While kids in the USA are probably out of school already, students in Spain still have another 2 whole weeks of class to trudge through. Except for the ¨seniors¨ in their last year of high school (called 2nd BAC or bachillerato). They finished their final exams at the beginning of May and have spent the past month studying like crazy. Today in Galicia they are in their last day of testing for the Spanish version of the SAT-- the EBAUs. That stands for Evaluation of Bachillerato for Access to University (hey, the acronym works in English, too!)
I say Spanish version of the SAT because it is an exam necessary to get into college. But the similarities end there. Whereas in the United States students can take the SAT or ACT as many times as they want--starting early, a few years before graduation-- in Spain you've only got one shot. Not only that, but there are several exams, one for each subject. In Galicia --since there is a co-official language-- there are five written tests: Spanish, Galician, English, History or Philosophy, and Math (or another exam related to the type of bachillerato you have been studying). You can also take up to four more exams on elective subjects to raise your score.
But what happens if you have a bad day? What if you're sick or just totally blank? There is the possibility of a redo, a month or two later. But you risk the spots filling up for your chosen major. That's another difference between Spain's college access system and the United States'. Here you get into college based on your chosen major and whether or not it aligns with your combined score. Rather than GPA and SAT scores being evaluated separately, here they are combined into one neat number. Your grades in the last two years of high school count for 60% of your score and the EBAU results make up the other 40%. The maximum score is a 14. Ten of those points are made up of the aforementioned percentage of grades and test scores. The other possible four points are from exams that are ¨weighted,¨ and related to your chosen field of study. For example, future med students might take the biology or chemistry exams. Future language teachers would probably go for some other foreign languages.
Beforehand, universities publish a cut off score for each specific major. As you can imagine, medical degrees require near-perfect scores, but these minimums vary depending on the college. Then after the exam, students look at their final score out of 14 and based on that, apply to colleges and their desired major. And just because you made the cutoff score doesn't necessarily mean you made the cut. If a college's program got more applicants than it was expecting and they all did better than you, well, you might have to choose a new major or school.
So basically, after ending classes early, seniors in Spain have to hit the books, maybe even more so than during the school year. Their future is depending on it. So much for senioritis!
