Question re: high school in Colombia...

poulet says on Sep 7, 2004, 18:27:

It depends, normally high school or bachillerato is from 6th-11th grade. But in some international schools it's different. I for one was a junior from 6th-8th and senior from 9th-11th grade, but my school is british. But regular schools are like I said first no junior or senior differentiation.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Sep 7, 2004, 18:52:

Does that mean no 12th grade in Col.? At the end of 11th grade they graduate and can go to college/university? If so, does this mean that most peoople graduate from high school at age 17 as opposed to age 18 in the U.S.? Thanks.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Sep 7, 2004, 19:29:

No 12th grade in Colombia, so actually a lot of people graduate at the age of 16 or even 15 in some cases! I think it's kinda made up at the university level, as most undergraduate degrees take at least 5 years full time as opposed to 4 years in the US.

In Colombia we don't have separation of junior and high school, so it's considered from 6th to 11th grade "bachillerato", which is usually translated as high school.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

sebasenbogotá says on Sep 7, 2004, 19:39:

A little bit more on the matter In fact you change to secondary school on 6th grade, but you also get a diploma when you finish 9th grade, which i am not sure what is for?, and then 10th and 11th grade are called "media vocacional". You also should know that most people stay in the same school from kinder garden until 11th grade.

Suerte !

Sebas

Suerte ! Sebas

0 funny, 0 helpful.

villdkatta says on Sep 8, 2004, 14:19:

Muchas gracias a todos... you all are a wealth of information!

Con gracias repitidas,

Kim

0 funny, 0 helpful.

poulet says on Sep 8, 2004, 16:26:

sebas_cafe it's the first time I hear about that and I'm colombian and have lived all my life here.

tinto, I graduated at 17 and was one of the smallest in my year group. most of my friends graduated at 18.

School in Colombia is regularly like this:

at age 4 you enter pre-kinder
then it goes like this:
kinder, transition, 1st-11th grade.
So basically, (if everything goes right) you graduate at 18.
But I have a couple of cousins that live in Cali, and some people in the school they go to, skip some years, so 1 of my cousins graduated at 16 (she's the same age as me) so she started university one year before I did.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Sep 8, 2004, 18:39:

Poulet, what Sebas says is true, it's just that he probably graduated more recently than us old folk and we were never affected by the change, but I do know about it by family members.

As far as the people I know, 17 years old would be the average graduating high school age.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

poulet says on Sep 8, 2004, 19:09:

hmmm... well I actually graduated last year, I'm 18 now.
Anyways, my school was always different than the Colombian system, in my school bachillerato is from 5th grade.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

litost says on Sep 8, 2004, 19:27:

ooops, I guess I'm the only 20+ on this board...

But yeah, you're the exception. Or it could be a regional thing, Sebas and I are both from Risaralda, but it's not likely as educational policy is made at a centralized level.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

justmarcela says on Sep 8, 2004, 23:58:

20+ Hey litost! i'm in the same boat as u are!
And the main thing here it's that there is no grade 12th in Colombia... high school ends at grade 11th
btw i was 16 when graduated (bogota)

chau pescau
ö

chau pescau >ö<

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ari says on Sep 10, 2004, 11:54:

Just as a curious fact....

I finished my high school in Colombia and happened to go to the American school in Bogota so no graduation until grade 12th, still I was way young at the time, not even 17.

I decided not to stay in Colombia any longer so tried to enroll at university in Germany, and although I complied with all the admission requirements they didn't accept me because I was below 21!!!!!! Same for the Netherlands.

Hence I ended up studying in the Holy Land (Tel Aviv University) and even there I had to take a foundation programme not because I didn't match the admission requirements but because I was under 18!!!!!

It was a waste of time, except for learning a much better Hebrew which did help in comparison to other expats who enrolled there without the foundational track.

Cheers!

Ari

http://ikcenda.tripod.com/philologist

0 funny, 0 helpful.

elmodefoque says on Sep 10, 2004, 12:29:

Hey, how come all you super young colombianos are not in the service right now fighting for your country instead of wasting your time studying abroad. Why is it that the poor young colombianos are the only ones in the middle of the colombian jungles while you guys write about how knowledgeable you are about Colombia, but yet you are not willing to fight for it instead you defend Colombia from behind your computer in the safety of the good ol USA. Colombia needs you!!

I'll get there, when I get there!

0 funny, 0 helpful.