State school kids at Edinburgh university- how bad is it for them?

[StartingAgainFGS]

I keep hearing reports of state school kids not fitting in at Edinburgh uni (at best) and at worst some real bullying going on. Heard it described on here as "pony club bullying". We are very far away from the private school demographic and I wonder how my DD would cope. We would be scraping by to send her there in the first place and I would not like her to feel so out of place that she's uncomfortable/unhappy.
Are these reports exaggerated? Does anyone have a state school DC there?
Thanks!

I was going to scoff but then I found this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2nyrr16g2o.amp

This could be considered scaremongering😂

@Aurea My DD1 didn’t go to Edinburgh. She shared a room at university and the bathroom was shared by 6. Most in those halls were from boarding schools. They were the only ones who were ok with sharing!

This was referenced earlier - the newly-formed Scottish Social Mobility Society

My ds is at uni, not Edinburgh. He has friends from private schools, state schools and also international students. Nobody cares where anyone went to school. Anyone that cares and comments negatively is a bully - regardless of whether they are sniping at private or state school attendees. Bullies are everywhere - keep away from them. My ds went to a private school and has never been on a pony or to a ski slope so I find the notion that he would be a snobby bully pretty weird.

My dd is in sixth form (private) and attended a recurring event. Organisers didn’t care what type of school attendees came from. Opportunities were equal for all. A girl from a state school approached her and commented negatively about my dd attending a private school. Rude and nasty. Irony=she attends a lovely state school which her parents paid £££££££ to get into the catchment of. They go on many holidays every year. And seemingly bully people from private schools. My dd just said nothing and kept away from her. So perhaps she feels excluded because my dd doesn’t want to talk to her and thinks my dd is a snob - but the reverse is true - dd doesn’t want to talk to her because she’s nasty and rude.

This seems more divisive that anything.

My DC have been on Ski slopes - at Glen Shee and The Lecht!

If you can ski in Scotland, you can ski anywhere, my then 10 yo DD was told at Glencoe.

It’s the twenty yards of mud between the slope and the bottom of the lift that really makes it!

indeed

That’s certainly DDs experience at her uni.

There are certain halls that are very well known for housing the louder, shall we say more confident boarding school crowd who like to share bathrooms as they are used to it at school.

In fact, it almost seems to be another class signifier - “oh you have an en-suite?” head tilt - akin to using the word toilet rather than loo etc.

The boarding school point is a good one.

As a state school kid at Edinburgh uni (15 years ago) I was a bit in awe of how many of the private school kids just seemed to ‘get’ university life, and adapt to it so easily. It was only later that I realised they’d come from boarding schools and so moving into university halls, with communal living and eating, was exactly what they were already used to.

There is a bit of an issue with Scottish accents being mocked at Edinburgh. My friend who is in the teaching staff has had complaints about her perfectly normal and intelligible accent. I take students from Edinburgh on a field course every year and one student repeatedly had her accent laughed at to the point where I had to intervene. On another trip a student from a working class Scottish background was shunned. She later dropped out which was a real shame as she was very able academically. The university is trying to address this atm, will have to see how successful this is.

@Malbecmoron How can a Scottish working class student be in a minority of one? There more going on there! Maybe Glasgow would have suited more?

Seriously?

@TizerorFizz she was in a minority of one on the field trip, but I'm not sure there were any Scottish working class in that particular year group.

Baffled by your Glasgow comment

If your DD is considering art school, look at Dundee (currently above Edinburgh anyway). My DD was offered a place at both and was very keen on Edinburgh, but at the open days, found that there was a certain snobbery at Edinburgh which wasn’t there in Dundee. She ended up at Dundee and had an amazing time and is currently completing her PGDE as a high school art and design teacher. The Student Union there consistently comes out as the best as well and the social scene is great.

I’ve never heard of “Pony Club bullying” before, but what a horrible expression (not saying that the OP came up with it). DD goes to state school and is a Pony Club member and absolutely loves it.

They tend to find their tribe.

There is a lot of the pot calling the kettle black on this thread,

My daughter went to Edinburgh from a state school a couple of years ago. She absolutely loved her time there. There's always been a posh element at Edinburgh but lots of people from normal backgrounds go too. There was a mix of people in the accomodation she shared but they all muddled along fine. It really annoys me when people discourage people from ordinary backgrounds from going to well respected universities as if they should know their place.

@Malbecmoron Glasgow has far lower % of independent school students. Personally I really dislike people saying they cannot manage to get along with others but Glasgow is not the same as Edinburgh in terms of student background. I guess St Andrews would feel non working class too. I also think it’s about maturity and confidence to be yourself.

Glasgow does but I wouldn't say it was predominantly working class by any means. It's a top university with a students from all over the UK. The student who ultimately left Edinburgh was from a lower working class background, few from her school went to any uni. She lived at home and had found it difficult to make connections. She didn't have any sort of ready made social group to build on. The other students struggled to understand her accent and they were not friendly. All were English or non UK so culturally different.

@Malbecmoron I think the difficulty you describe is living at home. A different university but DD noticed how this set students apart. They had to get home. It’s far more challenging to build up friendships when you aren’t living with your peer group - who could have been lovely. They seemed sheltered and deliberately remote. I’m not disputing what you say but I think there are ways to find your tribe and separating yourself out doesn’t help. I also think most young people don’t care about accents now. They hear all sorts everywhere. Even posh ones they like to mimic! It’s really about confidence at the end of the day. At least she didn’t pay fees. Glasgow has a bigger working class element than Edinburgh though! Plus if you commute, you must have some knowledge of the university.

I agree living at home will be more isolating. Most students I know who live at home maintained their home/school friendship groups and took a lot longer to build university friends. Those who lived out built friendships mostly in their accommodation - the social group was more from shared living space and the struggles with that. It would be a lot harder to feel part of place if you are only ‘there’ for a few contacted hours per week when others are mixing 16 hours per day.