Letter to the Editor:
College differences in Austria, U.S.

The college life experience is the main reason why I chose the U.S. for my year abroad. After six weeks of studying at Rider, I became aware of numerous differences between the American university and my university in Graz.

The most striking difference is that students cannot live on campus in Austria. Although there are residence halls located near the University, most students either live with their parents or get an apartment in the city. Graz is rather small compared to most American cities, so the University can easily be reached by car, public transportation and even by biking or walking.

Living on campus offers a lot more social interactions. With all the clubs students can join and the many campus events, the college life here includes much more than just schoolwork. Through living on campus, you get to know so many people because you spend the whole day together with other students. In Austria, students go to school for classes and spend their free time with friends at home.

I enjoy college life here, but I also like studying at Graz, a little university town that is popular among students. People from all over the country come to study at Karl-Franzens University. It has over 21,000 students, a huge campus and many different fields of study. Our university offers fewer social facilities and activities, although there are many sports available to students. Most students prefer to spend their free time independent of the University.

Despite the separation between college and free time in Graz, the city has much to offer students. Around the University, there are bars, pubs and clubs, as well as a beautiful city center with shops and cafés. There are many attractions in and around the city, including beautiful lakes and nearby mountains for skiing.

What I also appreciate about studying in Graz is that there are not as many rules to follow. I understand the necessity of all the rules students must observe when living on campus, but since I am not used to that, I sometimes feel over-supervised. Student life in Graz is less strict. Smoking, for instance, is allowed everywhere on the campus (except inside the university buildings) and also in cafés and bars, but students do not tend to smoke more. Another example is, although the drinking age in Austria is 16, alcohol poses less of a problem since students do not have to drink secretly.

However, Austrian universities do not have the kind of college community that I have experienced here in the U.S. You also get to know a lot of people in your free time, but in class you are usually only with the students in your specific field of study. Because of the large size of the university in Graz, each field has its own building, and there is less interaction between the different institutions than here. Another aspect which contributes to the college community in American universities is the different mentality of the people. On average, Americans are much more outgoing, and this definitely reinforces the social interaction between students.

— Milena Insam