A letter home

After being in the States for 2 months my roommate, Jeroen, and I decided to send an email to our home school to inform them about the differences between our home institution and NorthWest. Below you can read an English translation of that letter.

At the moment we've been here for almost 2 months. We have encountered various "culture shocks". NorthWest Missouri State University has been our home for the last 2 months. So far we have had a lot of classes already and we had our first exams last week. Eventually it comes down to the same stuff as at home, you get homework, go to class, and take exams, except with a few differences here and there.

In the Netherlands you pick a major and get a certain "course package" that comes a long with it. You don't get to choose your own classes. Normally students at NorthWest take around 4 or 5 classes per semester. NorthWest offers a wide variety of classes, ranging from scuba diving and golf to web publishing or English.

You're required to go to all your classes; some teachers will tell you that you can miss 1 or maybe 2 classes. Not going to classes will affect your final grade in most cases. At first we thought the teacher at NorthWest were very strict, compared to the teachers we had in The Netherlands, but after while we found out that they were willing to help you with anything, even outside class time. We also saw teachers that were standing in front of class in shorts and t-shits, something you won't see in The Netherlands. But the teachers are nothing compared to the American students. During the morning classes, especially those that start around 8 am we found out that students like to wear there pyjama's and flip flops to class while bringing there morning newspaper and a cup of coffee. This might have well been one of the biggest "culture shocks" so far. The first time we went to class we decided to go early. So instead of going at the time class starts we actually went 5 minutes early. When arriving in the classroom everyone else was already there, even the professors, and we thought we were late. It turned out that the classroom would normally be full around 10 minutes before class and students would ask their professors several question before class. While back home we are used to going to class at the time it starts or maybe even be late.

The way professors teach is the same. A lot of professors use MS PowerPoint and at NorthWest there's a system called eCompanion which is almost the same as Blackboard which we use at the Hogeschool Zuyd. Exams are different though. While in The Netherlands we don't get pop quizzes, at NorthWest you do. There are also more tests during the semester. It all comes down that in the States you need to read a lot outside of class while back home in The Netherlands we can just open our books a few weeks before the final. Studying takes a bit more effort in the States than back home, but it makes it easier to do the final exam in the end.

In America there's a different grade system. They use letters to grade instead of numbers. In The Netherlands the best grade is a 10, and the lowest would be a 1. While at NorthWest the best grade would be an A and the lowest a F. While students in the Netherlands are happy when they get a D, students in the States aren't. The better grades they get to more things they are allowed to do at school or the less they have to pay for school.