American Educational System


Introduction

If you are interested in studying psychology abroad, this page will provide you with some basic information about the system of higher education in the US, with  links explaining how to apply to colleges and universities. This page is in English because if you are motivated to become an international student, you have to immerse yourself in English ASAP. The glossary that follows gives a few definitions of usual terms used in the American educational system. I hope this page will help you succeed in your desire to study in the United States. Some information can also be useful if you plan on living there during a postdoc (or visiting during your academic career as a researcher), especially if you are given a teaching duty in a department.

Psychology at the bachelor's level is the second most popular undergraduate major (after business administration, it goes without saying; you should at least knows what it means to earn an MBA from Harvard!). Most academic departments offer a major in psychology, located either in universities/colleges of sciences or arts. The US educational system is very flexible and allows students to elect interdisciplinary  studies by chosing a major and a minor. Students can graduate, for instance, with a major in psychology and a minor in biology, or any other interesting combination such as psychology + philosophy, or more funny combinations such as psychology + management, or psychology + maths. By adding a couple of courses in the minor (during summer for instance), a student can even graduate with two (or more) majors.

To apply, plan ahead ! Make sure to get the application materials as early as possible. It is best to start this process more than one year before the date you intend to start college. You may already know that entrance difficulty varies from one institution to another, so it is common advise to apply for programs that offer you a reasonable chance of being accepted. Also, institutions can have different accreditations that certify that they meet minimum standards (e.g., APA accreditations). It is especially important to be aware of that aspect if you target a college because some colleges are not so great (Universities in general have pretty high standards by construction). You will find lots of information in the peterson's handbook, including tuition fees, and room and board. I highly recommend this book from which this summary is inspired !

Below are a few links that will help you get an idea of the profiles of most US colleges and universities which recruit international students. These links offer valuable advice on how to prepare your application and standardized tests (SAT, TOEFL, GRE).

http://www.petersons.com, cf. Peterson's Applying to college and universities in the united states. A handbook for international students.
http://www.fulbright-france.org, commission franco-américaine
Graduate study in psychology (APA book)
http://www.yahoo.com/Education/Higher_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/United_States , U.S. Colleges and Universities

American Educational System, Universities & Diplomas

Admission to college typically follows completion of twelve years of elementary and secondary education for students educated in the United States. This cycle varies depending on the region (from state to state, but also within states), but it  is organized as follows:

• Nursery schools, for children from 3 to 4 years old, optional
  
  
• Kindergarten, for children from 4 to 6, optional
  
  
• Elementary/primary school: mandatory/compulsory (obligatoire), a five-year primary program beginning at about six. (1st grade to 5th grade)
  
  
• Secondary education, academic or vocational/technical (professionnel))
  
  1. Junior high schools: a three-year intermediate program (6th grade to 8th grade)
  
  2. High schools: a four-year secondary program (9th to 12th grade). The four levels of high school are the same as in college - freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. You have to make plans for college when you're a junior. Some high schools offer a course in psychology which can give you an overview of what the field is about. Courses in science and math are particularly important because they provide the necessary skills for research and analysis in psychology courses. At the end of high school, students receive their "high school diploma". But if they want to go on to college, they must take college entrance exams. National school-leaving certificate examinations at the end of secondary education in other countries include: British GCSEs or British-based O and A levels, French Baccalaureat, German Abitur, Hong Kong Certificate of Education, etc.
  
  
• Types of U.S. institutions of higher education
  
  1- Two-year institutions, which are sometimes referred to as community or junior colleges, award an Associate Degree. Most of them are publicly funded by state and local communities.
  Degree awarded: Associate of Arts (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S) (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science). DEUG en France
  
  2- Colleges (sometimes called institutes when they target engineering or technical diplomas) are four-year public or private undergraduate institutions which offer bachelor's degrees (B.A. or B.S.). The four years are called Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior respectively. Bachelor's degrees (also called baccalaureate) are typically awarded following successful completion of a four-year program. The final two years generally focus on the chosen major. Colleges, unlike universities, tend to be smaller and emphasize  undergraduate education over research in general. Graduate programs are not usually offered. Colleges can also sometimes be viewed as a smaller division of a larger university.
  Courses usually include introductory psychology, experimental psychology, and statistics. Other required courses can be in learning, personality, abnormal psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, physiological psychology, history, and tests and measurements. You will begin taking electives (cours optionnels, spécialisation) by the time you are a junior (3e année). in view of a specific graduate school. Graduates with a bachelor's degree meeting state certification requirements can eventually teach psychology in high school.
  
