade and may or may not include nineth grade.
The only time you have alternate names for the grades is high school. Nineth grade (freshman year) and tenth grade (sophomore year) are considered underclassment. Eleventh grade (junior year) and Twelfth grade (senior year) are considered upper classment. These designations also hold true for College/University.
Students go straight from High School to College or University - there is no "Gap Year" or "University Prep Year" like in other countries. In theory, a University has many Colleges within it. In practice, the term is used almost interchangeably. The only real exception is the Community or Junior College - a local school offering less competitive two year associate degrees or certificate programs. All Universities or College must be applied to individually. Acceptance is based on high school grades, activities, letters of reference, and standardized test scores such as the SAT or ACT. Interviews may or may not be required (usually depsending on how competitive the school is).
I hope this answered your questions! (And didn't bore you to death with excess information)
Author's Response: Thanks!
