Is Edinburgh uni very posh

Hi I am interested in studying history at the uni of Edinburgh. I love the city, have visited many times and the course looks great. However I am worried about Edinburgh students being really posh, all from private schools etc. I am from Sheffield Yorkshire and my family is relatively normal. Is Edinburgh very posh? And will people judge me for being from a different background?

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post by Mollylauralolz

Hi I am interested in studying history at the uni of Edinburgh. I love the city, have visited many times and the course looks great. However I am worried about Edinburgh students being really posh, all from private schools etc. I am from Sheffield Yorkshire and my family is relatively normal. Is Edinburgh very posh? And will people judge me for being from a different background?

UofE has so many students, I think it would actually be difficult not to meet nice people. The accommodation Chancellor's Court at Pollock Halls is known for those private school posh people, but that's just a small portion of people. It's actually a very international uni. I don't doubt you would meet enough nice and friendly people. So yes, there are posh people, and no, if you just avoid Chancellor's I don't think you would be judged for being from a different background.

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

UofE has so many students, I think it would actually be difficult not to meet nice people. The accommodation Chancellor's Court at Pollock Halls is known for those private school posh people, but that's just a small portion of people. It's actually a very international uni. I don't doubt you would meet enough nice and friendly people. So yes, there are posh people, and no, if you just avoid Chancellor's I don't think you would be judged for being from a different background.

Ahh ok thankyou! Do you go to Edinburgh uni?

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

Ahh ok thankyou! Do you go to Edinburgh uni?

I will be starting my first year studying English literature there this September. I've already spoken to a lot of great people in the English lit group chat. They're not posh at all :smile:

Reply 4

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous

UofE has so many students, I think it would actually be difficult not to meet nice people. The accommodation Chancellor's Court at Pollock Halls is known for those private school posh people, but that's just a small portion of people. It's actually a very international uni. I don't doubt you would meet enough nice and friendly people. So yes, there are posh people, and no, if you just avoid Chancellor's I don't think you would be judged for being from a different background.

I hope someone from Britain could clarify something for me... Just to give you a little background, I'm a European, and I was born to an upper-class family (sorry, not my fault, it was out of my control :-) I'm quite friendly and never judge people by their social class. While there are very few people from working and middle class families at my school, I have many friends from these classes.

Now, hopefully I'll be coming to UoE in 2021 (yes, deferred entry), if I meet the conditions of my offer. I've been reading a lot regarding UoE accommodation options, and many people mention those "posh" halls. The problem is that I don't have a good understanding of all the peculiarities of the British society. What is the attitude of the posh people to upper-class Europeans? Do they considered us to be "one of them", or anybody who didn't go to an expensive private boarding school in the UK is automatically excluded from the circle?

You see, my dilemma is that on the one hand, I have no problem with living with middle class or working class folks. But what I'm a little afraid of is that I might encounter negative attitude if my neighbours, for example, see me wearing the wrong kind of watch on my wrist (Patek Philippe rather than Casio) or learn that I spend my winter holidays skiing in Italy. On the other hand, I'd feel equally comfortable living next to the upper class "posh" folks, but I'm afraid that I'd be a black sheep because I didn't go to Eton College or because my English is not ideal.

I'd be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this without judging me harshly :-)

Reply 5

Anonymous #4

Original post by Anonymous

I hope someone from Britain could clarify something for me... Just to give you a little background, I'm a European, and I was born to an upper-class family (sorry, not my fault, it was out of my control :-) I'm quite friendly and never judge people by their social class. While there are very few people from working and middle class families at my school, I have many friends from these classes.

Now, hopefully I'll be coming to UoE in 2021 (yes, deferred entry), if I meet the conditions of my offer. I've been reading a lot regarding UoE accommodation options, and many people mention those "posh" halls. The problem is that I don't have a good understanding of all the peculiarities of the British society. What is the attitude of the posh people to upper-class Europeans? Do they considered us to be "one of them", or anybody who didn't go to an expensive private boarding school in the UK is automatically excluded from the circle?

