UK university vs American college education

Welcome to our latest question feature, Do UK universities or American colleges offer a better education?

UK University guide

Secondary uni education is one of the most important aspects in the education phase for any student.

Post achievement of the certificate of secondary education, the students should look for a diploma that will make them appear even more capable in this competitive society.

For getting an admission in a reputed college, a degree equivalent to BTEC’s or any A-level degree will be required. There are tons options from where a student can choose. Not just for universities, but these degrees pave the way for a better job role as well.

UK University Guide

Types of university degree

Post completion of secondary education, a student often gets the option of selecting an international baccalaureate degree.

The most common choice for the teenagers who are going to apply for university is usually the A-level degrees.

Along with the above statements, there is the option of pursuing the BTEC’s too, which will assist candidates in the business technology and education council.

Oxford offers a top-class IB diploma degree and over the past few years, more than 10% students all over UK applied for this degree.

What is post-16 education?

Post-16 is a form of education system for students over 16 years old that includes vocal training, work-based learning options, etc.

This kind of education system is also compatible for students over 14 years age as well.

If someone is moving from GCSEs to post-16 form of education then it will be quite challenging for the students as the post-16 one will seem more challenging to the individual.

For example, in all A-level and post-16 form of education, the duration of the classes become smaller. Rather, most of the time is invested on interactive group discussion activities.

A student will get assignments where the word count or data asked from them will be longer, complicated and an intense application of one’s analytical skills will be tested.

Common College essay mistakes

College essays are not to be taken lightly; they evaluate how efficient the student is in terms of literature writing skills.
The best thing about a college essay is that, if written effectively, it can create a very good representation of the student in the minds of the teachers. Essays also play a vital role in the college application process.
Most colleges require an essay written by the student as a mandate.
This is one of the best opportunities for the student to share with the admission committee.
The other parts of the application do not allow the teachers to get to know the students; but with the help of this essay, the student can present themself to the teacher. It should also be kept in mind that the essay needs to be error-free.
The essay will create an image of the student in the mind of the teacher, so it is important to write it in the best possible way.
Errors such as grammatical mistakes, poor sentence construction, etc., cannot be tolerated.

College essay preparation

Before writing the essay, the format that the students are going to use needs to be given detailed consideration.
Before commencing the essay, some basic checks can be put in place to make sure it is up to the mark.
Spell check alone cannot be relied on.
A spell check won’t always highlight errors in the sentence construction.
The proofreading process does not end with a spell check.
Thorough checking of the lines needs to be done at this stage to make sure that the main message of the essay is being presented.
Even if there are no spelling errors, this does not always mean that the words have been used in the correct place and the correct sense.

Proof-reading your College essay

The best way to proofread is to read the essay out loud so you can hear it and see if it sounds as expected; if so, then it is good to go.
It has been shown that while reading out loud, the writer may come across errors that may not be identified by mere spell checking.
Another tip is to read the essay questions effectively in order to understand any hidden requirements that the university is asking for.
Simply reading the question is not enough; focus and concentration must go into reading it.

Choosing your essay topics

The topic should address the question and the answers should act as a blueprint for the teacher to reach a conclusion and understand the intended meaning.
This will prove that, as a student, the individual will be able to follow the instructions in a question.
A good essay that is not relevant to the question or the topic is of no use to the teacher.
A little personal touch is expected from the students here.
This is not relevant to grades, but adding a few personal opinions in the essays will make them sound different while the teachers are going through them.
Students can share past experiences that have impacted them, for example, any event that might have changed them as human beings, and the same can be done in the essay as well.

Show your real character

Being authentic and trying new ways to work out the right vocabulary is a good option.
Inappropriate words will harm the application and will not benefit the student.
The essay is a representation of the student, so it will be important to use the correct words to display character.

College admissions criteria

Applicants should not copy other students’ essays. Or even the writing style of another student.
Every College admission committee is smart enough to understand which writing is copied from which and they can easily differentiate and discover the culprit.
There is also smart feature-enabled software these days that can identify plagiarism without human intervention. If someone is caught, then it will create a bad impression of them, and can affect their future as well.
Nevertheless, using smart vocabulary is also a good way to grab the attention of the readers.

