----- Original Message -----
From: David Lesley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Netters:
>
> As a university teacher I'd like to point out that the worst thing that an
> American freshman can do
> is take off a week or 2 in their first semester. Track and field ahletes
in
> general are pretty serious students, so I expect that they realize this.
The
> European academic system is very different, in that the only examinations
> are given at the end of the academic year, so students are pretty blase'
> about any given week at the beginning.
Having been a HS & college student in the Netherlands (can't speak 100% for
other European countries) I would like to say this is untrue. High schools
here have a continuous assessment system, whereby tests are spread evenly
over the year, with graduation exams in the last year of HS contributing 50%
of the total in the final year.
The same goes for colleges. When I was a physics freshman, my first exam
came after just 8 weeks. Most college courses are block oriented, with a
block being 6-12 weeks, with a test of the covered material taking place at
the end of a block, and often being a pre-requisite for subsequent blocks.
Some studies are semester-oriented, but practically *no* studies rely on a
single examination period at the end of any given year.
My (limited) impression is that this is also true for schools and colleges
in the Benelux, Germany and Scandinavia, and less so for France and the UK
(where HS's have an all-important final exam (O-levels, A-levels), and
universities have their end-of-term or end-of-year exam).
What students here usually do is ask their schools for dispensation for the
exams in the periods concerned. If granted, they may take the exams at a
later date. In most cases something usually can be worked out, except for HS
graduation exams, which are organized on a national basis, not by individual
schools.
Cheers,
Elliott
