<p>I'm thinking of studying abroad there sometime later, and I don't know much about what it's like there besides what I can find on Wikipedia. Anybody have any experience there, or know of anybody who spent some time there? It looks like a fantastic and beautiful school.</p>
<p>sounds good</p>
<p>My friend attends there currently, and from what she's told me, she's had a fun time. Edinburgh seems like a quiet town with a lot of history and if you live in student housing you have a good chance to end up living outside of a pub or a burlesce (spelling?) club, as my friend did. She was a law student and while she didn't enjoy the subject as much, she did enjoy the school. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful but you could always randomly message people on facebook who attend and ask them what they think! :)</p>
<p>google studentroom uk</p>
<p>The smartest kid I've ever met goes there...he was already done w/undergard by the time he was twenty, and pursuing a masters in financial mathematics.</p>
<p>The University of Edinburgh is an excellent choice. I highly recommend that you take your semester abroad there. Edinburgh is not that quiet of a town, especially for Scotland. It's full of culture and there's always lots to do. It has a fairly decent music scene though Glasgow is a little bit better in this respect. Edinburgh is a very beautiful city. I recommend that you try to time your semester abroad during Spring as the Scottish winter can be a bit oppressing. You might try to stay until the end of the summer if you end up going in Spring. I attended a year of University in Scotland elsewhere and kept on wishing that I had chosen Edinburgh instead.</p>
<p>Feel free to post back with more specific questions.</p>
<p>Anybody know what St. Andrews is like? From the pictures I've seen, it seems more isolated and compact than Edinburgh. Is that correct?</p>
<p>One of my best friends is studying at Edinburgh. He loves it.</p>
<p>St Andrews and Edinburgh are two very different environments. St Andrews is a small coastal resort community with beautiful beaches, some of the best golf in the world, a medieval city center, unique local shops, etc. Edinburgh is the capitol city with an amazing castle, many beautiful buildings, lots of pubs and shopping, etc. Do you want to live in a world-class resort or a large city? Also, consider that the two are only 45 minutes away from each other so you can visit either regularly by train.</p>
<p>The universities are also different. Each specializes in diverse areas of research. What do you want to study? In general, St Andrews is currently considered to be the best university in Scotland (4th in UK), while Edinburgh is often close behind (Top ten in UK). St Andrews has higher research, teaching, and student satisfaction scores. Further, it is significantly more difficult to gain a place at St Andrews than Edinburgh. What sort of academic environment are you looking for?</p>
<p>Edinburgh is one of the best Universities in that area. It's a very strong school. My parents lived in Scotland before I was born. My dad did his Masters in Chemistry at University of Aberdeen, but he always raves about Edinburgh. Honestly, the level of university education is high in the UK.</p>
<p>Funny you should ask as St. Andrews is the University that I studied at. </p>
<p>Jwagner sums up the the differences between pretty well. I will warn that St. Andrews is not beautiful from mid-October until mid-March; it can also get pretty boring. I escaped to Edinburgh or Dundee every chance I got. Unfortunately, St. Andrews has lost most of it's unique local shops in favor of Starbucks and the like. There are still a few local hangouts, but it seems like St. Andrews is becoming more and more commercialized. Both are good Universities, but I wouldn't give too much attention to the overall UK rankings. While there is more/better research at St. Andrews, almost none of it is on the undergraduate level. If you intend to study Chemistry, Marketing, Business, International Relations, or Economics, you would do well to choose St. Andrews as it is very strong in these departments. Otherwise, I would say it's up to you. </p>
<p>As an American student, it will actually be easier for you to gain a spot at St. Andrews than at Edinburgh as St. Andrews has a special application and the Admissions office has stated time and time again they place the greatest weight on SAT score. For Edinburgh you will have to apply through UCAS which isn't much harder, but I don't think the expectations are as clear-cut as at St. Andrews.</p>
<p>Even though I loved St. Andrews, I'd recommend Edinburgh--which also has a large medieval city center by the way--over St. Andrews unless you plan on studying one of the majors I listed above or you are a graduate student. </p>
<p>If you can, visit Scotland and spend a bit of time (at least 3-4 days) in both before you make a decision.</p>
<p>You guys do realize that I already go to an American school and I'm considering these Scottish universities as study abroad options only?</p>
<p>St. Andrews has the highest percentage of American students of any college in the UK (or maybe it's highest foreign percentage). that's all I know about the topic :)</p>
<p>Actually, I missed that point. The majority of the American students at St. Andrews are Junior Year/Semester Study Abroad students. I'd recommend going for a year instead of just a semester if at all possible. If it's not possible, then try to go in Spring and stay through for Summer.</p>
<p>As far as I know, there aren't as many study abroad students who attend Edinburgh, but those that I've talked to liked it.</p>
<p>I'm sure you'd do well/have a good time at either University.</p>