I’m a US student and I got accepted into both the University of Edinburgh and McGill University. I am going to be studying linguistics. These two are by far my top two choices. I’m going to be visiting Edinburgh here in a few weeks, but I don’t think I’ll be able to visit McGill by the time I have to choose due to time constraints and all. Both seem like great universities and I’m having trouble deciding. I’m planning on continuing to do a master’s degree and hopefully a PhD as well.
Overall the main distinguishing points seem to be:
- Edinburgh seems to admit international students very easily (less prestigious?)
- McGill has more of a concentrated campus
- Edinburgh is more recognized in Europe, McGill more recognized in the US
Does anyone have some insights into the differences between the two? It really feels like I’m getting down to splitting hairs and I just wanna make the right choice. Thanks y’all!
Congratulations! Two great choices for Linguistics.
Some things to consider:
What is the price difference? Are your parents okay with paying for either?
Weather. Montreal winters are serious business.
Wherever you are in the US, Edinburgh will require significantly more travel time and expense. Are you/your parents okay with that?
My D18, also interested in linguistics, researched both universities. She will attend McGill, and intends to spend some time studying abroad at U Edinburgh. Best of both worlds, as she sees it.
Good luck to you.
Your interests outside of school might also impact your decision. My D went to Edinburgh for study abroad and she absolutely loved it - she was able to travel all over Scotland, and Northern England on the weekends. If you must speak French, Paris is 12 hours away. And IMHO you should pay close attention to the points that @ShrimpBurrito brought up…
Bon Chance & ádh mór!
We have taken into consideration the price, and we’re okay with both. My parents were expecting to pay for an out of state US school, so both look relatively cheap to them.
Honestly for me, being far away is a bit of a plus. For my parents they’d prefer McGill for that reason, but they will always remind me that it’s my choice.
Thank you
“being far away is a bit of a plus”
Montreal is of course a largely French speaking city, with the part of Montreal around McGill and Concordia pretty much fully bilingual. It will be very common to hear both English and French in Montreal, and to occasionally hear a conversation that just goes back and forth between the two in the middle of each sentence. As such, I think that it will feel like quite a different world compared to the US even if it is not that far away. Expect McGill to be academically quite challenging.
I do think that McGill is better known in the US. Both cities will have some cultural differences wrt the US, most of which may be a bit subtle.
One minor nit: If you do decide that you want to work outside of the US after graduation, a 4 year degree from McGill, or any university in Canada, allows you to get a 3 year work permit (for Canada). I have no idea whether the same is true of Edinburgh.
I am pretty sure that Edinburgh is quite a bit further north than Montreal. Thus winters in Edinburgh will be darker than Montreal, but Montreal will be colder. You should be able to get used to it either way and will need appropriate winter gear.
I don’t think that there is a bad choice here.
What fantastic choices!
Both are large, world class universities where a lot of autonomy is expected. Both are located in terrific cities.
Perhaps look at the list of mandatory courses for your program and how much flexibility you have outside of it to take other classes of interest?