First of all, I wasn't sure where to put this topic; I hope this board's right.
Are there states that are said to demand less from their students than others?
in Germany, for example, we have three states whose Abitur is only useful as toilet paper, and the inhabitants of the other states make fun of that fact. The Abiture in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony, however, are very difficult to achieve, but when applying for university they are unfortunately as valuable as the exams from the three states that give you the exams for free.
It is commonplace to joke about educational credentials anywhere as if they were toilet paper. It's supposedly not the credential but what is necessary for achieving it that is so precious -- like mastery of the language, certain essential knowledge in math and science, and the ability to dodge intellectual traps. For example:
Which is bigger (all numbers are real) as x
(A) x^2 = 49
(B) x = 6
(C) A and B are equal
(D) there is not enough information to make a definitive answer
Well, we all know that the positive square root of 49 is 7, and 7 is larger than 6, so the answer is (A), of course. Right? Only if you forget that -7 is also a square root of 49.
The college boards are good for weeding out scatterbrains who typically fail early in college.
As I understand it takes considerable effort to get an
Abitur, so cost is the least of it. Some kids might get expensive coaching to succeed at getting it, as social position and economic opportunity in Germany are much more heavily linked to formal education than is so in the USA.