  Degrees awarded: Bachelor's degree, Bachelor of Art or Bachelor of Science (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science). Licence in France
  
  3- University (graduate school). Universities offer four years of undergraduate work and are accredited to award research-oriented graduate degrees: Master's degree (2 years after the Bachelor's) and Doctorate (3 to 4 years after the Master's). Research is usually an important part of their mission. The Doctorate is the highest degree awarded in academic disciplines. Most graduate departments require students to take a test of aptitude, such as the GRE (Graduate Record Exam). Successful applicants typically score well above 500 on both the verbal and quantitative subtests of the GRE. Competition for entering a graduate school is high, and sutdents are also interviewed by the faculty (before entering a graduate program, i.e., the year before) to make sure they can find a research supervisor (and vice-versa: students pick the best potential supervisor, so it is a mutual choice).
  
  Degrees awarded:
  - Master of Arts or Master of Science (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science). Master in France
  
  - Doctoral degree (postgraduate studies): each graduate program determines its own entrance requirements. Earning a Doctorate typically requires at least 4 years, with the median time to degree being close to 7 years of study after the bachelor's degree (students can enter doctoral programs with a bachelor's degree and work directly for a doctoral degree). Doctorat in France
  
  - PsyD degree: To become a professional psychologist, you will need to complete a 1-year internship (in French : un stage) on top of your PhD studies, or complete a Psy.D. Rather than a traditional university which usually targets research, you may wish to consider a professional school which generally place greater emphasis on professional practice. You must have a Psy.D or a PhD to get licenced in the United States or Canada in order to have an independent practice as a psychologist. Unfortunately, a doctoral degree does not automatically make you eligible and a couple of years of supervised professional experience is most often required.

Faculty positions and ranks

Students and faculty members typically interact and develop less formal relationships in American programs than they do elsewhere in the world. The classroom experience is frequently characterized by discussion between the professor and the students. A portion of a student's grade for a course is often determined by the quality of participation in class discussions.

• Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA)
• Teaching Assistant (TA), graduate assistantship in teaching ( Bachelor's degree required)
• Assistant Instructor (AI): Master's degree required, étudiant chargé de cours, moniteur
• Lecturer (not tenure-track positions), ~ Chargé de cours, enseignant vacataire.
• Assistant Professor (Assistant Lecturer in UK): Ph.D. required, tenure-track positions. After receiving tenure, an assistant professor is promoted to an associate professor. Usually, this position is for 5 or 6 years. ~ Attaché temporaire d'enseignement et de recherche ou chargé de cours, malgré le fait que le temps de contrat en France est de deux ans maximum uniquement. .
• Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer, lecturer or reader in UK), Maître de conférence
• Professor, Full professor, advisor, adviser, supervisor (Professor or Reader in UK), Professeur, directeur de recherche
• Emeritus Professor: The title given to a retired faculty member who achieved professor status. Many remain active.
• Research fellow, research associate, chercheur
• Postdoc: postdoctoral fellow. Refers to someone holding a PhD and appointed to a position for advanced research.
• Visiting Professor: A temporary university position reserved to foreign scholars or foreign professors.
  
  

