University of Edinburgh

[Anonymous]

Anyone with experience at University of Edinburgh (undergraduate), bonus points for specific knowledge about studying politics, philosophy, and economics? Ability to make friends? Access to professors? Difficulty with summer opportunities? Challenges with US graduate programs? Understand that requires an independent and motivated student. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Ability to make friends????

[Anonymous]

Unlike US universities, housing is all over the city in smaller homes (few big dorms) and, typically, self-catered (no dining hall). Casually hanging out with new people seems more difficult. US schools seem more set up for success socially as a freshman, but this may not be true. Just seeking feedback on anyone with direct experience.

[Anonymous]

There's always a "fresher's week" at Ed as with any other university, that can last anywhere from 1-3 wks with multiple social events / clubs fairs etc lined up at the beginning of the year, and often starting just before most student returners get back on campus.

You probably already know, PPE is a very prestigious course at all UK universities who offer it - and hugely competitive to get into, because of the scope of the course as well as the workload.

[Anonymous]

UoE alum here. Making friends won't be an issue, Fresher's Week is setup to encourage individuals to meet each other. Yes, the "dorms" (residence halls) are spread throughout the city, but I found that being self-catered provided more opportunities to become friends with my flatmates than a US school would.

Edinburgh is well established in handling North American students. Your student will not be the only American there - expect hundreds of them. That being said, graduate school and summer opportunities were never an issue for me. UoE is a top 25 university in the WORLD - people know what it is and how prestigious it is.

An FYI that UoE has a North American Society (student club) and alumni groups across the USA for after graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone with experience at University of Edinburgh (undergraduate), bonus points for specific knowledge about studying politics, philosophy, and economics? Ability to make friends? Access to professors? Difficulty with summer opportunities? Challenges with US graduate programs? Understand that requires an independent and motivated student. Thank you!

My son’s in a different school that’s probably like that.

It’s simply less plush than a school like Rice, Emory or even George Mason. It’s not a great environment for a fragile student with executive function problems.

But it offers great classes in a beautiful place, and students who understand what they’re giving up and are fine with that can get a terrific education and have a wonderful time.

Someone often comes on threads like this and says going to school abroad is bad for U.S. job hunting.

The kids I know who’ve gone this route are juniors and seniors, and I don’t know what will happen if and when they come back here to look for work or apply to grad school.

My guess is that going to grad school won’t be a problem.

Job hunting might be trickier, but partly because these are strong-minded kids who aren’t interested in following the path of least resistance. They might not be natural fits for Goldman Sachs even if they were at Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

[Anonymous]

Have kids that went/attend another UK university that gets mixed reviews on DCUM. As others have said, freshers week helps with making friends. Housing is a challenge at many UK universities past freshman year. If studying economics, you won’t get multiple choice tests like in the US and UK universities have a much higher expectation for math skills for incoming students. Also, few graded assignments, with students essentially “reading” for their degrees.

Good luck on the decision process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

Have you tried using UoE's "Chat to our students" feature? It may help! https://www.ed.ac.uk/c/chat-to-our-students-unibuddy

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the thoughts on housing and the "chat to our students" suggestion. Housing is one reason King's College London was crossed off the list! Too hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

I’m the mom of a son in an obvious UofE peer school.

I don’t think typical UK and European parents are as involved in this, and I don’t think the kids are as focused on fit.

The cost for kids going to school in-country are so much lower that the stakes are much lower and concerns about customer service and comfort are less pressing.

If you know you’re getting a respectable bachelor’s degree for $2,200 per year, you can live with a clunky admissions office.

But, if the alternative is Bowdoin, these options are so different that your son has to choose based mostly on affordability, if that’s the issue, or based on horror of living in Maine.

Bowdoin is so good for a U.S. student who can tolerate it that it’s the obvious winner. He would get much more faculty attention there and a lot more dorm nurturing.

The reasons to go with UofE instead are if it would be much cheaper, your son would hate being in a small town in Maine, or your son is dying for an adventure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

I’m the mom of a son in an obvious UofE peer school.

I don’t think typical UK and European parents are as involved in this, and I don’t think the kids are as focused on fit.

