<p>Just wanted an opinion. I'm an international student, closer to the UK than the US and hold offers from the following places:</p>
<p>Edinburgh, Durham, St. Andrews and Cornell. </p>
<p>I'm torn. Finances isn't a problem, but Edinburgh would be a straight 6 hour flight from home, whereas Cornell would require </p>
<p>The U.K has a lot of history, all the universities I got accepted into our beautiful and in Edinburgh, as a large city, I would have a lot of opportunities I would not have in a college town and I wouldn't have trouble meeting people from where I'm from or from all around the world. </p>
<p>But I love Cornell as well and people in the US are (generally) nicer than in the UK. But I know no one going to Cornell and it's three flights away from home. I have no idea what to expect from the people. I'm a muslim and only eat halal food, is that going to be a problem? I'm a big Premier League soccer fan, will I have any where to watch the game? I'll probably have more of an attachment to universities in the UK as I pass by there more but this is probably the one and only chance I will ever have to experience life in the USA. Also, I'm not afraid of competition, but I've heard horror stories about Cornell and my SAT is quite a bit lower than most people. I believe I got in on strength of grades and essay. </p>
<p>Then there's job prospects to take into consideration. </p>
<p>First of all, I’d like to congratulate you; that’s quite an impressive list of acceptances you got there! :)</p>
<p>In answer to your question, I think universities in the UK and the US are vastly different - so it really depends on what you want to do. Would you like a wide range of course options and specialise after a few years, or would you prefer the slightly narrower array of courses a Scottish universities offers - or would you like to go to Durham, specialise from year one and get your degree in a year less?</p>
<p>I can only speak from my own experiences, but based on my impressions of the UK universities that accepted you I’d go for St. Andrew’s. Durham is (in my humble opinion) a gorgeous town, but I hated the narrow-mindedness and arrogence of the students I met there. Strong accademically, but on the social part it’s vastly overrated, if you ask me.</p>
<p>Edinburgh is everything you’d expect it to be: large, energetic and full of opportunities. The university is very good, but can feel a bit ‘industrial’ at times because of it’s size.</p>
<p>St. Andrew’s is very, very small (they don’t even have a rail station!), but gorgeous, with a lot of smart, likable people around. The university is top notch, and very remeniscent of Oxbridge in its style and approach. Do keep in mind that the people, castles and bunnies are the only things there to keep you entertained - you won’t get half as many opportunities outside of university life as you’d get at Edinburgh.</p>
<p>Good luck making your decision - and rest assured that with those offers to pick from, you just can’t go wrong, whatever you decide :)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for taking the time out and writing such an in depth answer Amber… appreciate it (y) </p>
<p>Anyone else have any opinions? Basically, coming from a fairly conservative country, I don’t want to miss out on going to such a vibrant city like Edinburgh and Ithacaa is extremely far away from where I live, but you don’t get accepted into an Ivy League school every day…</p>
<p>You need to ask employers in your home country about which of these they prefer. It is extremely difficult for internationals to find permanent jobs in the US. The only people who I know who have done that have Ph.D.s in a scientific or technical field and multiple years of research/teaching/work experience in their home countries.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you contact the International Student Office at Cornell with your questions about meeting your dietary requirements.</p>
<p>True, Cornell is an Ivy, but I would say that it is the lowest of the Ivies, and therefore, not as prestigious as you might think. I went to Cornell, and to me, Ithaca was a very boring place to go to school. But that was almost 40 years ago.</p>
<p>I don’t know Durham, but if you want a big city, go to Edinburgh. If you want to go to school in a small, quaint town, go to St Andrews.</p>
<p>Also, it is my understanding that this decision might also involve what particular subject you want to study.</p>
<p>For example, St Andrews is very good for international relations. But perhaps you wouldn’t go there to study engineering.</p>
<p>I am going to give you a few insights from friends and relatives that went to Edinburgh and St Andrews. First of all, they all hate scottish people. Second, Edinburgh is a beautiful city but studying in St Andrews pretty much mean you live in the countryside. If you are from a city, it can be nice but I know that my sister hated it.
I personally like Cornell a lot more than your UK choices but it’s lost in the middle of the state of New York thus you will add about 4 hours to your travel time from your home country to the university. In that sense, St Andrews comes actually closer and Edinburgh is the closest.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Durham so I will keep out.</p>
<p>I’d like to thank everybody for their insight It’s given me a lot to think about </p>
<p>@Telayl, the isolation is one thing that’s putting me off Cornell. I can deal with the city size, and the city does seem quite nice actually, but as someone who likes to travel and move around (I get bored with repetition quickly ), I hate the fact that I’d have to drive or fly anywhere I wanted to go. As opposed to the UK where I could just jump into a train with access to the whole of Europe. </p>
<p>And I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that education, opportunity and job prospects wise, Cornell trumps all the British universities I got accepted into and those are the most important things to me. A JYA in the UK does sound good. I’d get to be near friends, which was another thing that was bothering me :p</p>
It’s given me a lot to think about </p>
), I hate the fact that I’d have to drive or fly anywhere I wanted to go. As opposed to the UK where I could just jump into a train with access to the whole of Europe. </p>