On the American education

So the aim of this blog is supposed to go beyond the purely biographical, and having now looked in-depth at about eight universities, I believe I am well enough equipped to make some initial comments on Unis in the USA.

I have found myself writing certain things in almost every review that I do. First of all, the campuses. They are all so nice. In Britain, you're lucky if you even have a campus, since universities are generally a mish-mash of odd buildings generally congregated into an unspecific area of some-city-or-other. In America, campuses are always arranged neatly with clear-cut perimetres, and have been specially laid-out to create maximum aesthetic value. It is rare that you feel really part of a city when you're on campus, like you do in 99% of British universities. There are almost always plenty of trees, pleasant open spaces and architecture that looks like it was actually designed to look nice.

Secondly, the professors. Almost every student I talk to says something like this: "The teachers are really good, and what's nice is that they care about all their students, I really feel like they want us to succeed." At the smaller schools, the student will then always add "and they encourage you to go see them, and to form real relationships with them. I enjoy going to have a drink with my professors in a bar after class." And they always say it as if this state of affairs is unique to their university. I don't know how much this is a contrast or similarity with Britain, but it's striking that in America there seems to be a lot of real value attached to the teaching process.

Thirdly, student organisations and university activities. In every university I've looked at in America, the students (and the websites) are gushing about the hundreds of student-organised activities and various interesting types of parties and the sports and the music/theatre/art workshops, and the visiting speakers and the Peace corps, and the Greek life and the political groups and the international exchange programs and the student newspapers/TV/radio stations etc etc etc. I can't help but think that America has the edge on college-life vibrancy.

The final thing that I need to mention is a lot more obvious, and it is the curriculum. Once you see the awesome range of subjects students can do all at once in America, you simply can't believe that other countries would be so insane as to impose one single subject from the age of 18 until graduation. Admissions people bang on about making sure to choose the subject that most interests you, but what kind of person only has one such subject? A person who has been artificially limited in his life and education. US universities are judged on the spectrum of courses they are able to offer. In Britain the range is minimal - Cambridge itself barely manages more than 20-25 courses - because students only ever get to pick one of them, and no one is going to study early Taoist philosophy for three years no matter how appealing it is.

I'll try and provide some more (and deeper) thoughts on the subject as the trip progresses.