School of Oriental and African Studies - feedback

[macdhui]

We live overseas and have no real connection to the UK, My daughter has been offered a place at SOAS to do Sustainable Development. Would be grateful for any feedback.
She has also been offered places at Edinburgh and St Andrews for the same course. She's keen on London - we are wondering if she would have a better student experience at one of the other two.
However we haven't visited any of them and are unlikely to be able to do so before she has to accept a place.

[MNSDKHheroines]

In 2016/17 there were 3,275 undergraduates at SOAS, 8250 undergraduates at St Andrews & 23,000 at Edinburgh. I think making friends at one of the Scottish options would be easier from the start. SOAS has more older undergraduate students & more living at home. Given your rural home I would suggest London might be an uncomfortable leap. The sheer volume of people & noise etc. We live in suburbs and DS finds London interesting but a bit claustrophobic and lacking in trees !

I would also consider that if for some reason she decides sustainable development is not the course for her, there are far fewer courses at SOAS to choose from if she wants to swap.

[HotpotLawyer]

If she’s crossing the world and will be in a completely new cultural context, I’d say ‘go for it’ and do London. If she has a confident outlook and an appetite for adventure. She’s young and can do anything! Plus in London if she does need some hometown support their are lots of communities of young Australians here.

[susanalisa247]

Congrats. It is certainly a big achievement but you should be ready to spent a lot of money because the accommodation and per semester fees plays a big factor. If she is opting for non-science subjects than the fees might be lower. Personally i couldn't afford fees because i wanted to study in medical sciences so per semester fees was quite a high so i tried an abroad university because the fees was much lower than here but of-course you are totally on your own there. Luckily i got a job with in the university and was able to cope with the new people and surrounding. You can also visit here if you find it useful.

[Boulezvous]

My DP teaches at SOAS and much as he enjoys his work he always advises students (including his DS) not to study in London. The student experience is not great - as others have said students live a long way away, in poor but expensive accommodation and theres less fun to be had as it's hard to feel part of a concentrated student body in a very expensive city.

[Chocolatedeficitdisorder]

pretty important to know that Scottish courses are 4 years long, UK ones usually 3. And add a year if there is a year abroad.

My Dd is doing an MA in an Oriental language and the 4 year course at Edinburgh includes the 3rd year spent abroad.

[Chocolatedeficitdisorder]

My Dd is studying an Oriental language at Edinburgh. She's in 2nd year now and heading off in September to spend 3rd year overseas.

We live within a shortish drive from Edinburgh, so it was always the favourite for Dd and she's loving it. It's my home town but I left 30 years ago and now really enjoy going there as a visitor.

Dd has made friends from all over the world and is finding the course to be really challenging but she's coping well. The Uni has it's main site, but also has lots of satellite buildings over central Edinburgh so it can be a busy day getting to several classes 20 minutes apart.

There are plenty of jobs in hospitality and retail and students can always find part-time work if they want it. There's plenty of clubs, pubs and restaurants and the Uni has a good sports centres and lots of clubs who enjoy socialising. Dd's life is very, very busy!

No regrets about going to Edinburgh to do her subject, but she is considering going to SOAS in the future for further study and the experience of living in London.

[JC4PMPLZ]

pretty important to know that Scottish courses are 4 years long, UK ones usually 3. And add a year if there is a year abroad.

[BubblesBuddy]

I think 26% are overseas at SOAS and they really are from a wide variety of countries. I suspect there will also be many students living at home as is the norm in London. I think this makes it a unique experience. My impression would be the same as harriet. The profile of the students appears fairly affluent (and possibly a bit older) and although we only knew affluent girls who went there, I think they chose it to be with their “tribe”. However that doesn’t mean the students are not pleasant and friendly. DDs friends who went there are lovely. Having money doesn’t mean you are an awful person!

[hardworkharriet]

I went to SOAS and hated it. Much too small, a lot of ultra rich students some from UK and some from overseas, I found few people I had much in common with, I found it very cliquey. There were some rather odd staff as well. This was ages ago admittedly and SOAS is and was prestigious.

Your DD needs to seriously think about what she is looking for. Maybe look on Studentroom and see if she can find reviews from anyone doing the same course.

