Cambridge Or Edinburgh

[untilwhen]

DD2 has an offer from Cambridge to study classics. Even though she had applied to Cambridge, she had her heart set on going to Edinburgh where her older sister is studying and loves it.

She has been in love with classics since she was quite young, so in some ways, within last few months she has gotten a little bit over it and was planning on going to Edinburgh and switching to History and taking 2,3 different modules to study wider range of subjects.

She says she would like the independence of working (works at a local cafe at the moment) and cleaning and cooking for herself as full uni experience and Cambridge doesn't allow that.

She loves Edinburgh as a city but understands that Cambridge is Cambridge.

She intends to do Law conversion after her degree and we are based in London, so travel would be far easier to Cambridge.

Any advice, perspective appreciated. Thank you

yes you got the issue, now I have suggested sit and wait till you have to send acceptance and things will become clear in your head gradually.

Although she can request to switch to History at Cambridge too.

Also lots of Edinburgh courses are 4 years compared to 3 in English unis. This is a huge extra expense (accommodation in Edinburgh notoriously hard to get and expensive).

I know several people who switched subjects at Cambridge, some before they even started, some within the first term, some after completing part I. It’s usually quite straightforward and some of the switches my friends did were quite extreme (eg Maths to Music, Natsci to Law, Theology to MFL).

Have things changed in Cambridge? Because, while I was very glad to have someone else bring clean bed linen and vacuum my room I was certainly able to cook for myself whenever I wanted in the staircase kitchen. (I also stayed in college most holidays and temped.) And in the third year I moved into private rented accommodation.

As for changing subjects - I changed from History to another subject at the start of the second year. All it took was a chat with the Directors of Studies of my old and then new subjects. But admittedly this was a long time ago.

Despite Cambridge’s stunning prettiness I do understand the pull of Edinburgh. But, simply because outside the UK the former holds greater sway than the latter, in your daughter’s shoes I’d stick with Cambridge for her degree. Edinburgh will still be there once she’s graduated.

Although gut instinct will say Cambridge, your daughter is right to think carefully.

DD1 at C for a Humanities subject and loves the C life. She suits the structured approach to activities and is passionate about her subject so spends most (9-5) of most days working along with most of her friends. The workload is huge. It’s just about fine if you love your subject. Even then, she finds it irritating during holidays that her friends from great unis have little if any work and she has a large volume to get through (eg 2 pieces of coursework set just before Christmas, due in in January). She has lined up an internship but most of her friends (in a range of subjects) didn’t even get an interview. It’s so competitive and a number of the applications were “blind” to universities.
Worth noting that it’s possible to change subject at C so Classics to History is possible or to do Part 1 Classics and change to History for Part 2. Two of DD’s friends changed their subject. Also a friend left C for Edinburgh uni after 1st year!

DD2, just as able, didn’t apply to C because she wanted a bigger lively city and the balance to more evenly weighted between fun and work. She likes the flexibility of the Scottish foundation year where she can experience a breadth of subjects.

DH and I met at C. It opened many doors for me career-wise and I am always grateful for the experience. I knew it was a good fit for DD1 but, although I let DD2 make her own choice, I felt that the lifestyle, volume of work and rigidity of the course would not suit her.

It’s best for your DD to visit both offer holder days, and really have a good think what’s best for her and where she will be happy.

Tbh you can’t make a wrong choice with those unis!

My son was in this position and he chose Cambridge- currently in his third year. I think he possibly should have chosen Edinburgh. Cambridge is a hard slog. The course isn't particularly good- they don't have to try it is Cambridge after all. He feels very isolated and lonely.

Thank you everyone.
I love this community, what a treasure we can call upon :)
I am sure she will find all the info helpful.

If she wants to be a lawyer/barrister - 100% Cambridge. Law firms are old fashioned (regardless of how much they go on about D&I).

Cambridge all day long

The accommodation issue is an important one to consider from a practical standpoint

Given she anticipates further study for Law why would you do a 4 year degree prior? She could be nearly 25 before she starts working if going to Edinburgh

Edinburgh will be far more fun.

Cambridge will be far better for her career, making it much easier to get job interviews and also she’ll be taken more seriously as a lawyer by clients and colleagues for the resg of her life if she’s ex-Cambridge.

It is possible to start studying one subject at Cambridge then change to another, I know three people who did that. The colleges absolutely hated it but they did allow it.

I had Cambridge as my first choice and Edinburgh as my back up. Went to Cambridge and wished the whole time that I’d gone to Edinburgh instead: Cambridge is Hard Work. BUT I don’t regret it anymore as after graduation I was fighting off job offers and got paid sponsorship through law conversion, high paid City training contract etc.

It’s a very personal decision but if she goes to Edinburgh then everytime someone asks ‘what college did you go to’ (as in some legal circles the older lawyers just assume you were Oxbridge and ask which college), she’ll get defensive, explain that she turned down Cambridge, and look a bit of an idiot.

Cambridge is head and shoulders above Edinburgh.

Edinburgh will be far more fun.

Lots of students manage to have a lot of fun at Cambridge too - depends on what you're into, whether you can manage your time well etc I guess.

What does her sister say about this choice? Both would be fantastic, but it's right to think carefully about the course options as a previous poster said.

Cambs by a mile is better imo.

Tell her, First year At Edinburgh she'll be surrounded by 17 and just-18 year olds. The first year is soooo slow for English students.

She will be doing her final year when her school friends have already graduated.

Edinburgh pastoral care sucks. If she struggles they don't help.

Edinburgh is her sisters uni-town. She should (trump) find her own second town so to speak, in Cambs

From purely a career / recruitment perspective: Cambridge particularly in law which is so incredibly competitive and traditional.

