Rather than based on a “4.0 scale” or “A-F’, in Argentina they use a scale from 0-10 for grading students. As opposed to the US, where it is considered “everyone starts at 100,” in Argentina the grading philosophy is that “the student starts at 0 (has no knowledge of the subject)” and needs to put in extensive work and effort to raise their grade. “The student’s grade rises as he proves his gain of knowledge throughout the semester.” The grading tends to be very strict, with the average student in higher education receiving between a 4-6. The highest grade of 10, “sobresaliente,” is extremely difficult to obtain.
I discussed this aspect of the grading system with my friend, Nick Mion, who studied abroad this past summer at the University of Torcuato di Tella and is planning to study this fall at San Andrés. He is a student in the Wharton Business School at University of Pennsylvania, an extremely distinguished Ivy program. In comparison to his experience in the U.S., he said the 1-10 scale “makes it more difficult to get higher grades but less importance is placed on scoring well and more is placed on grasping the material.” In the U.S., grade inflation is extremely common at many institutions, and often students do what they can for the grade rather than to grasp the material.
In addition to the grading scale, one of the biggest differences Nick noticed was the class size. At public universities like UBA, “they have almost 200k people and are free- that is something unheard of in the U.S.” He noted that his experiences are different because he attended a very small university, and the “more elite universities so to speak are the smaller private ones. For comparison, the University of San Andrés only has about 1500 students,” which is also considerably smaller than UPenn, where undergrad is close to 11,000, and an additional 11,000 for graduate programs. Nick was able to apply to both of these private universities because they have a program with UPenn. Typically study abroad students still pay the cost of their U.S. tuition to attend these private universities, demonstrating the market approach to abroad education.
Students in Argentina also all commute to school, as opposed to many of the universities in the US where students pay tuition to live on campus. As a result, students that study abroad in Argentina usually stay with a host family or find an apartment near the university they attend. These differences impact the Argentine Higher Education experience.
For more information and sources:
http://www.classbase.com/countries/Argentina/Grading-System
http://www.isep.org/students/placed/handbook_education.asp?country=4
http://www.upenn.edu/about/facts.php
In addition to the grading scale, one of the biggest differences Nick noticed was the class size. At public universities like UBA, “they have almost 200k people and are free- that is something unheard of in the U.S.” He noted that his experiences are different because he attended a very small university, and the “more elite universities so to speak are the smaller private ones. For comparison, the University of San Andrés only has about 1500 students,” which is also considerably smaller than UPenn, where undergrad is close to 11,000, and an additional 11,000 for graduate programs. Nick was able to apply to both of these private universities because they have a program with UPenn. Typically study abroad students still pay the cost of their U.S. tuition to attend these private universities, demonstrating the market approach to abroad education.
Students in Argentina also all commute to school, as opposed to many of the universities in the US where students pay tuition to live on campus. As a result, students that study abroad in Argentina usually stay with a host family or find an apartment near the university they attend. These differences impact the Argentine Higher Education experience.
For more information and sources:
http://www.classbase.com/countries/Argentina/Grading-System
http://www.isep.org/students/placed/handbook_education.asp?country=4
http://www.upenn.edu/about/facts.php