I am a parent of student who was accepted into this program. If anyone on CC is in it or familiar with it, I have a few questions.
The first would be with regard to assumed math competency in the first year. I reviewed the classes offered, and it seems that there is an assumption of Calculus competency from the onset, with no particular opportunity to take those straight math courses in college. Is that correct? My S has one year of Honors Calc (2 years ago), one year of AP stats, and did well (over 750) on the SAT II Math subject test. Nevertheless, I am not sure he would ready for the first year stats content listed without perhaps another calc class over the summer.
Second question is that I note participants do a thesis in their 4th year. I was just wondering if someone could comment on the experience of thesis writing in a UK undergraduate program. How supported are the students? Do some students take several years to complete the thesis (like in US doctoral programs?) Does one defend the thesis before a committee?
As an academic myself, I have worked with students on senior theses in american colleges. My experience is that these are not nearly as in-depth as what is described in U Edinburgh, and they are rarely of publishable quality. Typically the only requirement to pass is for the thesis adviser/mentor to sign off on it. (I understand that there a few LACs that have higher standards).
All good questions- you might check out The Student Room web site. You can post questions to current students and review FAQs
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.co.uk/
Good job on looking up the coursework, @psycholing! I would strongly advise your son to do a refresher course in calculus (self-study or a summer class): there will be no course option, and b/c math to AS is a UK requirement all of the UK students will have had some calculus recently. UK unis are much more hands-off than the US and he will be better off starting strong than on the back foot.(It is the one point that US applicants often don’t get about the pre-reqs: if a course specifies something, if you get in you are expected to be able for that level of work and remedial help is not built into the system).
One of my collegekids just finished her UG thesis in the UK, and I know a fair few other recent students who have done the same (including at Edinburgh), and I did both Masters and Doctoral theses in that system as well.
The thesis is not expected to be publishable (though strong ones typically do have enough material that if the student chooses it could be shaped into an article), but it is taken seriously, and the deadline is firm (not like a doctoral thesis). I do not believe that Edinburgh has a committee defense for the MA, but I could be mistaken - I’ll check with the students I know who are there now. I know that I have sat in as an external examiner for finalist UG projects in other unis in the region, so there may be, but those are much more low key than a Doctoral defense. Fwiw, depending on the uni, the word count rules are very strict also- there are penalties for going over! The feedback process is usually very specific, including how many times you can meet with your supervisor, when those meetings will happen and what sort of feedback you get. As with all of the UK academic experience, it really is student-led process. But the main thing is, if your son has made it to 4th year he will be well able for the level of independent work required. Truly.
Thanks for reflecting on your experiences @collegemom3717. Ii really like the sound of the Edinburgh program – to me it seems a lot more intensive and serious than American undergrad programs I am familiar with in the social sciences, even at top schools. In the programs I taught in (including an Ivy) we only required 1-2 entry level courses in stats for undergrads, and the students barely even learned principles of experimental design.
Do you happen to know what is the American equivalent (in terms of math courses) for SQA higher? Would that be BC AP Calc, or Calc 3/Multivariable?
Kaffeinekitty – I tried reading the student room but the site kept going down. Perhaps it will be more stable tomorrow.
B/c the requirement is only to take math to AS level, Calc AB would probably be enough; BC would be a very strong base.
The differences of depth v breadth are real, but they level out to a surprising extent.
Thanks. If anyone else out there has experience in particular with Quantitative IR at Edinburgh, I’d love to hear about it.