Scotland: The Place to Be Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

- Workload was challenging but not unmanageable. You undeniably learn a lot. - Each course usually consist of 2-3 lectures a week and 1 "tutorial" (small group discussion, usually about 10-15 students) - Tutorial sessions are mandatory (you are usually allowed 1 unexcused absence.) However, attendance is not taken at lectures. - Most courses assess your grade based on 2-3 papers and the final. It is unlikely you will be given weekly quizzes or frequent essay assignments.

On-site administration of your program

It was difficult to obtain contact info for U of Edinburgh staff for questions about housing etc. That being said, as soon as you get Arcadia's contact information, they were great at emailing back with all the answers to your questions. If Anna West is still the program administrator for Arcadia at Edinburgh, direct all your questions toward her. Anna West's email is: westa@arcadia.edu

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lives in a four person flat in Sciennes I and had an overall great experience. They don't give you a lot of information about housing on their website, so I'll do my best to fill you in. Pollock halls are for those with meal plans, typically U of Edinburgh freshman and study abroad students. In my experience, about 30-40% American students in the Arcadia program lived in Pollock, the other 60-70% in various self-catered flats throughout the city. Self-catered flats consist of 4-12 person flats (Each person gets their own individual room, kitchen and bathroom are shared). The larger flats will have 2 bathrooms and bigger kitchens. Sciennes is a self-catered and is about a 10-15 minute walk to campus (not bad in comparison to many other of the self-catered flats). Pollock halls are farther away from campus, about a 20-25 minute walk and are typically doubles I think. I enjoyed the set up of individual rooms, a great protection against bad roommates but you don't feel isolated b/c of the flat set-up and common kitchen. I loved my flatmates; I was paired with another Arcadia student (a 20 year old girl from Long Island in her junior year at Bucknell), a 20- year old Irish girl (a freshman full-time at U of Edinburgh), and an 18 year old Scottish girl from the Hebrides (another freshman full-time at U of Edinburgh). Sciennes is an old building but has a great location: campus is just a short walk through the meadows, a park, to campus (great morning walk), its only a block or two away from Nicholson street (Main street that you will take for pretty much everything, and is about 10 minutes walk from Tesco (main grocery store). Avoid any housing on Cowgate (street)-- that's the street with all the bars/clubs and it gets really noisy late at night. I would highly recommend doing 3 things concerning housing: 1. When making your decision as your top choices for housing, use google maps to determine their walking distance from campus if possible. Some are pretty far from campus. 2. Request a same-sex flat. Although there is no specific question about this, your request can be done by writing this on your housing application under "medical needs." Self-catered flats are typically mixed gender, but people who request same-sex flats seem to be happier b/c (especially for girls) there always seems to be that one guy that never does his dishes or cleans up after himself. 3. Request for a smaller flat. I found 4 (smallest flat) to be a great number. We all got close and went out together, there's less noise, less dishes that pile up, and a smaller chance that someone in your flat will be obnoxious/messy/annoying. I know a lot of people in large mixed gender flats that were unhappy because of flatmates that didn't clean up after themselves.

Since I was in a self-catered flat, I bought what I wanted at Tesco and cooked myself; I was happy with the selection of food they had at Tesco.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Edinburgh has a lively night-life if that is your thing. There are also great plays to see and you have access to movie theaters just as you would in the US.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

All information on safety and health is given to you during orientation. There is an on-campus clinic that you can go to if you get sick (completely free and so are any prescriptions).

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Apartment

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• International Students

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• The environment and the beautiful country.

• Ability to contact University of Edinburgh's faculty and staff before arrival.