America's Uni Education System - confused

Right, a lot of my friends are currently at American unis, but I don't seem to understand their education system at all!
I, myself, went to an American high school for 3 years so know about SATS and AP tests and all that, but I don't understand their uni/college system.
Would someone be kind enough to explain it to me, please?
Like I was wondering... how can they decide what they wanna study in their 2nd or 3rd year? Is it true that they can change their major anytime they want? What's a double major? What do they get after 4 years? Do they get a bachelor's degree? What happens after that?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm genuinely very curious and want to learn more about how uni works there.
Thanks

Reply 1

Baltimoron

A person can declare a major(course) in their freshman/first year. However, most people don't. Most usually decide by their 3rd year/junior year. For the first 2 years you would take general liberal arts classes. Math, science, english, hisotry/social studies, etc. Yes, it is true that a person can change their major anytime they want. A double major is when your major in two things(I know that's a pretty terrible explanation. For example, a person could double major in history and psychology. So, instead of graduating with one major, they graduate with two. However, that usually involves more work.

Yes, you do get a bachelor's degree after 4 years. After that, you graduate and either enter the work force or go on to graduate school.

Hope that helps!

Reply 2

drive like june

Generally, you will want to know what major you want as soon as possible if you can. Some majors have prerequisites and so people generally take those before declaring their major. The school may also have general requirements to graduate such as language credits, math credits, physical education, etc so you would usually do them in your first year.

You can change majors, but the prerequisites might be different, so you may have to satisfy those requirements first. Some people might even spend 5-6 years doing their undergrad just because of this.

A double major is as Baltimoron correctly point out, when you have two major fields of study haha. In general, people graduate after four years with a bachelors degree across a range of disciplines. I use 'general' a lot because there are all sorts of routes you could take depending on the program. Some offer a master's degree after four years.

After that, it's really up to you what you want to do with your life.

Reply 3

Erradhadh

Also - US unis operate on a credit system where (3 credit hours = one course, usually but it can range from 2 to 6 credit hours) you usually take 15 credit hours (15 hours of contact time per week). If you know how to combine classes well, you can 'maxamise' your degree while still finishing on time.

As in, you decide to major in History and Maths. Both of those would have different General Course requirements and (obviously) different required courses. However, within the General Courses you can find courses that both satisfy the GC reqs for both Maths and History. Also, outside of the 'hard' reqs that History and Maths would have (say 'Global History 101: A General Survey of World History' and 'Calculus I'), there are reqs that you can choose a variety of courses (like take at least three 3000-level courses). There might exist a course called 'The History and Maths and Science' and it might be a 3000 level course cross-referenced in BOTH the history and maths departments. Once you know how to combine courses well you can maxamise your potential with additional certificates, minors, or the like. Obviously, something like History and Maths is difficult to do with much overlap, but something like Politics and History would have much more overlap - with a potential for maybe an International Studies minor.

I don't know how coherent this was to someone unfamiliar with the US system.

For an example, with 3 years study, I ended up with:
BA in Politics, minor in History
BSc in Economics, minor in Maths
Plus a few 'certificates'

Obviously, I tended to take more than 15 hours/semester and you need to find what you find manageable, but remember that you're still there to get a degree. Unfortunately, many people forget that whilst at uni at seems... :s-smilie:

Reply 4

L'Autrichienne

Baltimoron

It's worth noting that at most schools you have to declare a major by your sophomore/2nd year. Many schools have required classes, but others adopt what's called an open curriculum, where you're allowed to take whatever you want as long as you take classes in certain areas that the government requires--otherwise, you can't graduate. A lot of people go into university not knowing what they want to do, and you are pretty much expected to change your major at least once, but others go to specific schools (for acting/art/music/etc.) where you really... well, can't.

Reply 5

ILIGAN

Hey, OP.

It's mostly only in private schools that you can declare major on the 2nd/3rd yr college level. most state Uinis would require their applicants to apply to their unis with a chosen/declared major. shifting is also easy in most private schools, but doing that whilst in a state uni could be very hard.

Reply 6

Baltimoron

ILIGAN

No offense, but you're completely wrong. The majority of students change majors at least once(in both public and private schools). For example, my step-brother declared kinesiology as his major during his sophomore year. He then proceeded to change his major to finance and finally he settled/graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Reply 7

ILIGAN

Sorry that my statement was confusing. What I was actually saying is that -- the system that the OP was saying is commonly practiced at private schools, wherein applicants who still haven't decided on which to major in college can just apply for undeclared. You can apply to Yale or Princeton as an undeclared major student and just choose a major after a year or 2. That is something that State Universities aren't really encouraging to their students because most state unis in the US do run by departments, that's why shifting at State U is harder, though still possible.

When you apply to UCLA, for example, you need to declare your major. Of course, you can shift out after a year or so, but you will have a hard time being accepted into the other departments within the university because some majors are capped. In contrast, shifting courses at say, Dartmouth, is very easy because the programs at Dartmouth aren't capped, so admission is just as easy as telling the school that I'm changing my course, and that's it. At UCLA, you have to apply to the department where you're transferring. If you qualify, you'll get in. But there's a very high chance that you don't.

Reply 8

shyammi12456

If i've done a levels, will I still have to take the SAT tests even though I want to go in for freshman application.

Reply 9

Sam4God

Thank you VERY MUCH to all of you who replied. :smile:

You all really helped!
Just one last question... If you want to apply to a US Uni and are sure about what you want to study, do you have to write about it in your essay/personal statement? Or are the essays mainly focused about your life in general and not about a specific subject you're interested in?
Thanks again

Reply 10

Baltimoron

Sometimes there is and sometimes there isn't a personal statement. If you are filling out the common app you will have to write a personal statement. You will usually have to write a series of essays responding to certain questions. For example, they might give you 5 questions and make you only respond to 2 or 3 of them. Sometimes the questions can get pretty random.

Here are some links to college admissions questions:

University of Chicago: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/essays.shtml

Tufts University : http://admissions.tufts.edu/downloads/TuftsSupplement.pdf

As you can see the questions are pretty varied and random. Have fun!