Uni vs College

Here in the UK, they frequently refer to college as Uni. As in, "I'm heading back to Uni on Sunday". This contrasts with America where we say "I'm heading back to school on Sunday" or "Man, I love college." They also do not refer to college as school. Ever. You stop going to school once you finish your A Levels at age 18 (don't ask about A Levels, I don't quite understand them either). But regardless, when you pursue higher education it no longer becomes "school" and it instead becomes university, frequently shortened to uni.

As I write this it occurs to me that I made this mistake and it genuinely confused someone. I only just realized this is what caused the confusion. I was speaking with another Brookes students and I was explaining that there were a number of High Point students here with me, and I said "There are actually about 20 other people from our school here." And then she looked confused and asked if I was in secondary school. It's clear now that she was thrown off by my use of the word "school" to describe university.

The name by which they refer to their higher education is not the only different thing about going to college in the UK. Although my only reference is Oxford Brookes University where I am studying, it seems as though this college, as a modern university, is very similar to others in the way they structure classes and schoolwork.

For starters, you generally only go to each module once a week for two or three hours. This can be all lecture, but frequently also includes a seminar set. From what I can tell, the lecture is the entire student population that is taking the module, whereas the seminar contains much fewer people, usually around 20 (which, interestingly enough, is the normal class size at HPU, so that's an intriguing contrast). Because you only spend two or three hours in class every week, you're expected to do a lot of studying outside of class. This is because in the UK Uni is more about independence. We are truly in charge of how much we want to learn; there isn't really any homework, there are less assessments and our tutors (professors) aren't really holding us accountable until the end of the semester.

Also different is the grading system. A 70% is considered a "first class degree" meaning that this is pretty much the best grade you can get. They say that every once in a while, you might get a 75% but that's not really likely. I imagine this will be difficult for me, because as much as they shouldn't matter, I care about grades a lot, probably a little too much (I'm a little too attached to my 4.0). The thought of getting a 70% on an assignment I worked hard on literally pains me. But I have to just remind myself that a. grading is different here and b. I just have to pass, because my grade won't transfer. But I still imagine it will take some getting used to.

Another difference is that you only go to Uni for 3 years. If you earn your Bachelor's degree, it is called a three-year degree. So basically, they earn the same level degree as we do, but they do it in one year less. How? Well it's quite simple. They don't really take any general education credits. I know that High Point is a little excessive in terms of GenEds in comparison to other American universities, but from what I can tell, almost all American universities require some General Education credits: a basic english, science, math etc... Here at Brookes there aren't really any General Ed requirements. You choose your course (major) and you only take modules (classes) that fall within the scope of your course.

You may think that this doesn't have much of an effect upon me, since I am only here for the semester. Well, it definitely does. Let me explain: I am taking one communication class (for my major) and two general education classes (sociology and music history) for the GedEd requirements at HPU. I've just returned from my Listening to Music History module, and I've begun to realize just how much this different system will affect me. Because you only take modules that are a part of your module, every single person (except for my friend Libby from HPU) in the module is majoring in Music. They have taken in depth music classes in high school (I know there was talk about the confusing A Levels in class today) and can name off a number of classical composer including the movements they composed during and when they lived and died. They also know a great deal about music theory and are able to recognize musical techniques, patterns and more just by listening to the music.

Now, I like music, but I can't say I know much about this in depth history the others in the class seem to know. If I were to take this module's equivalent at High Point, I'm sure that a fair number of the other attendees would be taking this course for a GenEd requirement and thus wouldn't have that much background knowledge on the topic. This is obviously not the case here. All of this has left me with one feeling: overwhelmed. As I sat in the class, I felt extremely uncomfortable. I felt like I was already behind and the class hadn't even started yet.

Note: the above was actually written in the hour break between the lecture and seminar portion of my music class. Since then I have actually dropped the music class. I feel as though it wasn't the best use of my time and credits because, although I am by practice a hard worker, it would take a long time to catch up on the years of theory and music history that seems to be needed for this class, time that I don't have. I didn't want to change any of what I wrote, however, because it is a raw reaction to a situation in which I found myself.

I will now be taking the module British Heritage and Culture for credit with our Oxford Brookes Liason Peter (you call your professors by their first names here).  This is actually the first time I have ever dropped a course, but if I had to do it once, this was definitely the time. Just knowing that I won't be in the music class makes the weight on my shoulders lighten. I want to truly enjoy my time here in England and stressing about a class I probably shouldn't have been able to take wasn't the best way for me to do so.

There you have some of the basic differences between going to college in America and uni in the UK. I'm sure more will pop up as I continue to go through classes. I'll update you once I've delved deeper into each of my classes.