Glasgow or Edinburgh?

Going to study Law and am totally undecided between Glasgow Uni or Edinburgh. Is Glasgow fun/ an ok work load?

After reading this post and the replies, I'm in a similar dilemma. Apart from one big factor - I got rejected for the University of Edinburgh.

I visited the University of Glasgow, and it seemed quite shabby inside, like run down or something as though it needed re-furnished. The people however, were very friendly apart from one experience within the University that entirely put me off.

Originally, I wanted to go to Edinburgh, but they said my grades weren't good enough - 5 a*s, 5 a's and one b at gcse; AAA at AS level and I've taken on an extra AS to add to my grades that I'll achieve by August of this year.

Is Edinburgh not supposed to be more prestigious than Glasgow university though?

Hey! I am going to study law at Edinburgh next year, I'll tell you a bit about how I came to decide. This is going to be a big post, sorry!

I got unconditional offers from both universities, and it wasn't the easiest choice - but I think I made the right choice for me. It is really hard to advise someone which university to choose. In Scotland, I would say they are quite equal reputation wise. I, personally, thought the Edinburgh open day and talk was much more welcoming and open than Glasgow's. The university of Edinburgh itself seems a lot more international and diverse than Glasgow. I think the city of Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful and cultural cities in the world, and the thought of living there for four years made me so excited! Glasgow has really good nightlife and links, but then again so does Edinburgh.

It is a really personal choice though. There are so many fantastic things about Glasgow - the city is so big and friendly, the buildings and campus are in a lovely area and they are absolutely gorgeous, the law department has a great reputation... It just depends on some of your preferences. Do you want to move away? Do you want a more Scottish or international campus? What kind of city do you prefer? Everyone's answer will be different, and people who go to either university will certainly have a good time and good degree.
I was looking to move away for university, and I live near Glasgow so I didn't fancy commuting to university every day and feeling removed from campus life. This will be a personal factor - if you live far from Glasgow and want to move, your thoughts on this will be different because the city and area will be new to you.

I think both universities will have a high workload, but it won't be unmanageable. You will have to balance your time quite well, and they both require a lot of reading. I think Glasgow's course might be more flexible in terms of join honours, but joint honours isn't something I'm interested in - that will come down to you personally.

One thing I really liked about Edinburgh is that it has the Old College building entirely to itself! It has its own law library there so you aren't squeezing in the normal university with everyone else - I think Glasgow's library is in with the main library. Old College is just stunning, and it is right next to the main campus and lots of interesting legal related things. One thing I learned from attending open days and speaking to students is that Edinburgh has a lot to help students - LawPALS is a student-run service where senior law students help newer ones adjust to studying law, giving lots of advice on exams, essays and things like that. I don't think Glasgow has a similar thing. There are also a lot of links to solicitor firms and different career paths. At the open day, students talked about how many events the law society and department organised and it seemed really fun and interesting.

I'm also going to talk about something you probably won't hear from the universities and students. I'm assuming you're Scottish, and you might have had similar experiences but where I am from, basically everyone stays at home. the 'smart' kids think that Glasgow is literally the best university ever and no one would ever think to go anywhere else. I was in that mindset for a long time... But I eventually realised this wasn't true. Glasgow is a very good university, but it isn't the only place people can go.

I was involved in the Oxford UNIQ summer school programme to study law, and I was also a participant in the Sutton Trust US programme. I met a lot of students from england and different areas of the UK through this - a lot of them thought that Edinburgh was a really good university, but barely mentioned Glasgow. Edinburgh's national and international reputation is formidable. If you want to get a job in, say, London or other parts of England, Edinburgh may be a better choice. This is partly due to the fact that Glasgow as a city has a really outdated reputation as some sort of junkie haven, but it is also due to the fact that Edinburgh is an internationally renowned university that has students attend from all over the world in large numbers. I kind of like the idea of meeting students that aren't just Scottish - and from visiting Glasgow and talking to students there, most of the people that attend Glasgow are Scottish.

Sorry this post has been so long, but the choice (after weighing everything up and thinking) was clearly Edinburgh for me. I loved the open day, loved the city, loved the university, loved the department, I was eager to move away and Edinburgh's union and career service looked like it would help me a lot and give me a lot of opportunities. If you want to meet some people going to the university next year, you should look for the freshers page on facebook and talk to some people from it! I've met some nice people already

After reading this post and the replies, I'm in a similar dilemma. Apart from one big factor - I got rejected for the University of Edinburgh.

I visited the University of Glasgow, and it seemed quite shabby inside, like run down or something as though it needed re-furnished. The people however, were very friendly apart from one experience within the University that entirely put me off.

Originally, I wanted to go to Edinburgh, but they said my grades weren't good enough - 5 a*s, 5 a's and one b at gcse; AAA at AS level and I've taken on an extra AS to add to my grades that I'll achieve by August of this year.

