British-trained professionals often lampoon the US universities as being too generalist and liberal arts driven, while American scholars remain skeptical about the academic rigor of a UK degree. Despite being American-trained myself, I’ll try my best to be objective and make a rough comparison on the educational approach of the two countries’ universities.
Generalist v. Specialist
US and UK schools take opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to their educational approach. The US undergraduate degree takes four years to complete, with the first year taken up mostly by the required “general education” or “core curriculum” courses, which aim to expose students to various subjects regardless of their majors. Furthermore, top US universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia adapt a liberal arts curriculum that has a more theoretical rather than practical basis for knowledge. In the US, students are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary studies, either through double-majors or having a major and a minor (secondary field of focus.) American author Walker Percy best summed up this educational philosophy when he wrote, “At regular intervals, poetry students should find dogfish on their desks and biology students should find Shakespeare sonnets in their dissecting trays.”
In contrast, UK schools take a specialist approach. Although the undergraduate degree is only three years long, students immediately specialize in a particular subject, and most of their classes will be required courses within their field of study. Yet for their counterparts in US schools, elective courses can take up to a quarter (1/4) of the overall curriculum. UK schools also enable a student to begin professional studies such as law or medicine at the undergraduate level, which in the US can only be done in graduate schools. For this reason, it is difficult for students in UK schools to switch majors in the middle of their college careers or to pursue a double-degree in separate fields, such as Chemistry and Chinese Studies.
Holistic Evaluation v. Exams-Based Evaluation
US schools use a holistic, comprehensive evaluation for their admissions and grading system. Admissions officers at top US universities not only evaluate the test scores and grades of applicants, but also take into account their extracurricular activities, personal statement, teachers’ recommendations, and family background. For top UK schools, gaining admission is solely conditional upon the applicant’s performance on the A-Levels. Although applicants must also write a personal statement and activity list, these materials are only supplementary and are weighted much less than the A-Levels and ILETS.
In a US college class, professors typically use an accumulative grading system, in which a student’s overall grade for the semester is calculated using homework, class participation, midterms, and final exams. If a student wants to graduate with high academic honors, he must write a thesis based on original research and go through an oral defense with a faculty committee. On the other hand, UK schools use exam-based grading system. Each student will sit for a final exam every summer, and each year’s final exam grades will add up to his overall grades at graduation. Writing a thesis is not required in the UK to graduate with honors at the undergraduate level.
Party Culture v. Pub Culture
Parties, parties, parties. They lie at the heart of social life on American campuses. They are wild, rambunctious, and the nightmares of many parents. They range from dorm parties, club parties, frat parties, and college dances, just to name a few. Yet since most students have not reached the the legal drinking age of 21 years old when they enter college, a lot of the partying happens underground in the dorms or apartments. It is not uncommon for undergrads to get fake IDs in order to buy alcohol off campus. On the weekends, most dorms would have Residential Assistants or Advisers, ready to take drunken students to the hospital on-call.
Whereas American college students like to “work hard, play hard,” British students prefer to hangout in pubs. The UK drinking age is only 18, so this means that they can legally go to pubs and grab a drink after class. When I visited Cambridge University, I found that students often went to pubs to chat with friends, to discuss their lectures, or even just to read quietly. Indeed, British students can spend hours every weekend (and weekday) in these bars, and different pubs cater to different niches of people on campus.
At the end of the day, it’s not necessary for parents and students to be embroiled in a big debate over the superiority of the UK over the US system, or vice versa. If you have clear long-term goals and have decided your career path, enrolling in the UK system can help you to save time and money. If you’re a person who likes to “keep options open,” you might be happier at a US college. If you feel confused after reading this article, don’t worry; now is the time to begin your college search.
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