Serious questions for the American posters here.

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>>35736313
I went to a big high school, but it was just over crowded and filthty. I had no friends so it was extremely lonely all the time. there was constantly harassment and bullshit, teachers either didn't give a shit at all or took everything extremely seriously. our sports teams sucked but they still acted cocky anyways. the band were a bunch of arrogant faggots, theatre was the same. everyone was basically an asshole, and the school was rundown and frequently shut down.
it was not like the movies, you didn't miss anything.

It's about half right. Cliques are absolutely a thing and stereotypical personalities are all present, but the nature of current fashion has made distinction harder since a lot of it is vaguely similar. Due to anti-bullying campaigns and forced diversity training, there's much less visible hostility but you can find it if you look hard enough.

I went to a school in NJ that was majority hispanic and black, whites were a minority.

I dropped out in 9th grade, I couldn't stand it.

I never went to a "normal" American high school.

>>35736313
And I have a few questions for you: what the fuck is an "A-level", and why do you have Majors before you even get to college?

Is it true that even non Catholic schools force you to wear a uniform including a hat and carry a wand?

>>35737007

A levels are just the name of the qualification. You don't have majors, at the age of 16 you pick 3 to 4 subjects you want to do for the final 2 years.

People will talk shit about both countrys' systems but it makes little difference in the end. Your AP classes are not much different.

We had uniforms everywhere and it would be considered weird not to have them. I don't know which schools have no uniforms.

It's kinda like the movies but only ~20% of the kids there aren't dead inside because our school system sucks. Personally I went to a really small high school. My year class was originally about 75, and by the end, a third of us dropped out and I ended up with less than 50 in my graduating class. So in a way, I guess the answer is yes and no. There's the cliques, and the social hierarchy among and between them, but nobody except the naive few aren't 100% disillusioned from the idea that high school in America is a fun or worthwhile experience, and only a lucky few feel any love for their school. Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the Breakfast Club are the best representations I've seen so far, even though they were made in the 80s.

>>35736313
>Was high school like the movies?
I went to a small rural HS. I can not imagine large urban schools or inner city schools. There was 2 black kids in the entire school (K-12)

I also can not imagine the southern california schools where the lockers are outside. It is way too fucking cold for that here.

>How many people were in each year group?
110-130

Did you have the incredible sports and music / drama facilities that i see on TV?
no

>On the internet i have read articles from multiple people that i think most UK people would consider embarrassing. The gist of them was successful adult American nerds writing as if high school was some traumatic and defining experience. Is this true?
There is a lot of drama. A went to university with about 10 people from my graduating class. Each of them were from different cliques in high school and would not have interacted with each other. As soon as we entered college all of the HS cliques between us died (the stoners were still stoners)

>Also there wasn't enough diversity. I was one of the smartest (in terms of academic results) kids in my year when I'm not even "gifted". Did you have actual geniuses in your schools (Asians and Jews, I assume).
nope, but that is what you get for rural bumfuck america

>>35736313
>private high school
>200 students a year
>nice athletic facilities, but small compared to the type of american school featured on TV
>nice arts facilities
>high number of jews and asians and other high IQ groups
>hardly any physical bullying, kids were cunty like only elitists know how to be, though

>>35736313
I'll give some of my experiences if it's worth anything

-There weren't any "traditional" bullies from what I saw but there were a lot of assholes and troublemakrs
-We did have a massive theater with elaborate plays, including an impressive Shrek one
-Even when the teachers tried being neutral it was pure commie propaganda because the material was so biased
-Over half the student body was Hispanic but the Spanish teacher was Canadian. She was super nice but by far the fattest person in the building
-We once had a German exchange student whose English was so perfect I had trouble believing she was foreign, she had a completely neutral American accent
-Most of the people I talked to were in some kind of AP or advanced classes
-We had some Black students but they just put on their headphones and put their heads down, it's the Mexicans that started shit

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>>35737950
>an impressive Shrek play

I can't even imagine it desu

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>>35736313
I went to an all autistic private school so I guess I wouldn't know. Sorry anon!

Went to a private, Catholic, all boys high school. About 350 kids went there. Was 4 grades, later became 6 grades.

There was a wide range of kids there. Nerds, jocks, potheads. I wouldn't call it the defining period of my life but it was OK. We were a powerhouse in basketball and it was great seeing them win every year I was there.

Taught by Irish Christian Brothers, who could be pretty mean if they wanted to be.

I went to a small private catholic school (~400 students total).

There were three huge highschools in my city though (~1600 students each). I don't really know how they compared to the ones on TV.

>>35738033
>private catholic school
>>35738030
>private, Catholic, all boys
>>35737825
>private high school

seems to be a trend here

>>35738062
Can only speak for myself, but high schools in my city sucked when I was a kid. My parents scrimped and saved so I could go to a private school, and since they were devout Catholics it had to be a Catholic school.

>>35736313
I went to a large high school in suburbia. My graduating class was around 600 people. There were thousands of students and faculty on the campus, and it was impossible to know everyone. It was really easy to disappear into the wallpaper, I still meet people now I have no idea existed while I was in school. I currently work with a guy (I live in the same town) who even has some of the same friends whom I've never met.

Our school was excellent. Every school is going to be different, some have issues with poverty and crime, some are wealthy neighborhoods, some have many some have few students. My school was well run and didn't have a lot of glaring problems. We didn't really have cliques, everyone mostly was nice and got along with everyone else, though some people tended to gravitate towards certain social groups. It was only like the movies in that events were the same, pep rallies, yearly dances, football games, etc. All pretty standard stuff. We had a great arts program because our school was like the arts school for our district, we had a performing arts center and other vocational things like pre-health professions, a car shop, and agricultural clubs and classes you could take, along with robotics and engineering.

That said most look back at that time with dread. Mostly because of social awkwardness of coming of age with a lot of other people in a very public realm. You do one embarassing thing and everyone remembers it forever, that's why I tried to not make waves but people still remember stupid shit you did from ancient history. But like the rest of life, all that really matters is what you do after high school. Most everyone else doesn't give a shit.

>>35738403
Oh and class rank was extremely competitive, the top 10% are guaranteed entry to any state school here so everyone wanted to be in that range. I was a good student but not top 10%. At a rural school I have no doubt I'd do much better. The top 10-20 people in rankings were mostly asians with no life and strict parents that wanted to go to ivy league schools. They were always super stressed out and cheated on tests more than anybody I ever met. Very dysfunctional if you ask me but hey that's what society considers "successful".

>>35736313
>How many people were in each year group? Did you have the incredible sports and music / drama facilities that i see on TV?
About 150-180, and not really. We have sports and drama and stuff but my school was not that good at it.

>On the internet i have read articles from multiple people that i think most UK people would consider embarrassing. The gist of them was successful adult American nerds writing as if high school was some traumatic and defining experience. Is this true?
I don't know, mine was nice enough, or at least, I got along well enough with everyone to not get harassed. I went to a Catholic school so as to avoid going to public school though.

>Also there wasn't enough diversity. I was one of the smartest (in terms of academic results) kids in my year when I'm not even "gifted". Did you have actual geniuses in your schools (Asians and Jews, I assume).
We had some smart people but it was rare for anyone to go to Ivies who weren't legacies, except for one kid who was a no-lifer workaholic who later burned out. I got a huge scholarship to study at an engineering-oriented school so I was fine.


In the US, public schools can be good if you live in rich areas with minimal blacks and hispanics. Same with private schools, but they're generally too expensive for the blacks and hispanics unless they start busing them in or giving them vouchers, which my school apparently started doing later as part of a moral crusade to help the poor by our headmaster. I don't really have anything against the blacks and hispanics, but they tend to be more aggressive than other races, and you're sort of paying to not have to deal with that...