Ask an international student!

Michiyo

21

Do you have any questions for international students? Post them here! :grin:

Reply 1

UWS

21

Original post by Michiyo

Do you have any questions for international students? Post them here! :grin:

What do you find weird about British culture? :holmes:

Reply 2

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

Why did you decide to Study in the UK? :hmmm:

Reply 3

Michiyo

OP

21

Original post by UWS

What do you find weird about British culture? :holmes:

The first aspect of British culture that baffles me is the culinary culture. My taste buds cannot comprehend how Britons can eat baked beans (especially with chips!), gravy on top of everything, cream on top of all possible cakes, and so forth.

The second thing that I find weird is the British notion of politeness. I have lived in the UK for three years and I still do not always understand what is deemed polite or rude by or why something is polite or rude. Take calling teachers by their first name, for example; it is considered standard in the UK (every teacher I have had at A-level and in university goes by their first name with their students), but to me, it seems plain rude to refer to someone much older and senior to you with such familiar terms. :erm:

I did work experience with my MP two years ago and he told me to call him by his first name. This 50-something-year-old, Cambridge-educated politician with two kids who is married to a millionaire Baroness told me, a foreign 17-year-old AS-level student, to call him by his first name. I found that really odd and could not bring myself to refer to him by any name for the rest of the day since he might have been offended if I refused to call him by his first name and I would have felt rude if I did so. :hide:

Chav culture is beyond my understanding, I am afraid.

The whole obsession with league tables, ranking of universities, going to the best possible university, and studying the best course is strange, but very interesting to me. :laugh:

Finally, another part of British culture that I find a little odd is individualism. I come from a collectivist culture and while I do not disagree with individualism over collectivism, I was surprised that people were so openly individualistic rather than collectivist. Where I come from, most people who take an individualistic rather than collectivist approach are considered rude and selfish. I myself prefer individualism over collectivism; even my own family calls me rude for this tendency of mine.

Original post by 04MR17

Why did you decide to Study in the UK? :hmmm:

For a variety of reasons :h:

- My module combination would not be possible in my home country
- My mother was here already
- I had lived in the UK before and preferred living in the UK
- The British educational system fits me more (proof: I got better results in the UK)
- Societies do not exist where I come from and I love societies
- Better work experience opportunities
- Any UK degree is better than a degree from my own country, even if I move back

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

I've added this thread to my HUGE list of similar threads where you can find help and advice from current and former students of loads of universities and courses. :woo:

Reply 5

foreignerinneed

5

Original post by Michiyo

Do you have any questions for international students? Post them here! :grin:

Hi,
I'm a senior in high school and I would like to apply for uni/college in the UK. I've been doing research for a year now but still don't understand some things so I was wondering if there's someone here who isn't from the UK but goes to uni there now? Thanks in advance.

Reply 6

Michiyo

OP

21

Original post by foreignerinneed

Hi,
I'm a senior in high school and I would like to apply for uni/college in the UK. I've been doing research for a year now but still don't understand some things so I was wondering if there's someone here who isn't from the UK but goes to uni there now? Thanks in advance.

First of all, I am going to talk a little about the difference between college and university in the UK, just in case you or someone who reads this does not know what the difference is (the fact that you wrote 'uni/college' prompted me to write this as it usually means that the person who wrote that is either confused or American). :smile:

College is equal to the eleventh and twelfth grades of high school or to a trade school in the UK. 'College' refers to university in the US, but in the UK, it is just called 'university'. Sorry if you knew this; I am just making sure the difference is clear. :pinch:

I am not from the UK and go to university in the UK. I also have a UK high school education, as well as a foreign one, so I can explain the differences if needed. Feel free to ask anything about studying in the UK. :h:

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 7

foreignerinneed

5

Original post by Michiyo

First of all, I am going to talk a little about the difference between college and university in the UK, just in case you or someone who reads this does not know what the difference is (the fact that you wrote 'uni/college' prompted me to write this as it usually means that the person who wrote that is either confused or American). :smile:

College is equal to the eleventh and twelfth grades of high school or to a trade school in the UK. 'College' refers to university in the US, but in the UK, it is just called 'university'. Sorry if you knew this; I am just making sure the difference is clear. :pinch:

I am not from the UK and go to university in the UK. I also have a UK high school education, as well as a foreign one, so I can explain the differences if needed. Feel free to ask anything about studying in the UK. :h:

Thank you for clearing that up for me :smile:

I wanted to ask what really are A levels, cause where I'm from there are no A-levels just the state exam at the end of high school.

Reply 8

Michiyo

OP

21

Original post by foreignerinneed

Thank you for clearing that up for me :smile:

I wanted to ask what really are A levels, cause where I'm from there are no A-levels just the state exam at the end of high school.

You are more than welcome :lovehug:

May I ask where you are from? I am asking just in case you are from a country with three years of high school instead of four, such as China or Japan :smile:

The country I am from has the same format :five:

However, the UK splits high school exams in two batches: GCSEs (ninth and tenth grade; some people sit some of these exams a little early, but it is not standard procedure) and A-levels (eleventh and twelfth grade). There are also other alternative qualifications, such as BTEC diplomas. When applying to university, A-levels matter the most and GCSEs usually do not matter (they only matter for certain courses like Medicine, Oxbridge, and a tiny group of universities, though in general, as long as someone has C/5 in English and Maths, that is all that matters)

A-levels are the subjects people study in the eleventh and twelfth grades for their final exams, as well as the qualifications they get after they finish those exams. Think of them as the state exam that would be taken in your country, but if the exam only covered what you did in the eleventh and twelfth grades instead of everything you studied during high school. For example, if someone studies Mathematics, Physics, History, and French at A-level, they would sit exams on those subjects at the end of what would be their high school education (college/sixth form in the UK). The grades they get in those A-levels determines what university and course they can get into (e.g. someone with no Chemistry A-level cannot get into Medicine, someone who fails A-level Mathematics cannot study Mathematics, and someone with CCDD cannot study a course with A*AA as the entry requirement).

I hope this helps! Ask any other questions you want. :h:

(edited 5 years ago)

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