Differences

Hello to you all

I have some questions and I hope you can help me find some answers
Do you find studying in the UK very different from studying in the US?
More difficult or easier? What about class sizes? Too many people for the same lesson or just right? Is the teaching method the same? Do you just study on books or you get to learn from hand-on experiences? Do professors care about having a relationship with the students or not?
Do you like it or not?

Hope to know more about life as a University students in the UK
Thank you
Marilena

I studided (under-grad) at the Uni of Derby as an exchange student for 2 semesters.  I found there to be a lot less time spent in class than in the US and the classes were generally about the same size meaning specialised classes were small and things like Intro to blah blah were full up.  There also seemed to be a lot less coursework/assignments than in the US.  I found it to be pretty easy, but that's because as an exchange student I could take 1st year classes if I wanted to get my Gen Eds, but everyone I met there had pretty much the same opinion.  They also seem to only require you to take classes that directley relate to your degree, which is good and bad.  Myself and the oher American students were often complimented on how well we could write research papers (thank you Intro to Writing freshman year).  My friends (british) had no clue how to research properly, document, etc. as they were just throw in.  Grading systems are very formal, you have to wait for your results in the mail for a few months.  I cant think of anything else I experienced.  Where are you thinking of attending?

Grading is a good point... It's commonplace in the US to get 85% or higher (B+ or higher) but my experience is that anything over 80% is unusual. So what we consider a 'C' or in the 60% range is good or normal here.

Can a Brit shed more light on this? - I was rarely graded so am not that familiar with the system.

I'm not so sure that using these numbers as a comparison are helpful. The British system pretty much has a grading scale from 20-80. The 70-80 range is considered 1st class and unlike the States it's still pretty regulated in that only about 10-15% of students at the elite universities get these marks. So if you're used to racking up A- or B+ regularly, the UK system might come as a bit of a shock.

Re. grading, a bit of a shock, yes In my first year at Edinburgh, out of around three thousand history papers handed in by students, not a single one was graded higher than 90%.

Lightbulb, you're right that comparisons aren't good because the scale simply isn't the same. What's shocking is that the numbers ARE the same and when I first got here, despite other Americans in the Dept, no one bothered to tell me the scale was different! 

This is good to know...I'll be starting my masters this fall at Uni of Leeds. I'm used to getting A's and occasional B's. This will be hard to get used to. As long as I get guidance and am still among the higher range of their system, I will be fine. Anymore insight is greatly appreciated.

FWIW, I've only had one "c" since I've been going to school here and I blame that on a Dutch teacher who really had an active dislike of me (though I've been turning in some pretty crap work lately, so that may change this term!  ) - I've actually found it to be quite easy to get As and Bs (Univ. of London here.) But I will say that the expectations are quite a bit higher than what I had been doing in the US for research - I'm quite a good writer when I put my mind to it, and that has helped my grades tremendously according to the written comments. The area that has been tough has been finding "the latest, best, most respected" research on whatever I'm writing about and learning how to read it and use it critically.... In other words, it's much less regurgitation here and requires much more independent thought about the subject rather than strict learning of concepts and facts. But then that could be a worldwide difference between doing undergrad work v. grad work....

I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but it hardly seemed worthy of a new thread...

Can someone tell me what a "rah" is?  I just just described as one, but am not sure what that connotes.  The context was "you may be an American, but you certainly are a rah, aren't you?".

I thought for a second I was being called a "raj" but was told later that is was "rah".

Any clue?

     ~ Mark

I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but it hardly seemed worthy of a new thread...

Can someone tell me what a "rah" is?  I just just described as one, but am not sure what that connotes.  The context was "you may be an American, but you certainly are a rah, aren't you?".

Found this on a Durham website after talking to my son (who is probably going to Durham this year).
http://www.durham21.co.uk/archive/archive.asp?ID=609

A friend of his who is already at Durham said he chose Trevelyan because it wasn't full of 'rahs' (first time I had heard the word, but think it might come from the expression 'Hooray Henry' which has the same connotations).

Do you think you're one, or was it just a friend joking?

Brilliant!  The definative answer to the Rah question!

I know what a "Hooray Henry" is...I think I'm a little old to be called that at this point.  But when I was at Oxford (1986) I remember being tagged as the American Sloane Ranger.

Anyway, I've always worn pink shirts and a blazer. 

But I'm delighted to learn that there may be something Durham-centric about the term "rah".

     ~ Mark (or, as I was known at school "Bunny") 

I'm an undergraduate, and while it varies from university to university, there is usually less class time but *alot* more independent research is expected. There are usually several big essays based on research, and a lot more weighs on those essays and they tend to be marked strictly. There are lectures during the week, and you meet with a group of people from the class once or twice a week to hold a discussion. You tend to focus primarily on your subject of interest rather than learning a variety of subjects during the time you are there, which is why going to uni if you're not sure exactly what you want to study is not a good idea. Depending on the university, there are usually 3 terms instead of 2 semesters. I feel like it's a more serious, academic environment, and there's less of a friendly feeling with the professors that you might get at a US college. It's definitely alot different than universities back in the US.

That's my impression anyway.