The cost for kids going to school in-country are so much lower that the stakes are much lower and concerns about customer service and comfort are less pressing.

If you know you’re getting a respectable bachelor’s degree for $2,200 per year, you can live with a clunky admissions office.

But, if the alternative is Bowdoin, these options are so different that your son has to choose based mostly on affordability, if that’s the issue, or based on horror of living in Maine.

Bowdoin is so good for a U.S. student who can tolerate it that it’s the obvious winner. He would get much more faculty attention there and a lot more dorm nurturing.

The reasons to go with UofE instead are if it would be much cheaper, your son would hate being in a small town in Maine, or your son is dying for an adventure.

A great deal of this is assumption and not correct. For many families in the Uk university was originally "free" and tuition of 9250 pounds per year is not a small sum, especially when housing can sometimes double this amount. The standard of living in the US is higher, salaries are higher and accordingly, many college tuition fees are higher. But it still doesn't make it "cheap" for the majority of people in the UK

Also "fit" is measured differently. Prestige of the university, location, courses on offer, cost are the things most frequently discussed. Yet there are also elaborate "open days" where applicants can attend open lectures, tour, meet people and see if they feel the ethos of the place is a good "fit" for them.

[Anonymous]

I studied for a few months at Edinburgh. They do have some dorms and a dining hall, but most students live off campus.

I found no trouble meeting people in both dorms and through my program, but don't just stick with American friends. I feel so many kids close themselves off and only want to hang out with people like themselves.

One change I noticed last time I was on campus was a lot more international students from Asia, and more businesses catering to them. UK schools need the money so you will find fewer Scottish people at Edinburgh as their tuition would be free and so it's harder for them to be accepted. I heard several Scots tell me this.

I definitely had some smaller group tutorials where it was easy to ask questions. I didn't spend much time with professors, but I do remember a field trip with one for class. I did not study PPE though. It is very self directed and important to try to keep up with the assigned research papers and be motivated to read on your own during the term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

I’m the mom of a son in an obvious UofE peer school.

I don’t think typical UK and European parents are as involved in this, and I don’t think the kids are as focused on fit.

The cost for kids going to school in-country are so much lower that the stakes are much lower and concerns about customer service and comfort are less pressing.

If you know you’re getting a respectable bachelor’s degree for $2,200 per year, you can live with a clunky admissions office.

But, if the alternative is Bowdoin, these options are so different that your son has to choose based mostly on affordability, if that’s the issue, or based on horror of living in Maine.

Bowdoin is so good for a U.S. student who can tolerate it that it’s the obvious winner. He would get much more faculty attention there and a lot more dorm nurturing.

The reasons to go with UofE instead are if it would be much cheaper, your son would hate being in a small town in Maine, or your son is dying for an adventure.

The horror of living in Maine? Wow. I dream of living in Maine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, UoE alum! Very helpful. Decision down to Bowdoin or UoE. Very different experiences, but both probably great. Have found it easier to find parent/student thoughts on Bowdoin, even after searching the Student Room. In the end, not my decision, but trying to get as much information as possible.

I’m the mom of a son in an obvious UofE peer school.

I don’t think typical UK and European parents are as involved in this, and I don’t think the kids are as focused on fit.

The cost for kids going to school in-country are so much lower that the stakes are much lower and concerns about customer service and comfort are less pressing.

If you know you’re getting a respectable bachelor’s degree for $2,200 per year, you can live with a clunky admissions office.

But, if the alternative is Bowdoin, these options are so different that your son has to choose based mostly on affordability, if that’s the issue, or based on horror of living in Maine.

Bowdoin is so good for a U.S. student who can tolerate it that it’s the obvious winner. He would get much more faculty attention there and a lot more dorm nurturing.

The reasons to go with UofE instead are if it would be much cheaper, your son would hate being in a small town in Maine, or your son is dying for an adventure.

The horror of living in Maine? Wow. I dream of living in Maine.

+1. I love Scotland too. Its winters will be a little milder than Maine on average. But its spring and summer will be colder and greyer than Maine’s. The real kicker though is the sunlight hours. In the winter in Edinburgh sunrise is 8:45 am and sets at 3:45 pm. Those are long nights. I’d move there in a second though.