Many of the assignments, staff members and other aspects of university/college life might have different names from the ones you use in your country, so let’s get to grips with those! US colleges are often staffed with ‘TAs’ or Teaching Assistants, who are often graduates who may support classes or teach themselves.

Much less intimidating than your lecturer! These are not to be confused with ‘RAs’ or Resident Assistants who live in with students’ dorms and give them support with all those domestic situations that arise. Burnt the toast and set off the fire alarm? Yep, call your RA! The next crisis will be your ‘term paper’, a research essay that is so long it takes a whole semester to complete- you can do these!

In essay exams you will probably need a ‘blue book’- that’s a small book of lined paper where you write the answers- and to get you a good score definitely consider finding a ‘study buddy’- a friend who studies with you!

What might be useful in an exam based in the North America and specialising in academic English? No prizes for guessing the answer: it’s some university/college slang. Here are a few super-useful informal expressions that might just save the day. If you ‘ace’ an exam, you get a fantastic grade, but if you ‘flunk’ it there won’t be any celebrating, because you failed. Referring to something as a ‘bird class’ means that it’s so easy you can fly straight from enrolment to a good result without any effort- it’s not recommended to describe any class this way in your university/college interviews!

When you have no time before a deadline and stay up all night completing your work you are ‘pulling an all-nighter.’ Meanwhile, submitting that work on time might just earn you ‘brownie points’- i.e. get you in the teacher’s favour. The expression comes from young Girl Scouts in the US who are called ‘brownies’ and who collect imaginary scores- nothing to do with the sweet treat, also called ‘brownies’.

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