Is Edinburgh not supposed to be more prestigious than Glasgow university though?

The Glasgow law department is probably one of the best departments in te university

The whole 'Edinburgh is formidable and if you want to get a job in London, Edinburgh is better' is nonsense and based on nothing but this posters own thoughts/opinions, and given she's yet to find a job (or probably speak to employers to ask which University they prefer out of the two), I'd take this with a pinch of salt.

I said it 'may be better', I didn't say it was. No need to be rude.

I have spoken to employers including the international law firm Hogan Lovell's at their London office, and they did seem to prefer Edinburgh graduates at their firm. I'm not saying it is absolutely true, it is based off my experience but it is my experience with an employer.

However, I think either university will serve OP well, and they should choose based on the city, whether they want to move away and what university they prefer. They are both great universities.

I wan't being rude, I was being honest. I know plenty of people in banking, retail banking, consultancy and the like, all of which find Glasgow a perfectly good University. You've spoke to one employer - whom I highly doubt told a school leaver 'we prefer Edinburgh graduates over Glasgow graduates'.

Your advice was poor, you suggested a Glasgow degree will be good only Scotland-wide, then suggested Glasgow's reputation as a city would hinder Glasgow Uni graduates (do you know how stupid that makes you sound?), despite Edinburgh being equally as bad for the most part (again, outwith the city centre).

The rest of my points stand - you want to sit and discuss which is more 'prestigious', I've offered an insight to 'prestige' using the league tables which is what I think you guys are basing decisions on, and they show that Gla has a far better Law department with more Law graduates in employment than Edinburgh - I guess their employment just isn't with Hogan Lovell's London Office, eh?

What's rude to me, is the level of ignorant assumptions by yourself regarding this city and University. I guess we're now even.

Have a nice day.

I actually find it quite funny that your first reply said I had given OP 'excellent advice' but now my advice is poor? Interesting.

I was in no way bashing Glasgow, I think it is a great university. That's why I applied there. I didn't say it was good only Scotland wide, I said that the universities are seen as equals in Scotland, but maybe not in the rest of the UK.

You are now calling me stupid. I'm sorry? I guess I must have hit a nerve with my comments. I do not believe in these assumptions about Glasgow, and I think that Glasgow's image is improving greatly. I will be the first person to say that anyone who thinks Glasgow is rough is being judgemental. Employers will know it is a good university, it was just a passing comment I made.

You do not need to jump down my throat. I have lived in Glasgow my whole life, and I love this city. I don't think it is any worse than any other major city, it is beautiful. I was only putting forward and potential gripe some people may have, but educated people would know better than to believe it.

You have gone from being perfectly civil to twisting things to making me look like I have been bashing Glasgow - I simply put down my opinions over why I chose the university I wanted to go to. Everyone will have different reasons. I made no ignorant assumptions, I really like the university and it was one if my top choices. To he honest, I think you are the one making ignorant assumptions about me as a person.

I always thought I would go to Glasgow. After being exposed to various other universities and views, and seeing Edinburgh for myself, I realised it would be a good fit for me. Now seeing the way you treat someone who happens to be putting forward the positive points about her particular university, I am even more happy that I chose Edinburgh and won't have to share a campus with someone who can't take someone else's opinion.

I think Glasgow is good. I think Edinburgh is good. Going to either university will serve OP well.

A few points, then we can end the discussion. Firstly, I said you'd given excellent advice with regards to choosing a university right for the individual. That is, one size does not fit all. I then moved on to the points you'd gotten wrong. Please don't imply I was in agreement with you at any point about some of your assumptions.

The points I raised were:

Your opinions are subjective, you can't say one is categorically better than the other in an employers eyes.

An employer would not tell a school leaver they prefer X university over Y. It's ludacris to suggest otherwise. Any enployer who would isn't an employer worthy of an application.

A city's reputation does not impact it's University reputation as you suggested it does - i.e. bringing up Glasgow city's poor reputation and suggesting employers might think ill of this is stupid yes.

I've not made any ignorant assumptions about you, I've corrected you where you've been wrong and clarafied things for the OP and anyone reading this with the same dilemma.

That's not me twisting your words, not at all. For you to even suggest you're happier at Edinburgh because Glasgow has students who are realists and call people on bull**** is pathetic. God help you in the real world if you can't handle challenging conversations.

