In the UK they are completely different things. College here is pretty much exactly the same as school, you don't pay any money for it. However, a slight difference is you call the teachers by their first names and don't have to wear a uniform (I don't miss that).
University is a completely different experience altogether; for one thing most people move away from home to go there and for another you have to pay. With the current economic vulnerability Tuition Fees are going up, so it's quite a lot, but you only start paying it back once you start making over a certain amount of money every year and you never notice apparently (I'm not at that point yet). Another difference is that there's much more choice in the courses - both in what course you actually want to do and in the modules contained within the course.

Community College - Cheap, public college that 99% of the population can get into. Usually people go here if they want to pursue a higher degree later (thereby lowering their loans).

State College - One step up from community college. Many people come here since it give them the 'college experience' since it is usually a go-away college.

University - Usually a college that people go to for their higher degrees (sometimes their lower degrees if they have money to toss). These colleges usually excel at social study classes like law and psychology.

Institute - Pretty much the same as a university, except they are more of the computer, science, and engineering fields.

Interestingly, a good friend of mine got all A*s and As (I think he just does easy subjects) and he got £1500 for his trouble. Not bad.

Phoenix_Flyer wrote:

You've definately done bad if you get a U. In the UK an F isn't a Fail - its a U.

And it means 'Unclassified' actually, it hasn't been called 'Ungraded' since GCE's and O-Levels were scrapped.

So is that what Clock-la means when she says, "No U."

NO U

You've definately done bad if you get a U. In the UK an F isn't a Fail - its a U.

And it means 'Unclassified' actually, it hasn't been called 'Ungraded' since GCE's and O-Levels were scrapped.

So is that what Clock-la means when she says, "No U."

Based on what bmah said about college for you guys... that sounds like University to me. Here, you can go to University for 3 years as an Undergraduate - or longer than that as a Postgraduate if you decide to do an Honours degree or a PhD. Then there's also Placements to consider (depending on your course) and some people take a 'Year-Out' to join research groups abroad or take part in an exchange programme...

Yeah you get the idea. If you ask me: American College and British Universities are one and the same.

Well I do go to a university, perhaps that's why it sounds familiar?

Colleges and universities tend to be a very analogously used term over here. I still don't truly understand the difference between the two. Other than a title, I believe that the difference between the two has to do with government funding.

BTw when Americans say "Grade 8" is that basicly Year 8 in England? XD

in year 8 we are about age 12-13 i think

Yeah... that's one thing that does confuse me. College here is completely different for us; you don't get any PhDs out of it, only a set of A-Level qualifications (or a BTEC-Diploma if you choose to go into a certain field of work such as Animal Management or Beauty Therapy, it's worth the same as A-Levels).

Honestly? Our college is basically the same as your last two years of High School. Based on what bmah said about college for you guys... that sounds like University to me. Here, you can go to University for 3 years as an Undergraduate - or longer than that as a Postgraduate if you decide to do an Honours degree or a PhD. Then there's also Placements to consider (depending on your course) and some people take a 'Year-Out' to join research groups abroad or take part in an exchange programme...

Yeah you get the idea. If you ask me: American College and British Universities are one and the same.

Reality check please.

Im not saying it dos'nt, Im just saying i'd rather not be made an exampel of.

I agree with bmah - it certainly does matter.

You need to be able to get your point across in CVs for job applications and in Personal Statements to get into University. It's getting harder and harder to get into your first choice Uni without a scholarship these days, so it's a good idea to get in as much practice in being articulate as possible.

Then again, most other people here are younger than bmah and myself, so won't yet realise that it actually is important and you should care. But, we can do no more than advise.

Clock-la wrote:

also GCSE=General Certificate of Secondary Education

Well, I'm glad you knew - I had to look it up!

For anyone else:
GCSE's are the last exams you go through after Secondary School.

Most people don't seem to realise that there are HUGE differences between education in the UK and the US (Australia too, but I have no idea how it works there).
In the UK we start school at age 4, going into Primary School for 7 years until age 11, its split into 'Infant' and 'Junior' stages. You take 'SATs' exams at the end of each stage, in Year 2 and then Year 6.
Then you get to go to Secondary School until you are 16, doing your GCSEs when you're in the final year - Year 11.
When I was in Secondary I had to do SATs tests again in Year 9... but they were scrapped in 2009, which I'm not happy about as it meant both of my younger siblings didn't have to do them. Life's unfair like that, I also had to get a TB Jab (an innoculation against tuberculosis) and they didn't...
After that we can go to college for 2 years, but the beauty about UK education is that you don't have to. Compulsory education in the UK ends at age 16, whereas in the US you have to go to school until you're 18.

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Then again, in the US the legal drinking age isn't until you're 21 as oppossed to 18 here... which is surprising. But I digress (again!).

Eh, I didn't really need to explain that. I just noticed that there were a lot of people asking what GCSEs were and in order to explain them I kinda had to go into the education background a little. Never mind.

And here I thought we were the ones who didn't have enough school time. You only go to college for 2 years? We can go to college for 8. Is that why so many people come to the US for their higher degrees?

You need to be able to get your point across in CVs for job applications and in Personal Statements to get into University. It's getting harder and harder to get into your first choice Uni without a scholarship these days, so it's a good idea to get in as much practice in being articulate as possible.

Then again, most other people here are younger than bmah and myself, so won't yet realise that it actually is important and you should care. But, we can do no more than advise.

Well, I'm glad you knew - I had to look it up!

For anyone else:
GCSE's are the last exams you go through after Secondary School.

Most people don't seem to realise that there are HUGE differences between education in the UK and the US (Australia too, but I have no idea how it works there).
In the UK we start school at age 4, going into Primary School for 7 years until age 11, its split into 'Infant' and 'Junior' stages. You take 'SATs' exams at the end of each stage, in Year 2 and then Year 6.
Then you get to go to Secondary School until you are 16, doing your GCSEs when you're in the final year - Year 11.
When I was in Secondary I had to do SATs tests again in Year 9... but they were scrapped in 2009, which I'm not happy about as it meant both of my younger siblings didn't have to do them. Life's unfair like that, I also had to get a TB Jab (an innoculation against tuberculosis) and they didn't...
After that we can go to college for 2 years, but the beauty about UK education is that you don't have to. Compulsory education in the UK ends at age 16, whereas in the US you have to go to school until you're 18.

Eh, I didn't really need to explain that. I just noticed that there were a lot of people asking what GCSEs were and in order to explain them I kinda had to go into the education background a little. Never mind.