It will open so many doors, you automatically have easier access and entry into roles and opportunities. Edinburgh grads would get lumped in with Bristol, Durham etc, Cambridge grads stand out.

Sorry read through OP's posts but not clear , does she have a Edinburgh offer? It's certainly implied though.

yes she has the Cambridge offer.

Sorry, @untilwhen it's the Edinburgh offer I'm asking about

Sorry about bold above, not meant.

I went to Cambridge, all my life I have slightly regretted not going to Edinburgh, which was my second choice. I’m a big city person, I found Cambridge, very stuffy and limiting. There was an added factor that I’m half Scottish and have huge ties to Scotland, which I would’ve liked to have deepened. I’m not a lawyer but work in a competitive field where Oxbridge MAY have helped a touch but what undoubtedly helped more was gaining huge amounts of work experience in my holidays plus my slightly unusual degree subject PLUS most importantly, once I got my foot in the door, I grafted like crazy and showed I was very good at what I did, that mattered. 10,000 times more than any degree from anywhere, which I could also have got from Edinburgh.

I think occasionally it’s true that going to Cambridge has helped me career wise – it’s meant people taking me seriously, who might otherwise have underestimated me as a woman but I think less of those people as a result of judging me so superficially .

Some of my dearest friends went to Edinburgh, had an absolute blast there, and are phenomenally successful – certainly more successful than me in financial terms. Also, all the people saying it’s easy to switch Cambridge – my memory is it wasn’t that easy to switch and quite often peoples requests to do so were turned down, certainly not guaranteed. Good luck to her whatever she chooses, but it will definitely won’t be the end of the world if she goes with Edinburgh and I for one would understand.

DD chose a college at Cambridge that has huge flexibility for self catering (as well as other criteria!) as each college is different, unless your DD was was pooled OP, perhaps she had decided before she applied?

DD isn’t there yet but she wouldn’t remotely have gone through the application process if she wasn’t dead set on going, OP can your DD think again about why she applied and if it was pressure, status or other reason?

A friend’s DD who attended Edinburgh and started recently said some anti English sentiment was an issue. International students were made more welcome than the English, to the point some were openly vilified. Only a sample poll of one mind you!

Re the idea of Law Conversion, the new method of qualification via SQE means the old routes have changed and a law conversion isn’t always required.

@untilwhen
DD is a barrister. One of her best barrister friends is a Cambridge grad with a Classics degree. Starred first. There is everything to be gained with a degree in Classics from Cambridge. History from Edinburgh is not the same. I’m not so sure switching to a hugely popular and competitive course like History at Cambridge will be easy. She’s not done any tests or interviews for that course.

The Chambers do have a preference for Oxbridge grads. It was 40% Oxbridge at the Bar. However you still have to walk the walk. University alone doesn’t get you anything.

Hi, OP - When I did a long stint as a STEM admissions tutor at an excellent Russell Gp uni, I dealt with several voluntary Oxbridge transfers as well as students who had begun at Oxbridge and failed, and were restarting with us. No uni suits all whom it admits, and every student deserves a good fit. People tend to succeed best where they are happy

DH did Maths at Cambridge and didn’t particularly thrive until Part III. He declined C’s offer of funded doctoral studies and the more cutting edge but distinctly less glamorous alternative he chose worked out very well indeed. Admittedly his career path was less hidebound than Law, where I cannot assess the merits of the Cambridge name.

There are many thoughtful and interesting perspectives on this thread, but the ones that resonate most for me in terms of your DD’s dilemma are posts from @piisnot3 , @ErrolTheDragon and @Rejects .

Both choices are wonderful, so in some sense your DD cannot go wrong. I would say, however, that C is probably a more polarising experience. It is also probably easier to transfer from C to E than vice versa, in the worst case

Edinburgh don't send out offers until much later i.e. May in DD1's case.

Yes, I thought that was the case. That's why I was wondering how you had heard! Both Cambridge for classics and Edinburgh for history I think run at roughly same number applicants per place (circa 2 per place).

Thank you everyone, I am sure it gives her a lot of perspective. Though to add DD1's response here 😊

"One of the commenters asked what does sister think here’s my response.

I think she should go to Cambridge but switch to History because she’s not particularly interested in Classics anymore, plus Cambridge is closer to home and she will thrive with the rigidity and structure.
I think if she decides to go to Edinburgh then she will still have a good time — housing won’t be a concern because she can move into my flat for 2nd year since I’ll be on my year abroad, and equally we are quite independent from each other and we have very different social groups/interests so I don’t think it will particularly matter that she’s in the same city as her sister.

I think Edinburgh will teach her more independence and she’ll enjoy the course much more. But overall I think she’ll find the benefits of Cambridge to be more useful since she is more focused on her career than her education — while I’m the complete opposite and so I don’t mind spending 4 years at university studying a range of subjects. She will prefer the focused (and intense) approach at Cambridge but only if she switches to History.

Also no she doesn’t have an Edinburgh offer yet because they don’t give offers until April/May but there’s no reason why she shouldn’t get one especially considering they’ve been taking in more students than they have capacity for

re Edinburgh’s pastoral support, they’re completely reforming the system and even between last year and this year I’ve found there to be great improvements in pastoral care. They obviously still have a way to go but from the info I have from staff members (since I receive a lot of support and am very vocal about the obstacles to it in student press etc) it’s a big priority for them

I know many people at Cambridge who are thriving there including two of my best friends — one of whom is very career focused and craves her independence and the other loves his studies and is happy to have the full collegiate experience. But both have great work ethics like my sister and neither regret going there so I’m confident she will be fine"