Please don't quote me again and we'll agree to disagree here. Goodbye.

x

She didn't categorically say that Edinburgh is superior to Glasgow outside of Scotland, not the least.I Edinburgh may, as she said, have a minor advantage in this regard because of its international connections; to say she said one is categorically better is absolute rot. My apologies, we'll swap the word categorically (which was implied) for implied. Is that better? And what 'international connections'? Contrary to what you may think, employers do divulge their university preferences to school leavers. I was advised by one employer (a major firm) to attend Glasgow rather than Strathclyde, despite Strathclyde's department being superior. If you were advised by a 'major firm' as a school leaver that said firm preferred one University over another, I'd tell you you'd be hard pressed to find an instance like that again personally. Given that you must have been talking to someone of director level who can speak on behalf of the company (and not a graduate at a fair telling you what he/she prefers), I'd say this is not only inappropriate from the firms perspective, it's also unrealistic when talking to a school-leaver (unless you have a connection at such a firm). And again, my argument is based on personal experiences. I know what a lot of interviews want - but no, none have been unprofessional to the extent of saying 'don't go there, go here' where the difference is marginal between both Universities.

Coincidentally, Strathclyde has a 'superior' department for what?




As a Glasgow student I don't think you've been unfair to the university in the least. You've given good advice and I'm rather perplexed as to why pmcroducer's given you such a rough time.
Again, dude, I've not given her a hard time. I picked up on totally nonsense points. She's suggested/implied and/or categorically said:
- Edinburgh is more prestigious
- Choose Edinburgh if you want a job in London as that's what employers want (?!)
- A poor city reputation will reflect in your degree from said poor city
- Glasgow has one library

The list goes on. I highlighted that the parts of her advice that were spot on were that choosing a Uni should be an individual choice based on individual needs. I then called her on some things that were incorrect, not just for the OP, but for people who might read this later on and actually believe it. That's not giving someone a hard time? And again, I must stress, if calling someone for their bull**** and offering challenging dialogue proves too difficult, god help her in real world.

Other than her subjective opinions, I'm sure she's a perfectly nice girl.

She didn't categorically say that Edinburgh is considered superior to Glasgow by employers outside of Scotland, not the least. Edinburgh may, as she said, have a minor advantage in this regard because of its international connections; to say she said one is categorically better is absolute rot. Contrary to what you may think, employers do divulge their university preferences to school leavers. I was advised by one employer (a major firm) to attend Glasgow rather than Strathclyde, despite Strathclyde's department being rated slightly higher.

As a Glasgow student I don't think you've been unfair to the university in the least. You've given good advice and I'm rather perplexed as to why pmc: producer has given you such a rough time.

I am glad you managed to understand what I was trying to get across I was advised by certain employers that they thought Edinburgh had the edge in their eyes (the only Scottish universities represented at the firms I saw in London were St Andrews and Edinburgh) but I am sure that talented students from Glasgow would be able to secure a contract if they were good lawyers.

I do really like Glasgow and I just wish pmc could have taken my comments the way they were intended - simply my opinion. I don't think he really got what I was trying to say, but at the end of the day I just wanted to give my point of view as to why I chose Edinburgh, and also show that Glasgow is a good choice depending on what OP wants from her degree.

This conversation is dead in the water, but I'll comment in red to clarify a few things.

I am glad you managed to understand what I was trying to get across I was advised by certain employers that they thought Edinburgh had the edge in their eyes (the only Scottish universities represented at the firms I saw in London were St Andrews and Edinburgh) but I am sure that talented students from Glasgow would be able to secure a contract if they were good lawyers.

I do really like Glasgow and I just wish pmc could have taken my comments the way they were intended - simply my opinion. I don't think he really got what I was trying to say, but at the end of the day I just wanted to give my point of view as to why I chose Edinburgh, and also show that Glasgow is a good choice depending on what OP wants from her degree.

She's merely saying that, through her own observations, Edinburgh may have an advantage over Glasgow outside of Scotland. I can't see a problem with her saying that.

Yes. A director did indeed tell me that his company prefers one university over another. I don't think it's too hard to get that information if you're willing to press for it. A lot of the time it's based on common sense.
Judging by most rankings, Strathclyde's Accounting and Finance department is rated slightly higher than Glasgow's.

I don't think I've seen her overtly say that Edinburgh is more prestigious than Glasgow. It doesn't really matter if she did say it, however. Prestige is, for the most part, difficult to define and is mostly subjective.

I sort of see what you're getting at: Ambry has indeed made a few assumptions (based on little evidence) and you're trying to correct her. I don't think it's at all important that she mentioned Glasgow having one library, she did seem quite uncertain about it though so she wasn't technically spreading false information. The point she's trying to make is that Edinburgh does have a library dedicated for the delectation of its law students.

Although you may disagree, I think you've taken an antagonistic position against her. You've been curt with her from the start and I certainly think you could have easily prevented an argument.




Indeed. It may not be standard practice to state a certain university preference to a student, but it does happen. I don't think he should rubbish what we've said just because it's not something he's experienced himself. And yes, good graduates from all universities (as far as I know) have a chance at any firm.

This is TSR after all—almost everything that's said should be taken with a pinch of salt! Everyone has an opinion. There is no need to be so cross!