University of Edinburgh

How respected is Edinburgh?

I'm an American student applying to Edinburgh. Long story short, my parents and family are betting on my getting into Oxford, there's about a .000000000000001% chance I can get in, and I'm looking at other "prestigious" universities in the UK.

So, I checked the requirements for Edinburgh and I already have far above everything they ask - but how "prestigious" is this university in comparison to Oxford? Is it a respected school to go to? I know this seems superfluous, but I've got to sell my case to my parents :biggrin:

Anyways, is Edinburgh a school parents could be proud of? Like, does it sound impressive to say "Oh, my daughter is attending Edinburgh,"?

P.S. - Any other top universities I should consider? Majoring in either English Language/Literature or International Relations and Politics. Thanks! :smile:

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Reply 1

nearlyheadlessian

Original post by tite23

Like, does it sound impressive to say "Oh, my daughter is attending Edinburgh,"?

In my experience, Americans tend to overvalue Edinburgh - so they should be impressed. It is a very good university - but history does tend to impress.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

zainn

Edinburgh Uni is considered one of the top Universities in the UK to put it simply.

Reply 3

Organ

Edinburgh is an awesome city and I think the University is very good.

Reply 4

Vitamin D

It's often included in the UK Top 10.

Reply 5

doloroushazy

V. well respected, St Andrew's is too. it's in the Russel Group at least

Reply 6

PagowenTheGreat

Original post by tite23

Edinburgh is highly respected both in the UK and overseas. Other distinguished UK universities include: Imperial College London, University College London, St. Andrews, Bristol, York, King's College London, Durham, Glasgow and Exeter, amongst others. It should be easy to convince your parents of the quality of any of these universities.

EDIT: Should have included LSE and Warwick in my list.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

ChilliBonbon

Very. It is considered among one of the best in the UK.

Reply 8

Mike Hunt is nice

I really want to go to Edinburgh? or St Andrews to study a classical subject. I'm doing wierd A-levels (Maths, Chemistry, Economics and Classical Civ) what are my chances? should i change my choices to make myself more appropriate for Ancient History or Classical Civilisation?

Reply 9

PagowenTheGreat

Original post by PagowenTheGreat

Why was I negged for this? :eek:

Very.

Top 10 in most subjects. So a decent choice if you can't get into a leading university.

Don't expect a standing ovation though, it's not the All Souls Examination Fellowship.

Reply 12

mevidek

It's a very well respected uni.

Reply 13

JayTeeKay

Internationally, Manchester, some London colleges (University College London and Kings College London being the most obvious), the London School of Economics, Imperial College London (simply because London is an international city, I'm guessing that having "London" in the name will act as a brand name). St. Andrews because it's where that posh bloke that had the wedding went.

The Russell Group unis are generally quite respected: http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/our-universities.aspx

I'd say Warwick, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Leeds would be the most recognisable to a foreigner. Maybe Glasgow because of the size of the city. Maybe Sheffield. I'm unsure about Warwick as it is relatively young on one hand, but on the other hand it includes the Chairman of Tata Motors, presidents and vice-presidents of various countries and the managing director of the world bank among its alumni.

Certainly any of the above are respected in the UK, no matter what the nerds on TSR tell you (compensating for small penises I'm sure). There are plenty of good institutions that aren't so recognised on the world stage, such as Durham, York, Bath, Leicester, Lancaster etc. For brand names (internationally) I'd say one of the above London colleges or universities, Manchester or a uni of a big city like Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds etc.

Reply 14

Liam_G

I'm not sure what the requirements for international students are, but for students in England they specify grades BBB, however, for some subjects (such as English) they wont even look at your application if you aren't predicted at least AAA (they even say so in the prospectus).

Edinburgh is very well respected Uni :yes:

Reply 15

username660754

Very respected indeed. The city is amazing aswell, excellent place to live, study and work, so I have been told :smile:

Reply 16

Static.

Well, if you end up doing English Lit, Edinburgh allegedly has the oldest department of English Lit in the world. It sounds fancy/prestigious but it is also a good department.

Reply 17

NeoNerd

Original post by tite23

Very much respected. As a frivolous aside, Ducky from NCIS apparently went here :P

Reply 18

Jenny171994

Original post by tite23

This is more a Social View of the City...
Can I make the slightly vain point that Edinburgh Universities buildings are not that attractive? In fact, I'd go as far as to say they're horrible looking from the outside.

However, I stay in Edinburgh and I can honestly say that it's a fantastic place to live. The shops are on your backdoor wherever you are, there are bus routes at reasonable prices taking you everywhere, fantastic historic sites, there's the beach in Portobello as well as a load of parks like Queen's park and Arthur seat and there's really good clubbing/bar/music scenes. Oh and if you know where to go, you can get a cheap pint.

As a negative aside, you would have to put up with the tram works and constant roadworks, but right now 'trams' are basically a swear word with the council talking about booting the project.

Reply 19

tite23

Original post by zainn

Edinburgh Uni is considered one of the top Universities in the UK to put it simply.

Original post by nearlyheadlessian

In my experience, Americans tend to overvalue Edinburgh - so they should be impressed. It is a very good university - but history does tend to impress.

Original post by Organ

Edinburgh is an awesome city and I think the University is very good.

Original post by JayTeeKay

Original post by Liam_G

On a side note, how do you guys pronounce Edinburgh? Americans tend to say "Edin-boro", I used to call it "Edin-burg", and I've been hearing various British people say "Edin-brah" or some other thing which I can't quite catch. What is the correct pronunciation?