25 Very Important Questions Australians Have About High School In The USA

From SATs to 7 a.m. starts, I find everything confusing.

Hey! We're Nat and Andria and we both work for BuzzFeed — except one of us works in Australia (Nat), and the other in the USA (Andria).

Natalia Krslovic / BuzzFeed, Andria Moore / BuzzFeed

Nat: I've grown up watching American teenagers go to high school on TV and in the movies, and some of the things I've seen have me...well, pretty confused. So I've asked Andria a bunch of questions about the typical American high school experience...

Andria: And I'm going to my best to explain what high school is really like!

1. First thing's first, let's talk about not having school uniforms. What's it like having to pick an outfit everyday?

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God, I'm glad you asked. It's ROUGH — especially if you were a high schooler with major anxiety (me). Picking out an outfit was like watching yourself in a movie montage.

2. American movies always talk about buying new clothes for the new school year — is that a thing?

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Unfortunately...yes. It was definitely a privileged thing though, because I remember always being super embarrassed when my mom would make me wear the same clothes from previous years.

3. And what's the deal with dress codes? The news we hear about them seem a little...archaic.

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Oh yeah, the prehistoric, especially in the Southern US. The rules are always super sexist too, like wearing tank tops that were three-fingers width (which don't exist, obviously).

4. Why are middle schools and high schools separate?

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Excellent question. I guess because the wee middle schoolers are too young to hang with the high schoolers? IDK.

5. And what's the go with all the funny names you have for the different high school grades?

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I don't get it either, and it definitely gets confusing because we have the same names for college. 

6. What do your school days look like? I hear you start school at, like, 7 a.m. — that's so crazy!

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Yes — well, 8 a.m., but the bus came at 7. How we ever managed to wake up, be dressed, fed and ALIVE is beyond me.

7. Do you eat from the cafeteria every day? And what kind of meals do they usually make?

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"Meals" is a bit of a stretch, but it was a lot of traditional American foods like burgers and sides or meat and sides. In high school, every Friday was "chicken finger Friday."

8. Is sitting at the cafeteria really political, like something out of Mean Girls?

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LOL, that's one part of Mean Girls that actually got it right. And once you picked your seat, you were stuck there the whole year. Although, the cliques weren't as clearly defined as in the movie.

9. How long does lunch go for? Is it true that everyone has different "lunch periods"?

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Yes, the cafeterias aren't always big enough to hold everyone so they'd divide us into, like, 30-minute intervals for lunch.

10. Do you play sports during school hours? Would you have football or cheerleading practice during the day?

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I was a a theatre kid so I can't fully answer this, but from what I remember sports were always right after school at like 3 p.m. Except for on football game days when the team could leave at noon.

11. Is being a cheerleader as important as American movies make it out to be?

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Kind of, but it was more about being generally popular. Sometimes the most popular girls in school weren't even cheerleaders.

12. Does everyone really drive to school? How do you all have cars at such a young age?!

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Not everyone did, but if you didn't you had better hope one of your friends did or else you were stuck with the bus.

13. What does "homecoming" actually mean?

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It's supposed to be about welcoming back former alumni but no one really cares about that. Everyone cares about the homecoming dance.

14. Does everybody go to prom or is that just a thing for seniors?

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A lot of schools had "junior/senior" prom so that the juniors could attend as well. Sophomores usually went to the homecoming dance.

15. Is "gym class" a compulsory thing? And is it really hard to pass, like they make it out to be in movies?

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I feel like in movies they always make it seem like you have to complete an obstacle course or something? That's not the case, but it is a required class. You have to do a fitness test once a year until you've taken all of your "P.E." courses.

16. Do you get to pick any classes you want to take? Do the classes you pick influence the kind of university courses you can take?

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OMG I used to be so stressed about this in high school, but none of it mattered in the real world. They did have electives though that were supposed to help with certain career tracks like media studies, or marine biology.

17. What is an AP class?

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"Advanced Placement." It's a way for students to earn college credit in high school.

18. Is it true that you have multiple versions of math class? Do schools really teach geometry, trigonometry, etc. separately?

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Yes... wait, is this really an American thing?!

19. What kind of exams do you have to take? What makes SATs so different to the others?

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First of all, standardized testing sucks. It actually feels like that scene in Harry Potter where Umbridge is watching them take their OWLs. Depending on what college or university you're trying to get into, some schools required SAT and ACT scores. The main thing I remember is they were super long and grueling and mostly multiple choice.

20. When do you take the SATs? Is it at the end of your senior year?

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Usually you have to take it way before then to submit it for college applications. Some people even take it their first or second year or high school to practice and then again junior year.

21. What is applying to "college" like? It seems super stressful and competitive.

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Yes, yes, and yes. It's exhausting. There's so much required material to send so that you look "impressive" to schools, and even if you meet all the standards you still might not get in. (If you didn't cry at the dinner table with your parents while applying to college did you even apply?)

22. What kind of things influence your college applications?

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Grades, of course, but also sports, clubs, volunteer work, part-time jobs, awards, and SAT/ACT scores.

23. Are the high school parties as crazy and OTT like the movies make it out to be?

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LOL, you're asking the wrong person. I only went to smaller parties, but the ones I went to were definitely wild.

24. How many people actually went to your high school? They look huge on TV.

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My graduating class was 547 I think. But that was in a small town so I'm sure class sizes are huge in other places.

25. What was the best thing about going to high school in the USA?

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So many things! The cavalier attitudes of the teachers, especially for seniors, so we could basically do whatever we wanted. Also, the good friends you make and the camaraderie with your teammates.