Glossary

Academic adviser: a faculty or staff members who assists students in their selection of academic courses and programs and who provide counseling as well
Academic standards: niveaux scolaires
Accreditation: reconnaissance non gouvernementale accordée à un établissement par une association professionnelle reconnue à l'échelle nationale.
ACT (ACT assessment): American College Testing. Standardized test required to apply in colleges
Adjunct: An adjunct position is a non-tenure track university appointment, generally renewed on an as-needed basis.
Admission counselor: orienteur pour les admissions d'entrée
Alumnus: ancien élève
AAU: Association of American Universities. Represents 62 of the top research universities in the US and Canada.
ABD: All but dissertation, a common term for doctoral students who have completed their course work but have not yet finished their dissertation.
APA: American Psychological Association
Application fee: fees charged to cover the cost of processing your application (30$-40$).
Appointment: poste, nomination, offre d'emploi ; to be appointed: être nomé à un poste
Associate degree: Associate of Arts A.A. or Associate of Science A.S (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science) : typically awarded following successful completion of two-year full time program. Equivalent au DEUG.
Bachelor's degree, Bachelor of Art or Bachelor of Science (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science); typically awarded following successful completion of a four-year, full time program; équivalent à la Maîtrise
Barrier-free campus: a campus that provides access for the disabled to all building and facilities
Blue book: cahier d'examens à papier réglé
Bursar, cashier: college or university treasurer and accountant
Calendar: an academic year is approximately 9 months long resulting in fall and spring semesters, no matter how it is divided into terms (semesters (fall and spring), trimesters, quarters (the fourth quarter is the optional summer term)). The academic year runs from August or September to May or June.
Candidate notification date: the date by which an institution will announce its decision on a student's application
Campus visit: In the final stage of most academic job searches, the top 3 applicants are brought to campus for a one day or multi-day set of interviews and a job talk. Some departments will also have candidates teach a course.
Carnegie classifications: A classification for all US degree-granting higher education institutions. The six broad categories are: Doctorate-granting institutions, Master's Colleges and Universities, Baccalaureate Colleges, Associate's Colleges, Specialized Institutions and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Catalog: also known as bulletins and calendars, catalogs generally provide descriptions of all courses an institution offers. Often, they must be purchased, since they are quite lengthy. On the contrary, prospectus or viewbook are usually free.
Chair person: directeur de département
Class rank: student's standing in the secondary school relative to their peers. It is reported as a raw number (such as 3rd out of a class of 30) or in a rougher percentile (top 10 percent, etc.)
Classmate: camarade de classe
Colleges : four-year undergraduate institutions.
College prospectus or viewbook: a pictorial brochure produced by colleges and universities to publicize themselves
Commencement = Graduation: remise des diplômes.
Community colleges or junior colleges:Two-year (university like) institutions. Generally operate under a policy of "open admission". Tuition and fees are lower than in universities.
Competitiveness: the degree of difficulty in gaining admission to a college or university.
Conference interview: Search committees mau use these as screening interviews to determine the short list of candidates to invite for the campus visit.
Cooperative education plan: an alternative or parallel program that enables a student to combine work and study, often to gain degree-related experience. Difficult for international students because of U.S immigration regulations.
Core curriculum: matières obligatoires
Counseling psychologist: consultant
Course load: current U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations require that an international student pursue a full-time course study. It generally means a minimum of 12 credit hours, or four courses during each term.
Course: module, cours
Courses: lectures (hundred students), small classes or seminar (5 to 30 students), laboratory sections (applied fields)
Credential file: A centralized file of supporting materials for your academic job search. The organization supporting credential files mails out copies of materials at your request. A credential file is also sometimes known as a dossier, a placement file, or electronic portfolio.
Credit: one course might be worth one or several credit hours. A full-time course study generally means a minimum of 12 credit hours, or four courses during each term. Unités de valeurs utilisées pour calculer le volume des cours suivis par les étudiants.
Curriculum: programme d'étude
Deadline: the time by which someting must be done or submitted. The deadline of an application for admission is often 9 months prior to the term you wish to enter.
Dean/director of admission: the person in charge of the admission office. He will chair the committee that makes final decisions; directeur de département ou doyen
Degree: diplôme
Dissertation: thèse de doctorat (thesis = mémoire de maîtrise ou de DEA)
Doctoral degree, Ph.D. (postgraduate studies): doctorat nouveau régime
Elective: an optional course in the curriculum, but needed as part of the total number of credits required for graduation.
Emeritus Professor: The title given to a retired faculty member who achieved professor status. Many remain active.
ESL program, or EFL program: english as a second/foreign language. A program for students whose english proficiency is not up to standard
Examination periods: midterms and finals
Exchange visitor: ressortissant étranger pénétrant aux Etats-Unis à des fins d'enseignement.
Extracurricular activities: nonacademic activities on campus
Faculty adviser : each student is assigned a faculty adviser who assist students
Faculty: professors and instructors at colleges and universities, corps enseignant.
