First, the United States does not distinguish between arts and sciences.

To understand the difference between American universities and China universities, the most important thing is to understand the essence of American university education.

In China, the college entrance examination is divided into liberal arts, which are "incompatible", so you can't apply for liberal arts if you apply for science, and vice versa.

In the United States, there is no distinction between arts and sciences in entering a university, and students have no such concept. When entering the university, many students simply don't know which major or department they want to go to, so they will enter the school first and then decide their professional direction in the second and third grades.

There are two main reasons why American universities are not eager to let students choose their own majors when they enter school:

One is that American undergraduates attach great importance to "general education": in a modern pluralistic society, they provide the educated with knowledge and values that are popular among different groups of people. In the United States, professional education is given priority to after graduate students.

The other is that students have just graduated from high school, and they are not very clear about their abilities and what to learn in the future. Therefore, I hope that students will have a process of adaptation, learning and understanding after entering the university, and then choose their favorite major.

American universities are divided into public education courses and professional education courses. Public courses, mathematics, English, writing, etc. It is a compulsory course for all students, and the others are compulsory courses.

Second, American universities have no "classes"

When China went to college, he had already decided which department to enter, and then put the freshmen in different classes, such as Class One, Class Two and Class Three in Chinese Department. For the next four years, college life will be based on classes, and each class will have a monitor and student representative for a course, which will be the same as that of primary and secondary schools.

The so-called classmates mainly refer to classmates. Except for elective courses, everyone attended the same basic courses and professional courses for four years, and after four years, they formed a deep affection. Therefore, class is not only the core organization of students, but also the foundation of universities.

The so-called "class" in American universities is based on the school, and all students who enter the university in the same year are a "class", which is similar to the meaning of grade in Chinese. So when it comes to class, the concept of American college students is only "class" (equivalent to class), such as Yale University 1990 class and Harvard University's 20 12 class.

Third, American college students hint their feelings through dormitory.

There are no "classes" in American universities, and students deal with different classmates every day. So how did they build their relationship?

One of the main bases for establishing feelings among American college students is the student dormitory. People who live in the same room will often become good friends in the future. Because there is no class, people living in the same dormitory often choose different majors, which can be chemistry or music.

Because most university dormitories are only used by freshmen and sophomores, people living in the same dormitory basically broke up in the third year. Some of them can continue to look for a house outside the campus together, and some will go home.

There are also many schools' accommodation regulations that need to be rearranged every year, because students must all move out of the dormitory during the summer vacation, and when they return to the student dormitory after the summer vacation, they may not be their original roommates.

In addition to dormitories, joining various student associations is also an important way to strengthen the mutual contact between students. There are various fraternities, sororities and interest groups on campus. Participating in these student groups can not only meet the needs of extracurricular activities, but also be an important way to socialize.

Fourth, the school manages students through their studies and tuition fees.

There are no "classes" in American universities, so how do schools manage students?

Simply put, the school mainly manages students from their studies and tuition fees. Most universities in the United States implement the credit system, and students can graduate after completing the required credits. The school will supervise whether students choose their major and graduate on time according to the credits they get each year.

Generally speaking, students have to decide their major in the third year at the latest, that is, they will belong to a department or college. If students haven't decided their major in the third year, it will be difficult to complete the required credits in the last year, which means they can't graduate on time.

5. American universities do not assess the employment rate.

As for "American universities don't assess the employment rate?" Theoretically speaking, the employment rate of students is not an evaluation index of university teaching at all, and there will be no pressure on any teacher, department or college.

However, there are many university rating agencies in America. When rating universities, these institutions will consider the employment rate of graduates from each school. The higher the employment rate, the more attractive it is to students. There is no doubt about it.

In the process of selecting talents, universities take social and family factors as indicators to measure students' "character". Whether you have the character to overcome difficulties and obstacles in your future career is the key to your success. And this kind of character, from how to "overcome the challenges of life" before you go to college, can be very clearly reflected.

Some people misinform that a university that they have never heard of must not be a good university. That's not true. There are many universities in the United States, and some universities have high exposure, such as rankings and sports competitions, so these universities are often known. However, there are also many universities with excellent academic performance. Because of their low exposure, people know less about them. Even so, these universities are still good universities.

Summary:

At present, there is a great difference between Chinese and American universities, and there are many reasons for this phenomenon.

Although the higher education in China has also made great progress in recent years, and the top universities in China, such as Peking University and Tsinghua, rank higher and higher in the world, it is also true that the distribution of educational resources (especially high-quality educational resources) in China is extremely unbalanced.

We have no intention of worshipping foreign things, but from the perspective of objective evaluation, universities in developed countries such as the United States are much better than most universities in China in terms of teaching quality, academic level and software and hardware facilities. If conditions permit, you can try it.