International Relations Office

United States of America

Academic Life
 
Studying in United States of America
 

American tertiary education is not viewed merely as the acquisition of a higher education academic degree, but as an initiation into a new kind of society that promises a qualitatively different intellectual and social milieu.

American classrooms are generally small and organized into two parts: half lecture and half group discussion. Students are encouraged to interrupt, question and even to challenge their professors in midstream of the lecture. Other classes are organized along even more liberal lines, where students, as a team or individually, may be called upon to lead the class through certain materials and arguments. Outside classrooms, students often from study groups, especially for technically demanding subjects such as statistics.

The academic year will be slightly different for each university or college but normally runs from early September to the end of May. It may be divided into two terms of 18 weeks called semesters. Alternatively, the university may have "quarters" or "trimesters," which are about 12 weeks in length. There are at least two main holidays during the academic year: a two- to four-week break over Christmastime and a one-week "spring break" sometime between early March and mid-April.

 

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