The Edinburgh FAQ and &#x27;Ask a Student&#x27; thread

Original post by alice_zhao

Hi again!

How much 'intellectual curiosity' is there among students at Edinburgh? What I'm shooting at here are things like learning for learning's sake (as opposed to get good grades), voluntarily studying areas outside course content and willingness to engage in discussions about such subjects. It can be difficult to assess this but at some universities, even good ones, expressing genuine interest in a subject beyond the regular courses can be akin to social taboo, though that is an extreme example.

Thanks for your thoughts!

It depends on the people. :-) Some people are only there for the sake of it, and some others are really, really keen and interested in their degrees! It depends on the individual.

Reply 588

Hi everyone!

Well, my question is adressed to all the Computer Science students: I want to decide between Uni of Edinburgh and Imperial( from which I already have an offer).

First of all, when should I receive a reply? I think that I should expect any news starting from the end of February( I am EU, outside UK).
Secondly, how good is the CompSci department at Edinburgh comparing to the one at Imperial?
Thirdly, how is Edinburgh? How's the weather comparing to London's?
And last but not least, I would like to know how are the Scottish people :biggrin:

How's life, in general, in Scotland ( and in Edinburgh)?

I would truly appreciate if anyone would answer my questions.

Cheers!

Reply 589

Original post by alice_zhao

Hi again!

How much 'intellectual curiosity' is there among students at Edinburgh? What I'm shooting at here are things like learning for learning's sake (as opposed to get good grades), voluntarily studying areas outside course content and willingness to engage in discussions about such subjects. It can be difficult to assess this but at some universities, even good ones, expressing genuine interest in a subject beyond the regular courses can be akin to social taboo, though that is an extreme example.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Quick-use is right; it entirely depends on the individual student. I don't think Edinburgh is any different from any other university in this respect - we have people who're here just for the sake of being at university; we have people who have no interest in study and learning; we have people who study lots and lots to get good grades; we have people who study a wide variety of interest. I can't give a quantitative answer, but people exist in all the categories.

It's worth mentioning, though, that for most courses, you have to study two subjects outside of your course in first year, so there is definitely space for varied learning.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 590

BKS

19

Original post by nclandrei

Thirdly, how is Edinburgh? How's the weather comparing to London's?
And last but not least, I would like to know how are the Scottish people :biggrin:

How's life, in general, in Scotland ( and in Edinburgh)?

Wet, windy and dark a lot of the year :tongue:

We do have some summer though. London is pretty much always a few degrees warmer as well as somewhat less wet and windy with a much more pronounced summer

I don't know what to tell you on what life is like here because there's a million things I could say. What are your interests or what sort of place would you like to live in ideally?

Reply 591

Original post by BKS

Wet, windy and dark a lot of the year :tongue:

We do have some summer though. London is pretty much always a few degrees warmer as well as somewhat less wet and windy with a much more pronounced summer

I don't know what to tell you on what life is like here because there's a million things I could say. What are your interests or what sort of place would you like to live in ideally?

Well, firstly, how are the Scottish people? What do they like to do in their spare time? I love football, tennis, swimming( most sports, tbh) and I am very friendly, so I would like to find some friends around there.
About the university: do you happen to know anything about the ComSci department? Or when should they reply to my application? :confused:

Anyway, thanks a lot !

Reply 592

Original post by nclandrei

Well, firstly, how are the Scottish people? What do they like to do in their spare time?

You really think we can homogenise what 6 million people like to do with their spare time?

Reply 593

BKS

19

Original post by nclandrei

Well, firstly, how are the Scottish people? What do they like to do in their spare time? I love football, tennis, swimming( most sports, tbh) and I am very friendly, so I would like to find some friends around there.
About the university: do you happen to know anything about the ComSci department? Or when should they reply to my application? :confused:

Anyway, thanks a lot !

What Hype said. A few million people have rather varied interests and you can almost certainly assume you will find plenty people who enjoy sport in every country or city in the world. I was thinking your question would be more around the sort of things there are in Edinburgh like nightlife and parks or whatever.

I know nothing about comsci. I got a reply in mid February so sometime now would be my guess but that was in 2008 for politics

Reply 594

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

You really think we can homogenise what 6 million people like to do with their spare time?

I'm sorry if my question sounded stupid, but what I wanted to say was: what are the general interests in Scotland? Every country has its own characteristics, some things which happen frequently..

Reply 595

Original post by BKS

What Hype said. A few million people have rather varied interests and you can almost certainly assume you will find plenty people who enjoy sport in every country or city in the world. I was thinking your question would be more around the sort of things there are in Edinburgh like nightlife and parks or whatever.

I know nothing about comsci. I got a reply in mid February so sometime now would be my guess but that was in 2008 for politics

Are there many nice pubs in Edinburgh? How are the sports facilities at the universities?

Reply 596

Original post by nclandrei

I'm sorry if my question sounded stupid, but what I wanted to say was: what are the general interests in Scotland? Every country has its own characteristics, some things which happen frequently..

And I don't think a single person can give you an honest answer. The generally "common" interests in Scotland are no different from the common interests in England and Wales. I can guarantee that you can find people who share your interests up here - UoE has sports clubs dedicated to the interests that you mentioned, for example. :smile:

Original post by nclandrei

Are there many nice pubs in Edinburgh? How are the sports facilities at the universities?

There are a lot of pubs and gyms in Edinburgh, and I'll bet you'll find one's you'll be pleased with. In terms of pubs, I'm very easy to please - if you charge fair prices, there's a good atmosphere, and good customer service - then it's a good pub to me. The pleasance sports centre is pretty sweet, imo, and you'll have lots of time to check everything out if you come up here for an open day, or during fresher's week!

Reply 597

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

And I don't think a single person can give you an honest answer. The generally "common" interests in Scotland are no different from the common interests in England and Wales. I can guarantee that you can find people who share your interests up here - UoE has sports clubs dedicated to the interests that you mentioned, for example. :smile:

There are a lot of pubs and gyms in Edinburgh, and I'll bet you'll find one's you'll be pleased with. In terms of pubs, I'm very easy to please - if you charge fair prices, there's a good atmosphere, and good customer service - then it's a good pub to me. The pleasance sports centre is pretty sweet, imo, and you'll have lots of time to check everything out if you come up here for an open day, or during fresher's week!

Thanks a lot! Well this reply was much better than the previous one :laugh:

What course are you studying, if I may ask( this, of course, if you still are a student :s-smilie:

? Do you know anything about how good the CompSci course is( any opinions from students, how good the salaries are after graduation.. anything, I think, would be useful- of course, anything which isn't on their website, that stuff I have already read a bunch of times :biggrin:

)?

Reply 598

Original post by nclandrei

Thanks a lot! Well this reply was much better than the previous one :laugh:

What course are you studying, if I may ask( this, of course, if you still are a student :s-smilie:

? Do you know anything about how good the CompSci course is( any opinions from students, how good the salaries are after graduation.. anything, I think, would be useful- of course, anything which isn't on their website, that stuff I have already read a bunch of times :biggrin:

)?

I'm a medic, and I don't know anyone studying compsci, so I'm afraid I can't comment. Sorry!

Reply 599