I live in Australia where if you study a particular degree, all (or the vast majority) of your subjects are directly related to that field.
I may be wrong but movies tend to give me the impression that at American universities/colleges, all students study a wide array of subjects, attend random lectures, and students room with people studying different things.
It also appears to be a lot about the lifestyle and not just get in, do your study, get your degree.
Are American studies specialised or more general?
Thank you! 🫶
In: 84
I’m in Australia, when I got my degree (last year) about 1/3 of the units were not directly related to my major. I think most universities are like that.
I’m in Australia, when I got my degree (last year) about 1/3 of the units were not directly related to my major. I think most universities are like that.
Other comments have answered the question but I think a lot of people would be surprised how frequently American students switch majors. I switched twice in the 4 years of study. Of my 5 closest friends only one completed the degree they started. Everyone else switched to degrees from other ‘colleges’ (still within the same university)
For example an electrical engineer switching to computer science or a math major switching to economics
Other comments have answered the question but I think a lot of people would be surprised how frequently American students switch majors. I switched twice in the 4 years of study. Of my 5 closest friends only one completed the degree they started. Everyone else switched to degrees from other ‘colleges’ (still within the same university)
For example an electrical engineer switching to computer science or a math major switching to economics
Gonna chime in here because I haven’t seen these things elaborated: your general education classes and electives are either requirements of the particular degree of study or the department the degree belongs to, moreso than a universal set of guidelines for very degree. Furthermore, a student will frequently have options to choose from within a category with a certain credit requirement. For example, I studied psychology and sound. I needed to satisfy a math requirement and had the option to take several math classes but chose to take a class on the physics of sound because it interested me. Some schools let you create a personal degree proposal wherein you write a course plan and essay that is then approved by a departmental board.
Gonna chime in here because I haven’t seen these things elaborated: your general education classes and electives are either requirements of the particular degree of study or the department the degree belongs to, moreso than a universal set of guidelines for very degree. Furthermore, a student will frequently have options to choose from within a category with a certain credit requirement. For example, I studied psychology and sound. I needed to satisfy a math requirement and had the option to take several math classes but chose to take a class on the physics of sound because it interested me. Some schools let you create a personal degree proposal wherein you write a course plan and essay that is then approved by a departmental board.
Other comments have answered the question but I think a lot of people would be surprised how frequently American students switch majors. I switched twice in the 4 years of study. Of my 5 closest friends only one completed the degree they started. Everyone else switched to degrees from other ‘colleges’ (still within the same university)
For example an electrical engineer switching to computer science or a math major switching to economics
ELI5 – there are courses like history, English composition, art, math and science along with electives that go with a degree to “round out” the students.
Freshman (first year college students) have a lot of non-major courses because they are getting a general education.
Junior and Senior college students (those close to or who will graduate) have courses almost exclusively on their major.
When I was a Senior, almost all of my courses were on my major except for a physiology class that was a degree requirement and only open to juniors and seniors (who had completed their general degree requirements) and a “20th century American drama” class that was a nice break from all the serious subjects (it was a class on famous plays of the 20th century).
ELI5 – there are courses like history, English composition, art, math and science along with electives that go with a degree to “round out” the students.
Freshman (first year college students) have a lot of non-major courses because they are getting a general education.
Junior and Senior college students (those close to or who will graduate) have courses almost exclusively on their major.
When I was a Senior, almost all of my courses were on my major except for a physiology class that was a degree requirement and only open to juniors and seniors (who had completed their general degree requirements) and a “20th century American drama” class that was a nice break from all the serious subjects (it was a class on famous plays of the 20th century).
Gonna chime in here because I haven’t seen these things elaborated: your general education classes and electives are either requirements of the particular degree of study or the department the degree belongs to, moreso than a universal set of guidelines for very degree. Furthermore, a student will frequently have options to choose from within a category with a certain credit requirement. For example, I studied psychology and sound. I needed to satisfy a math requirement and had the option to take several math classes but chose to take a class on the physics of sound because it interested me. Some schools let you create a personal degree proposal wherein you write a course plan and essay that is then approved by a departmental board.
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