to fellow uni students, particularly those in the UK

my undergrad experience:
- two courses a term (out of eight/nine final courses)
- one to two essays a week
- tutorials with one tutor and zero to two other students
- no coursework; exams count for everything

my postgrad experience:
- four courses a term (= all the courses i am taking)
- no regular essays (except coursework which counts towards my degree)
- discussion seminars with up to 20 students o_o;;
- no exams; coursework counts for everything.

i am getting the impression that my undergrad experience was an anomaly (though this isn't new to me), and that my postgrad experience actually resembles that of the standard UK undergrad, maybe. except that undergrads have exams.

thoughts? i really can't get over the facts that 1) i don't have regular essays, 2) seminars are so huge. how does one have a coherent/useful discussion in such large groups? :|