University of Edinburgh

[antecedent]

Anyone planning on attending Edinburgh?

I'm torn between this offer and one other, but I'm currently leaning towards Scotland.

What kind of degrees and what department is everyone in?

I've been accepted to a taught M.Sc. in English Language.

[Hillary79]

I intended on applying to Edinburgh (I missed the deadline) but I was just there a few months ago checking out the school. I say definitely go for it. I absolutely loved the city and university. I'm jealous of you, I'm hoping to apply for a doctorate there later on.

[antecedent]

I'm sorry I won't be seeing you there! I'm surprised your program had a deadline - most of the humanities/social science programs I've heard of there are rolling until like...June. Unless it was the PhD you were applying for this time around as well.

I'm really happy to hear some positive feedback about the school! The city looks beautiful (from google maps...) and so far everyone I've communicated with at the university has been really helpful and friendly.

[Guest]

I've applied for a psych masters, no word yet on rejection or acceptance. Will be attending a reception event happening in the area, hopefully get into the school!

[antecedent]

I've applied for a psych masters, no word yet on rejection or acceptance. Will be attending a reception event happening in the area, hopefully get into the school!

Yeah I'm going to the applicant info session here next week! If you get in/decide to go, I think you and I would be in the same faculty (Philosophy, Psychology, and Linguistics?)

[Guest]

Yes that is correct, same faculty!

[Guest]

I was accepted, hurrah!

[antecedent]

Yay congratulations Divigen!

When is your info session? Mine is tomorrow - I'm pretty excited, even though I know it's just going to be two hours of "Why Edinburgh is Awesome and You Should Come Give Us Your Money."

Do you know if you're going yet?

[Guest]

I hadn't noticed your location, turns out we will be going to the same info session! Perhaps we might see each other

[antecedent]

Perhaps we might! I have all sorts of logistical questions about moving to the UK, but I don't think a recruitment event is the place to be asking them

Out of curiosity, what made you decide to apply to Edinburgh? I don't know much about the school outside my program really.

[Guest]

A few reasons, but perhaps the largest - I want to study a certain topic in psychology and the most renown researcher of this topic is in Edinburgh. To some extent this is how I made many of my decisions about which universities to apply to, to ask if there is someone there who studies what I want to study.

[antecedent]

Ah very cool.

Did you manage to attend the meeting? Did you find it helpful? I found that most of the presentation was information I already knew, though talking to the alumni afterwards was enlightening. They managed to change my mind on university accommodation, which is pretty impressive

[Guest]

I attended the meeting, for the most part it was information I knew. The food was pretty good though!

What about your mind was changed in regard to accommodation?

[antecedent]

I didn't get to eat as much of the food as I would have liked It was sure tasty though...

Well, Robbie pointed out that I wouldn't really be able to get much done if I arrived early, so getting there early to secure housing would really just be expensive and a pain in the ass, was number 1. Number 2 was Myriam (the very enthusiastic girl who had just returned), who was saying how really convenient the housing was, and that when you factor in rent and council tax and whatnot, accommodations rent ends up being pretty reasonable (compared to rent elsewhere in the city). I figure I'll just apply and see if I get a place I like.

Do you know what you're going to do in terms of housing?

[Guest]

Yes at the least we will be guaranteed some sort of housing...

I plan to apply and basically hope for the best

Though that is of course if I go to Edinburgh, a big deal breaker will come sometime soon within the month regarding if I get NSERC funding...

[antecedent]

Oooh good luck with the NSERC!

I'm inching closer and closer towards accepting Edinburgh. I'm waiting on one more program, but it's not nearly as prestigious as Edinburgh, so unless some funding comes through it's not very likely I'll go.

[antecedent]

Just officially accepted my offer! Exciting

[Guest]

Congrats!

I'll be making my decision very soon as well

If you can apply for potential scholarships, some of them have early April deadlines!

[antecedent]

I just applied for two of them, and have two more to apply for this summer. If I get them all (HUGE if there) I could make up 75% of my tuition. Fingers crossed!

Good luck making your decision, Divigen

[antecedent]

I'm just gonna keep bumping this thread to the top! Anyone else made their decision?

[Jon Andrew Greig]

Belatedly, I don't know if I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I also accepted Edinburgh's offer late last March. In the process of working on a couple scholarship applications through U of Edinburgh and vigorously looking up other alternative scholarships.

[antecedent]

Congratulations Jon!

Yeah scholarships are key with Edinburgh, eh? Did you manage to apply for the Global/Santader scholarships or did you miss those deadlines?They were right as you were accepting. Have you found any other good ones? I'll be applying for the Saltire and then another Linguistics-specific bursary. I reeaaaaally hope I get one, preferably more! Tuition at Edinburgh is steep! (Though, to be fair, not much more expensive than a year at UW-Madison, one of my other admits, and that's a two year program.)

I'm super excited about the year at Edinburgh, and the boost it will give to my PhD applications next time around. Yay Scotland!

[Jon Andrew Greig]

I partly ran out of time for the Global/Santader, but also their high eligibility with undergraduate scores/GPAs placed me out of the range of consideration. I'm looking at a couple others on there due on May 1, but I'm also looking through the Alternative Scholarship Guide (or at least a PDF with a huge list of alternative sources that I got from a friend--PM me your email if you're interested). If worse came to worse, some savings, work on the side, and loans will probably still be worth it for me. It's a hard trade-off that I'm willing to deal with given the opportunity I have now.

On a slightly unrelated note, but still pertinent to U of Edinburgh (perhaps?), I posted a question in the Jobs board about whether it is wise--at Edinburgh, maybe in general--to do part-time work while doing a 1-year grad program: Would MUCH appreciate your thoughts if you have any, antecedent. Also, likewise, congrats to you again!

[Jon Andrew Greig]

On a completely random note, is it kind of strange that I've not really thought too much (tried to think too much!) about Edinburgh when I suddenly get a dream about living the life in U of Edinburgh--mixed in with bear attacks!? Bears of Edinburgh, come and see the cute maulings of ancient Scotland...

Edited April 21, 2012 by Jon Andrew Greig

[SweetPea_45]

I've been taking a look at this thread for quite awhile now... didn't want to post anything in case I didn't get in. I found out today that I was offered an unconditional acceptance into the MPP (Masters of Public Policy) program through the Academy of Government at Edinburgh University! I'm incredibly thrilled!