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HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE
TOPICAL VOCABULARY
1. Who
is who: applicant/prospective student; freshman; sophomore, junior, senior,
undergraduate student; graduate (grad) student; part-time student; .transfer
student; night student; faculty:1 teaching assistant, assistant
professor, associate professor, (full) professor; counselor.2
2. Administration:
dean, assistant dean, department chairman; President of the University;
academic vice-president; student government; board of trustees.
3. Structure:
college (
4. Academic calendar: fall spring term/semester; fall, winter, spring, summer quarter; school/academic year; exam period/days — reading days/period;5 break/recess; deadline6 (fall term break; whiter recess or winter holidays, summer vacation).
5. Academic programs: course (a one / three credit course); to take a
course, to give a lecture; pass-fail course;1 elective, a major/to
major (what's your major?); a minor (second in importance); discussion session;
seminars; a more academic class, usually with grad students; a student-teacher.
6. Grades:
to get/to give a grade; pass-fail grading (e. g.: to take grammar
pass-fail); grades A, B, C, D, E; A-student; to graduate with straight A; a
credit, to earn a credit; education record.2
7. Tests:
quiz; to take/to give an exam; to retake an exam (a retake); to flunk a course;
to flunk smb; to drop out/to withdraw; a pass-fail test; multiple choice test;
essay test; SAT, PSAT (preliminary SAT) ACT; GPA.3
8. Red
Tape: to register (academically and financially); to enroll for admission;
to interview; to sign up for a course; to select classes/courses; to drop a
course, to add a course,4 a student I.D.,5 library card;
transcript; degrees: B.A., M.A., Ph.D.; to confer a degree; to confer tenure,
thesis, paper, dissertation.
9. Financing: full-time fees; part-time fees; graiits; student financial aid; to apply for financial aid; to be eligible for financial assistance; scholarship; academic fees; housing fees; a college work-study job.
Higher Education
Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for higher education. A college at a leading university might receive applications from two percent of these high school graduates, and then accept only one out of every ten who apply. Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of a) their high school records; b) recommendations from their
The system of higher education in the
United States comprises three categories Of institutions: 1) the university,
which may contain a) several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a
bachelor's (four-year) degree and b) one or more graduate schools for those
continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor's degree to obtain a
master's or a doctoral degree, 2) the technical training institutions at which
high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in
duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling
through business accounting to computer programming; and 3) the two-year, or
community college, from which students may enter many professions or may
transfer to four-year colleges.
Any of these institutions, in any
category, might be either public or private, depending on the source of its
funding. Some universities and colleges have, over time, gained reputations
for offering particularly challenging courses and for providing their students
with a higher quality of education. The factors determining whether an
institution is one of the best or one of the lower prestige are quality of the
teaching faculty; quality of research, facilities; amount of funding available
for libraries, special programs, etc.; and the competence and number of
applicants for admission, i. e. how selective the institution can be in
choosing its students.
The most selective are the old private
north-eastern universities, commonly known as the Ivy League, include Harvard
Radcliffe, (
In defence of using the examinations as criteria for admission, administrators say that the SATs provide a fair way for deciding whom to admit when they have ten or twelve applicants for every first-year student seat.
In addition, to learning about a
college/university's entrance requirements and the fees, Americans must also
know the following:
Professional degrees such as a Bachelor
of Law (LL.A.) or a Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) take additional three years of
study and require first a B.A. or B.S. to be earned by a student.
Graduate schools in
The number of credits awarded for each
course relates to the number of hours of work involved. At the undergraduate
level a student generally takes about five three-hour-a week courses every
semester. (Semesters usually run from September to early January and late
January to late May.) Credits are earned by attending lectures (or lab classes)
and by successfully completing assignments and examinations. One credit usually
equals one hour of class per week in a single course. A three-credit course in
Linguistics, for example, could involve one hour of lectures plus two hours of
seminars every week. Most students complete 10 courses per an academic year and
it usually takes them four years to complete a bachelor's degree requirement of
about 40 three-hour courses or 120 credits.
In the American higher education system credits for the academic work are transferable among universities. A student can accumulate credits at one university, transfer them to a second and ultimately receive a degree from there or a third university.
1 The entire teaching staff at an educational institution.
2 For detailed information see Appendix (p. 262).
3 Classes taken in summer (during vacation time) to earn additional credits or to improve one's proficiency.
4 In-service training, updating one's qualification.
5 One or more days to read up for an examination.
6 The last date for a retake.
1A course where you don't take an examination, but a pass-fail test (зачёт).
2 Information on a student's attendance, enrollment status, degrees conferred and dates, honours and awards; college, class, major field of study; address, telephone number.
3 Grade Point Average — a grade allowing to continue in school and to graduate.
4 To take up an additional course for personal interest, not for a credit and to pay for it additionally, cf. факультатив
5
high school teachers; c) their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs).
1. As you read the text a) look for the answers to the questions:
1. What are the admission
requirements to the colleges and universities? 2. What are the three types of
schools in higher education? 3. What degrees are offered by schools of higher
learning in the
b) Find in the text the factors which determine the choice by in individual of this or that college or university.
c) Summarize the text in three paragraphs.
2. Use the topical vocabulary and the material of the Appendix (p. 262) in answering the following questions:
1. What steps do students have to take to
enroll in a college/
university for admission? Speak about the exams they take — PSAT, SAT, ACT. 2.
What financial assistance are applicants eligible for? What is college
scholarship, grants, loan? Explain and bring out the essence of student
financial aid. 3. Speak about the academic calendar of a university. How does
an academic year differ from the one in
Average Academic Fees per Quarter
(public university)
Tuition
Colleges
non-residential residential
students students
Two Year Colleges $
753 $ 1796
College of Applied Science $ 753 $ 1796
(part-time rates per cr. hour)
Baccalaureate Colleges
Art & Science, College- $ 753 $ 1796
Conservatory
College, Business Administra- $ 63 $ 150
tion, etc.
(part-time rates per cr. hr.)
Graduate and Professional
Programs
Medicine (M.D.) $
2188 $ 4204
(part-tame per cr. hr.) $ 182 $
350
Law J.D.) $1192
$2323
(part-tame per cr. hr.)/ $ 99 $ 194
Graduate programs $1171
$2303
(part-tame per cr. hr.) $98 $ 192
_____________________________________________________________________
Room $642
Board (10 meals a week) $ 1045
(
Tuition and General Fee $ 11,976
Room and meals
$ 4,865
Books and supplies $
380
Educational Technology
Fee $ 200
Personal expenses (e. g.
clothing, laundry, $ 1,009
recreation)
_________________________
Total: $ 18,430
ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE USA
ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE
The school year is usually nine months,
from early September to mid-June. The common pattern of organization, referred
to as the 6-3-3 plan, includes elementary school in grades 1 through 6, junior
high school in grades 7 through 9 and senior high school in grades 10 through
12. The older 8-4 plan, however, in which grades 1 through 8 were the
elementary school and 9 through 12 the high school, continues in many
localities. There is also a 6-6 plan, grades 1 through
Preschool education: A child's introduction to formal education is usually
in kindergarten classes operated in most public school systems. Many systems
also provide nursery schools. The age group is commonly four and five years.
These preschool education programs maintain a close relationship with the home
and parents, and aim to give children useful experiences which will prepare
them for elementary school. The programs are flexible and are designed to help
the child grow in self-reliance, learn to get along with others, and form good
work and play habits.
Elementary school: The main purpose of the elementary school is the
general intellectual and social development of the child from 6 to 12 or 15
years of age. Curricula vary with the organization and educational aims of
individual schools and communities. The more or less traditional program
consists of teaching prescribed subject matter. Promotion from one grade to the
next is based on the pupil's achievement of specified skills in reading,
writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, geography, music and art.
Secondary school: Most pupils follow a course that includes English, science, social studies, mathematics and physical education. Elective subjects may be chosen in the fields of foreign languages, fine arts and vocational training. Pupils usually elect about half their work in grades nine through twelve.
Most young Americans graduate from school
with a high school diploma upon satisfactory completion of a specified number
of courses. Students are usually graded from A (excellent) to F (failing) in
each course they take on the basis of performance in tests given at intervals
throughout the year, participation in class discussions and completion of
written and oral assignments. Locally developed end-of-the-year examinations
are given in many schools. Some states, such as
Students receive "report cards"
at least twice a year (in some school districts, up to six times) which
indicate the grades they have received in each of the subjects they are
studying. High schools maintain a school "transcript" which
summarizes the courses taken and the grades obtained for each student. A copy
of the transcript is normally submitted to colleges when a student applies for
admission.
College-bound students generally take college admission tests during their last two years of high school.
1.
College and university admission/entrance requirements:
1) application including personal information; 2) high school report including class rank, a transcript witn the list of all the courses taken and all grades received in high school with courses failed or repeated, test results,. SAT, Achievement Test and ACT scores and a general assessment of the applicant's character such as academic motivation, creativity, self-discipline, leadership, self-confidence, warmth of personality, sense of humor, etc.; 3) one or more recommendations by school teachers; 4) personal commentary such as major extra-curricular activities, hobbies, special awards or prizes, work or travel experiences, educational and/or career goals and the reasons for the choice of this particular university; 5) personal interview.
2. Administration and organization:
The head of the university is usually called President, sometimes
Chancellor. His principal assistants are Vice-presidents, directors, deans and
business managers. Each university consists of a number of units called either
College or School. There is always a College of Arts and Sciences and several
professional schools, e. g. on unit of a university may be
called
3. Faculty members: The teaching staff of an Amerian university is called the faculty. Full-time faculty consists of professors and instructors. The rank of associate professors, assistant professors corresponds to the British rank of readers or senior lecturers.
4. Tenure — signifies that a faculty member has become a full and permanent member of the academic body of the university and provides the faculty member with the right of continued employment without discriminatory reduction in salary unless there be grave reasons for dismissal. Normally tenure is attached to the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service.
5. Career development and job placement — an academic advising service
which provides up-to-date information on career areas and individual career
counseling and planning. Job placement is not guaranteed in universities of the
6. Counselor — a person on a university staff who provides counseling and consultation service to help in decisions regarding courses, majors, vocational plans, career opportunities and personal matters. Services are free to all students.
7. Teacher training: All states
require a bachelor's degree for teaching elementary grades. Forty seven states
require a bachelor's degree as the minimum preparation for teaching in the
secondary schools; three states and the
The Bachelors degree normally requires 4 years of academic study beyond the
high school diploma: the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the Bachelor of Science
(B.S.); the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.); the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.),
etc.
The Master's degree — programs leading to the degree usually require 1 or 2
years of advanced study in graduate-level courses and seminars. Frequently a
thesis is required or a final oral or written examination. (M.A. — the Master
of Arts, etc.)
The Doctor's degree — usually the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) equal to the Soviet candidate of Science, Philology, etc.) — the highest academic degree, it requires a minimum of 2 years of course work beyond the Master's degree level, success in a qualifying examination, proficiency in one or two foreign languages and/or in a research tool (such as statistics) and completion of a doctoral dissertation.
9. SAT — the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (in mathematics
and verbal ability) used since 1947: 1600 scores — a good result; 400 scores —
poor.
The SAT is taken in the-11th grade of high
school. (About 1,5 million students take it yearly.)
Many educators point out that SAT scores
are related to family income — the higher the income, the higher the SAT scores
and certain minorities have not scored well because of low incomes and bad
schools. SAT can be taken two or three times (in the the 11th and 12th grades),
generally proceeded by PSAT (preliminary), a test to give students a warm-up
exercise for the SAT and indicate their probable SAT scoring range.
ACT — the American College Testing program
— is similar to SAT but scores social studies and the natural studies. The ACT
is taken when required by certain colleges or universities. (About 200,000
students take this test yearly.)
Both tests are widely used in the
admission process of US colleges and universities. Their results are sent to
the colleges or universities to which the students have applied. ACT is meant
to be taken only once.
Achievement tests — special tests in a
discipline required by some colleges for admission.
"TOEFL" stands for the Test of English as a Foreign Language. This test is used to measure your English language proficiency. If you are applying to a college or university, your TOEFL scores will help the admission staff determine if your skills are adequate for enrollment into the program of study you have selected.
10. Academic Year is usually nine months duration, or two semesters of
four and a half months each. Classes usually begin in September and end in
July. There are summer classes for those who want to improve the grades or take
up additional courses.
During one term or semester, a student
will study, concurrently, four or five different subjects. The students'
progress is often assessed through quizzes (short oral or written tests), term
papers and a final examination in each course. Each part of a student's work in
a course is given a mark which helps to determine his final grade. A student's
record consists of his grade in each course.
College grades, determined by each instructor on the basis of class work and examinations, are usually on a five-point scale, with letters to indicate the levels of achievement. A — is the highest mark, indicating superior accomplishment, and the letters go through B, C, D to E or F which denotes failure. Many schools assign points for each grade (A = 5, B = 4, etc.) so that GPA (grade point average) may be computed. Normally, a minimum grade point average (3.5 points) is required to continue in school and to graduate.
11. Student Financial Aid — sums of money for students who need
financial aid to attend college.
When a family applies for aid, an analysis is made of the parents’ income; Financial Aid is normally awarded as part of a package: part grant (a grant needn't be repaid, parts of which might come from several sources: federal, state, private scholarship, college scholarship); part loan (to be repaid after college); part work (colleges normally expect students on aid to earn some of the money they need by working summers on the camps).
