  America vs. Australia (basically, Iowa vs. Victoria) When I first got to Australia, and went to school there, I thought it was incredibaly easy, compared to my school back in Iowa.
The subject material was a lot easier, as was the grading scales. The teachers, with the exception of Mr. Thompson and Ms. Plymin, were not even close the quality of Iowan teachers. In Iowa, you can choose different levels for each class. For example, you can take Basic English, English, and English Honors. Your previous teachers tell you which one would be best for you, but you don't have to follow their guidelines. The one thing I like was how in English and Literature we wrote creative pieces, which I hadn't done since the sixth grade. Although the school seemed much easier, the way to get into university seemed ridiculously hard. To have almost your entire entrance based on one test at the end of the year is absurd. Infinitely many things can happen to someone on that one day.
A relative could die, their parents could get a divorce, or they just be really sick. Then they do poorly on the exam, and they basically fail life. In America, the universities look at your extracurricular activities, your grades throughout high school, your standartized test results, and many other things such as race and economic backgrounds to determine your entrance to university.
Even if you do not do well throughout high school and drop out, you can take an equivalency test, which if you pass, basically means you are the same as a high school graduate. You can then go to a community college, which are somewhere between trade schools and universities in the Australian system, for two years, transfer to a university, graduate, then go to medical school and become a doctor. This would be impossible under the Australian system.&nbsp; 
