My Exchange at The University of Edinburgh
I found out about 360 during my orientation at the University of Auckland in 2019, having previously done an exchange in high school I was keen to do one at University.
The environment when arriving in Edinburgh was great, having previously lived in a hall of residence in my first year going into this type of accommodation again made adapting to the life there easier. Overall the accommodation was good, the room had a bathroom as well as also having a good amount of space to keep both your possessions and live comfortably. The accommodation I was in (Salisbury Court) was split into 4 blocks each block being split into levels with different flats with around 8-10 people, this system did make it difficult from a social perspective as there was less opportunities to meet people. However, this would be my only complaint about the accommodation as its location was also a convenient distance to campus.
Orientation at the host university for international students was non-existent, the only interaction being the international check in, in the first week. There were events within the first couple weeks for orientation, but there was limited spaces for these events making it near on impossible to get in.
The University’s courses and teaching style were fairly similar to Auckland, with labs or tutorials for each class. The workload seemed to be less than at Auckland, with fewer small assignments.
Edinburgh was a very liveable city, everything was in close proximity and mostly flat meaning throughout my exchange I walked majority of the time, the bus was useful if going further a field and tram was good for getting to the airport. Edinburgh has a great student culture, with beers offering student discounts and most places also having available student discounts such as food places.
Cost of living was overall fairly similar to Auckland, food was fairly comparable in terms of cost. Shops such as Tesco offered a good range of products, meaning you could buy things for cheaper, such as staple items like pasta, rice and meat. Public Transport was more expensive, however, due to walking everywhere I spent less on transport.
With Edinburgh’s proximity to Europe I made sure to utilise the opportunity to travel, Skyscanner became man’s best friend allowing new countries to be explored you may not have necessarily considered previously. I also joined a few clubs such as the ski club, Golf club and a football team. The clubs were very social with many bar nights, a big part of the culture within Edinburgh.
My accommodation was self-catered. My meals were standard for a student, bulk meals that would last me a few days. On the odd occasion I ate out it was very expensive often paying close to double the amount you would pay in Auckland.
So many aspects of the exchange stand out as highlights, weekends in Europe are a big memory ease of travel to other parts of the world are likely to stick with me forever. Nights out were also fun, meeting many different people and experiencing student culture in another country.
With new experiences come new challenges. There were teething problems when starting out in Edinburgh. The expectation from my experience in halls, was that it would be easy to meet people within the first weeks, however this was a challenge I was lucky enough to meet a good group of mates from different accommodations, but this was more challenging than I had anticipated.
My biggest advice to anyone embarking on an exchange is to make the most of the opportunity you have in the foreign country. It is a great opportunity to push outside of your comfort zone and to things you were maybe afraid to do at home. Travelling around is a great opportunity to experience new culture that you would otherwise not see. The word Yes is your best friend on exchange, why not go and experience something completely foreign to you.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
I really enjoyed the papers over there, they had a good range of material I had covered and new stuff. Some of the papers I did are now relevant to what I have been learning since returning from Edinburgh.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
I partook in the international sports club this was definitely a fun one was in the local gym, recommend doing some of the international events these are ticketed and tickets go fast (all free).
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
- Take advantage of how easy it is to get around, Edinburgh is close to Europe as well a train away from England. This is something very unique for students coming from Auckland and is a good experience, being able to travel with such ease.
- Try and take advantage of the events on offer, these are ticketed events and book out quick this is definitely worth while for making friends.
- Experience the rich and deep culture on offer. Edinburgh is an ancient city and has a lot of amazing stories to be learnt. The museum was a cool way to experience this as well as also being able to go on various tours. But even just walking round the city, you get an idea of this rich history.
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
My budget ended up being around $20000. This included everything such as flights to Edinburgh, accommodation food and additional travel. This budget was definitely more than enough. The UK is fairly cheap for daily living, supermarket food is really well priced, eating out is definitely more expensive. I wouldn’t say there was any particular lessons I learnt, maybe just ensuring that you make the most of things such as the tesco club card.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
I would say I learnt a lot about being independent and making the most of your day. In Edinburgh I tried to do something every day after University. My daily routine was very fixed as well which definitely was a big help. I would wake up early and go to the gym, then would grab a quick breakfast before heading to uni. Having this daily routine was awesome and allowed me to do more fun things in my free time.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
I tried to explore when possible. Within the first couple weeks I went and explored North Berwick a small seaside town around an hour train from Edinburgh, where we toured the town and enjoyed a nice fish supper. I also went and explored Newcastle within the first couple weeks going to see Newcastle United play. This was an amazing city with some beautiful architecture, and definitely a slept-upon part of England. The next trip was up to Aberdeen to see family, this is a really nice part of the country. The next place I visited was the Scottish Highlands on a bus tour. This was a really good way to see another part of Scotland for relatively cheap, experiencing Loch Ness and seeing some amazing scenery like Glen Coe. The next big trip I did was to Porto this trip was really cheap, only around 500$ for the whole weekend including travel and accommodation, which was incredible given we were in a whole new country. Porto was beautiful with amazing food and culture as well as being t-shirt weather when it was starting to get cold in the UK.
The next trip was to Prague and Geneva both awesome places. Geneva was incredible, it was very expensive but there was definitely ways to get by for cheaper which we managed. Prague was super inexpensive beer was in fact cheaper than water. The city was incredible to explore, set on a river having some amazing history to immurse in.