A Semester at the University of Edinburgh with IFSA-Butler Scotland Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The program itself was absolutely fantastic, but I can't say that the academic rigor of the classes was all that intense, at least compared to my American university.

On-site administration of your program

Fantastic. Completely wonderful. The people on staff in Scotland are some of the kindest people I've met. They're always ready to help with anything and will go out of their way to do so; emails are responded to promptly and detailed. They truly want you to enjoy your experience abroad, so they make the process as uncomplicated as they can, as well as helping with adjustment and any culture shock you might be feeling.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in Warrender Park Crescent and was overall very happy with it. It was about a fifteen minute walk from George Square, where most of the humanities classes are held, and situated right on the Meadows. Looking south, you can see the park and Edinburgh Castle, so it was a very nice location. Most of the flats give you your own room, decently sized- not too small, but not enormous. They are really cold, so be prepared for that; the heaters aren't the best in the world. There's one kitchen to every 4-6 people, supplied with pots and pans, which is nice. It's a big kitchen, too, with plenty of cupboard and counter space. My major complaint was definitely the shower, because the hot water was very limited. I have heard other people say they didn't have a problem with this, but in my flat at least, we were constantly short.

I loved the food in Edinburgh. There are all sorts of restaraunts, and ingredients are cheap at Lidl and Sainsburies and the other grocery stores (they are quite a bit smaller than in the US, I will say, but you can usually find what you're looking for somewhere) and the kitchen in my flat was a great place to cook. I did this a lot, so I didn't really spend all that much on food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The University of Edinburgh is a very global campus, which is great and not so great at the same time. I met people from all over the world, but oddly enough, not that many Scots. If you really want to integrate, then be careful not to choose classes actually about Scotland and culture, since those will mostly be international students. I didn't participate much, but societies will be your best bet to meet locals.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I wasn't able to bring a large enough supply of my medication with me, but it was easy enough to get a local doctor to rewrite my prescription from an American doctor (not valid in the UK, obviously). I was able to bring it to a nearby pharmacy and get that filled pretty easily. However, since I was in Scotland for only one semester, I wasn't able to actually register with the GP, so I had to pay out of pocket for my visit to get the prescription rewritten (this is normally covered by NHS, the national health service in the UK), CISI, the insurance company associated with IFSA Butler then later reimburseed me. This was the tricky part; it's very slow to process and when it finally does, it notifies you via snail mail, which is a pain if your paperwork wasn't spotless. Consequently, it took me the entire semester to get reimbursed for a visit to the surgery in September.

I never once felt unsafe in Edinburgh. Just be aware of where the traffic is coming from and it's a super safe place to be.

I really loved the program itself. The people were fantastic and supportive and worked to create a community for the students with excursions and get-togethers, but not too often so you can integrate yourself with the local community, too. Edinburgh, of course, is also incredible. It's an absolutely beautiful city with so much history, the kind we don't have in the US; I had so much fun exploring it.

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

I spent a little less than $100 a week. Food was pretty cheap, but I did eat out once or twice a week and had a handful of excursions over the course of the semester that added to my costs a fair bit. It really wouldn't be all that hard to be more frugal than I was, though,

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• Apartment

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• Local Students
• International Students

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• The city.
• The people.
• The free sweatshirt.

• Still not a fan of the insurance.
• More information on housing beforehand would have been nice.
• More info on the classes offered beforehand would have been useful, too.

The Academic or Linguist