Do anyone know exactly what u.s high school diploma is equivalent to?
I asked before they say o level but I'm pretty sure it's higher compared to malaysia's secondary school.

I believe it's STPM. For private college it's up to the private college to decide. For public college, there actually is a pekililing issue on this. I think it's available on the MQA's website. Eitherway, a more helpful forum member might guide you to this PDF later. It doesn't exist for sure because I've referred to it before.

spm level.....12 years of school from age 5........

their basic college is part our pre-u and part early ealry degree level.....they do not have pre-u like the british a levels/stpm.....

there is no public school exam for uni entry, unlike most of the commonwealth countries.....a high school 'diploma' is of little use as far as uni entry is concerned......hence they have difficulty in selecting good students for critical courses......thus all the critical courses are post graduate level.....they use the college degree cgpa (and sometimes additional exams) as basis for selection into professional courses in graduate school.....

This post has been edited by limeuu: Aug 27 2011, 09:33 PM

Well in u.s right after high school is straight degree in uni. Whichever I can get into.
I checked many websites before and all is different one and there really isn't an exact equivalent one.
Before I started college here in malaysia I keep asking and my mom even went to the education ministry.
In the end the college say it's o level but I wasn't happy cuz I had to start from a foundation level.
If it was stpm, it would have saved me 1 year of studying that I didn't need. Now it's very late but I still like to find out the truth.

The purpose of US High School Diploma is equivalent to our school-leaving certificate. It is only used to confirm that you've accomplished high school courses at a stated high school.
It can only be used for admission to very low-tier colleges, as top-tier colleges only considered it merely as confirmation certificate to prove to the admission committee that you've really taken high school courses at particular high school.

Actually there was a thread a year or so ago started by a guy who wanted to enroll one of his child to some college here I believe.

The existance of score reports of the widely-acclaimed Advanced Placement (AP) tests, SAT tests, ACT tests and so had made the purpose of the US High School Diploma as the indicator of rigor and aptitude for admission obsolete, reducing the evolved purpose back to merely a school-leaving certificate.
Btw, OP, why did you asked? Are you currently taking it or so?

Yes I understand what ur saying but the u.s hs diploma isn't like what u said about top and low tier for colleges here in Malaysia.
After high school in fact during our last year the school told us to start applying for colleges and uni so right after we graduate we can go straight in as it's a long process. It's all depending on ur cgpa whether u get into which college. If u have perfect score on cgpa and 'sat' and volunteer work u may even get into harvard and Yale right after 'high school diploma'.
But I believe what ur saying is that in MALAYSIA a certification of u completed high school can only get u into low colleges and not the top ones. The top ones will require more than high school completion? Like stpm?

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Added on August 27, 2011, 10:01 pmReconnaisance

Well I asked this just out of curiosity.
I got a u.s high school diploma a few years back but now is currently study in a college here in Malaysia.
Even though it's unrelevant cuz I already went one and a half year in this college because of the ' o level'.
I just wanna know the truth. I felt the ' o level' I got was inaccurate and there might have been some bias.

This post has been edited by Cls63Amg7: Aug 27 2011, 10:01 PM

Of course, I understand. What I'm trying to convey is that the High School Diploma is not sufficient for top-tier colleges, undoubtedly if without test scores or the IB if offered in school.
About your reply, I need to ask for a clarification.. You did your O-Level before or after High School Diploma?

I didn't do o level. I spend 10 years in u.s so most of the education I got was from u.s.
So after I finished u.s high school I came back to Malaysia to apply for college. Then the college didn't know what my diploma is equal to cuz the u.s education level is different compared to Malaysia . They wanna know whether it's o level spm stpm or something else. So we went to education ministry to get approval of my diploma and it got chopped. Even the education ministry didn't know what to classify the 'U.S high school diploma' as. Then the college just decided and say it's same as o level.
Honestly I don't really know what is o level and spm /stpm. The final year here in Malaysia is called form 5 or 6?

if you have just the american high school 'diploma', and want to enter msian/commonwealth universities, you will need to complete a pre-u course, be it stpm, a-levels, sam/ausmate, or a foundation........

that is partly because there isn't any way of benchmarking your academic ability from the diploma.......

and partly because you could be entering courses which requires you to have a college degree in america.........

That college you are trying to apply to probably is a private college who purpose is among others, to make money. It would be beneficial for them to make go go through some course first before you can enroll in their degree program. Basically, they have the power over admission, so you can try arguing with them that your High School diploma should allow you entry straight into their degree program. Or just accept that it's equivalent to SPM. The final year in Malaysia is called Form 6. That is the year before you enter college for a degree program. By the way, did you really spend the last 10 years studying in the US? I've never heard anyone say chopped there, they always say stamped.

Btw, the Malaysia government has decided that US High School Diploma is equivalent to SPM. I am looking at the document right now. So I find it strange that the people at the ministry didn't know what it is and decided it's equivalent to O-Levels, which isn't even a Malaysian education qualification.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Aug 28 2011, 08:00 AM

i believe they follow the international practice. they would take several australian and UK universities, and look at how they rate the american hischool diploma. if they benchmark it a O-levels, the malaysians will follow suite. and in malaysia, the equivalent of O-levels is SPM.

that's the norm.

o-levels is the same as spm.....and much more understood, in terms of extra-msia qualifications.....so there is nothing unusual in using o-levels as benchmarking equivalence........

If by stages, it would consider equivalent to STPM, as it is conferred at the end of Grade 12, equivalent to lower six.
However, I guess that, without your transcript to prove higher rigor with either AP courses, honors classes or dual enrollments in community colleges, it won't be enough with just ordinary courses, because the ordinary courses are not equivalent to our Commonwealth curriculum. They're easier.
Plus the fact that we end our high school at 13 grades in total, and our curriculum at the Grade 10 already at par with their 11th and so on, the curriculum of US High School without extra courses lost to ours a lot.
Didn't you take any standardized test?

I might have assumed wrong, but I think the education ministry he is referring to is an office of the Malaysian Education Ministry and not the Department of Education in the US. I would think our own ministry will certify it to be equivalent to SPM rather than O-Level as per the guidelines they already decided on through the MQA.

I might be reading you reply wrongly too, maybe you're saying Malaysia will follow international standards. Well they already published the guidelines through MQA so TS can bring his case to the college he wants to go into or with MQA if he feels it should be something else.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Aug 28 2011, 06:40 PM

well, equivalent or not doesnt matter.. what ts wants to know is whether can he/she enter uni straight after his/her high school dip.

easiest answer being has ts taken SAT? if yes then entering uni shouldnt be a prob.

if ts is well equipped an thinks that pre-u is not needed then ts should just the pre-u exam without attending class to prove he/she is well qualified enough.

alternatively ts can enter a low tier college and get a dip. first then transfer to a proper uni

Or just proceed to a low-tier college in the United States that accepts the US High School Diploma, and opts out for test scores.
These schools require no test scores and use US High School and the high school transcript, which means a thorough review of your high school classes rigor.
Unless of course, if OP wants to proceed further education in Malaysia.