About the French school system... (Aka why I'm probably gonna suicide by the end of the year)

Logo of the school I wanna go to.

(Just kiddin, of course). Well well well... I'm gonna talk here about the path you have to chose if you want to do an « intellectual » work (scientist, engineer, business man...). If you wanted to become a cook, or a plumber, or a technician, you would have to go through another system, which I don't know well.

Just some things, before I start: in France, grades go from 0 (you fail) to 20 (epic win), and from collège to high school, classes are numbered (6^th being the first you attend, 5^th the second, ... terminale the last one).

For the beginning, same as other countries, from what I've read : we start in what is called here maternelle (at the age of 3, I think), which is not mandatory. Then, at the age of 6, we enter primaire, where we learn to read, count, a bit of geography and history, and some English (depending on your primaire). Then, it's collège, from 11 to 15 (which is just soooo tricky when we learn English... It can lead to awkward situations, when someone says : and what class are you in ? And you are 14 and you answer « Well, I'm in... uh... college. » ^^). At the end of it, we have a national exam, called “Brevet des collèges”, with math, history, geography, French, where you need to reach an average of 10. Then, you go to high school (lycée), for 3 more years. At the end of your first high school year, you have to choose whether you want to study litterature (L), science (S), or economy (ES), and the classes you follow will then depend on that choice. (I chose S, which means I had ¾ of physics, chemistry, math and biology/geology, and ¼ of sport, French, English, German, history, geography, and arts) (arts being an option). To graduate and enter études supérieures, you need to reach an average of 10 in the baccalauréat, national exam n°2. (Btw, fun fact: thanks to options (latin, greek, music, plastic art, a third language, or extra sport) (you can choose 2 of them), it's possible to reach 21 points out of 20 on that exam) (but it's not usual, as you may have guessed).

There, you're supposed to be 18, and ready to enter interesting studies :D
How does that work? Well, you have 3 main ways:

-universities, which are public, and which cannot refuse you (to get in you just have to apply). You can become a teacher, lawyer, scientist, doctor...

-after graduating ingeneer/business school, which deliver a 5 year formation (ending with a diploma). To get in, you either have to send an appliance, with all your grades of high school and comments from your teacher, or to pass a competitive exam, depending on the school, but once you're in, you're in (unless you're especially lazy or insubordinate).

-classes préparatoires, which is the path I've chosen. It's “A French specific two years programme leading to a nation-wide competitive examination into a "Grande école", one of the top French engineer or business school system.” (I don't know if you've heard of Polytechnique (also known as l'X) (in science), HEC Paris (business), ENS Paris some of the best “Grandes écoles” in France).

To enter, you have to submit an application with all your grades from the last two years, and comments from your teachers, and if the prépa (short for CPGE, classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles) likes your application and thinks you're good enough, you're in. If not... Well, that's sad for you.
In science, you can choose for example MP (math physics), PC (physic chemistry), PSI (physic, engeneer science), or BCPST (biology, chemistry, physic, earth science). As you may have guessed, I chose the last one. It gives me access to competitive exams allowing me to become either an engineer in “nature” (agriculture, water gestion...), a vet, or a geologist. How do the competitive exam work? Well, every student goes through the exam, and the best chose the school they want, the others getting the left overs, or nothing. (=> If I fail, I can redo (twice) the last year. And if I fail again, I've lost two to four years where I didn't get a diploma, and I have to start over. Nice, isn't it?) (But you can manage to go in the 3rd year of uni if your teachers agree). Besides, if you wanna be a vet, 500 places, 3000 students. :D You have to be one of the bests.

Of course, due to that, we go through a lot of pressure, and some students cannot handle it; one of my classmates had a nervous breakdown last year (and thus stopped), and there are seldom students that takes their life. You cannot be ill, you cannot miss a day, you cannot be weak. (Or you have to be good). The system will not wait for you. You either have to be wicked smart or work all day long (or love what you do), because only the better student get precisely what they want, and if you don't work, be sure that others will. I'm lucky enough to be interested in one of the exams that is the less wanted (and I understand things quickly); I though have time to do other things, and enjoy my life, but it's not common. One of my classmates/friends wants to be a vet. We go through 8 hours of classes from Monday to Friday, and we have 2 oral exams (1h30) plus a 3.30 hour long test each week (or course, what matters is not the grade but the rank). Each day, she works for 5 hours in addition to what we already go through. (On a 24hday, if you take away sleep time, eating time... well you'll see she works all the time) (and they are almost all like that where I study) (freaks me out sometimes) (but I'm in a "good"/selective prépa though). (And 8h/day on week end).
Fun fact: Remember what I said about the grades, from 0 to 20? With 7,43, I'm the 23^rd on 48 students, (well, 47, now). It's nearly impossible to have 20, (but quite easy to have zeros).

It's really hard, but it's also fascinating. I've learnt more in almost two years than I have in the rest of my life, and I now have extensive knowledge in a lot of topics. (Reason why I'll never regret that path, even if I fail. Which I hope won't happen).
Well, there! Now you know it all!

Hope you found it interesting, sorry for writing that much, thanks for what you've written (because it was really cool) (and you're all awesome!!!), have a nice day, and DFTBA!

PS: (If you have any question I could answer that you want to ask for the “Learning week”, please put it in the comments, cause I don't know what would interest you).Edited the 03/25/2012, added complements.