[kent-grads] entry US/UK universities

[Killara Burn <J.K.Burn@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Writing as a Kent alumna and NOT as a representative of 
the University:

The only real difference between the student 
who has graduated from high school in the US and the one 
who has completed A levels in the UK is that the UK student 
is focussed in a very narrow subject area, and therefore 
knows more about that/those subject/s but less about 
everything else.  The American has a broader education 
through highschool and then through undergraduate 
university years as well - doing 4 years of uni as, for 
example, a pre-medical student, and then going to medical 
school and having the additional same number of years a 
medic would have here [ditto law, business, etc] - that is 
from when the UK medic first enters uni.

The junior year abroad here was designed with that 
difference in specialization in mind.  If Americans 
struggle here, it is because they are used to more contact 
hours, more teaching than students get in the UK, and they 
don't have the specialist background of their British peers.

To compare the essays students in the UK write now with 
those the US students write now would be instructive - 
essay writing in the UK has, very sadly, changed a lot over 
the recent decades....  

On fees:    US states charge in-state and out-of-state fees 
because 
(1)they expect the state to benefit from its residents (who 
they hope will remain residents) attending university. 
(2) also, state residents pay state tax, so they've paid 
something towards the state university system.  

Out-of-state residents pay significantly more (just as 
overseas students do here) - in fact it can be nearly as 
much as the private colleges/universities charge (over $20k 
for tuition fee alone per year - I'm probably behind the 
times - I'll bet it's closer to $30k now.)  


Killara





-
To unsubscribe, send email to list-manager@xxxxxxxxxx containing just the
text: "unsubscribe kent-grads" (without the quotes).
For further information email "help" to list-manager@xxxxxxxxxx