<p>D will be attending the University of Edinburgh for the upcoming Spring semester. The university guarantees housing but more detail is needed than what is on the website. Is there a particular residence hall they put all the study abroad students? Are there student flats available for study abroads? Which is preferable? Are the accommodations far from campus? Are linens provided and if not, what are the sizes of the beds (XL twin? regular twin? single?). Is payment by the month or done in one lump some for the entire semester? What is the food situation? Can one pay for a comprehensive meal plan or is is a la carte?</p>
<p>I have no idea, but there is a very detailed Edinburgh student accommodation thread on the student room (the British version of this site). You will more than likely find all your answers there: <a href=“http://www.the%5B/url%5D”>http://www.the</a> student room.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2501595</p>
<p>Remove the spaces in the URL for it to work.</p>
<p>In addition to the TSR thread above, Edinburgh’s own website has lots of info [Accommodation</a> Services home | Accommodation Services](<a href=“http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services]Accommodation”>Accommodation, Catering and Events at The University of Edinburgh | UOE Accommodation)</p>
<p>More specifically <a href=“http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services/new-prospective/visiting-exchange/overview[/url]”>http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services/new-prospective/visiting-exchange/overview</a></p>
<p>Bed sizes in the UK are completely different to the US so you can scrap that line of thought.</p>
<p>^ Indeed. </p>
<p>There’s no point hauling bedding all the way from the States. Very often it’s possible to pre-order a bedding pack from the university, or she can go somewhere like Primark for some inexpensive bedding that will see her through the semester. It’s something like £4 for a fitted sheet, £10 for a duvet cover + pillowcase, plus pillows and duvets are available too. </p>
<p>With regards to catering, most people will either
- opt for catered, where you sign up to receive meals at set times throughout the year (e.g. breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday). If it’s not a 21 meal offering, then you’re responsible for your own meals
- go for self catered, where you get a kitchen within your flat, and you are responsible for cooking all your own meals. Due to the flexibility, choice over what you eat and (hopefully) better quality food, this is the more popular option with UK students. </p>
<p>There will still be some sort of pay-as-you-go catering on campus (e.g. my uni has a canteen for lunch), but people don’t generally think of this as being related to accommodation.</p>
<p>My student studied abroad at Edinburgh a couple of years ago and had a fantastic experience.</p>
<p>It may vary depending on the home school, but in my child’s case, the entire fee for the room was collected by The University of Edinburgh in advance of her leaving the states. Her tuition/fees were collected by her home school here in the states. She was in a residence hall with other students, both study abroad and local. Her particular room was a private bedroom in a multi-person suite on-campus (I don’t recall that she selected private - she simply selected the least-expensive option). Her tiny room had a tiny fireplace - it was wonderful (though bear in mind that nearly everything at Edinburgh will be not just " old," but ancient!). Her room did not have a kitchen - she selected the smallest meal plan because she planned to venture out whenever possible to soak up the local culture.</p>
<p>Start looking up options on Easyjet and Ryanair - flights cheap enough that every weekend can be spent traveling. Though I was nervous about it, my student stayed in youth hostels at very low prices as she explored at least a dozen countries while she was studying at Edinburgh.</p>
<p>Make it an adventure! :)</p>
<p>This will certainly be an adventure!!!</p>
<p>@alememom: The tuition pre-payment arrangement by the home school sounds much like what they will do at D’s school. Which accommodation did your D take (Kincaid? Pollock?) and did she like it? Unfortunately, the room and board for us have to be handled locally as the school does not do that. Did your D open up a local bank account as the school strongly recommends, or did she just do debit and/or credit cards? How did your D get to the university from the airport? Is there a shuttle or did she pre book a taxi service? For the fall semester the U of Edinburgh website says they had greeters from the university to meet students at the airport. Not sure this courtesy will be extended to the one-semeseter study abroad students but one can only hope. </p>
<p>I heard that for the self-catered rooms one needs to provide one’s own cooking utensils, and cutlery. Are dishes provided or do those need to be procured as well?</p>
<p>Typically only a microwave, stove, kettle and toaster will be provided for self catered students (though this may be different at Edinburgh - ask on the thread that nordicblue linked to). So, she’ll need to provide the other stuff herself, but it can be bought quite inexpensively at places like Wilkinsons.</p>
<p>My daughter did Spring semester last year at Edinburgh (loved it!!) She had her college pay for tuition/R&B although she did it on a 3 payment plan. She had asked for catered but they were full and she was glad later…it was cheaper and food was better on her own. She was at one of the oldest flats…Sciennes, not the nicest but it was fine for what she needed. She had a single and a kitchen with most utensils, etc. She bought some things cheaply at “Walmart” equivalent stores. The heat was iffy in her flat but again, nothing that awful. She found cooking on her own and finding fairly cheap cafes and places to eat not very difficult. Amazon UK came in handy too for some things she needed. The bedding the college provided was pretty thin and not the best quality but she ordered one nice blanket to use there online.
Her roommates were Scottish students or other Internationals. She didn’t go with a study abroad group and found friends easily enough joining clubs and going on some tours.
She said most flat had info online or a FB page which was helpful.
She loved it so much there and wishes she could have stayed a year instead of one semester.</p>
<p>If she can still decide at this point, don’t do catered, the food is supposed to be terrible. Also there are a ton of grocery stores nearby, it’s super easy to shop. The Tesco Metro was only a ten minute walk from my flat. Otherwise I don’t know how much it matters. I was in Hermit’s Croft, which I liked a lot, it was right by Arthur’s Seat, and a quiet area. All the rooms are singles, roommates are not a thing that is really done in the UK. I was in a flat with four other girls, two Scottish first years, a Spanish study abroad student there for a year, and then a different American each semester. Your daughter will probably replace an American who was there for the fall. Bedding is easy to get, though maybe harder 2nd semester, but still just a bus ride away. Also Amazon UK has free shipping with no minimum purchase amount, so great for getting things.</p>
<p>That’s what my daughter did, Amazon UK was great for daughter in Scotland and England…bedding, food, etc.</p>