By Khaelle Harris

Choosing classes for the next semester may sound like a routine activity for American college students. But for SUNY Plattsburgh junior Mehek Chhabra of India, the ability to plan her own academic schedule has been one of the most surprising aspects of U.S. education. 

Whereas in India students are assigned standard classes, Chhabra’s latitude to shape her own goals and pathways has stood out to her at SUNY. 

“I appreciate the amount of flexibility and freedom with classes here,” Chhabra said. 

But with that flexibility also comes the freedom to fail. Sure you can plan your own courses, but you can also plan the wrong courses and wind up short on graduation credits. Sure you can decide whether or not to attend classes, but you can also fail out easily. 

Even the option of whether or not to pay attention in class is a very American thing, said Chhabra. In India, by contrast, everyone takes notes together under the direction of the teacher.

“School in India is very academically oriented,” said Chhabra, who grew up in Bangalore. “Yes there are clubs and extracurricular activities, but most of the time students spend the majority of time studying.”

India has a notoriously competitive education system. A recent article in The Times profiled one Indian town where students spend 15 hours a day studying for their college entry exam: “India is known for some of the hardest exams in the world, with labyrinthine syllabuses and low success rates, and years of intensive, strategic preparation.”

Chhabra said students often spend time after school being tutored, doing homework or preparing for practice exams. 

“Simply not studying for an exam isn’t really something people do,” Chhabra said. “We’re all usually jealous of the kid that scores a 99.99 and is wondering where the point-one went.”

Meanwhile in the U.S., as Chhabra has observed during finals week at SUNY Plattsburgh, the personal choice of whether to study for exams is one of many ways that the idea of “American freedom” is on full display.