Oryan said:
First of all, I find it interesting that everyone outside the US says university instead of college. I'm used to reading it here now, but sometimes I'll slip it into a conversation just to see people's reactions. Secondly, why does your semester start so late (relatively)? Are you on a trimester schedule, or is it just that way? I'm asking because I'm already six weeks into my semester. Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread.
Remember, we're in the Southern Hemisphere. It's summer down here at the moment. We, like you guys, have our long break over the summer so our school year goes from February/March till November/December.
Here at Wollongong University we have two semesters, Autumn Semester, running from late Feb/early March through till June. 13 weeks of classes with a mid-session break. And Spring semester, running from July through till November, also 13 weeks classes with a mid-session break.
At the end of each session we have a week of stu-vac followed by a two week exam period.
Each University year occurs within one calendar year.
We call University "University" because that's what it is. Here, a "College" is a hall of residence attached to the University. Colleges are not always on-campus, Wollongong has a number of residential colleges but only one of them is on-campus - it works well cause campus is a fair way from town and the beach (about half an hour from each walking) and the colleges are much closer to the action. Most Uni campuses here don't resemble the "small towns" of the ones in the States - they are generally just the Uni buildings and a few ancillary buildings for library, food court, bookshop etc.
A college can also be a small tertiary institution that focusses on very specific fields - often business. Colleges generally run short, one to three year courses at the end of which you are presented with either a Certificate I/II/III or IV in your chosen field or sometimes a Diploma. Colleges generally do not issue degrees and none can issue degrees unless they are conferred by a local University.
