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University of Edinburgh

Negative aspects of Edinburgh University?

Hey

I hold an unconditional offers to both Edinburgh and St Andrews universities, and I'm struggling to make up my mind as the deadline draws ever nearer..

I was wondering if any students could share any of the negative aspects of their university experience with me to help get a balanced view of the uni?

Thanks so much :smile:

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Reply 1

ScholarsInk

What's your subject?

I'm doing dual Honours and one subject is taught wonderfully and the other (Economics) is horrifically bad, so that plays a role.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

jemrock

Too late...I've firmed it :L Let the consequences fall where they may...but I'm doing English lit and classics - I've heard the classics in particular is great at Edinburgh

Reply 3

similartype

Yes, I've often heard from classmates taking Classics that it's fabulous. You'll have a great time!

Reply 4

mysticalfluffy

I do classics as an outside course, yes it's great :smile:

Reply 5

thegenius31416

Original post by ScholarsInk

What's your subject?

I'm doing dual Honours and one subject is taught wonderfully and the other (Economics) is horrifically bad, so that plays a role.

I'm a prospective applicant to Economics for 2012 entry.

Could you explain what exactly is bad about it? (and what good if anything?)

Reply 6

OMGWTFBBQ

It's full of Scots.

Jokes.

Reply 7

hmaus

Friends who did English and Classics really loved their subjects and Edinburgh is an amazing city so I think you've made a good choice! :biggrin:

My one negative was going to be that the accommodation services staff are a bit crap e.g. not allocating rent payments properly, claiming you haven't paid when you have etc... but probably not relevant to you anyway!

Reply 8

linguisticsforfun

Anyone have any thoughts on the quality of International Relations and Law courses? (As in Poli. Sci and Law)?
That's what I'm studying next year... I want to study German as my outside subject...

Reply 9

Pedrobear

Original post by OMGWTFBBQ

It's full of Scots.

No it isn't. :wink:

I go there.

hey can anyone say anything about the architecture department over there? is it good?

Reply 12

kfergie

does anyone know what the shuttle bus is like between central area and kings buildings? Apparently it runs every 10 mins but is it really that reliable?

Reply 13

Rainfaery

Original post by kfergie

does anyone know what the shuttle bus is like between central area and kings buildings? Apparently it runs every 10 mins but is it really that reliable?

http://www.ed.ac.uk/staff-students/students/shuttlebus is the shuttlebus timetable.

It is generally very accurate; they have multiple buses running and they're nearly always on time.

However, I should note it can be hard to get onto certain buses; the ones around lunch in particular are always crowded and often people will need to wait for the next bus.

Reply 14

Lu-Tze

yeh, the bus is often very busy, especially on the way to KB in the morning and at lunch

if you want to stand any chance of getting on then you need to get on at the central campus bus stop

Reply 15

kingkhan

Original post by jemrock

Hey

Trust me, you will never regret once you have your degree from University of Edinburgh.
Plus, you gonna enjoy a lot in george sq :wink:

Reply 16

bob247

Original post by ScholarsInk

What's your subject?

I'm doing dual Honours and one subject is taught wonderfully and the other (Economics) is horrifically bad, so that plays a role.

What's so bad about it?

Reply 17

problemsolver

Well you've firmed your offer now but if someone else has this choice to make ... I'd say if you've gone to a quieter school and are quiet yourself, maybe St Andrews would be better.

It's probably smaller and you might feel more like you matter there.

Edinburgh is a busy, stressful city.

You might think "Edinburgh has more to experience", but if you're quiet there's a good chance you won't take that opportunity (I don't honestly know whether there is that opportunity anyway), and all you'll be left with is a harder time getting good grades, at a bigger, less warm university.

I'm sure you can look up the drop out rates for courses yourself, but I know lots of quiet people who dropped out of or were asked to leave Edinburgh for poor grades.

Maybe look at what the courses involve at the unis too. Some have assessed presentations, some don't. Sure it might be good for you to try and get better at communicating, but if you're not that good, you don't really want to have assessed presentations which could drag your degree grade down. It's not purely about how clever you are or how good you are at the subject at a lot of unis.

Reply 18

Imprimatur

Original post by problemsolver

Edinburgh is a busy, stressful city.

What makes Edinburgh a "stressful city"? And it isn't that busy at all, except during the summer months because of all the festivals.

Reply 19

problemsolver

Original post by Imprimatur

What makes Edinburgh a "stressful city"? And it isn't that busy at all, except during the summer months because of all the festivals.

I just mean it might be stressful for a quiet person who isn't used to living in a big city. The streets are quite busy compared to lots of places, especially around about the university area. St Andrews has a population of 16680, and Edinburgh a population of 486120 (got that from wikipedia). Also Edinburgh has more nightclubs/"trendy" bars from what I've seen, and St Andrews seems more chilled.