Academic Differences

There will certainly be some differences between Maryville College and the American University of Sharjah, but there will not be as many differences as I originally imagined.

Because AUS is an American University, it is formed out of the American education model and is a fully recognized and accredited institution in the United States. This means that the grading system will be very similar to what I see in the United States and at Maryville College. Classes are also structured at AUS based on how they are often structured in the United States.

There are more than 5,000 students from 82 countries that attend AUS, making it almost five times as large as Maryville College in terms of student population number. AUS offers twenty-six majors and fifty-four minors through its colleges of Architecture, Art and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Business and Management. Unlike Maryville, AUS offers Masters' Degree programs. This will be a small adjustment I will have to make, as I am used to going to a college offering only undergraduate programs.

One advantage I will be able to seek out from AUS is their comprehensive library with their collection of over 125,000 hard copy English resources. One adjustment that I will certainly have to make is to their residence halls. AUS has residence halls based on gender, and opposite genders are not allowed to enter the other gender's residence hall.

If I need help with my studies at AUS, there are numerous places I can go for extra assistance like we have at Maryville College. There is a Writing Center, Mathematics Support Center, and Academic Support Center. These have comprehensive programs divided among the different colleges at AUS so that students can get a support program catered to their individual needs.

Overall, I am quite confident that I will be able to adjust to the academic system at AUS. Even though it is in a very different cultural context, the academic differences are not too noticeably different at this time besides what I would see varying from school to school in the United States.