Student Life at Universoty of Glasgow?

International Students
1

I am an American student and am interested in attending college at the University of Glasgow. I have some questions concerning student life and that the differences between iconic American universities and Scottish ones would be so different and make Glasgow unappealing to me. My questions are . . .

  1. Do most of the student live on campus or is it a commuter school?
  2. How strong is the sense of community?
  3. Are their traditions that take place every year?
  4. Is it fairly easy for American students to make friends?

Thank you for your input.

2

Yes, I am aware that I misspelled “University”.

3

This is hard to address with out knowing what you mean by ‘iconic’ and what you want to be similar (or the other way around, what would make it unappealing?)

To answer your specific questions in reverse order:

=> It is easy for Americans to make friends, but if you haven’t had much international exposure you may be surprised to hear a lot of criticism of various aspects of America (politics, culture, food, education). That is true anywhere outside the US, though- not just in Glasgow.

=> There are traditions, but it is not as Hogwartsian-tradition laden as St Andrews (no striding around in gowns on special occasions, for example).

=> There is definitely a strong community (or perhaps better to say there are strong communities). The student unions (they have 2) keep a very active social scene going, and Glasgow has more clubs, etc. than Edinburgh.

=> “Commuter” v “residential” is just different in the UK. Most students at most universities in the UK “live out” in flats and various forms of student accommodation. In Glasgow, the campus and the town are deeply mixed, and the various accommodations are in a roughly 2 mile area (though actually it’s 2 main hubs, and several smaller sites. So, it’s not an enclosed campus, where everybody lives in dorms.

I am assuming that you have read the website very carefully for the subject that you want to study. The Scottish system is a bit looser than the English, but you will have relatively class options within your subject, especially compared to the US. Teachers are generally less involved with students, especially in the lower years, and the system as a whole expects you to really organize yourself.