12. Students
A great deal of the cultural and recreational life at a university is created and conducted by student groups. They sponsor or participate in concerts, plays, debates, forums and festivals.
They have various clubs, film societies,
jazz groups, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, athletic events. At many
universities, the centre of these social and cultural out-of-class activities
is the Students Unjpn. Some community colleges or universities maintain major resident facilities,
fraternity and sorority houses,
and students unions.
There are also a large number of national
fraternities and sororities with chapters (branches) at almost 500 colleges and
universities. These organizations, Greek letter societies, are descendants of
the 18th century library and social dubs which flourished in the early American
colleges.
No society has more than one chapter hi any one college. While those societies are secret in character there is seldom any overemphasis of ritual or mystery in their conduct The Greek alphabet is generally used in naming the fraternity, sorority or a chapter. It has become quite the practice for students of a particular fraternity to reside together during then-college course in their "chapter" house. Students who live outside the colleges or universities live hi cooperatives (cooperative housing associations providing lodgings), rooming houses or apartment complexes.
13. How to Write an Essay. The
ability to write well-organized, concise essays is essential. The material must
be presented hi logical order and clear language. An essay consists of a
number of paragraphs. Here are some hints on paragraph writing:
1) There are paragraph introducers which
are sentences that establish the topic focus of the paragraph as a whole. The
topic sentence hi the paragraph contains a key idea. 2) There are paragraph
developers which present examples or details of various kinds to support the
ideas of the topic sentence. 3) There are sometimes viewpoints or context
modulators, which are sentences that provide a smooth transition between
different sets of ideas. 4) There are paragraph terminators or restatement
sentences, which logically conclude the ideas discussed hi the paragraph.
To be able to write a good essay you must realize that your essay should be relevant to the set topic hi both content and focus; the essay should be the result of wide reading, taking notes, looking things up, sorting out information, theories and ideas, and coming to well-thought-out conclusions...
An essay consists of a number of
paragraphs which may be sorted into functional groups such as introductory,
developmental, transitional, summarising.
Depending upon the purpose or intent of
the writer, particular paragraphs may be thought of as aiming to persuade,
inform, argue, or excite. Paragraphs may also be classified according to such
techniques of development as comparison, contrast, description, classification,
generalisation, etc.
In linking paragraphs together the
transitional devices may be the following:
1) the use of a pronoun
instead of the above mentioned nouns; 2) repetition of the key word or phrase
used in the preceding paragraph; 3) the use of transitional words or phrases
and connectives.
The following connectives and transitional
phrases are particularly useful in an essay writing:
first, second, etc.; next, finally,
eventually, furthermore, meanwhile; because of, for; as, and since; thus,
therefore, as a result, and so; at the same time, but; and (in order) to, so
(that); and for, yet, nevertheless, nonetheless, however; whereas, while; on
the other hand; in contrast, unlike; similary, also, too, both; obviously; etc.
In essay writing the following hints
concerning the language may be helpful:
— restrictions upon the
vocabulary. Words and phrases labelled colloquial, familiar, vulgar, slang are
excluded as inappropriate. Abbreviations, contracted verbal forms, colloquial
abbreviations of words (such as ad, vac, exam, etc.) should not be
used;
— preference should be given
to concrete words rather than abstract (instead of walk — more specific stroll,
shuffle, trot, etc.);
— wider use of phrasal verbs
should be made;
— overused adjectives,
adverbs, cliches should be avoided;
— idioms should be used with
care;
— features of academic style should be preserved: lengthier and more complex paragraphs; the approach to the material is analytical, objective, intellectual, polemical; the academic writer's tone is serious, impersonal, formal rather than conversational, personal, colloquial; the academic writer makes frequent use of passive forms of the verbs; impersonal pronouns and phrases; complex sentence structures; specialized vocabulary; — one must be aware that there are differences in style and usage between disciplines and topics set.
BRITISH AND
British and American universities are
similar in their pursuit of knowledge as a goal but are quite different in
their organization and operation.
English universities and colleges, because
of their selective intake, are relatively small. American universities, which
combine a number of different colleges and professional schools, are large,
sometimes with 20,000 to 25,000 students on one campus. Teacher training
colleges and polytechnics are alternatives to the university course for some
students in
14. Buzz group — small groups of 3-5 persons to enact a simultaneous discussion of a motion. Each group has to work out and note down all possible arguments in favour of its motion including defences against points that might be brought up by the opposition. It also has to work out the presentation of this material (who will put which argument and how), using every member of the group. The result of the discussion within a buzz group is to be reported by one of its members to the whole group.
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