<p>What are the differences and discrepancies, pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages?</p>
<p>@stressedouttt</p>
<p>stressed will be able to help you out with this question on the UK side!</p>
<p>Biggest difference is that in the UK you study only one (or occasionally two) subjects for your whole degree course. No gen ed requirements. This means that it’s great for someone who wants to focus, but not so great if you have no idea what you want to major in. </p>
<p>Degrees are only three years long, and often work out cheaper than staying in the US (but there’s effectively no FA for international students, so sticker price = real price)</p>
<p>Drinking age is 18, so alcohol is a big part of the social life </p>
<p>It’s normal to move out into a shared house off campus in first year </p>
<p>Continual assessment isn’t really a thing - assessment is much more based around final essays and exams. </p>
<p>There’s no such thing as GPA. Grades are given as a percentage, and then converted into a final overall degree classification of 1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd or Ordinary. </p>
<p>The university itself will do a lot less hand holding than a US college - you’re very much treated as an adult at 18. </p>
<p>@nordicblue and @cupcake might also be interested in this thread 
</p>
<p>I was at a British university for awhile.
You take around 12 classes to graduate over the course of 3 years.
Some Universities have a 4th year option for honors, others just grant you honors after the end of your 3 year program. (I have no idea what’s the difference in terms of spending an extra year)
The grading system was percentage based, so 70% and above gets you an A, B was 60%-69%.
You basically study all the material during the duration of your course and vomit everything out on a final paper.
Some classes had lectures followed by tutorials. Every week, you have a 3 hour lecture followed by a 90min tutorial class on that same subject. Lectures had like 200 people, tutorials had like 20 a class.
I think other Uk Uni’s might have a different method of delivery.</p>
<p>It’s been many years, but I spent a year at St Andrews in Scotland. There were labs and papers but most of your evaluation was based on a year end exam. The exams were, in my case, all essays. Brit students are very good at guessing the likely topics for these essay exams and then preparing for each. My classes were often run more like seminars. One plus for me was that if you are studying Geology, for example you don’t need a year of physics or calculus. They teach you what you need for Geology and that’s it.</p>
<p>The biggest difference would be the duration; you can graduate with an undergrad degree in 3 years in UK. Unlike in the US where you can have liberty to choose courses especially in freshman and sophomore years, there is no such thing in UK. They are more focused from day one, which is both good and bad.
Another big difference is in the way you are taught. In UK you’ll have lectures and then seminars or tutorials. Lectures are big, where there is next to no teacher-student interaction. Tutorials are small groups where you will be asked questions, so better be prepared.
Another big difference which actually sucks is that there is only one final exam in UK, it is essentially 100% of your grade, so if you get sick or something on exam day, you’re done. The US grading system is a lot better since you’ll have quizzes, projects, mid-terms and then finals. Sometimes the final exam doesn’t even count in the US. So a lot less pressure. </p>
<p>Where in the UK, and where in the US? There’s a big range. Everyone else seemed to have covered a bit already. </p>
<p>Some things that are constant would be that in the UK, a bachelors program is 3 years long (and there’s sometimes the options of doing a 4 years to get a masters as well). You concentrate on your specific subject area only. There are no general requirements. It’s not a GPA system. To give you an idea, a 1st class (best degree) at my uni would be 70% and up. Which sounds easy, but once you see the exams you’ll see it’s not as easy as it looks. 
