University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh vs Queens University Belfast

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(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

akingalone

I've got offers from both Queen's and Edinburgh for Philosophy and Theology. I couldn't tell you which I would choose because I don't know that much about psychology but here are the pros and cons that I have found when I went to visit them:

Queens: beautiful city and smaller then Edinburgh (you can walk everywhere), the Government is putting loads of money into the uni at the moment to give it a boost, really cheap to live there and depending on where you live cheaper and quicker to get home. The accommodation is great and students all live in these sweet terraced houses in years 2 and 3. I personally felt that there was a slow feel to the city but I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing (have you been to visit?). Everyone is really friendly and they are really keen on students from mainland UK: hosting dinners frequently etc. Great Library

Edinburgh: it's got an amazing psychology department and its really difficult to get into (all my friends got rejected), it's also a beautiful city but where Belfast has a lot of red brick, Edinburgh is more grey (but good grey if that makes sense?). A lot of departments have their own library (I don't know about psychology) so it's less crowded. Obviously there's the extra year but I think that's a good thing (but then I don't have to pay fees). Accommodation in 1st year is known to be pretty bad, supported from my friends at Edinburgh.

I know that I've said more for Queen's but I personally would go Edinburgh simply because I warmed to it more. Sorry for the huge length of this but I can never seem to keep things short! I hope this is of some use.
What are your offers?

P.S. If you don't like the N. Irish accent it will be a long 3 years!

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

snowhawk

I have lived in NI. Belfast is a very friendly city and as mentioned, it's a small city so you can walk pretty much everywhere. Plus the cost of living and study in Belfast is far far cheaper than many other universities. In fact I'd be surprised if you could find cheaper tuition costs from a Russell Group Uni than QUB. Also add to the fact you can drive to anywhere in NI within 2 hours of Belfast and some of the scenery in NI is truly breathtaking (if that interests you).

Belfast is a slow, laid back city. N Irish people tend to be (usually) more chilled out and laid back compared to other places I've lived. Like any city, Belfast has places you shouldn't go by yourself, but the crime rate in NI is surprisingly low (think it's the safest region of the UK??)

Belfast is also in a slow process of regeneration, so there are lots of great new things developing all the time in the city.

Any student from Britian who went to QUB I ever talked to really seemed to enjoy it. I also had a friend who got a 2:1 in Psychology from QUB and was able to walk right on to a MSc Cognitive Neuroscience @ York, so I think it has a solid academic rep if you wanted to study further.

I've only visited Edinburgh, but it seems lovely.

Hope that helps and if you've any questions about studying or living in Belfast, ask away!