My semester abroad is quickly coming to an end, and with that all the various lessons and the major shocks that I have learned have all been compiled into a list. Coming to Edinburgh, I made sure to research all of the cultural differences and the aspects of everyday life that would affect me. Culturally, the differences were not as shocking as I thought they would be; however, I was extremely surprised with many of the academic differences. I had read the many emails, denoting some of the differences such as the structure of the various classes, thus I was not incredibly surprised when I saw that all of my classes consisted of two assignments and a final exam. However, there would be many academic shocks that would come all throughout the semester.
One of the most famous academic differences is the grading system. As an American student, nothing will prepare you for when you see your first UK grade. Although technically the system extends from 0-100, it is not the same. An ‘Excellent’ also known as a 1st is from 70-100, and from what I have been explained, a grade of 70 or more would deem the paper publishable. You can imagine the shock when my first paper was a 56 and my tutor and friend had to explain that this would be around an American ‘B’ as it is a 2nd Class. Another huge difference is how standardized the academic system is, for example, there is a university-wide rule that word count is extremely strict and in some cases even going above the word count for a few words, your grade can be extremely penalized. This was a shock to me because, often in American universities, word counts are not as strict if it is supported, for example, I have never been penalized for going 100 words over the limit. In this case, my tutor emphasized it would be detrimental to go over the word limit.
Apart from pushing to condense writing, the United Kingdom also institutes anonymity, thus you do not place your name on your assignments. This was a major shock, that I and many other visiting students had to learn the hard way as this rule was not established in our brains. My tutor and friends even explained that if you place your name or even your student number on your final exam, you can automatically fail it. Thus, going into my first exam I was extremely nervous that I would somehow forget my three months of training to not place my name on my work and would all of a sudden be forgotten. Sitting in the vast room where three different courses were taking their final, my nervousness got the best of me. Luckily, I did not add my name, but what I did do is: I taped over too much of the section, thus covering up where they would write down my marks. My nervousness was quickly subdued by a nice Scottish man that would give me the best news of the day, “ don’t you worry, it will still get graded, you just write your exam”. This story is now a joke between my friends here, but it is another reminder of the differences between the academic system. The setup of finals is extremely different, as it feels as if I am taking a standardized state test such as the SAT.
Lastly, the difference that took me an entire semester to fully see, is the structure of the class. Although I knew that there were less assignments, I did not think this would mean that the academic system is as independent as it is. In some courses, there are tutorials or what we would know as ‘discussions’ at GWU, but apart from those allotted times to converse back and forth, it is extremely rare to talk during lectures or classtime. From my experience even in the lectures that would take place in Funger, a student would talk at least once in a class period; however, for one of my courses here I could count the amount of times a student spoke all semester on one hand. In short, I would describe the system in the UK as more independent. This was a different system than I was ever used to; however, it allowed me to explore different deliveries of teaching and understand how I learn and understand best.
Laura Sánchez Ramírez
Spring 2025
GW Exchange - University of Edinburgh
Elliott School of International Affairs
International Affairs & International Business Double Major