Edinburgh Past Review
By Leah H (Psychology, University of North Carolina - Wilmington) for
Edinburgh Napier University: Edinburgh - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
My experience was a much needed personal experience.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The overall academic situation is a lot different there in comparison to my home university. The workload seems a lot smaller, but they expect you to do a lot more work outside of class. The grading system is a lot more intense and formal. You can't just email your papers to your professor or hand it off personally. It must be anonymously submitted with a cover sheet to go through a grading proces, which consists of several people grading your paper. You get the assignments back at a later date than normal. In the international student orientation this process of grading was not explained to us, which resulted in a lot of confusion once it was time to turn in our first papers. I think that all of the professors were just as accessible as at home and just as nice. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
All of my needs were met and I think that the administration was on the same level as my home university's. I know that some of my friends had an awful professor. I am glad I didn't have him, but it made me realize that there may be a lack in supervision and maybe student comments could be going unnoticed. I know that several official complains were made about him, but nothing ever changed. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I would have liked to live with people from the country I moved to instead of all Americans. It's nice having that familiarity, but we were never in a situation that made it easy to meet local students who WEREN'T American. The UNITE housing group facilities were horrible. Maintenance and security were NEVER readily available. One time the building fire alarm went off for 9 hours straight before anyone showed up to do anything. In case of an emergency, it makes me wonder how safe we would actually be. There were never any security guards on duty and the office hours were ridiculously inconvenient and I would not ever pick to live there again. Not to mention, it's incredibly over-priced for what it is and you have to pay for everything extra like laundry, for instance. |
| * Food: |
Markets are available on every block and there is a wide selection of foods for all diets. There was a lot of indian food, so if you like curry then you're in luck. I ate much healthier there then at home. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
|
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
It was nice to know I had free health care if needed. Although, my home university and the program made me pay for international insurance. So, it felt like a rip-off. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
|
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
|
Language
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
