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Universities and Colleges are reputedly the hallowed halls of intellectual development, the schools of maturation from where the leaders of our world emerge to set the world ablaze with the fruits of intellectualism. However, the produce all vary in flavours according the nature of the curriculum prescribed. The most marked divergence of tastes lie within institutions separated by oceans, and continents. Although the UK and USA share an Anglo-Saxon culture, disparities are marked within ideals of their respective education systems, further being indicative of their particular cultures.

In the USA, no matter if one is enrolled in a state school or a private liberal arts college, it is expected that students will study academic subjects outside their intended field of study. The premise of which is to cultivate a rounded individual, comfortably conversant with all mediums of academic literature, whether of artistic or scientific character. Hence on American campuses you will discover scenarios where historians may be taking courses in astrophysics.

Needless to say such a scenario would not engender smiles on the faces of their British counterparts, who’ve journeyed through system of education where from an early age specialization has been expected. Thus by the time these students commence their undergraduate training they are only expected to study within their chosen area of study. (This happens to less of a degree in Scottish universities, where students are encouraged to explore topics beyond their major, although in reality students rarely venture beyond their chosen faculty.

These structural differences influence changes within the deliverance of classes. Due to obligation of students to study outside their fields of study the US prescribes a broader, but less in depth of an enquiry of study. Whereas, breadth is shunned in favour of more narrowly focused, but deeper lines of study within British establishments. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses. Critics of British education would point towards the enforced learning of unnecessary information, whereas defenders of the British universities may counter by accusations of “dumbing down” in college classes. My personal perception, based from studying in two small universities/colleges in the UK and the US, that aside from a divergence between curriculum's, there is a marked difference of ethos between UK and USA higher education institutions.

On American campuses, work is constantly requested from students on a daily basis. In contrast the British university calendar invites extra-intensive work in patches, separated by periods of lulls, thus creating large tracts of downtime between assignments. It this downtime that characterises the British university lifestyle where social life is the veritable engine of UK university life, pushing academia into the passenger seat. In contrast academia takes the fore in America colleges, largely due to structured system in American colleges brought by an emphasis upon teaching. Work is definitely more intensive in American colleges, which is to be expected given that American students pay significantly more than their British counterparts, and hence American students tend to be more motivated than their apathetic British counterparts.

So concluding with my personal endnote of bias, I would have to admit that American Colleges invite more of a rigorous, dynamic intellectually arousing ethos, though at the expense of cultivating an active social scene. The lessons derived within the UK university establishment arise from outside the classroom within the pubs and clubs, where social development rather than intellectual development takes preponderance. Choose your pick!

By Unicorn (Unicorn) on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - 10:09 am: Edit

nice commentary. i myself am trying to decide between going to the uk or the us.

by the way, which do you feel would be better (for whatever reasons): oxford or mit/stanford/hyp?

By Congocross (Congocross) on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - 05:09 pm: Edit

First of all plagiarizing is never a good thing Geezy. Here is the evident: http://www.internationalstudent.com/news/us_vs_uk.shtml

From the article it seems like all the efforts of the Victorian adocates for a liberal education has failed miserably. An interesting article but should have given credit to the the writer and not leave the reader guessing.

By Geezy (Geezy) on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 03:58 am: Edit

i never said i wrote it, did I?
i just thought it might b useful to someone like unicoen and that's why I gave it here ....

i beleive oxford is much more popular than mit/stanford/hyp ....... other fronts of both are great and equal ...... so oxford is better

By Congocross (Congocross) on Wednesday, March 19, 2003 - 07:09 am: Edit

You never said you wrote it but you never said you didn't either. There is a lot of "I" in the article, it sounds like you wrote it. Whether that is intention or not...I guess we will never know.

By Circuitlady (Circuitlady) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 11:54 pm: Edit

I'm deciding between going to the UK or the US as well. Both are appealing to me so I'll most likely apply to both.

Does anyone have any info about the London School of Economics? Its reputation, employment opportunities etc? I know its rather hard to get into but does anyone have any stats?

By Shelinda (Shelinda) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 06:57 am: Edit

I think it really depends on what you want from a degree. If, for example, you have specialised in the sciences, a course in Fine Art may not be particularly useful for your future career. On the other hand, if you are undecided in your interests, obviously you would be more suited to a wider curriculum.

It is also worth noting that British students are only allowed to fully specialise after they have completed GCSEs at age 16. At my school, this includes: mandatory Maths, English Lit and Lang, Welsh (I live in Wales), Combined Sciences (i.e. physics, chem, bio), religious studies, design and technology, any arts subject (e.g. drama, music, art etc.), any humanities subject (e.g. history, geography, economics etc.), plus one free choice.

All schools have mandatory cores, meaning you have to be fairly generalised. Most people do about 9/10 GCSEs, although many do 11/12.

By Yiannis550 (Yiannis550) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 03:14 pm: Edit

I am trying to decide between University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, Shiefield and other universities in US for a MSc degree. My main concern is that here in US that I got my BSc i am used to laxuries like high tech classrooms with projectors and wireless interent all arount campus. I was wondering if such things are there in UK top universities.
Also how is the attitute of the professors against the student? Here most of the professors are friendly and helpful and treat you as a person and not as a student (of course there are many exceptions)