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Edinburgh or Glasgow???

i am very stuck right now. i have offers from both edinburgh and glasgow universities with an offer of aab for edinburgh and abb for glasgow. obviously in terms of an insurance place it would make sense to have edinburgh as my firm and glasgow as my insurance but i really liked both universities and can't decide which would be a better place to go in terms of what city i would prefer.
i went to visit edinburgh before seeing glasgow and loved it, but saw glasgow a month later and also really liked it which has made the decision really hard. the only major differences between the cities i noticed was that glasgow seemed livelier (which everyone seems to say) and that it was harder to find places to go out in the evening in edinburgh (but i might have been looking in the wrong places).
something that will make a difference to my choice is the student life. i know you cant generalise a whole university but its a stereotype that edinburgh students are quite snobby and glasgow students are the opposite - is there any truth in that? glasgow seems like more of a party school and i go out a lot, but i'm not so much into clubbing. in terms of nightlife i'd like to go somewhere similar to london with more low key venues with arty vibes (pretentious i know haha) which would be better in that respect?

Reply 1

AnnB

Original post by ilcb

You haven't actually mentioned what subject you are going to study! One university could be much better than the other for your subject, or are you going to decide which university to go to purely on its night life and clubs?

Reply 2

ilcb

oh whoops! i worte a paragraph about it but i must have deleted it by accident. english lit. and history of art, but if i go to edinburgh i may change to architecture - sorry!

Reply 3

magenta1

OMG im in exactly the same position as you!! Im unsure about both for the EXACT same reasons! I like everything about glasgow except my course then again if im going to ed just for my course thats not exactly thrilling or motivating but i could get to enjoy the city and stuff? You accepted yet? So glad ive found someone the same as me!

Reply 4

ilcb

Original post by magenta1

i've firmed glasgow and scrapped edinburgh as an option altogether and put goldsmiths as my insurance. i figured that my heart was more set on glasgow and it would be stupid to put edinburgh which gave me a higher offer as my insurance and also figured that if i flop my exams i'll probably be able to beg goldsmiths to take me haha :tongue:

. it's also a lot cheaper to live in glasgow alongside the cheaper fees. that said however, i am now also considering a gap year if i get good grades at a level and applying again if i know i'm in a position to get similar offers so i can spend more time in each place to get a better feel of them iykwim? everything's been so hectic this year i really dont want to have made the wrong choice :{

Reply 5

magenta1

Original post by ilcb

Thats great! However does that not tell you something about quality of the unis? haha maybe not, im probs just overthinking :biggrin:

Reply 6

Chillaxer

I went to Edinburgh and it is a beautiful city, and maybe a tad safer than Glasgow. However, it is more transient and multinational, and the people are much more, as is reputed, snooty and repressed than the more easy going, fun Glaswegians. I wasn't that happy there and I have had a good time in Glasgow, and know others who have preferred to visit Glasgow.
I definitely think, from my experience too, that people wise, and nightlife etc, you will ahve a much better time in the rough and ready Glasgow, and even though it's not so picture postcard, it has character. The west end and university area is brilliant too.

Reply 7

0404343m

My own take on both cities is this: Edinburgh is a terrific place to visit, it has some great things to see, a terrific Christmas market and the Fringe is wonderful. Glasgow is a better place to live, has more pubs, clubs, shops, students, live music, transport links and parks than any city in the UK & Ireland outside of London. In that respect, more things to do beyond what tourists typically want to do in 3-4 days. For theatre, music and sport, it's the better city: National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Ballet, BBC Scotland, National Football Stadium, the two busiest museums and the Royal Conservatoire are all in the West, whilst the reputation for stand up Comedy, the National Gallery and the National Library are in the East.

It should however be said that while Edinburgh has the National Library, Glasgow has Europe's largest public reference library (the Mitchell), while Glasgow has some great theatres, so does Edinburgh, and while Glasgow has the two busiest museums, Edinburgh has the next two, and the number one tourist attraction in the country, and so on. In other words, they're two of the best cities in the UK, and don't let TSR's south-of-England bias tell you otherwise. What you'll tend to hear about Glasgow is lots of bad things that come from parents and teachers that probably haven't been to the city in decades, if at all, and tell you the tired stereotypes. Glasgow in 2012 is lightyears away from Glasgow in 1972. To most who haven't been in a while and those old enough to remember even the 80s, it's unrecognisable from the post-industrial factory-dominated city of 40 years ago. Stereotypes from 500 miles away take a long, long time to go away though.

Safety wise, both have areas you really shouldn't go at night, and there are more of these in Glasgow as the remnants of the unemployment caused by the closure of factories still exist, but they're pretty far away from the university. Safety in the areas around the campuses/city centres are identical. The West End of Glasgow and the Old Town in Edinburgh are two of the nicest places to be in the UK.

University wise, nothing to pick: again, the stereotype of Glasgow (the city) has undoubtedly meant the further in the UK you go from it, the more bad things people are likely to believe about it, and as such while Glasgow is the most popular university to apply to for Scots, it's well behind Edinburgh and St Andrews for applications from England. In terms of European and the rest of the world applicants, there isn't any difference. Both are marginally ahead or behind the other depending on what you think is important. Sometimes Edinburgh's department has more strengths than Glasgow's, sometimes it's the other way around. Student satisfaction is higher at one, completion rate is higher at the other: go figure. If you tweak which things you think are important, one of them could be a stand out, or it could be the other. In short, personal preference is key, but they're both among the best universities in Europe, so you're not going to lose out, even if some 17 year old kid on TSR tells you otherwise.

Reply 8

DRE_902

Edinburgh and Glasgow are very good Universities, so congratulations on getting offers from both! You can't really separate them in terms of the quality of education, but they are very different cities.

Edinburgh has a lot of parks and grassy areas which are truly beautiful in the summer, and are great places to lie out in during the day to relax. It also has Arthur's Seat and Salsbury Crags just a 10 minute walk from the city centre (and casting a shadow over the halls of residence) which is almost unheard of in most British cities. You'll hear a lot of moaning about the trams, but Lothian buses are often voted as the best service in the UK and are very frequent. They'll take you from Princes St. to anywhere in the city. During the Edinburgh Festival in August it's incredible - every bar is packed from sunrise until the early hours of the morning, and as it's the largest Arts festival in the world there are thousands of shows, from comedy to music and drama, as well as street performers crammed in to every area of the Royal Mile. It's as lively as anywhere in the UK. However, for most of the year - apart from December, with the German market and the Winter Wonderland - it's quite quiet and you might struggle for things to do.

Glasgow definitely feels like more of a "big city", and there are more clubs and bars to choose from, as well as shops, restaurants and museums. Glaswegian's have a deserved reputation for friendliness, and they'll make you feel at home right away - it's definitely easier to strike up a conversation in Glasgow than in Edinburgh. It also has more live music events than any other city outside of London, and while it isn't affected as much by tourism, you'll still never find a quiet bar on a Friday or Saturday night. You'll hear worrying statistics about the crime rate, but these incidents are incredibly rare in the city centre and other student areas. There are enough policemen on patrol to make you feel more than safe enough on a night out. Also, there's the Commonwealth Games to look forward to in 2014, and many areas of the city are being regenerated and improved as a result of this.

Whatever choice you make, you'll be sure to have a great time at Uni!

Reply 9

ilcb

thanks for all your help!i've firmed glasgow and scrapped edinburgh as an option altogether - hopefully thats where i'll be in september! i'm a south london girl so figures about crime in glasgow have never worried me haha

Reply 10

RFC1872

Original post by ilcb

As a born and bred Glasweigan I would say go for Glasgow. Edinburgh is smaller, old-fashioned and full of snobs (although obviously not everyone is). Glasgow has a unique humour, is very working-class and the people are very honest. If you are student and don't know the city well keep to the city centre, the west end or The Merchant City. Avoid the east end completely, and some of south is rough. Although in saying that there is no real need to be in those areas unless going to football as Ibrox is south, and Parkhead is in the east. Glasgow has some developing ghettos with loads of illegal immigrants in places such as Sighthill which is just a no go area. Also going back to football, you will be shocked at how obsessive Rangers and Celtic are to the people. It is like nothing in England that is fact. Try stay neutral with it, as some areas are well known staunch areas for each club e.g. never go through Coatbridge wearing a Rangers tp, don't go near Govan or Larkhall wearing a Celtic top :biggrin:

You will learn about the neds when you get here.

Some of the benefits are the people are incredibly friendly, and Glasgow is now renowned for being great for shopping etc. As you can tell, i'm biased but really it is a great city.

Any questions just ask :wink: