Have you ever wondered what it’s like to go to school in another country? Of course you have! Everyone does. And when you consider the fact that KU happens to have one of the best University Study Abroad Programs in the country, it’s no surprise that this is an especially common question among our student body. Recently, a few of us writers from the KU chapter of Her Campus (HC) had the pleasure of meeting with two girls from the Durham HC chapter in England (yes, England as in the David Beckham England). What began as a simple inquiry about the day in the life of a student from the United States compared to that of a student in England quickly morphed into a nearly two-hour long conversation from topics ranging to popular drinking games in each country to the differing types of health care systems in place. Here are a few of the main differences that stuck out to us.
Slang
Though this may seem like a small comparison at first, the very first difference you’ll find when comparing UK and U.S. Students is how we refer to them. In the U.S., High school is normally grades 9-12, and anything beyond that is called college. But in the UK, they refer to “secondary” as grades 9-10, “college” as grades 11-12, and anything beyond that is called “University,” or “Uni” for short. Confusing, we know.
“Pre-Gaming” as we call it is otherwise known as “Pre-Drinks” in the UK.
They also refer to their freshman as “Freshers,” which is a lot nicer than the nicknames U.S. Students have for freshman (fresh-meat, freshie, fresh-bait). But at least we all have the same feelings toward the freshman population.
And just because I (Jacey) like the way the words sound, two of the most common curse words in the UK that aren’t commonly used in the U.S. are “bugger” and “bollocks.” Bugger can replace what Americans would use the “F-Word” for, and bollocks can generally be used as the American “sucks.” Or, much like with American curse words, you can just throw them in anywhere in a sentence and it will more likely than not make sense.
ex: “Bugger off!” or “Man, that movie was a load of bollocks!
It might not sound very significant, but having a conversation with a UK student can be very confusing if you don’t know the proper slang!
Life Plan
Besides the fact that students only attend Uni for three years instead of four (also, the first year doesn’t even count towards your final “marks”), students are encouraged to major in whatever they want to. In America, we typically try to earn a degree related to our intended future career path, but in the UK, they are able to get a job in just about anything they want, regardless of their major.
Meaning, even if you’re studying psychology because you think it’s interesting, you can easily get a job in an accounting firm after college- say what?
(As a minor side note, I (Danielle) also found it very interesting when they told us that a Business degree from virtually any school in the UK is looked down upon, regardless if the student actually wants to go into the business world after school.)
Gap years
The girls revolutionized our ideas about gap years and studying abroad. Employers, as well as students, in England place a much higher emphasis on taking a gap year than people do in the United States. Furthermore, many students, including HC Durham’s Editor-in-Chief Serena, take a gap year between their last year of college and first year of work. In Serena’s case, her future employer even agreed to hire her before she started her gap year, so that once it is completed, she has a job completely secured.
The girls were astonished to hear that in the United States, students generally either decide to take a gap year before going to college, or to never take one, and that for the majority of people it would be considered career suicide to take a year to do whatever we want after graduating from college and before starting a job.
Drinking Age
Okay, so most of us probably already know this, but for those of you that don’t, the (legal) drinking age in the U.S. is 21, but in the UK, it’s only 18! (As if you needed more reason to study abroad, #amiright)
Because of this drastic age limit difference, the college/uni experiences have major contrasts of what freshman year is like. According to the ladies we collaborated with, the first week of school (commonly referred to as Freshers Week) is literally nothing but a giant drunken blur of bonding with your new “flatmates” and getting acquainted with the lovely bar scenes in town.
No Greek Life
Half of you are probably dying from despair at the mere thought of college without sororities and fraternities running amok,
while the other half is most likely trying to keep from squealing with pure joy at the prospect of a Greek-free zone.
Reasons for the UK never really adapting the Greek life mantra have never been made entirely clear, but regardless, the absence of this American College tradition can make or break your college experience, depending on who you’re talking to.
Loans
Ah yes, every student’s favorite word. They haunt our dreams,
loom over our futures
& pile on the mountains of extra stress we already can’t handle as it is.
When you think of the American education loan system, what is it that piles on all these negative aspects? Yes, you’re right again, INTEREST RATES. Interest rates are what can either skyrocket your future, or sink it before it even starts.
So why bring this up? Well, in the United Kingdom, interest rates DON’T EXIST. You heard us. ZERO. PERCENT. INTEREST.
And to top it all off, if you are unable to repay your loans 35 years after leaving/finishing school, they are forgiven. FORGIVEN. As in, completely written off, done, no longer in existence.
WHY CAN’T THE UNITED STATES ADOPT THIS “FORGIVENESS” THING?
(Also, just to add to the hate-fire of U.S. tuition costs, the UK also has no out-of-state fees, just out-of-country.)
Sports
As KU students, most of us will freely admit that one of, if not THE best part of the college experience is basketball.
There’s nothing like the bonding, the camaraderie, and the pure joy of watching a college basketball game. (Especially if you happen to go to the University of Kansas, which is widely known as one of the top college basketball teams in the country).
So imagine a place that not only didn’t care about basketball, but where it basically doesn’t exist! (oh, the horror)!
In the UK, rather than our beloved (and trademarked) game of basketball, the big sport to celebrate is… rowing. While rowing is an incredible sport that takes a lot of talent (KU even has a rowing team!), we find it hard to imagine the same excitement rising within thousands of students in Allen Field House happening over a rowing tournament. When it comes to this drastic difference, we have to say, the U.S. definitely takes the cake, at least in our eyes!
Well, there ya have it folks. You are now fully prepared (at least to some extent) to head to the United Kingdom! While the U.S. and UK both have many differences and similarities, the important thing is to love them for what they are. If we all had the same cultural values, than we would never get to experience the excitement of a new place. So don’t be afraid to see the world, get out there and explore!
Interested in what the UK thinks of the US? Check out their story here.