Financial aids (merit-based: a scholarship rewards superior academic or athletic achievement ; need-based): fellowship (for graduate students), scholarships (bourses), grant-in-aid (bourses de subsistance pour étudiants manquants de moyens), grants (subventions), subsidies, work study programs, federal loans (must be repaid), and teaching or research assistantships.
Freshman: first year undergraduate student
GPA: see grade point average
Grade form report: bulletin de notes du lycée
Grade point average (GPA): a system of scoring that computes by multiplying the numerical grade received in each course by the number of credits offered in each course, then dividing by the total number of credits. Most institutions use the following grade conversion scale: A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, E and F = 0; moyenne des notes pour l'année.
Grade: when you complete a course or take a test, you are evaluated and given a grade. A very common grading system in the United States is a scale of A to F, where A is the highest possible grade and F stands for failure.
Grading french system: Interpretation of the french 0-20 scale in terms of American grading standards (approved by the Natioanl Council for the evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials, see http://www.fulbright-france.com). Grading in France is particularly sever: 16-20 (Mention Très bien) = A+ (very high honours); 14-15 (Mention bien) = A (High honours); 12-13 (Assez bien) = B (with honours); 10-11 (Passable) = A (pass); 0-9 (ajourné) = F (failed).
Graduate program: aiming at a master's degree and doctorate.
Graduation: completion of one's studies. In college, for example, although graduation normally occurs four years after entry into a bachelor's program, some students complete the requirements early by obtaining advanced-standing credit or attending summer school.
GRE: Graduate Record Examination (general or subject test): test d'admission pour les études de 3e cycle (graduate studies).
Honors program: an unusually challenging program for superior students with high grade achievement.
International student adviser: upper class student who provides general counseling
Junior: third year undergraduate student
lecture course/lecture hall: cours magistral
Liberal arts: refer to academic work in the humanities (languages, music, art, etc.), social sciences (economics, history, sociology, etc.) and natural sciences (chemistry, physics, etc.), as opposed to technical or professional subjects.
Library: bibliothèque; librairie:bookstore.
Major: the academic area in which a student chooses to concentrate. Major course requirements generally take up one quarter to one half of the student's undergraduate studies.
Make up test: rattrapage
Master of Arts or Master of Science (in psychology, degrees are either in arts or in science), équivalent au DEA.
M.D.: Medicinae Doctor, Doctor of Medicine
Minor: subject area in which a student may take the second-greatest concentration of courses
Midterm: Halfway point in a semester or trimester
Open range: The rank of the position will depend on the qualifications and experience of the chosen applicant.
Peer counselor: conducted by upperclass students
PH.D. : Philosophiae Doctor, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctorate (doctorat nouveau régime)
Placement test: examen qui sert à vérifier les connaissances d'un étudiant dans une discipline donnée et à déterminer le niveau des cours qu'il sera autorisé à suivre.
Postdoc: postdoctoral fellow. Refers to someone holding a PhD and appointed to a position for advanced research.
Prelims: preliminary test: examen oral que fait passer un jury de professeurs aux étudiants désireux de poser leur candidature à un doctorat.
Prerequisite: a particular requirement that must be met as a condition for advancement. Entry to upper-level courses usually requires successful completion of lower-level courses.
Private, Public, Proprietary: Public institutions are subsidized by the state and operate for a not-for-profit basis. Private institutions are also not-for-profit institutions supported primarily by private funds (tuition fees, donations). They receive also state aids. Proprietary institutions are privately owned and operate for profit (they traditionally provide practical vocational training).
Professional school: destiné à l'enseignement de professions libérales.
Psychology majors: étudiants en psychologie
PsyD degree: professional doctorate; If you want to be a professional psychologist in clinical, counseling, school, or health service areas of psychology, you will have also to complete a 1-year internship (stage) as part of your doctoral study.
Reference: a letter of support and evaluation from teachers or headmasters, also known as a recommendation. Often, these letters must be submitted directly to the college by the individual writing the reference.
Register's office: bureau de scolarité
Registrar: official (fonctionnaire, employé) who keeps records of enrollment.
Registration: choix des cours et inscription
Residence hall: dormitory: on-campus housing
Resident: american citizens who are natives of the U.S.
SAT (college board Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT I (general), SAT II (specific subjects)): standardized tests required to apply in colleges.
Senior: fourth year undergraduate student
Sophomore: second year undergraduate student
Standardized tests: SAT, GRE, ACT
Syllabus: outline of a course; a plan for the entire semester
Tenured: titularisé
Tenure-track: An academic position defined as leading to tenure, which provides a strong degree of job security and academic freedom. Poste titularisable
Term paper: rapport de fin de cours
Thesis: mémoire de maîtrise ou de DEA (thèse de doctorat = dissertation)
TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language. This test is designed to measure proficiency in written and spoken English and is essential to the admission process. For international students, the TOEFL is required to apply to colleges; Score minimum exigé (de 150 à 250 sur 300, le plus souvent un score minimal de 250 est exigé)
Transcript: copie certifiée des cours suivis et des notes obtenues
Tuition: fees that cover academic expenses,frais d'inscription
Undergraduate: an associate or bachelor's degree candidate
Unit: module
University (graduate school). University offers four years of undergraduate work and also awards graduate degrees (Master's degree (2 years after the bachelor) and Doctorate (3 to 4 years after the Master)). 
Vocational schools (or trade schools): teach job's specific skills. Equivalent à des IUT, BTS ou centre de formation.
ZIP codes: mailing codes used by the U.S. postal service