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THE U.S. BACHELOR’S DEGREE

One of the most attractive features of the bachelor’s degree program in the United States is that it is highly flexible. You can usually choose from a wide variety of courses and create your own unique program of study. The degree is awarded after you complete a specified number of credits, which are usually completed in four years of full-time study. The first year is called the freshman year; the second is called sophomore; the third, junior; and the fourth, senior. You may read that students in the United States often take longer than four years to complete their degrees. This may be because they change majors and need to accumulate enough credits in the new major field to earn the degree. Or it may be because they take less than a full-time course load per term for academic personal, or financial reasons. International students, however, cannot study part-time and must maintain full-time status. Courses taken in the first two years are known as lower division courses, and courses taken in the final two years are called upper division courses. College catalogs usually assign a number to a course, which indicates the level of study as follows:

Academic Calendar

The academic year will be slightly different for each university or college but normally runs from early September to the end of May. It may be divided into two terms of 18 weeks called semesters. Alternatively, the university may have “quarters” or “trimesters,” which are about 12 weeks in length. In addition, universities very often provide six-to eight-wee summer terms. These are optional, and students attend if they wish to get through their degree faster, to decrease their course load during the regular terms, or to make up for courses not completed successfully during the regular academic year. There are at least two main holidays during the academic year: a two-to four-week break over Christmastime and a one-week “spring break” sometime between early March and mid-April.

The Credit System

Students at American universities complete their degrees when they have accumulated a certain number of “credits.” It usually takes somewhere between 130 and 180 credits to graduate. Sometimes the term “semester/ quarter hours” or “units” are used instead of credits. Each individual course you take each semester earns a specified number (usually three or four) of credits/ hours/ units. Your academic adviser will help you plan your course schedule for the academic year.

Degree Courses

The individual courses that make up the degree program can be divided into the following types:

Core courses: These provide the foundation of the degree program and are required of all students. Students take a variety of courses in mathematics, English, humanities, physical sciences, and social sciences. Some colleges require students to take many core courses, while other schools require only a few.

Major courses: A major is the subject in which a student chooses to concentrate. Most students major in one subject; however, some colleges offer the option of pursuing a double major with a related subject. Your major courses represent one-quarter to one-half of the total number of courses required to complete a degree.

Minor courses: A minor is a subject in which a student may choose to take the second greatest concentration of courses. The number of courses required for a minor tends to be half the number of major courses.

Elective courses: These courses may be chosen from any department. They offer opportunities to explore other topics or subjects you may be interested in and help make up the total number of credits required to graduate.

Grades

American universities employ a system of continual assessment and assign grades for each course taken. Almost everything you do for a class will influence your final grade. Examinations and tests, essays or written assignments, laboratory reports, laboratory or studio work, class attendance, and class participation may all be used to determine your final grade. This means it is essential to keep up with the reading and course work and to attend classes on a regular basis.

The following is a general percentage-letter grade scale for classes taken at U.S. colleges:

What is a GPA?

Each student completes his or her degree with a grade point average (GPA). A cumulative grade point average is the GPA for all courses taken throughout the degree program. Most universities use a GPA scale of 4.0 but a few university use a scale of 5.0. To work out your GPA, take the numerical value assigned to the letter grade you achieve for each course (typically 4 points for an “A,” 3 points of a “B,” and so on), then multiply this number by the number of credits each course is worth. Finally add these numbers together and divide by the total number of credits for all courses. For example:

27 divided by 9 = 3.0 GPA

Most universities will also offer some sort of honors degree. To qualify for an honors degree, you must fulfill additional credits or write an honors thesis; precise details depend upon the university and/ or academic department. There may be different levels of honors: summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude, in descending order of distinction.

Time for a Recap

·         American bachelor’s degrees normally take four years to complete; associate degrees take two years.

·         The academic year is determined by the individual college but usually includes two terms, or semester and runs from September to May.

·         To earn a degree a student must accumulate a certain number of credits. Each course taken is worth a specific number of credits.

·         For each course taken, students receive a grade that is based upon a continual assessment of work.

·         The grade point average, or GPA, is calculated from the numeric equivalent of the letter grades given for each course. It is used to assess how a student has performed on his or her degree program.

Useful Web Sites

Undergraduate Degree Study in the United States http://www.embark.com/nafsa/academic.asp

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