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University of Edinburgh

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Reply 20

yossarianlives

Sigh, my big face just gets everywhere.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 21

michaelnicholson88

Here's some photos of my room in Chancellor's Court- should remind you that my room is atypical in that it has a double bed.

Thanks for the photos everyone!

Michael, Chancellor's Court looks amazing! Is it quite a bit more expensive then the rest?

Reply 23

michaelnicholson88

£5100 this year. However, the prices change year on year. Apparently, the average increase has been 13% p.a. (unverified) for the past five years. I personally think it's worth it (it really is incredibally comfortable) even if the food is pretty dodgy.

Reply 24

arod

nessa7

Thanks for the help everyone!

In regards to s/c accommodation, do they provide you with the essentials, ie pots and cutlery?

I think Catherine mentioned something about being able to leave your stuff in the s/c flats but not in Pollock halls over the holidays? Is that true for all catered and s/c rooms?

Thanks again!

Oh and if anyone does have pics, I would also be very interested!!

What part of Canada are you from?? There's 2 or 3 students from Toronto who are already in vet school in Edinburgh 2nd and 3rdf yr, and a couple in medicine as well. BSS and Branksome from Toronto have something like 13 students at Edinburgh and St Andrew's - the recruiter from Edinburgh came at least 5 times!

There are storage rental facilities all over Edinburgh that you can use - I'll find the web site and post it. How much you pay depends on the size. I'm storing my snowboarding gear, bike, textbooks, linens, winter clothing, pots and pans, cutlery, printer and any other electronic stuff that won't work back home. bty you don't need any dishes/pots etc in first yr in residence.

Reply 25

arod

nessa7

Thanks for the photos everyone!

Michael, Chancellor's Court looks amazing! Is it quite a bit more expensive then the rest?

Some of the rooms have balconies as well with amazing views... good for keeping your milk and beer cold as well.

Reply 26

hot_fuss

I have a question, well many of them in fact, but i guess the thing I havent seen answered on here yet is whether the fact you are obliged to study two "other" subjects effects your performace in the primary subject you actually applied to do and hope to gain honours in.

Reply 27

michaelnicholson88

There's a very simple answer to that- only if you let it affect your performance.

Reply 28

hot_fuss

lol the short answer...i should have expected as much ¬_¬. I suppose your right, but considering you have to study these other subjects do you atleast have the freedom to choose ones you have an interest in. For instance, at this moment in time if I had to choose I would probably take Japanese and Politics alongside my English Literature. Barring timetable clashes/availability of places would there be any restriction on this type of combination?

Reply 29

michaelnicholson88

Politics is oversubscribed, which may be a problem, but other than that and, as you, say, timetabling, that seems a decent enough combination to manage as they are all in the Faculty of HSS.

Reply 30

lilcathstar

Your "other" subjects don't necessarily have to be subjects in their own right, or seperate from the degree you're studying. My outside courses have mainly been in Geology & other earth science institutes (meteorology, oceanography etc) that complement my main degree of Geography very well... I don't know if the same thing is possible in the English dept (taking similar related courses) but it is something to consider in freshers' week.

About the outside courses affecting your performance in your degree subject: The other two courses you do are likely to have the same amount of work involved , so in theory you'll end up spending 2/3 of your time studying things other than English. But the workload won't be so much that you can't put the required time into all the courses - it is only first year after all and the idea of taking extra courses is to help you (in the long run) with your chosen degree subject by giving you a broader base of knowledge.

Reply 31

hot_fuss

Hmm yes i'd noticed that, this whole concept seems quite interesting if a little daunting. Is it like studying three degrees at once or is the work spread across the three subjects you take to form the diet of a weeks work if your were taking a single subject in the English system e.g. at Exeter university those studying English would apparently have 6-8 hours a week of lecturing/seminar work. Would you say that even with the three subjects this equates to a similar amount when studying at Edinburgh? Oh and, off topic I know, but have you any idea what the tennis facilities/playing opportunities are like? Thanks hehe ^_^

Reply 32

oxymoronic

We have about 4-6 hours of contact time per subject each week, but it completely depends on what options you take. For example, I applied to do linguistics and anthropology, and spanish is my outside course. I have an hour of Spanish and an hour of Linguistics every day, giving me 5 hours a week. For anthropology, however, I only have 3 hours of contact time (2 lectures and a tutorial). You'll probably be spending around 15 hours a week in tutorials and lectures. Reading etc also takes up time, you'll probably also spend around 5/6 hours a week doing extra work for each of your subjects, esspecially for something like Literature or Languages where you have loads of reading/grammar work to do for the next tutorial.
Basically, including independant work in the library etc, I probably spend about 10 hours a week on each of my subjects. During essay time however, multiply that by about 10. I did an all nighter last night to start and finish an essay, it wasn't fun when you realise at 3am you don't actually understand the question you have to answer...

One thing to bear in mind is that languages can be VERY time consuming. To do well you're expected to put in hours and hours of work, and I've ended up spending more time on Spanish than on my other 2 subjects combined, purely because of the time it takes to learn tenses, vocab etc, whereas my other subjects just consist of essays and reading. For this reason I've decided not to contiune with Spanish next year, as although I really enjoy it, because its my outside and I won't get any credit for it per se, it is just way to time consuming. And also I want to take another course!

And tennis- there are tennis courts in the Meadows as my flatmate uses them, she goes down there a lot with uni friends, I don't know if you have to pay for them or not though.

Reply 33

michaelnicholson88

There's also tennis courts down at Peffermill. Google it.

Reply 34

Artemidoros.

Rooms looking nice. Do you get personal toilets at Pollock?

PS. I think i have the same laptop as oxymoron

Reply 35

michaelnicholson88

There are en-suite rooms in Masson House, Holland House and Chancellor's Court. Other than that, you have to make do with shared bathrooms.

Reply 36

arod

nessa7

Hi everyone!

I've been accepted into Edinburgh's faculty of veterinary medicine for 2007 and being an international student (from Canada) I'm not really sure where to start, especially with residence, food, transport, etc! Soo, I'm hoping to have some of my questions answered, if possible!

First off, where should I live? At first I thought Pollock halls all the way, but I've heard so many negative reviews of their food that I've kind of changed my mind. Is the food really as bad as they say it is? What about vegetarian options? How about the rooms in Pollock, are they nice? How far away are they from the vet school? How do you normally get around Edinburgh? Bike? Is it practical to have a car? I thought about getting a car for the years when I have to go to the other campus, but for the first two years would I be better off without?

Thats all I can think of for now, but I'm sure I'll be back for more!

Thank you!!!

Nessa

Hi Nessa,
Managed to track down the contact info for the Canadians in vet school at Edinburgh - sent their contact info to you in a private message

Reply 37

nessa7

So I think I've narrowed it down to one of the S/C flats by closest to the vet school. Specifically, South Clerk Place, Sciennes, Hermit's Croft, or East Newington (sp?) Place. What do you guys think of the last two?

Reply 38

isobel.king

jjarvis

Hey there, for those of you wondering what standard Pollock rooms are like, I attached some pictures of my room. Masson has double beds and an en suite, and Holland and Chancellor's have en suites as well, but rooms in Turner, Grant (my house), Lee, Ewing, and Baird pretty much look like this. The other houses have slightly newer furniture. The rooms are quite large and comfortable, and they provide all the furniture you'll need.

Also, staying at Pollock over springbreak is £252, not 300-400. They do offer some kind of catering, but you have to pay extra, so I'm not sure what the deal there is.

Yeah, don't bother with a car. Edinburgh driving is hideous, from what I've heard, petrol and parking are expensive, and it's just more trouble than it's worth.