</p>
<p>The grade is usually composed of both coursework and exams at the end of the year and/or semester. How much coursework you get compared to examinations depends on your degree. The first year marks count very little towards your final degree mark (about 10% for me). In other words, if I get 60% after averaging out my classes for my first year, that would count as 10% of my final mark. Second year counts around 30% I believe, with third year being 60% (if you’re on the 3 year bachelors program anyways).</p>
<p>If you want more UK details, PM me.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any UK uni where 1 single exam at the end of 3 years determines your entire grade, but this was historically the case. I went to Cambridge which is one of the most extreme and for my course (and assessment varies very much by course), Natural sciences, the first year counted for 0%. I just had to pass the end of year exams. This meant getting 40% on average over 7 papers in 4 subjects (cell biology, cell biology practical, ecology, ecology practical, chemistry, chemistry practical which was actually a grade from one class per week over the entire year, and maths). The second year was similar but with only 3 subjects (and counted for 0% of my final grade again). In the third year I did a project over many months which counted for about 40% of my grade I think. Then 5 essay papers on various aspects of Zoology. These were for the other 60%. </p>
<p>This is the most extreme case. It’s much more common to find the situation which stressedout describes with the first year counting for about 10%, and this grade not being all from exams but including projects, team work and practical classes/science labs if you are studying a science course.</p>
<p>There is usually a lot of writing involved in UK courses. Very few multiple choice tests. Also, you get no credit for attendance. You get credit for achievement. if you attend no lectures but get 100% on the exams and other assessments, you get 100%.</p>
<p>You will find every course described in great detail on UK uni websites. i quite like this unistats site which allows you to compare UK courses.</p>
<p><a href=“http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/”>http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/</a></p>
<p>UK degree grades are as follows (roughly. They vary by institution)
1/ first = 70%+
2.1 / upper second = 60% +
2.2 / lower second = 50% +
3 / third = 40%+
pass without honours = 30-40%
Below that is likely a fail. They definitely WILL fail you. Exams are anonymous. You can’t plead with a professor to raise your grade because they just mark an anonymous paper with your private exam number on it. They won’t know it is you.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>
One thing I forgot to mention about this. It might depend on the degree (though I doubt it), but, although 1st year counts for very little, you have to know what you learned in 1st year inside out. It’s your foundation, and if you don’t know it well, you’ll really struggle in later years.</p>
<p>
True, although for my physics lectures, they take attendance. It doesn’t officially count for your grade. However, it’s good to have good attendance so they can give you the benefit of the doubt if you ever need it. For example, if at the end of your 3rd year, you have a borderline grade (e.g. a 68, just 2 marks shy of a 1st class), they might look at your record and say, “this student had good attendance, was hard working, etc.” and bump you up to a 70.
I would probably get a talk to for missing too many seminars as well.
Some departments and some universities take attendance more seriously than others.</p>
<p>I think there is some confusion here. My understanding is that English universities have 3 year courses (for most subjects; medicine is an exception and there may be others.) Scottish universities are 4 year courses. </p>
<p>Scottish Universities do have a 4 year course with a broader first year. English and Welsh universities have 3 year courses, but languages are usually 4 including a year abroad, as are science courses where an undergraduate Masters may be earned, and ‘sandwich’ courses which include a year in practice. Medical, dental and vetinerary degrees are all longer. Some nursing and professions allied to medicine have longer academic years. There are probably other variations.
As Cupcake says there are many variations in assessment practices. All years must be passed regardless of how marks are aggregated.</p>
<p>To augment cupcake’s response, when I was at college in the UK (less than 30 years ago!) the entire grade for my degree was based on the final exam in the third year - there were no mid-terms, projects or quizzes and no weight on other years. (It was actually four 3-hour exams over two days, IIRC; a 75% grade would be sufficient to gain a ‘First’.) Also as others have pointed out, there are no classes required extraneous to the degree (I didn’t write an essay during my whole time at college), and there was no choice on which classes to take for at least the first year.
For ‘student life’, yes alcohol traditionally plays a large part (as it does for adults in the UK in general, compared to the US), and the general feel at most UK uni’s is similar to a medium-large state school in the US but without the sports. There is comparatively no emphasis on college sports in the UK (players who intend to go professional in the major sports are able to do so directly from high school, so the best usually do so), and there is little school spirit derived from the sports teams. It would be much harder to change major in the UK, and despite the availability and overuse of alcohol it is far less common to drop out or change school.</p>
<p>I have some general questions about student life in the UK - St. Andrews/ U of Edinburgh primarily. My daughter has been accepted to both and is still deciding.
I know this will sound strange but are the dorm/accommodation rooms warm??? My son’s girlfriend is in uni at a very reputable uni in England and when he is at home (here in the U.S.) and skyping with her she is bundled up wearing her coat, a hat and scarf - and that is inside her room!! She posted on facebook a picture of friends sitting around a common room wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags! Her being bundled up in her room is a daily event. Don’t get me wrong she is very happy but it is cold in her room! Is that common in the UK for dorm rooms?
