In properly accredited American community and junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities, the first two years of any bachelor's degree contains a wide variety of courses. All students are required to enroll in introductory level courses in English composition, mathematics, the physical sciences and biology, history, psychology, public speaking, computer science, and even physical education. Also during the first two years you will enroll in introductory courses directly related to your major field of study. During the third and fourth years nearly all the courses you enroll in will be directly related to your major field of study, but for the first couple of years you will be following the broad-based curriculum.

As an example, here are the courses that students majoring in Business Administration must take during the first two years:

• two courses in English Composition
• two courses in mathematics (pre-calculus algebra and calculus I)
• two courses in laboratory science
• two courses in literature
• one course in psychology
• one course in public speaking
• two courses in physical education
• two courses in computer science
• two courses in history
• two courses in economics
• one course in business law
• two courses in statistics
• two courses in the principles of accounting

Besides those 23 courses, you may also be required to take remedial courses in English composition and basic mathematics if your skills in those areas are weak. (Please note that only five or six of these courses are "business" courses. If you were a pre-medicine major, those five or six courses would be in other introductory chemistry, physics, and biology courses; or, if you were an engineering major, those five or six courses would be in physics and the higher maths.)

In the third and fourth years you will take about 20 more courses, but they will nearly all be directly related to such topics as accounting, management, advanced economic theory, and all the other subjects one expects you to know about if you have a bachelor's degree in business administration. Similarly pre-med majors will take about 20 more courses related to the medical field and engineering majors would take about 20 more courses related to engineering.

From Kyrgyzstan to Kenya and from Sweden to Swaziland, nearly everyone in the world learns to speak English in primary and secondary school. And many residents of Bombay, Nairobi, Karachi, Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta, and Moscow speak English with more ease and correctness than a great many Americans. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT AMERICAN COLLEGE ENGLISH COURSES ARE ABOUT!

In the U.S., college students study the written form of the language. What you will be expected to do in first year English composition courses is to write well-organized and convincing multi-paragraph essays on a wide variety of topics. Later on you will be expected to write research papers and reports. These papers will be marked for content, spelling, puntuation, mechanics, grammar, and effectiveness of style. So the more you know about the principles of composition and rhetoric, the better off you will be when you find yourself in a required English composition class.

The first important point about spoken English is that you cannot expect very many American professors to be fluent in your mother language. Some of your professors here can speak French, Spanish, German, or even a little Russian; but basically we Americans know only English. So you really must understand English well enough to be able to follow discussions of university level subject matter. Also, there are many regional dialects of American English. So the only advice that is worth anything on this subject is this: (A) Practice by watching American and British television and movies and by listening to any native speakers of English you can meet; and (B) practice by speaking English as much as you can.

The second important point is that you will have a hard time getting a visa if you don't speak English well enough to communicate easily with the consular clerk who conducts your interview for a visa. Even if you have superior marks on the TOEFL and have been attending English-speaking schools all your life, if the visa clerk has trouble understanding you or if you have trouble understanding the visa clerk, you probably will not be given a visa.

The American System of Grading

The most important thing to remember about the American system of grading is that the professor who teaches the subject gives the decisive grade. For example, if you enroll in Professor Jackson's American History class, it is Professor Jackson who will determine your "final grade" for that course. This is quite different from the way marks are awarded in many other countries, particularly countries which were once part of the British Empire. In the British system, the decisive marks are usually based on an exam which is devised and graded by someone other than the professor who teaches the subject.

At the end of each semester, therefore, a student in an American college will receive a "final grade" of A, B, C, D, or F in each of the classes he is taking. In most American colleges, your overall academic standing will be determined as follows:

• A is worth 4 points multiplied by the number of semester hours assigned to the course.
• B is worth 3 points multiplied by the number of semester hours.
• C is worth 2 points multiplied by the number of semester hours.
• D is worth 1 point multiplied by the number of semester hours.
• F is worth 0 points multiplied by the number semester hours.

The total of all the points awarded after these multiplications are made is then divided by the total number of semester hours. Here's an example:
At the end of each semester, the new grade points and hours are added to the old grade points and hours, the new totals are divided as before, and the student's cumulative grade point average is calculated.

In order to maintain satisfactory status as an international student, you are required by nearly all colleges and universities to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.000 or higher. Students who maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.500 or better (nearly all A's and B's) will qualify for academic honors such as being named to the Dean's List (A's and B's) or the President's List (all A's) and will be graduated with honors such as cum laude, maxima cum laude, or summa cum laude.