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One thing I hear about other countries is that they are far more utilitarian in seeing college as a way to get a job.
Some say that the United States is very much unique in having college as a rite of passage and that there is a far bigger ethos built around it as the best four years of your life. I hear college is way more "fun" in the US than in any other country.
A very high proportion of Americans do go to college compared to many nations and also, I believe I have heard Americans are (were?) one of the most educated people in terms of percent who go. I'm guessing this might be why so much culture has been built around colleges in the US.
Do you think this is true? I'd imagine at least the UK, Canada or Australia would have a similar college culture.
People here get pretty in to it, but it seems like the USA has it more extreme. Think of all these coming-of-ages movies where 18 year-olds shoot off to different state universities after a night of trying to get laid or whatever.
Seems like there's more serious sporting events and clubs, fraternities, residences and stuff like that involved. I guess paying that much for tuition makes you practically want to siphon the college experience 24/7 x 4 years.
I usually try to spend as little time at school as humanly possible.
We don't have the same 'college culture' as they have in the States. For one, most college students do not stay on campus, and many ares till living with parents throughout university or tertiary education. Those who don't are living independently. Plus the 'legal age' is 18 so there aren't really college parties or anything in dorms. Economics plays a big role here, but also location. We don't really have 'college towns' and most people go to a university/technical college in their own city. There's no tradition of moving somewhere else in the country just to attend college. So most of the people living in dorms are usually from other countries, the country or other states. A lot also rent a place near campus. There are guilds and college clubs, but it doesn't seem most people get that involved in that. Most just go there to get a degree (although they make friends and socialise etc) and get out.
Yes it's unique. We're also getting ripped off and the banks, government and private investors are creating a false sense of security in our universities.
The money that pays for everything doesn't actually exist, it's just one giant loan bubble. It's gonna pop and things will crash hard.
This is going to cause another recession.
Although, I think this might be a topic for another thread.
What The Postman said about the Australian situation is about right, except that it may not make it clear enough just how different Australian and American college experiences are. My impression, in fact, is that British university life is far closer to the U.S. model than is the Australian, because in the U.K. many students leave home and live on/near campus in dorms. (At some unis, at least - like St Andrews and Oxbridge)
In Australia - at least in Adelaide - that never happens, unless you come in from the country; and because, as The Postman noted, we're so much more urban than the States, the number of stay-at-home city kids vastly outnumbers the small population of college-resident country kids.
More importantly, however, we have very little sense of 'college pride' or even a general feeling of 'college community'. Australian uni students wear their uni affiliation very lightly; it's considered, for most, just a means to an end - better employment opportunities. The vast majority are commuters who spend little time on campus except to attend classes/complete compulsory group work and who keep tightly attached to their pre-university (high school, etc.) social circles. There are, of course, exceptions - for the few who move interstate, the country kids, etc. But as a general rule, there is absolutely nothing like the total uprooting of one's life and the remaking of one's friendships that occurs with the American rite of passage. To drive the point home: for many to most Australian uni students (at least those not studying the relatively intense 'applied' disciplines like engineering, nursing, medicine, etc.), university is seen as a part-time commitment, even if enrolled in a full-time course. It's expected that one will have a part-time job (to improve employability) and maintain one's community/club involvements from pre-university days.
That's my take on it, anyhow. I'm one of the exceptions in that I make many of my closest friends at university, but I'm sure that's not the norm. The differences are pretty stark in my mind having experienced both systems as an undergraduate (the U.S. while on exchange) and having made a point of talking about the differences with friends, both Australian and American.
I think these differences are just one aspect of larger cultural differences in our two cultures, which also goes someway to explaining why, for instance, Americans seem so conservative (or anti-gov't) to Australians; why American suburban public schools have the kind of pride and school spirit than, in general, only exists in Australian private schools; and why Americans are so much more patriotic than Australians. But that's a topic for another day.
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