I'm 18 and I'm moving with my family to the states on a 2 year business visa. My dad will be getting a work permit but I can't get one till I'm over there so I've been told I need to go on a course and study something while I'm waiting.

What I want to do is get into sound engineering and I've already studied music tech over here in England. I didn't really want to go to college so Im just looking to do a short course on something else that I'm interested in like psychology, graphic design or business.

Im a bit unsure of the US system and what courses they offer...

• whats the difference between colleges and universities?
• do they offer short courses/one year courses?
• what qualifications would i need to get in? (i have two A-levels from England)

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out

A university offers graduate programs (master's and doctorate) along with bachelor's programs. A college generally offers only bachelor's programs.

A semester (about 16 weeks.) is the usual length of a course. There are two semesters, Fall (ends in Jan) and Spring (ends in May). Most courses last one semester. For instance, German I could be taken in the Fall Semester; German II could be taken in the Spring Semester. There may be summer classes offered and sometimes also very short winter courses during Christmas break or sandwiched between Fall and Spring semesters.

I don't know what A-levels are so someone else will have to answer that.

You may find that a local Junior College or Community College will offer what you are looking for. A Junior College offers a two-year Associate's degree, as opposed to a 4-year Bachelor's degree from a college or university (I believe in much of Europe the term "college" is typically applied to this type of institution).

To confuse you, while WonderGirl's definition of college vs university as used in the US is generally correct, there are many institutions that have kept the word "college" in their name even though they offer post-grad degrees - Dartmouth College is one preeminent example. Also, some schools use the word "college" to mean their residential living arrangements - for example, At Yale University the undergraduates are assigned to a residential college, which pretty much means their dormitory. Confused??