Completing a Degree in America

Published: 15/04/25 / Smilla Bakteman Hedlund

Before moving to a new culture, there are many pre-assumptions and beliefs. This is also something that shapes the perspective of incoming international students as they consider what it is like to complete a degree in America. When talking to incoming students about this, it is clear that many have a shared idea of going to college being exactly as we see it in movies. Where we often tend to assume that preconceived image that going to college is about the surrounding lifestyle of frat parties, football games and sororities. Meanwhile, the reality of going to college is about the hard work of pursuing this undergraduate degree, an experience that does not fully reflect the romanticized image. 

Therefore, to make it easier for you, we at Try Out the Waters have collected all the insights that previous international students wished they knew about the educational system before sitting down in the classroom on the first day of the semester. Being confused as it was way different from their expectations.  

Courseplan

The first thing that many international degree-seeking students wished they knew, before starting their academic journey, is the individual responsibility of it. In America,  students have more individual responsibility over their own course plan than back in Scandinavia where each student enrolls in a pre-planned program that just continues throughout the years.

This means that the students do not enroll in a full program where they automatically will be enrolled in the upcoming classes. Instead, all students are responsible for setting their degree plan together, where they will complete classes to eventually have all the requirements for the specific degree they are pursuing. Even if many schools have counseling services where students can get all sorts of academic advice, it’s very important to educate yourself on those regulations. Because if something would go wrong, you are the one responsible which could make it hard for you to graduate on time.

Structure of lectures (Teaching style)

The independent freedom that students in Europe feel throughout their semesters is not something that you will experience when studying at an American institution. Instead, the professors will provide strict outlines or syllabuses at the beginning of the semester. Where they will have a lot of in-class, assignments, exam periods etc. To make it easier to understand, this workload is more similar to a Scandinavian highschool, where you will have about 5 classes every semester, where all class meetings are mandatory throughout the semester.

Grading and Assignments

The grading is also different, as many incoming students perceive the standard to be lower in America. Where many professors have the philosophy that you start at an A and then will get deducted points throughout the semester, where you at the end will land on a scale from A to F. 

However, the passing grade often is determined based on your regulations in your home country, however the standard for the passing grades are A to C, where an A often is about 90%, B is 80% and C is 70% of all the total points in the class. However, those percentages are often based on the specific guidelines of every independent academic institution, so this can be different from school to school.

However, when missing points, many professors often give out extra credit opportunities, where you will be able to get some extra points when doing an alternative assignment etc. However, this is NOT something you should rely on, as the points often are being very small, or the professor ends up not providing any extra credit opportunities.

Picking the right professor

When taking a degree in America, it is very important to show respect towards your professors, and therefore it is highly important to use titles when speaking to them. This can, for example, be Mr. lastname, Professor. Lastname or Dr. Lastname. It is very important to not use first names if your professor hasn’t stated any other preferences. Because this is just an important way of showing respect in American culture, and therefore not following this can be seen as very rude.

Another important aspect to remember is that every professor can create their own class structure, and therefore the deliverables for a specific class can change between instructors. Meaning that choosing the right professor to get the best experience of the class is highly important. Therefore, it is a great idea to research the professor before choosing the class. A way to research your professors ahead of time is by looking them up on the website RateMyProfessor.com. This is a great website to be able to see previous students’ experiences of the classes. Making it easier for you to navigate this unclear body of water while being able to select the professor that has a teaching style that works best for you.

The college experience.

When thinking about the college experience, many get the idea of frat parties, sororities, and everything else but the academic experience. Even if this can be a big part of your college experience, it is important to research the university’s culture before selecting the school you are going to attend. Because, even if we have this romanticized image of the American college experience, it is far from the truth that you will be able to experience that at every college. Therefore, you can tailor your own experience based on your preferences. For example, if you want to go to a larger school, UH Manoa might be the school for you. Meanwhile, if you would rather have a more intimate class setting and have an easier time making friends, then Hawaii Pacific University might be a better match. Therefore, this is the most important aspect of the research before picking the school for you.

Studying in America