Arcadia Scotland

When thinking about the culture shocks I would experience when studying abroad in London, I thought about all of the stereotypical things: cars on the other side of the road or slang I might not understand. However, one of the biggest things that I wish I knew going into my time at Queen Mary University of London is how a British education would be different from studying at my home institution.

For starters, you spend a lot less time in class than you would at an American university. Most of my classes involve a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar or just a two-hour seminar. While this initially seemed like less of a workload, British professors intend for you to use the extra time outside of class doing more independent study. It can be easy to use the freedom in your schedule in fun ways, but I highly recommend sticking to a similar time-commitment schedule like the U.S. That way, you are not stuck feeling overwhelmed at the end of the semester.

One of the other things that was very jarring for me was the grading scale. British universities abide by a marking system that is different from the U.S. For them, a 70, 72, or 75 is our equivalent of an A, whereas a 90-100 is considered publishable work. It was terrifying to open my first assignment and think I had gotten a C or a D. There is no need to panic at all if you see something in the high 60s or low 70s in the gradebook. That actually means you are doing a really good job! A lot of professors are also aware that they are teaching associate students and may clarify what their grade equates to in the U.S. system or will be happy to explain the conversion.

The coursework itself can also be a bit of a shock, especially if you are in the humanities. Most professors, at least in the history and English courses I have taken, assign certain readings for the week but provide further or additional readings on the side as well. It can be daunting to see an added list of ten or twelve readings for each week, but that does not mean you need to be completing an inordinate amount of readings to be prepared for each class. As one of my professors explained it to me, the further readings section can be used to help your understanding, give more insight into a topic that interests you, or help with final paper research. It is a good thing to keep in mind and look at each week, but there is no need to tackle all of the additional sources for class.

Above all, the most frustrating difference I have come across is the lack of freedom UK students have to choose courses in different disciplines. British university students come in with an idea of one topic they want to study, similar to our majors in the U.S. However, they are not usually allowed to deviate and take courses in other areas of interest. While this may seem irrelevant for study abroad students, it has a big impact on creating your schedule for the semester. Because the UK system is not used to students who take classes across disciplines, there are often time clashes between your courses. This can be easily aggravating when you have to find backup courses that do not overlap or have to completely change around your schedule, like I did. My best advice would be to keep calm. In your first few days, at least in my experience at Queen Mary, there are plenty of people around to help you navigate academic issues who will provide you with the emails or offices to visit to resolve any issues. Everyone wants to help and is aware of the different situations for study abroad students, so as long as you advocate for yourself persistently, ironing out any problems is easy.

Some of these academic changes may seem daunting, but I have actually enjoyed getting to participate in a different educational culture from what I am used to. If you can embrace the opportunity to try something new academically, it can be a really rewarding part of the study abroad experience.