You see, my dilemma is that on the one hand, I have no problem with living with middle class or working class folks. But what I'm a little afraid of is that I might encounter negative attitude if my neighbours, for example, see me wearing the wrong kind of watch on my wrist (Patek Philippe rather than Casio) or learn that I spend my winter holidays skiing in Italy. On the other hand, I'd feel equally comfortable living next to the upper class "posh" folks, but I'm afraid that I'd be a black sheep because I didn't go to Eton College or because my English is not ideal.

I'd be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this without judging me harshly :-)

I'm not an expert or anything but I don't imagine you would be treated badly for being a high class European, obviously there may be some cultural differences but I imagine you should be able to fit in relatively well and even if you cant there will always be people there that you will fit in with :smile:

Reply 6

Anonymous342

7

Original post by Anonymous

I hope someone from Britain could clarify something for me... Just to give you a little background, I'm a European, and I was born to an upper-class family (sorry, not my fault, it was out of my control :-) I'm quite friendly and never judge people by their social class. While there are very few people from working and middle class families at my school, I have many friends from these classes.

Now, hopefully I'll be coming to UoE in 2021 (yes, deferred entry), if I meet the conditions of my offer. I've been reading a lot regarding UoE accommodation options, and many people mention those "posh" halls. The problem is that I don't have a good understanding of all the peculiarities of the British society. What is the attitude of the posh people to upper-class Europeans? Do they considered us to be "one of them", or anybody who didn't go to an expensive private boarding school in the UK is automatically excluded from the circle?

You see, my dilemma is that on the one hand, I have no problem with living with middle class or working class folks. But what I'm a little afraid of is that I might encounter negative attitude if my neighbours, for example, see me wearing the wrong kind of watch on my wrist (Patek Philippe rather than Casio) or learn that I spend my winter holidays skiing in Italy. On the other hand, I'd feel equally comfortable living next to the upper class "posh" folks, but I'm afraid that I'd be a black sheep because I didn't go to Eton College or because my English is not ideal.

I'd be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this without judging me harshly :-)

I would watch out with actively making a distinction between middle class/working class folks and posh people while you're there. You say you never judge people by their social class, yet here you are worrying about how different social classes will react to you. Either way it doesn't sound very nice. Where your fear of judgment is concerned, I think you worry about the wrong thing. At UofE there will undoubtedly be very kind and friendly people. They'll either be rich or 'middle class' as you call it. There are also arrogant people who judge you based on the way you look or where you go on vacation, and they can be either rich or 'middle class' too. Anyone can judge you based on your social class, regardless of social or financial status. In my opinion, anyone who pays too much attention to what kind of watch anyone is wearing is someone to altogether avoid. If you don't want to be judged by your background, then simply search for people who don't do that. There will be enough of them. If I were you, I'd just focus on the people that are kind and caring instead of worrying about what social class they're in.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 7

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous342

I would watch out with actively making a distinction between middle class/working class folks and posh people while you're there. You say you never judge people by their social class, yet here you are worrying about how different social classes will react to you. Either way it doesn't sound very nice. Where your fear of judgment is concerned, I think you worry about the wrong thing. At UofE there will undoubtedly be very kind and friendly people. They'll either be rich or 'middle class' as you call it. There are also arrogant people who judge you based on the way you look or where you go on vacation, and they can be either rich or 'middle class' too. Anyone can judge you based on your social class, regardless of social or financial status. In my opinion, anyone who pays too much attention to what kind of watch anyone is wearing is someone to altogether avoid. If you don't want to be judged by your background, then simply search for people who don't do that. There will be enough of them. If I were you, I'd just focus on the people that are kind and caring instead of worrying about what social class they're in.

Thanks for your reply! Totally valid points. If you don't mind, let me restate and simplify one of my questions, hoping that you or someone else with the first-hand experience could give me a direct answer.

So... Pollock Halls are nice: good location, clean, great food. I'd like to live there. The only "but" that I heard many times is that they're populated mostly by rich, privately educated British people. In the absence of personal experience, I don't understand if getting along with these people is:

(a) Generally easy, as in "Yes, your accent is different and you don't understand some private boarding school jokes, but who the hell cares, as long as you're a good guy",
or
(b) Generally difficult, as in "No, we're not inviting you to this party, it's only for us, Eton graduates. You don't belong here".