My next question is how safe is Edinburgh to traverse as a single girl going about on her own? There are not a lot of U.S. cities where late at night I would say it is okay for a girl to walk around by herself. Is that an issue she should be aware of or is it safer in Edinburgh?</p>
<p>I should point out that although the drinking age (without parental consent) is 18 in the UK and alcohol is a big part of many students’ lives, there’s no reason to worry if you don’t drink. You’ll still get on fine.</p>
<p>
The situation with dorms depends on where you dorm. It can vary for different buildings, even within the same university.
At my dorms, they sometimes turn off the central heating (meaning I can’t turn on the heater in my room. They do this to save energy (they call it conserving, I call it stingy and extreme… anywho). So it does get cold sometimes. Most of the time it’s alright. It’s something that I can live with.
I’ve also heard that some dorms (although not mine) make you completely move out of your room during vacation times.</p>
<p>I had to completely move out of my room during holidays (at Cambridge). There was some storage in the loft but most things you had to take home. It is so the university can make money by renting out the rooms to conferences/study abroad students (note if you take part in a summer program at an Oxbridge college - they will charge you 3x the price for accommodation and put 2 students in a room. But normally they are all single rooms).</p>
<p>It is normal in the UK to turn all heating off at night. This is because heating is EXTREMELY expensive, and fuel poverty (that is having to choose between heating or eating) is very common in the general population. My little house costs £75+ per month for gas an electric, and that is considered cheap. So I have timer on the heating system which turns everything off at 11.30 and back on at 7am. On a working day I have the heating on only 7-8am and 7-11.30pm. Also, room temperatures do tend to be kept a bit cooler than in the US (probably about 20C), and this is especially true in older buildings. I also suspect Hopey’s student might come from a warm climate and not be used to the cold. I’ve never heard of students wearing coats, hats and sleeping bags inside, so I would query if the heating was actually on (for example, is it on a meter which you have to feed with coins and they don’t know that? Or they actually have to light the gas boiler) or broken? They should check this with the university maintenance. Is it also possible they don’t have proper clothing. It won’t be warm enough to wear shirts and t-shirts inside (and pretty much never outside) in winter. But jeans and 2-3 upper layers should be fine (especially as this winter has been mild and very wet so far). My experience of university halls for foreign students is the opposite - they are far too hot. Heated up to 30C night and day to keep full-fee paying students from Singapore happy.</p>
<p>In terms of violent crime pretty much everywhere in the UK is much much much safer than the US. Even the police don’t carry guns. I wouldn’t recommend for anyone to wander round any city anywhere alone at 3am, But going to students events with a group at any time will be fine, as will using public transport. Also, redefine “night”. In winter in Edinburgh it’s going to be dark by 4pm and not properly light again till nearly 9am. If no-one went out in the dark, no-one could do much at all. It will not be possible to avoid it. </p>
<p>I don’t think people in the UK would understand the term “school spirit” at all. They would probably think it was something haunting the attic! </p>
<p>There is a very big difference between living in little middle-of-nowhere St Andrews and big city Edinburgh. They are very different environments and I think most people would have a strong preference for one over the other.</p>
<p>
I just found out yesterday that Oxford has your entire degree based on exams at the end of the 3rd year for certain majors. o_o My 2nd cousin graduated a few years ago, and she said there was a total of 24 hours exam time in May of her final year that determined her degree classification.</p>
<p>
Where do I sign up for these halls?</p>
<p>Thank you for your response. Cupcake your explanation of not heating the halls at night makes sense.<br>
These questions are purely my own. My daughter hasn’t even thought of the heating issue. Yes, you are right, we are from a large city in a warm climate but DD has spent a significant amount of time in the northeastern part of the US and has actually had lots of exposure to a cold environment. She will be fine, I’m not too worried it just surprises me to see my son’s girlfriend so bundled up. I feel you need to be comfortable to be able to study. That being said you are so right I have definitely been to places that have the heat cranked up too much and that is really miserable (I am being serious). Stressoutt your response made me laugh. (as did your response Cupcake to school spirit! 
)
The question about safety is because my daughter is strongly leaning towards St. Andrews and would like to be able to go into Edinburgh on an occasional weekend (for the day) on her own if she can’t find someone interested.
She is much more drawn to the town and school of St. Andrews but doesn’t want to give up museums and interesting cultural events in Edinburgh. I was thinking of her safety at night (and I did say ‘late at night’) but was really thinking after stores/museums close!! Lol, this was a cultural break down on my part! I’m thinking after shops/museums close which here could be 9:00 (maybe earlier but dark out) - and that is late at night!! The idea of her walking around Edinburgh at 3 a.m. by herself made my eyes pop! Til now (anyway) clubbing and staying out until morning doesn’t seem to interest her. Of course there is a legal age difference here but she in general is not a big partier.<br>
So, this brings me to another question (and sorry I will have quite a few over the coming months I’m sure) but when do students go out for the evening? Here in the U.S. clubs/bars close at 2:00 a.m. In my college days (don’t judge) we’d go out around 8:00 for dinner or drinks at a restaurant then if we went to a club we’d get there around 10:00 and were certainly ready to be done by 2:00! And I was in an all American sorority with lots of partying and we were usually home by 2:00 a.m. I have read comments about UK unis students complaining about clubs not being open long enough (2;00) and it sounds like student are staying out til 3:00-5:00 a.m. Also, back in my college days and with the U.S. students I know now drinking/clubbing generally takes place on Thursday - Sat. but not the rest of the week. What is the “norm” in the UK - just curious? Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Hopey05, though it’s many years ago, I lived in University Hall in St. Andrews. I would say the halls were heated but certainly not warm and toasty. Each room had an "electric fire " (ie. space heater). You had to plug it with 25p coins. I will admit to having picked the lock box on the heater and using the same 25p over and over. The shower/tub area was very cold in the morning. That kept me moving right along in the mornings. St Andrews was a wonderful place to go to University and I’m sure that hasn’t changed a bit.</p>
<p>I am a female foreigner who lives alone in the UK and I really don’t worry about my personal safety ever. Even when I go places I have never been before. In general it is safe to walk the streets and I never think about it. I have been to Edinburgh twice and once was on my own. Still alive. Nothing happened. It’s just not this terrifying, threatening and dangerous place you are imagining. You are much much much more likely to be murdered in the US. I commute to London (a million times more dangerous than Edinburgh) and get the 12.35am train home alone all the time. It is full of drunks but I have never felt threatened. As long as your D has normal city smarts she will be fine. </p>
<p>The shops in Edinburgh won’t be open till 9pm. Normally most places are closed by 6pm in the UK (bear in mind in the winter it will be dark long before then) apart from some supermarkets are open 24 hours. Late night shopping (open till 8) is on Thursdays. In some places this is all the time, but in other places only the 6 weeks before Christmas. I have just googled Jenners of Edinburgh, the most famous department store in the city. It shuts at 6.30pm most days, but is open till 8pm on Thursdays, 6pm on Sundays, 7pm on Saturdays. Lot of people will go to Edinburgh for a day trip from St Andrews. You have to to to Leuchars to get the train. No big deal. You will be surrounded by others doing the same.</p>
<p>As I posted before, it will be pitch black by 4pm at the worst point of the winter. “Night” is 16 hours long and maybe a bit more. If no-one went out in the dark, no-one could go to work, school etc. It’s ok. We have streetlights.</p>
<p>Here is a little video of Edinburgh at Christmas. It’s dark but it’s early (given the number of young kids about). </p>
<p><a href=“Edinburgh's Christmas 2013 - YouTube”>Edinburgh's Christmas 2013 - YouTube;
<p>Here you can find sunset times for Edinburgh. Today sunset was at 5.32pm. On 21st December (winter solstice) it was at 3.40pm, and sunrise the following day was at 8.42am.</p>
<p>You cannot control what your D does while she is away from home I’m afraid. If her friends all go out till 5am, no doubt she will too. I very much doubt there will be anything going on at 2am in St Andrews. Most ordinary pubs (and I am sure she will go to those. They are more a social thing in the UK. You don’t have to drink alcohol) close at 11pm weekdays and sometimes later at weekends. If going to Edinburgh for clubbing, I expect students would stay out till 5am because there would probably be no public transport home between 12-5am (few students have cars, and even if they did there is little parking in central Edinburgh. I would never consider driving there). However, I have been to St Andrews once for one day, so it’s not like I am an expert! If you google the student room, you will find a UK board similar to this where there are several threads on St Andrews life. Student night (with reduced entry and drinks at clubs) is on Tuesday at most places in the UK. I cannot comment on St Andrews specifically.</p>
<p>Sorry. Missed out link for sunset times. Here it is.</p>
<p><a href=“Sun & moon times today, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom”>Sun & moon times today, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom;