Narrowing down choices! Help needed!

Can't speak to the others, as I've only been to Edinburgh and St Andrews. They're both quite chilly, mainly due to wind whipping about and attempting to blow you halfway across the Atlantic. Edinburgh is, obviously, much more cosmopolitan and very international. The city itself is beautiful , although the Royal Mile is a tourist trap and there are definitely seedy side streets peppered throughout (but you can find excellent pubs in the dodgy areas). You will not be wanting for shops, and there's an Oxfam on pretty much every corner. Scenery is lovely, especially Calton Hill. The first-year accommodation I stayed in was hospitable, pleasant, etc.--though one of the only catered dorms available. The campus itself is spaced widely across the city, and there's a lot of uphill hiking to get around. While the old campus, primarily humanities subjects, is gorgeous, some of the newer buildings were voted the ugliest architecture in Scotland (they don't get much better inside--puce trim *retch*). If you want a really large uni with plenty of urban benefits, Edinburgh is the place to be.

St Andrews is indescribably beautiful. The town and the uni are (mostly) inextricably linked, as the campus is fairly sprawling and there are only three main roads in the town center. Also frigid, but if you wanted a temperate climate you wouldn't have picked Scotland. It's very easy to cycle around St Andrews, and if you want an, erm, less quaint environment, there are buses running to Edinburgh and Dundee at regular intervals. Rail travel gets more difficult, as the closest station is in Leuchars, about a 10-15 minute drive to a quite remote outpost. It's also a bit expensive. However, the university is amazing and there's a ton of history to take in--ruined castles, etc. The three beaches are sensational, and the St Andrews traditions (Raisin Monday, the pier walk, the May Dip, the PH superstition) are really marvelous and help engender a cohesive community. Same with the academic family (upperclassmen 'adopt' first-years and show them around, though not in a frat/sorority hazing type way). Like Edinburgh, tourist attractions abound, but it's less evident. Also, the Students Union hosts a bunch of events--popular enough (or so I'm told) that hardly anyone goes out to Dundee more than once a week.

Anyway, hope that's helpful. Personally I'm rather fond of St Andrews--I think Edinburgh would be better to live in, but St Andrews would be better for uni. Fewer distractions, classes in closer proximity, tighter community, and more aesthetically pleasing. And no chavs from Glasgow kicking around

Yes, because everyone in glasgow is a ned, no glaswegians go to st andrews, and everyone in st andrews is perfect

Eep, that was poorly phrased, apologies. =X