[BasiliskStare]

Yes @FatherBuzzCagney - quite chilly here - my only point was if you can get over the "London thing" and be prepared for having to find a year at least out - which is not impossible if you can find nice friends to share , it is possible. But - just the point about SoAS being small so take advantage of the wider London student experience where you can make more friends. Which is not to say SoAS does not have nice people , not at all , of course it does but a wider pool of friends is probably better for anyone. Simply a comment about the size of SoAS not its students

[FatherBuzzCagney]

SOAS for academic rigour especially in fields like international relations

Less so since they pushed through a PhD by Carter Page (dumb, pro-Kremlin lunatic who was a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign team) after the examiners had twice said it wasn't fit to pass. Personally, that would be enough to make me avoid any politics/IR area of SOAS entirely.

OP, if you live somewhere remote than London is going to be a big shock to your daughter. I've taught at central London universities and a lot of the students from remote, rural places have found the first few months very hard - it used to be fairly normal for a couple of students a year to drop out for this reason. Has she lived in a big city before?

Wherever she decides to go, I hope she's braced for the change in climate!

[BasiliskStare]

Friends - not fiends. Though fiends may get the less expensive accommodation.

[BasiliskStare]

SoAS and Edinburgh & St Andrews will be very different in experience . It will be a question , I think, of best course vs where she will find her living experience is congenial / interesting etc. Some of the new private halls for London are very expensive but early application / acceptance may get a less expensive inter collegiate hall. And yes there will be living out to do but with a set of fiends it doesn't need to be utterly dreadful.
Am glad to hear from @Needmore that LSE discos on Friday night are still going. I was going to them in 1982 - certainly the Friday night venue of choice vey often.

The one thing about SoAs I would say from a friend of mine who went in the dim and distant past , and also a friend of DS ( final year ) because it is small , and quite particular in its courses , ( and DS's friend did find it political ) it may be good to widen outside the college to make friends with other London students. But , geographically, SoAS is brilliant for that - a stone's throw away from UCL in Bloomsbury , walking distance to Kings and LSE etc - and pretty much as near as you can get to ULU - Oh just googled and now Student Central - ha ha - I am out of date but here www.studentcentral.london

[SD1978]

Meant halls- sorry. But 2-3 share a room in some of them.

[QuaterMiss]

Accomodation in St Andrews is usually dorms

I'm assuming this isn't the English meaning of 'dorm'?! (A room with several beds - as at a boarding prep school, up to yr 8, or the lower years of some boarding senior schools.)

[SD1978]

Accomodation in St Andrews is usually dorms- and shared rooms available in first year. Gives the opportunity to meet new people. Edinburgh, also has halls, again chance to meet. Student accomodation is in and near town centre. Not much opportunity for a job in St A's if she needs to work. Edinburgh, seasonal and regular work available: London- completely different, I don't know about halls. Huge, and not really comparable to Scottish unis. Larger ex pat community and availability for Aussies in London. Personally- Edinburgh. Bigger yet still small, not as much chance of getting 'lost' in the numbers of the city there.

[macdhui]

Thank you all so much for your insight and advice, it's helped enormously ( and opened my eyes!). My dd is working away and won't be home ( or in range ) for another week but plenty to chew the fat over when she returns. Sorry to be brief as some of you have been so incredibly helpful - will respond again when I have time and better reception.

[corythatwas]

Whether London comes as a shock or not surely depends on your personality. My dd is living in a privately rented shared house in London and absolutely loving it: somewhere like St Andrews otoh would probably freak her out.

[Phphion]

If your daughter is definitely set on sustainable development and a related career, then the opportunities SOAS can offer her are probably unmatched by the other institutions, simply because SOAS is so very specialised.

However, if she is just sort of interested in sustainable development and doing it because she needs to do a degree in something then she may be better choosing St Andrews or Edinburgh for exactly the same reason.

In terms of student life and reputation, although they are all very good institutions academically, they are very, very different places.

SOAS is a small institution in a very big city. Its students tend to be very political, quite diverse and it has a larger population of mature students and international students than average. Back in the ancient past when I studied there, there was actually a fairly large public school contingent, but they were very left-wing posh - lots of sixth form Marxists in keffiyehs. A lot of the intercollegiate halls are nearby, so you can save money on travel in the first year, but although I think international students get priority in some halls post-first year, you would be unlikely to get a place for all three years and private renting is very expensive.

St Andrews is completely different to SOAS. It's in a small, quite isolated town which is dominated by students. It has a reputation for being traditional Tory posh because it attracts a lot of English students from traditional public schools, minor royalty, etc., due to its good academic reputation, old buildings and so on. Some people find the hooray henry element to be rather dominating and isolating, others don't. It has had a very large population of American students ever since Prince William went there.

Edinburgh is kind of in between. It's in a big city, but not as big or as expensive as London and it's a bigger institution generally, so less dominated by any particular type of student. If your daughter's main wish is to experience city life, then Edinburgh could be a good compromise.

[BubblesBuddy]

You are a London based family and university accommodation is usually y1 only.

If you read the whole thread, you will see other posters posted about poor accommodation and location. I responded by saying this didn’t affect everyone and I stand by that! I don’t see why I am continually attacked (only me, not other posters who commented). If your DC lives at home in London it’s a different different experience to being a poor student there with little money. Therefore the OP needs to consider all the options and possibilities when spending circa £90,000. An exchange is way cheaper if money is going to be tight but if you can afford to think about doing a full degree here, I think you have fairly deep pockets! That isn’t to say she shouldn’t do it.

[Needmoresleep]

Sorry a type. DS left LSE last summer. So the experience is reasonably up to date. Most of his course, and a good number of his friends, were from overseas.

[LooseAtTheSeams]

Totally agree with Needmoresleep - London uni has accommodation centrally and it's basically first come first served - I'm sure if OP emails SOAS they will be very happy to give advice and approx prices. Also there are lots of opportunities to pick up casual work.
I had the great pleasure to go to a lecture in the same department recently at SOAS and it was excellent and really thought-provoking but I can't compare it to the other universities as I've never visited them!

[Shimy]

Totally agree with KatherineMinola. SOAS would be best for a course in sustainable development, it’s their specialty.

[Needmoresleep]

I have really said all I need to. I agree with Katherina.

However, and as I have being doing over the past 4 years, have to disagree with Bubbles over

" London is very expensive unless you live miles away from the university in the suburbs and menu stufents have to do this. I assume you have looked at halls of residence for year 1 though. Therefore the student experience can be diluted in y2 onwards if the student is not living in an area that isn’t what they imagined London to be. "

DS left LSE (about 20 minutes walk from SOAS) after 4 years ago, and had a great time. Whilst I can see why your perspective might be skewed if your friendship group is rich Saudi students, that was not our experience at all. DS spent his first year in an intercollegiate hall and the next two sharing an ex-council flat in a quiet and safe block with three others nearby at similar cost. His friends were a mix of British and frugal international students. There were Auistralians on his course at both UG and Masters level.

Because students can be scattered, a lot more seems to happen on campus, whereas DDs experience in a more traditional University is that very little happens on campus and whilst the richer ones hang out in coffee shops and clubs or at each other's 21 birthday "bashes", the others visit each other in their grotty flats or go to 'Spoons with vouchers pilfered from freshers week.

Picking up casual work, say waitressing at events, is not hard.

London has great transport and walking, Boris Bike and bus dont cost much. There is masses to do that is free. Lots of Universities close to each other, so absolutely normal to go, say, to the popular LSE disco on a Friday night then see a band or something at UCL on Saturday. Bloomsbury is quiet, and the cheaper restaurants/bubbletea shops in Chinatown, just to the south, are packed with students. DS and friends also often cooked in groups. Student London exists in its own Universe, and to some extent is oblivious to the London adults know.

So do the sums on fees, student accomodation and flights. Then note SOAS is probably three years and St Andrews/Edinburgh four. If the figures add up and she wants to go to London, I think she should. Partly because I think everyone should live in London at some stage in their lives, but also because she would get huge international exposure, and if she then works in the development field, would have great contacts wherever she went.

[KatherinaMinola]

OP, it's more the reputation certain universities have and therefore the type of students they attract. Prince William and Kate went to St Andrews, for example. It's a common second choice after Oxbridge for people of a certain class. Its location means it doesn't have other influences in the way that a big city college would have. But for all these reasons it has great cachet if your DD decides she wants to get a job in the City or something like that!

SOAS is much more right-on, partly due to the subjects it specializes in. It has a very diverse student body, particularly ethnically.

My hunch is that for Sustainable Development the course at SOAS would be better, but that's just a guess.

St Andrews would be better for general name-dropping!