University of Glasgow vs. Edinburgh

How do the two cities, particularly the areas around each university, compare?

When researching Glasgow, I've heard everything from "one of the safest places in the UK" to "You'll get stabbed; I promise." And I really don't know much about Edinburgh except that it looks older and the university is ranked higher than Glasgow.

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Reply 1

GreenVaseline

Glasgow was voted friendliest city, and murder capital of Europe in the same year, make of that what you will. The West End of Glasgow is gorgeous - a community within a community, as it were. Edinburgh is stunning, probably less likely to get killed, but doesn't have the nightlife/shopping of Glasgow.
Accomodation in Edinburgh is probably more convenient - with the majority being so close to the actual Uni, whereas with Glasgow only the Student Apartments are within 5mins walk of campus.

Reply 2

RamocitoMorales

Apply to Edinburgh, not Glasgow. Please?

Reply 3

Fräulein

RamocitoMorales

Apply to Edinburgh, not Glasgow. Please?

Why?

Reply 4

RamocitoMorales

Fräulein

Why?

I'm sorry, I don't know. Do what you want. Look into your heart Luke, focus!

Reply 5

TheOneWho

Fräulein

Why?

So there is more chance of him getting a place.

Anyway, go where you want. Glasgow University is older than Edinburgh, and is more of a 'campus' university with all the buildings in the same area (unless you are doing medicine, vet med or dentistry) whilst in Edinburgh they are spread across the city.

The surrounding areas are similar, despite what people say. Yes, Glasgow has some incredibly rough areas, but so does Edinburgh. Glasgow University is based in the west end, one of the more affluent areas of the city. Edinburgh is in the city centre.

Both have fairly high living costs, but Glasgow edges it with the area being slightly cheaper to rent housing in.

Look at the courses for each university, find which one suits you more. Look at what each university offers in terms of library facilities, sports facilities, social events and nightlife, etc, etc.

Reply 6

Fräulein

The TSR Guide page for Glasgow puts their % of internationals at only about 5%. Is this true? Will I be the only stupid American walking around? Not that it really matters one way or the other, but I'm curious.

Reply 7

RamocitoMorales

Fräulein

A lot of the international students in Glasgow are probably American since Scotland seems a popular destination for Americans.

Reply 8

TheOneWho

Fräulein

In the 2008 academic year (don't have this year's figures out yet) international students were roughly 18% of the entire student population at Glasgow. Americans constitute by far the largest number, almost double that of the second largest sender, China. I think most Americans come on exchanges rather than for a full degree, but there are many about.

Reply 9

0404343m

Fräulein

That's wrong. It was, for 2008/9 around 4,000 of the entire student population of 24,000- so it's somewhere between 15 and 20%, I'd expect that number to be larger this year.

Reply 10

Fräulein

How is public transportation? I mean trains, subways, etc...not so much buses and taxis.

Also, could I go ahead and throw St. Andrews into this? I know it's a very different setting than either Glasgow or Edinburgh, but if anybody has their two cents to contribute about University of St. Andrews and the surrounding area, do tell! :smile:

Reply 11

TheOneWho

Only Glasgow has a subway, it's also very well served with trains and buses. Edinburgh is also fairly good. St Andrews is quite out of the way.

Reply 12

0404343m

Fräulein

Lothian Buses in Edinburgh are fantastic, although there's debates about whether this new tram system (which probably won't be open until 2012) will improve anything at all. Glasgow still has the most extensive public transport network outside of London, and the university is served by two subway stations on the main campus, with another couple being close to other parts, and taking you from the West End to the main shopping area in the centre in under 10minutes. Personally, I think Glasgow is more student friendly- the compact campus means there's a student bubble, and there's more students (and shops, pubs, clubs and live music, for that matter) than any other city outside of London. It's a little cheaper than Edinburgh, although the West End is pretty comparable in prices. I love Edinburgh, but I'd rather be a student in Glasgow.

St Andrews is a very different experience. Rather than being in a large city, it's over half an hour from Dundee, which only has a population of 150,000, a tenth the size of greater Glasgow. St Andrews the town is only around 20,000 people- a third of them are students, and the whole place is smaller than either Glasgow or Edinburgh universities. It's gained an impressive American reputation in the last 10-12 years, and this might well continue. I don't think there's anything to pick between those three in terms of quality, arguably even Aberdeen too. It must be remembered that even Edinburgh, the 'youngest' of the four, is 430 years old- so reputations and rankings, which are only about 15 years old, are liable to change. I wouldn't bother with them to be honest- virtually anyone over the age of 35 would have picked these universities before rankings existed. In 20 years time, you might be thanking your lucky stars that employers don't care about rankings, especially if the university you picked on the back of being 9th rather than 29th had since dropped rapidly. St Andrews has been outside of the top 40 before according to certain UK tables, after all...

Reply 13

fridaystan

I don't know about Glasgow but Edinburgh is an amazing city. It's beautiful and people seem very friendly.

Reply 14

EffigyWellington

Fräulein

When visiting St. Andrew's last January, it seemed like a quite nice place. However, you'll have walked every street in three days, and the village is actually extremely tiny, not to mention fairly expensive. Crossed it off my shortlist immediately.

Me, I'm headed for Glasgow.

Reply 15

kimmyish

Fräulein

Hey. I think i met you in another thread, and this might be a little late but I recently visited both schools, and I have to say, that from an American's point of view they both had their pros and cons.

Glasgow seemed to have the night life and it kind of struck me as more of a party school. During the college visit day, they talked a lot about the city, and then at the end was kind of like, "but we're really here for the education right? haha" so it kind of struck me as more "laid back" than Edinburgh. The campus was gorgeous and the view from the main building was absolutely amazing. The rest of the city kind of reminded me of the area around UC Berkeley. The people in the city are incredibly friendly. If you look lost, they'll approach you about it, and I was struck with how upfront they were. What kind of bothered me though, was the fact that there were a lot of people staring at me because I guess I'm foreign or something. The school is about 90% UK students I believe, so international students are kind of rare.

Edinburgh on the other hand was completely different, and I kind of liked it more. It was more integrated with the city. The city was absolutely gorgeous and a lot of the technology and buildings at edinburgh looked newer than those in glasgow. The people were friendly, but they were more of people that you would have to approach them whereas in glasgow they approached you if you got lost. the majority of accomodation especially for first years were about a 20 minute walk from the main campus, which was a whole lot farther than glasgow where you had more choice in terms of distances. Edinburgh seemed more focused on education, a lot of students were in the library or studying when I went there. The city of Edinburgh is more of an international city. They're more used to having foreigners, because it's more of a tourist-y city, and what I liked was that Edinburgh uni was a close walk to Prince Street and the Royal Mile so there's a lot to do there.

I took pictures of the university and the city around it if you wanted. I preferred Edinburgh, but it really depends on your preference. I hope that helps

Reply 16

Skies

Glasgow isn't as bad as everyone makes out, it gets a bad rep, I lived in Glasgow for 4 months in the city centre and loved it, I'd say the shopping /amenities/nightlife are far better than Edinburgh, there is just MORE in Glasgow.

However I am from Edinburgh and I'm bias towards that, Edinburgh is a better looking place in my opinion :P, becomes very tourist orientated in the summer, has a similar vibe to Glasgow but has significantly less shops, clubs etc.

Both very friendly, its really impossible for us to pick. I think you should visit both of them if you can get the chance.

Reply 17

sweetnesspink

I am from Edinburgh and it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL city.

But I'm going to Glasgow Uni in September because Edinburgh rejected me, lol! Glasgow Uni actually seems better for me now though. The course I want to do is really good at Glasgow and I have a better choice of outside subjects.

There isn't much between Edinburgh and Glasgow in terms of living costs/safety/entertainment so I guess it'll have to come down to which course is best for you.

My advice is to spend hours on both uni's websites and read as much as you can about the course you want to do. If you explore the websites well enough you should be able to find everything from course outlines and timetables to past essay questions and lecture notes! This is really helpful in learning about your proposed course.