Six ways going to University in Croatia is Different than in the US

Ovog mjeseca pitali smo Fulbright stipendisticu Grace Penta, koja je zadnjih godinu dana provela radeći kao English Teaching Assistant na Sveučilištu u Osijeku, kako ona vidi razlike između hrvatskog i američkog obrazovanja i studentskog iskustva te je zamolili da opiše par najznačajnijih razlika u studiranju u te dvije zemlje. Njezin tekst prenosimo u nastavku.

Six ways going to University in Croatia is Different than in the US

After working as a visiting English teaching assistant at a university in eastern Croatia for nine months, I have come across more than a few ways that my time in college in the US between 2017 and 2021 was different than the experience of students in Croatia today. While I wouldn’t go back in time to change my college experience, it’s been interesting and exciting to see each system’s unique strengths.

1. High school and knowing what job you want

Many university differences stem from how different high school is in the US and Europe. A large majority of students in the US go to college-track high school programs. While vocational and even fewer professional training high schools exist in the US, it seems far more common for students in Croatia to attend these programs. From my perspective, prompting Croatian students to make significant career decisions in high school makes those who do decide to go to college more sure of what career they want to pursue. In the US, it’s not uncommon for students starting at college to have only a vague idea of what job they want, if they have any idea at all!

2. Major and class options

One of the differences that stood out the most to me was how US universities are designed to give students more options. For example, I took around 42 different classes over my four years in college. Only 14 of those were directly related to my major, but I needed to fulfill the requirements of all 42 courses to graduate. In a liberal arts college, students explore fields outside of their interests. Some students benefit from this when they find a new field they are more passionate about. More importantly, this education style addresses the fact that no area of education is independent. The idea is that to solve complex issues, we have to be dynamic. Thus, STEM students should also learn to write, and creative writing majors should have the opportunity to study natural sciences.

If you’re not a fan of taking classes outside of your interests, the liberal arts methods commonly used in US colleges can feel slow and tedious. But, on the plus side, if you’re unsure what major you want, you have much more flexibility and time to pick. Choosing your major as late as your last year in school is possible. Most of the time, students in the US decide on a major by the middle of their second year.

3. Professors

When high school teachers in the US are mad at you (because you turned in your work late, left class to get water, used colloquial language in your essay, or asked to postpone a test, etc.), they will often say, “You won’t be able to do this in college. Your professors won’t put up with it.” However, at this point, it’s become a joke because of how untrue that is. Although their expectations and classroom manner may vary, university professors are generally more laid back. In most classes, you can leave class briefly and don’t need to ask the professor. If you are late to class, your professor won’t comment on it. If you don’t have time to finish an assignment, you can write an email to explain that you’re busy, and it usually isn’t an issue. Professors don’t want to read the terrible essay a student tried to write last minute anyway; they’d rather read something good, even if it’s a couple of days late.

Generally, there is a mutual understanding that students will put in the necessary effort and time for class — US college students do tend to pay quite a lot for school, and missing even a few hours of class may add up to hundreds of dollars lost — and most professors feel they are responsible for creating curriculum and lessons that are interesting and valuable to the students. A good professor will have open office hours each week, and students use this time for help with the class, mentorship, or career guidance. In both Croatia and the US, students respect their professors, but I think in Croatia, this respect means there is more distance between the students and professors. Whereas, in the US, things are typically more casual.

4. Where you go to school can change your college experience

Although the US News school rankings have become a serious point students stress over when applying to college — even though rank is not the best way to pick a school — this is not what I mean by “where” you go. I think there is a bigger impact on how your college feels depending on where it is geographically. Going to school in a city in California will feel very different than going to school in a town in rural New York, where the campus is the only thing around for miles. Similarly, politics in the US can be generalized by geography. So, going to school in a town in the more conservative region of North Georgia will feel different than going to a school just two hours away in the liberal hub of Atlanta.

The region you are in can influence the discussions in class, the diversity of people and perspectives among your peers, and the school’s interaction with the surrounding community. It can also change the interests of the professors and school administrators. There are too many pros and cons for each location to say one is better than the rest, but students consider it seriously when deciding where to go.

A final note on this topic: after applying and working in my college’s admissions office, I think the best way to pick a school is based on where you feel most comfortable. You might go to the top school in the nation, but if you don’t feel comfortable and confident enough to ask your professors questions during office hours, join a new club, or find new friends, you won’t gain everything college can offer.

5. Spending time with friends

The thing I have been most impressed by in Croatia is the deep commitment people have to their friends and family. Not to say that I don’t cherish my time with friends and family, but culturally there is a difference in how that time is spent. After talking with a friend, I realized that in Croatia, people make time to see their friends. In the US, people fit friends into their time.

People in the US often move far from their families for university and only visit home a couple of times a year. This means your college friendships are essential and will often remain so for the rest of your life. However, it’s not uncommon that the only times you see some friends while in school are when you have the same schedule. This might mean you invite them to go grocery shopping with you, they ask to go to the gym together, you plan to collaborate on a problem set for a class, you plan to pick up mail at the same time, or you grab dinner together because you are going to the same campus club meeting after. Setting aside time for friends (aside from your roommates) can be challenging.

6. School pride and comradery

In any movie set at a US college or university, students’ intense school pride is always a feature. It is true that many schools allocate a surprising amount of resources toward sports; the largest college football stadium in the US holds 107,601 people. Students can feel very emotionally linked to their alma mater. Many people in the US take trips back to their college after graduating and encourage their kids to go to the same school they attended. Rivalries between schools are common but are mostly for entertainment and are never taken too seriously.

This school spirit can be an exciting part of the US college experience. Some students don’t like this atmosphere, and that is perfectly alright. There are schools where the occasionally crazy energy around school pride is almost non-existent. However, universities in the US generally seem to be more united than in Croatia, not just for sports but also for the faculties and departments. Students feel connected across campus despite studying different things, possibly because their non-major related classes are shared (ex: a pre-med student and linguistics student are both taking level 1 Spanish, so they will likely be in the same class).

While there are numerous differences, there are also many similarities between universities in Croatia and the US. And, just as it’s nearly impossible to explain the college experience in Croatia in just one way, the variety of college experiences in the US is also too diverse to summarize in one short article.

Grace Penta, English Language Assistant na Sveučilištu u Osijeku u okviru programa Fulbright u akademskoj godini 2022./2023.