Heading to the UK for grad school

[Jon Andrew Greig]

Two carriers: Iberia for DC to London and British Air for London to Edinburgh. Found through Hipmunk.com (great site!). I was thinking about visiting England first, but decided on staying in Edinburgh for the week first to acclimate to the environment and culture. I wouldn't mind time to just chill in the city, and save the excursions for later in the school year. Never been up there before, so it'll be worth a few days break in the place I'd be studying (and living) my ass off in.

Sounds like a good plan with the packing though. I'm leaning that way myself, with the possible exception of shipping a box of books over. Clothing will probably be the bulk of what I carry over.

[antecedent]

For me, travelling around the South might actually be cheaper just because I'll be bouncing between family members I'll be in Edinburgh bright and early on the 8th though (or the 7th, depending how fed up with my family I get!) and ready to move in. I never been to Scotland either...I'm so curious about what it's going to be like living there! Did you get that email from the international office about a phone call from a current student to answer our questions? How funny is that?

I'd love to bring more books, I just know it won't be worth it for me. I'm bringing five or six that are relevant to my studies, and then a few that I reread during times of stress/sleepiness. I'm also slightly shifting my academic focus and I know I don't have a ton of text books that are relevant to my studies anyways.

[SweetPea_45]

Hey there!

I'm coming over on a student visa as well, so I need to apply for that. You can't apply more then 3 months before the start of your program or they take your money and reject your application outright! So I'll be applying on June 10th, since my program starts September 10th. I hear from friends that the student visa process takes only a couple of weeks, so I'll be looking into booking my flight late June/ early July, with the hope of arriving in Edinburgh around August 10th so I can take FULL advantage of traveling and enjoying Edinburgh before school starts.

From my time living in Edinburgh, I would recommend taking as little as possible. There are cheap places (ie: pound stretches (kind of like a dollar store), asda (pretty much Walmart), Boots ( just like a CVS) etc where you can buy your everyday essentials like pots, pans, plates, shampoo. Edinburgh is COLD. No jokes or laughing matters about that, so do bring (or plan on buying) warm clothing. Edinburgh's library is fantastic, and you can prob get all the books you need there. If not, there is a public library in Edinburgh which houses a great deal of rare or hard to access books. If there are books that are essential for your course, then I would bring them. The last thing you want is to be in a situation where someone else has checked out the book you desperately need.

Edinburgh is so beautiful during the summer, and of course there is the Edinburgh fringe festival going on in August and into September, so it will be very lively right when we are due to arrive. There are many hostels in Edinburgh, so if you want to come early, there should be no problem finding a place to stay. The first week of University is called "freshers week," pretty much a welcome week for students. Along with the bar/ going out during at night, there are a lot of activities (ie: tour of Edinburgh castle, ghost tours, meet & greets, hikes up tour of parliament, etc). You buy a discounted pass, and it gets you into anything you want to see. It is also a great way of meeting people. The weather is so beautiful right at the start of the school year, this is the time to be the tourist, and take advantage of the city before the weather turns dreadful!

Thanks for the advice on the super cheap tickets! I'll be sure to check that website out!