I’ve spent the first five weeks talking a lot about the latter half of “studying abroad” — so for today, let's talk studying. I find London — maybe Europe as a whole — so weird academically.
By weird, I guess I mean different. Foreign. I’m still writing and reading in the same language, though I think I’ll get points deducted in essays if I spell certain words — “color” or “behavior” — without a “u” thrown in there somewhere.
But overall, there are a lot of differences in how higher education operates in London, some for the better and most that confuse me to no end.
I’m not learning from UNC professors or studying with UNC students. I’m studying at City, University of London, as an exchange student, meaning I’m fully immersed in the classes and am treated like a regular student.
For now, I want to share some of the main differences in academia I didn’t know existed:
- I’m not in “college,” I’m at “Uni” — they’re different
- It’s all very Hogwarts-esque. If you’re a British child, you’d go to primary school first, and then from the ages of 11 to 16, you attend secondary school — or Hogwarts, if you get the letter.
- After that, you can go to “college” from ages 16 to 18. All of the students I’ve met went to college before coming to Uni, and they typically still lived at home during this time.
- Once you’re at Uni, there’s none of this gen-ed business. That’s kind of what college is for. The students here know what they are studying when they arrive at Uni, and from day one their schedule has pretty much been set for them until they graduate.
- Uni is typically only three years, not four. So a lot of the people I’m meeting are graduating this year, though they’d be juniors in the states.
- Courses typically have one essay and one final examination, and that’s it. So you basically have two graded assessments in the class, which is nice in terms of workload, but horrifying in terms of only having two chances to make a good mark.
- There’s no such thing as a participation grade, or a homework grade, or graded quizzes, really. You either pass your final exam and pass the class or you don’t.
Granted, these are the differences I’ve gleaned from talking with locals and sitting in class, though I’m sure this isn’t always what’s set in stone across England.
And truthfully, I can’t really decide if I like it or not. It feels weird to be heading toward the end of October without any sort of test, or even any grade at all. I should be sleep deprived and wearing the same outfit three days in a row and staying up all night studying for midterms, but I’m not.
Despite there being less stress in day-to-day academics here, being away from UNC has made me insanely thankful for it. I haven’t found the same sense of camaraderie, diligence and overall passion at my London university that I know floods UNC’s campus.