College essay specification

The student can’t just keep writing the application; there is always a word limit.
So, the applicant must write the essay whilst paying attention to the word limit.
An essay that is longer than required will distract the readers from the topic and this will not benefit anyone.
Another important tip is to read about the college before writing the application.
All colleges will be expecting the students to relate themselves to the existing culture and procedures in the college.
Due to this common expectation, the applicants will have to impress the admission committee with their essays.
This is not just writing good things about the institution being applied to.

Be authentic

The essay should contain your actual feelings about the college and why you want to be a part of the college.
If the admission committee is impressed with the student’s writing in this part, then half the battle is won.
Before the final submission, the essay prompts need to be read and understood.
All students must be familiar with the essay prompts and no one likes last-minute changes.
Revising the whole application before sending it is the final and one of the most ignored steps.
Now that all the steps are checked, a final revision will come in handy and once this revision is done, the student will be good to go.
If all steps are followed then this can ensure the essay will be effective in impressing the readers.

US College practice tests

Verbal reasoning GRE test prep

From the written passages provided in the GRE Verbal Reasoning questions, you must:

Analyse the verbal content;
Draw conclusions;
Interprete the meaning of words, or phrases, within the wider context of the passage.
Identify any assumptions the passage’s author is making;
Review and interpret the passage’s structure;
Analyse which are the key points made by the author, and which are only minor points
Understand what specific words mean

Numerical reasoning GRE preparation

From the written passages provided in the GRE Numerical Reasoning questions, you must:

Analyse the quantitative data provided
Use basic maths operators
Apply statistical and quantitative methods
Solve mathematical problems and reach the correct conclusion

Analytical writing GRE preparation

From the written passages provided in the GRE Numerical Reasoning questions, you must:

Effectively articulate complex ideas
Write your answers in a logical and organised way
Use examples as supporting evidence for your written explanations
Critically evaluate the evidence used in the author’s arguments
Demonstrate your capability to write an essay using written English.

American College guidance

GRE Test tips

Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is an admission test for professional and Graduate School that helps a candidate to skip questions in a particular section and can go back for changing the answers.

It also helps a candidate to tackle the questions in a manner and a candidate can answer first according to their choice. The test consists of three sections that include quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and analytical reasoning.

The applicants taking the GRE test varies from a cultural and educational background where the score of this test provides schools with a particular measure to compare the qualification of the candidates.

The GRE is available on a computer and there are 1000 test centers in more than 160 countries. It is also available in various regions of the world on a continuous basis across the year.

GRE test tips

The Registration Process for GRE Online

Above 1200 business schools across the globe accept the scores of GRE test, including top-ranked MBA programs as per Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S News & World Report and the Financial Times along with some the US law schools.

A total time of 3 hours and 45 minutes are given to students to complete the test. Students are required to pay around US$205 for undertaking the test.

However, under certain circumstances, fee can be reduced by ETS. A financial aid is also provided to GRE applicants, who prove their economic hardship to ETS. Besides, based on the section-wise distribution system, the GRE score range can be identified;

Score	Score Scale	Increments
Analytical Writing Score	0-6	Half-point increments
Quantitative Reasoning Score	130-170	1-point increments
Verbal Reasoning Score	130-170	1-point increments

Table 1: GRE Score Range

UK university guide

Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE):

Is an admission test for professional and Graduate School that helps a candidate to skip questions in a particular section and can go back for changing the answers. It also helps a candidate to tackle the questions in a manner and a candidate can answer first according to their choice.
Consists of three sections that include quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and analytical reasoning.
Applicants taking the GRE test varies from a cultural and educational background where the score of this test provides schools with a particular measure to compare the qualification of the candidates.
Is available on a computer and there are 1000 test centres in more than 160 countries. It is also available in various regions of the world on a continuous basis across the year.
Accepted at over 1200 business schools across the globe accept the scores of GRE test, including top-ranked MBA programs as per Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S News & World Report and the Financial Times along with some the US law schools.

GRE Test Practice