Hi everyone!
Today I am going to talk about the differences I found in a UK university compared to a US one. Having done a BA in an American institution, I feel there were several differences between the two types of education.
The first one was: There is more freedom of choice in an US system than in an UK one. By this, I mean that the UK education has core courses which have to be taken in a certain semester whereas in the US, you can choose when to take them. It does not matter if you don't take one core course in the first semester, as you will still need extra credits to graduate.
The second one is: You can have double majors/minors in an US system whereas in the UK you are stuck with one major. For me this was a disappointment, as I enjoyed having the flexibility of exploring other departments alongside my major. It also gave me time to realise that I wanted to do an Economics concentration one year before graduating, which gave me a chance to add a Minor to my degree. Also, it gave me the opportunity to be able to apply for a wide range of jobs as I had developed additional skills outside my major (such as public speaking, web design, literature, etc).
The third one: Exam scores are cumulative in an US system instead the UK system depends hugely on the final exam/paper. I found that a cumulative system is more fair instead of relying only or mostly on the final exam/paper. In case one paper/test goes badly, there is always the next one which could help a student pass the course. Instead, having only one exam/paper at the end of a semester, is not enough to show the professor what you are capable of. I have also noticed that each professor wants something different from a paper. Yes, the way to write an essay is the same worldwide, but the content and how you present it, varies from person to person. Thus, how and what you show your argument may not be what the professor is looking for.
The fourth: UK system has lectures and US system has more small discussion groups. Both systems have lectures, but I have realised that the US encourages discussion in class frequently. This is also a way to help shy students to get the 10% (or more) of participation score and keep up with the weekly readings (it also puts the knowledge read in a book to be added in the discussions). The US system focuses a lot on the student experience and academic growth. More importantly, the students get to have a personal engagement with the professor, which helps with their future recommendations, as the professor gets to know the student as well. In the UK system, lectures are usually followed by seminars, but mostly it focuses on independent studying. There are small discussion groups called tutorials, but they are very few which limits the amount of discussion time between professor-student and the amount of topics to be discussed. Also, the student is supposed to do the weekly readings by him/herself and acquire knowledge for the final paper/exam. Instead, in the US system, the various in-class discussions, group projects, presentations and papers, all build up to the final exam/paper.
To conclude, yes, I am biased towards the US system. I have found that it gave me the opportunity to grow both personally and academically. I have enjoyed learning from other departments, students and professors. Of course, it must be taken into consideration that the American institution I have attended was very small compared to the big Ivy League ones. Maybe smaller UK institutions are very similar to the US ones, as they can focus more on the students. Maybe, Master courses in the US are the same as the UK. This has been based more on my experience, but I would recommend anyone who can, to attend a day in their chosen universities to see how they teach.
