From UOM to NC State: Key differences between U.K. and U.S. university systems.

By Saskia Perez-Cooke, North Carolina State University, United States.

When you imagine your upcoming year abroad its easy to get caught up in the excitement of travel, new experiences and meeting people that you forget about the studying aspect of this year. Whilst the travel and people aspect of your study abroad is the most memorable part of year, hopefully understanding how the academic system works in the U.S. compared to the U.K. will help you navigate your study abroad more smoothly!

Heres a breakdown of the biggest differences I experienced between UOM and NC State, and what prospective US study abroad students can generally expect:

Course structure

In the UK, university courses are much more specialised and you stick to your discipline throughout the duration of your degree. In contrast, U.S universities, encourage you to take courses outside their major. So here at NC State I am majoring in Sociology as that is my discipline back home, but I have had the opportunity to take classes in Geography and Political Science in addition to my Sociology classes. This kind of flexibility is one of my favourite aspects of my study abroad as I was genuinely interested in all my classes. I think this exploration into other disciplines is really useful to figuring out what fields I would be interested in looking into after my degree!

Teaching style

One of the biggest differences between these 2 systems is the teaching style. At UOM I was used to large lecture halls with hundreds of students and the occasional seminar every week. But here at NC State the majority of my classes are taught in a seminar style format with much smaller class sizes. My average class size would be around 25 students however the most beginner introductory level classes can be around 60 students.

A large part of your grade in the US is your attendance and participation- this is usually around 20% of your overall grade. The other 80% is made up of midterms, quizzes, group projects, presentations, book/documentary reviews, and final exams. As a result the classes are smaller and more intimate so you are able to engage in the way that is expected. This at first definitely took some getting used to as I am not naturally someone who puts their hand up in class. But once I got used to it, I realised that these experiences were helping me build confidence and become more comfortable with public speaking- all skills that will benefit me 4th year and post university. Another positive is that these smaller class sizes make it easier to get to know your classmates and actually make American friends, you will also find that engaging in the class is so much easier when your friendly with everyone in your class.

Assessments

At the University of Manchester the majority of my grades were based on final exams or coursework at the end of the semester. Here the U.S. the assessment process is ongoing as mentioned before. This variety of assessments means your grade is based on several smaller components, not just one or two big exams. This approach at first was a bit overwhelming as I have not multiple assignments due a week since I was in school. But one of the things I appreciate most about this structure is that, because each component is worth a small percentage of your overall grade, there is not as much pressure to make every assignment perfect. In fact if you do well enough for most of your semester you don’t even need to show up to your final exam as you would already have completed 80% of your grade prior to the final (though I am not recommending this!) Importantly this new system has helped me with organisation and productivity as I need to manage my time effectively, but at the same time there is not crazy amounts of pressure to have perfect assignments as this year does not count to your degree!!

Adjusting to this new system will take time but remember that since your year abroad doesn’t count toward your final degree just focus on the actual learning experience and try and get the most of this new academic opportunity. I try and keep in mind that the majority of university students don’t get this opportunity to study in 2 places in 2 different systems so just make the most of it; interact with your professors, ask questions, and learn as much as you can 🙂