The University of Edinburgh Speciality : History
programme: History

My experience at the University of Edinburgh so far has been a very positive one. As a second-year History student, I find the biggest selling point of studying here is the privilege of living centrally in the city itself.

Edinburgh is walkable, friendly, safe and constantly buzzing. The freedoms of student life mean you can truly make the most of everything it has to offer, and its perfect size allows you to settle in quickly but never feel short of things to do. For me, the quality of life the city provides is, in itself, enough to recommend the university.

Academically, my experience has been more mixed. The quality of teaching varies between courses, with some being far more engaging than others. The compulsory History modules, especially in first year, are extremely broad, which means there is less depth in the topics studied. However, in pre-honours years, I find the elective system at Edinburgh majorly compensates for this and allows you to explore specific areas of interest. For me, my electives have complemented and directed my historical interests, helping me decide what areas I want to pursue further in my honours years.

Additionally, there are not many contact hours for History students, which means acadmics relies a lot on self-motivation, yet there are benefits to this. I find the university administration unsatisfactory at times, but there are no issues with the professors themselves, who are more than willing to help if you contact them directly.

Socially, while there can be elements of cliquishness and elitism among some students, the general population is friendly, and it is easy to meet new people. When it comes to accommodation and meeting like-minded people, it is often a matter of luck, but this is not unique to Edinburgh.

Then there is the notorious Scottish weather. Heavy wind and rain are, at first, unappealing but something you quickly adapt to, and even find adds to the city’s charm when there are cosy pubs and warm cafés to take refuge in. Edinburgh’s location also makes it so easy to explore more of Scotland and the surrounding natural landscape, which is something uniquely valuable to take away from university.

Overall, I deeply recommend the University of Edinburgh; though the academic experience can be unsatisfactory at times, the teaching can still be very rewarding, and the student lifestyle is, in my opinion, unmatched.

First of all Edinburgh as a city is fantastic, especially as a history student. There is so much to do and it feels so safe. Everything is walkable and there are so many great cafes, restaurants, parks and museums. Edinburgh is the perfect city for students.

However, I did feel let down by the university at times. For the first two years there were lots of compulsory modules that were extremely broad and therefore quite unexciting. In the final two (honours) years students are able to specialise more and choose from a range of modules. Unfortunately the allocation process means that for me and a lot of my course mates the courses we were actually given were the ones at the bottom of our preference list. I found I had to try very hard to change my courses at the beginning of each term to allow me to study something I was interested in.

The contact hours for history in the final two years also leave much to be desired. I had only 4 hours (2 classes) of teaching per week. In my fourth year these 2 classes were on the same day so I only had 1 day of uni per week. A high level of self-motivation was required and it was quite lonely. We had no lectures and learned mainly through our own reading. If you want guidance and hand holding throughout degree this course is not the one for you. There is a high level of freedom and I understand this will be a plus for some people.

I will say that the fault lies with the administrative team. The professors that I was taught by in third and fourth year were so kind and helpful. It is great to be taught by people who are truly experts in the topic. There are a high number of U.S history professors and so if you are interested in this area I would definitely recommend.