The Student Room Group

Does Edinburgh hate Americans?

So, my mother (who is profusely trying to stop me from attending the University of Edinburgh or any UK school for that matter) was telling me today about how a friend of a friend who studies in Scotland (and is American) says that Scottish people hate Americans and Scottish Universities accept American students only because Scotland is financially dependent on the United States. Now, don't hate on me. I don't believe this, and my mom could've made it up (or exaggerated) to discourage me from attending BUT... prove/disprove/thoughts/comments? Thank you so much,
I appreciate your help :smile:

-MJS

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
They hate everyone, and everyone hates americans.

Do the mathS
I thought americans hated the scots these days...
Americans definitely don't hate the Scots (plus Americans love any foreign accents). But the question is whether the Scots hate Americans (as described in original post)
EmmaDilemma
Eh your mother made that up.
She probably doesn't want you to come to Scotland because you'd be so many thousand miles away from her... god my mum wants me to go to Glasgow or Edinburgh Uni as it'll be close to home and thats only an hour away.


This is probably right.

OP, you'll be fine. From my experience people in the UK will slag off Americans in general, but when confronted with an actual real American student will just want to ask them loads of questions like "WHAT WAS AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL LIKE OMG WAS IT LIKE MEAN GIRLS"

edit: For what it's worth, my best friend, who's also American, goes to Edinburgh, loves it and has plenty of Scottish friends.
Reply 5
no the scots dont hate anyone*
it will be down to the individual if they dont like you, to my knowledge there is no hatred.


*exept the english but thats a given:awesome:
Reply 6
mattucci4ever
OP


I should know i'm here now and have seen loads of American people. In edinburgh there are so many nationalities... it really doesn't matter. At most we think of the Americans as abit silly/stupid but that's what most of the high profile Americans do and tbh same goes for British celebs etc.

It's nothing to worry about, your mum just doesn't want to see you go far away, or maybe this guy who is here is just anti-social. It's your life, your experience don't let her live it for you.
No, Americans are great.
Reply 8
No, that's ********. It also assumes Scottish people live in a homogeneous mass and don't encounter people from other nations, including America, regularly. You will be treated like all the other hundreds of Americans/other nationalities in Edinburgh - exactly like everyone else. Like every other country also does, people will ask some questions but they will mostly be silly and possibly drunk. So seriously, don't worry about it.
You're mum's just trying to protect you from the scary land of wild men with kilts who play the bagpipes.

I remember when I was 10, this kid from Texas moved to my town and subsequently went to my school. He was the talking point for days and was followed by the masses, literally like the messiah had just arrived.

On a serious note, Edinburgh's more or less a universal city now, not as much as NYC or London but there's everything and everyone, of course you'll be fine. As for the "Scottish people hate Americans", we don't.
Reply 10
EnthusiasticEnthusiast

I remember when I was 10, this kid from Texas moved to my town and subsequently went to my school. He was the talking point for days and was followed by the masses, literally like the messiah had just arrived.

uni is nothing like primary school
uni is exacally like primary school
1721
uni is nothing like primary school
uni is exacally like primary school


I believe that's 'exactly' fail on your part broseph.

As for my story, which was indeed a good one, it just goes to show how much we hate Americans according to his mum.

I'm guaranteed that had an English person moved up and gone to the school he would not have received the same treatment, quite the opposite, especially in secondary school.
Reply 12
My flatmate is American, he's not had any trouble at all since he's been here. Half the uni students aren't even Scottish anyway, so it's pretty unlikely you're going to encounter much racism.
Reply 13
When you live in Edinburgh (or any other British university town which attracts visitors) then you'll start to get a bit sick of the tourists standing around gawping and generally making a bit of a nuisance of themselves. A lot of these tourists are Americans.

That does not, by any means, imply that Americans are irritating. Just the touristy ones. A few months of living here, and you'll just be another student away from home, albeit with a rather silly accent. :p:
Reply 14
EnthusiasticEnthusiast
I believe that's 'exactly' fail on your part broseph.

As for my story, which was indeed a good one, it just goes to show how much we hate Americans according to his mum.

I'm guaranteed that had an English person moved up and gone to the school he would not have received the same treatment, quite the opposite, especially in secondary school.

chill out it was a joke.
im not questioning your story
Reply 15
peanutkitkat
Isn't Edinburgh pretty cosmopolitan anyway? There'll always be some people dead set against people of other nationalities, but Edinburgh's a big place and a pretty big uni with people from all over the world, so there's a good chance that you'll fit in just fine and have a great time there. :smile:

Aberdeen, on the other hand... :p:


Aberdeen....oish! I feel sorry for Aberdonians.
when people say 'the don't like us cos there dependent on our money' never makes you popular. coming to Edinburgh saying that, and yes, you will be hated. otherwise, of course not. We're a lovely bunch :wink:
The Scotch keep most of their quaint hatred for the British.:yep:
I'm American, and no one here in Edinburgh has treated me any differently for it. Your mother is making **** up.
Reply 19
flugestuge
The Scotch keep most of their quaint hatred for the British.:yep:

We do?