I fully realize that there will be a variety of people at Pollock Halls, all of them will be different personalities, there will be both arrogant a**holes and truly nice persons. I'm just asking about how it feels in general.

Thank you.

Reply 8

Anonymous #5

Original post by Mollylauralolz

Hi I am interested in studying history at the uni of Edinburgh. I love the city, have visited many times and the course looks great. However I am worried about Edinburgh students being really posh, all from private schools etc. I am from Sheffield Yorkshire and my family is relatively normal. Is Edinburgh very posh? And will people judge me for being from a different background?

Hi, I’ve firmed Edinburgh for vet med in September. I’m also from Sheffield and was worried about the posh private school stereotype but in the group chat with people on my course everyone is really friendly! I guess there will be a lot of people who went to private school but if you make sure you don’t judge people based on that and be friendly you’ll be fine. Don’t let it put you off!

Reply 9

Anonymous #6

Original post by Anonymous

I hope someone from Britain could clarify something for me... Just to give you a little background, I'm a European, and I was born to an upper-class family (sorry, not my fault, it was out of my control :-) I'm quite friendly and never judge people by their social class. While there are very few people from working and middle class families at my school, I have many friends from these classes.

Now, hopefully I'll be coming to UoE in 2021 (yes, deferred entry), if I meet the conditions of my offer. I've been reading a lot regarding UoE accommodation options, and many people mention those "posh" halls. The problem is that I don't have a good understanding of all the peculiarities of the British society. What is the attitude of the posh people to upper-class Europeans? Do they considered us to be "one of them", or anybody who didn't go to an expensive private boarding school in the UK is automatically excluded from the circle?

You see, my dilemma is that on the one hand, I have no problem with living with middle class or working class folks. But what I'm a little afraid of is that I might encounter negative attitude if my neighbours, for example, see me wearing the wrong kind of watch on my wrist (Patek Philippe rather than Casio) or learn that I spend my winter holidays skiing in Italy. On the other hand, I'd feel equally comfortable living next to the upper class "posh" folks, but I'm afraid that I'd be a black sheep because I didn't go to Eton College or because my English is not ideal.

I'd be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this without judging me harshly :-)

Hi there, I am also going to Edinburgh in 2021, I am at currently at an English public school (Stowe School) and I am friends with a fair few cosmopolitan bourgeoisie/upper-class types such as yourself. I would say that you are certainly at an advantage compared to English working class folk when it comes to social things, as the sort of European confidence (and arrogance sometimes: sorry but its true :smile:

) works miracles with girls. But I would say that when it comes to the laddish sort of toxic masculinity related dynamics, people like you will always be a bit of a black sheep, but I am sure at uni this is even less of a thing as people mature and typical lad culture dynamics break down. Overall, I’d say you would be better off going to one of the ‘posh’ houses, as although us British toffs may not be entirely indifferent towards you, we know what its like to live comfortably, and we’ve all had experience with rich international students. The working class types, although less snobbish, will not be familiar with you’re type of continental confidence/arrogance (again I don’t mean this in a bad way) nor will they be able to empathise or relate with your privelige. You’re better off finding somewhere half way in between halls full of rich Europeans like you, and British public school (not just private, they should be boarding as well) types. Also, make sure you have got some friends/contacts at edinburgh who are rich European types like you, but have been at British private schools for a couple years, (think London french school (lisais) going types, the sort who live in St. John’s Wood and Maidavale) as these will help bridge the social gap for you and show you the ropes.

Reply 10

Anonymous #6

Also, my friend, the sort of private school/public school people who are posh and elitist are generally quite dumb and probably won’t even get into edinburgh, they will probably go to Leeds or even oxford brookes or something, as they didn’t try very hard at school either.

Reply 11

Anonymous #3

Hi and thanks for taking time to reply! "Toxic masculinity related dynamics" -- I like the term:-)

uni in general is very non-judgemental. no-one is really interested where you're from (in a good way - it doesn't matter about your economic status, class, area etc). if they judge your personality on your postcode, they're not friends worth making.

and that is the beauty of uni. you can choose who you are friends with :yep: