Differences between studying in the US and the UK?

I've found this to be the opposite, at least at undergraduate level. Here in the UK, I wouldn't have dared to call one of my lecturers by their first name... it took me 3 years to address my tutor/project supervisor by his first name, and I spent several hours a week working with him!

Hm, it probably has something to do with departments. I studied abroad in the UK as an undergrad and full time as a postgrad, and it was all very informal...but this was in music departments, which are probably less formal anyway. Now at my undergrad university it was very formal, but it was more like a music conservatory than a regular college.

I guess you'll just have to see when you get there, sheateawholepie!

and can i just say i love the handle, sheateawholepie!

and can i just say i love the handle, sheateawholepie!

Aww... thanks! 

I did my undergrad in the US, a masters in the US and then another masters in the UK. I'm currently (sort of) working on my UK-based PhD. I've also taught at US and UK universities.

I teach in graphic design/art departments so my thoughts are geared to that...

The US art schools/departments tend to be more structured. Attendance is mandatory and you will fail if you don't show. It drove me insane that attendance is not required in UK programs. Yet I still had to *encourage* it. That's not productive use of my time IMO.

I agree that US students are more used to discussions and debate. Yes, I've been the American in the UK class that everyone (except the teacher) wished would shut up. In my field, I think this is an advantage. I think US students are therefore more equipped to debate and discuss (and promote themselves for jobs) once in the real world.

I think US students have a more well-rounded education by the time they finish Uni.

I do agree that for final papers and dissertations/theses, the 2 person grading system in the UK is better.

Our department doesn't do double-grading.
Also, from my experience working alongside professors as a grad student in both sides, it seems that undergrads are typically at a distance from the staff regarding social activities.  I did not call anyone in my undergrad education by their first name except for the people who worked in my stepdad's department, but that was because I was on a first-name basis with them before I started going to school there.  In the grad departments on both sides of the Atlantic, grad students were on a much friendlier basis with the staff, primarily because grad students (in both departments) were seen as colleagues "coming of age" rather than as students.  In my US MA program, there was one staff member who was a stickler on formalities, but primarily (I think) because she just finished her PhD from Notre Dame.
I think the class registration is typically easier here in the UK since departments tend to be self-contained (i.e. all the classes offered by a department meet within rooms in the department's floor plans) and tend to have less offerings (ours only offers 6 classes at the first and second year level compared to my US departments which rotated through about 14 different first and second year courses).  I did find it strange having to get approved by a faculty advisor for my registration, since I haven't done that since my first year in undergrad.

I think in the US, the size and focus of the university affects the campus culture. I went to a liberal arts college for my undergraduate degree that was smaller than my high school. We had no TA's, and the classes had no more than 30 students in them. I would have never called my professors, even the adjuncts, by their first names.

For my professional graduate degree, I went to a huge state university. I had to take a freshman-level course as a prereq before I was allowed to begin my graduate courses, and there were 500 people in the lecture hall! It felt really odd to call the TA by his first name, too. In my graduate program, the unofficial practice was to call anyone with a Ph.D. Dr. Whomever, and anyone without by their first name.