<p>ok, so I thought that a lot of us ‘internationals’ may get a bit bogged down with terms that we’re not familar with. So here’s a place where we can ask those questions we may not want to ask our colleges for want of not appearing ignorant or anything else:)</p>
<p>here’s my first question: What, if any, is the diference between a transcript and a school report? And, seen as the Common Application only lets you download one document should my school official make a big document with all my reports, or something else?
Thanks:)</p>
<p>The school report is the form that your Counselor has to fill out for the Common App. He should attach your transcript, which is a list of all your grades.</p>
<p>In a regular schedule your courses are spread out evenly, while on a block schedule the classes are taught in time blocks. Block scheduling might take on a lot of different forms: for example, you might have only 2 classes for a quarter, then another 2 classes in the next quarter etc. Or you might have a total of 10 classes, the first two meeting on Mondays, the second 2 on Tuesdays etc. Or if you are a part-time worker and a part-time student, a block schedule might mean that you work full-time for 2 months and then go to school full-time for a month. On a regular schedule you would work for the entire year and go to your classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.</p>
<p>I don’t think your answer really matters, but I would go with “not on a block schedule” if I was unsure.</p>
<p>Most American high schools still run on the traditional schedule of 7 class periods a day with full year classes such as chemistry lasting 50 minutes a day for the entire school year. Some high schools have switched over to block scheduling. My niece attends one. She has 4 classes each semester that run for about 1 1/2 hours per day. So her chemistry class covers a year’s worth of material in half the year. </p>
<p>The theory is that the teachers can teach the material with fewer interruptions and labs etc are not as constrained by time. One of the drawbacks is the large gap of time one might have in a subject sequence. If she has Algebra 1 in freshman year fall, and Algebra 2 in fall sophomore year, her retention of Algebra 1 may be poor. This gap can happen because they are still trying to fit in all their graduation requirements of history, math, English, science, gym, health, art or music, etc.</p>