Studying abroad is beneficial in many ways. One benefit is that you can observe the educational system in the host country, which can be totally different from the one that you were used to. There are a lot of factors that affect these differences, such as culture, student psychology and historical educational system. By writing this article and by being an international student, I want to share with AU students some of the experience I gained from studying in the United States. Here, I will concentrate more on the differences in education systems between my home country -Azerbaijan - and this country.
The first issue is that in Azerbaijan every student is obliged to attend classes. But in the United States it is different, because students have a free choice of attending classes. In Azerbaijan students are not allowed to select their university courses, but students in America can. In Azerbaijan students have to stand up whenever a teacher enters the room, but in the United States I have never seen that at all. Also, in Azerbaijan the teacher has to leave the classroom before the students, which means that the students have to wait until the professor leaves the classroom. In Azerbaijan students are not allowed to eat, drink or chew gum in class. But in the United States all that is totally opposite.
American students tend to bring laptop computers to class. I don't think that it is a bad thing, but I think a laptop is distracting those students' attention from the professor. I notice that students who bring laptops to class either surf the Internet, chat with someone else or do something else that has nothing to do with the class. For sure, some students use their laptops only for their class purposes, but I think those students are rare.
Another issue is that in the United States, students don't have to take entrance exams to enter American universities, while all students in Azerbaijan do. Moreover, we have to indicate our majors beforehand, and depending on our exam scores, the Ministry of Education determines which student is accepted to which major. Instead of an entrance exam, American students take exams like SAT, GMAT, GRE or LSAT.
Students in America can change their major or double major. Also, in the United States there are midterm and final exams, but in Azerbaijan there is only a final exam.
Also, at American universities students have to make an appointment with the professor to meet him or her. But in Azerbaijan student can simply go to the department where the professor has an office and meet him or her if he or she is available.
A lot of things are very important for me in American universities. I like doing PowerPoint presentations, which I never did back home. Another thing is team projects, which are also new for me, as are case studies. I think all these things make the U.S. educational system very effective compared with most countries. This is one of the reasons why I think the United States is a leading destination for foreign college students.
All these things can help students be aware of such important differences beforehand, which could be very important to adapt to the host university and easily integrate with foreign students. I think these differences can vary from country to country, but knowing such unique things beforehand can be very useful.
Emin Teymorovsky is a graduate student in Kogod School of Business.
