Kelly Franklin compares the US university system with an all-you-can-eat buffet 

One attraction of the US university system is its flexibility. Compared to the higher education systems of many countries, US schools allow for more freedom, and individualized programs. The transfer policies of most US schools are also flexible, and this leads to many international students transferring into US four-year schools from institutions in their country, from two-year schools in the US, and even from one four-year US institution to another.

There is, however, a common misunderstanding from international students about how transferring credit works in the US. One common question admissions officers are asked goes something like, "I have completed two years of work at my current school... so can I enter your school as a third-year student?"

It's difficult to answer this, if the officer wants to be completely honest and accurate. The easy response is to say "sure, if enough credits transfer, you can be a third-year student."

However, that does not mean that by entering as a third-year student, one should be able to graduate with two more years of study. A student at a US university may even be classified as a fourth-year student, and still need two years or even more time, before being able to graduate!

This is because of a basic difference in the US system and many other countries. To explain, let me use a food analogy.

The graduation requirements in most countries, in restaurant terms, would come from a fixed menu of four (or more) meals. The diners (students) are served set plates consisting of various food types (salad, meat, dessert), and after a certain number of meals, are able to graduate. Most 'diners' have the same meal or one very similar; one may have beef and another pork, one has ice cream while another has cookies, but the basic menu, created and served by the university, is fed to all. If one eats enough meals, one graduates.

In the US, on the other hand, the meals are more like an all-you-can-eat buffet, in which the diner can put whatever they desire on their plate, and eat it in any order. So, one person may choose all meat, another may start with ice cream, then proceed to the appetizers, and another may eat only salads.

Any of those different dining patterns would, within limits, be permitted at most US universities, because students have a lot of freedom to select their own courses. Advisors might caution against eating nothing but ice cream, but a strong-willed diner can often still do it.

After a few meals (completing the second year, in our food-school analogy), that ice-cream eater may indeed be considered a third-year student, simply in terms of the amount of food eaten....but would in no way be on track to graduate in two more years of study, because they are now well-behind other students in eating a balanced menu with salads, meats and vegetables all in the right proportions (as deemed necessary by the university).

And make no mistake: US universities do have strict standards about the right proportions, and the correct balance required for graduation.

So, transferring into a US school and being considered a third-year student (or at any other level) really doesn't mean that much. What is more important is that one has the correct balance of courses to meet the various requirements of a specific university. Without knowing those requirements, and fulfilling them with specific courses (taken at the old school or the new), one has little idea of what it takes to complete "the dinner."

Kelly Franklin is the Director of International Services at Maryville College in Tennessee, USA