Why Edinburgh?

I've been asked pretty consistently over the past 2.5 years the same question: Why did I study abroad for university? And more importantly, why did I choose Edinburgh?

I never answer the question the same way and I've never really felt like I had the right answer. To be honest, it was a bit of a spontaneous decision to consider leaving the U.S. I never even thought it was an option. But a girl next to me during one of my classes junior year told me about her "college touring" trip -- all over Scotland. It sounded incredible. Top that off with the lower cost of attendance, and I was hooked. It seemed so much more glamorous, so much more foreign and adult, than U.S. colleges.

I wanted to go to England: LSE or Oxford or Cambridge. But the standardized testing requirements they set for international students were insane and I would have needed to spend another year in high school just to take the tests I needed to. So, Scotland was runner up. Honestly, I literally just Googled "good universities for politics in Scotland." Edinburgh came up alongside St. Andrews. And I really didn't do much research besides that...something I now regret. When I was accepted unconditionally to both, and received my acceptances (and most importantly, financial aid packages) from U.S. schools, it came time to decide: Edinburgh or UMass, right in my hometown?

I had two choices. Take a risk or stay where I knew I was happy? Leave everyone I know or go where I have a lot of friends? I realized that if I went to Edinburgh and I didn't like it, I could always transfer back to UMass easily. But, if I went to UMass and didn't like it, I couldn't go back to Edinburgh.

So, that's why I chose Edinburgh: because why not and I have a backup plan if it sucks. Not a great story. No, I don't have family there, and I don't have any Scottish heritage. I'm not especially interested in UK politics. I have no plans to live or work in the UK after graduation. To a lot of people, it doesn't really make sense for me to be there.

I'll often say that one of the reasons I wanted to leave the U.S. for university is so that I could leave the Americentric bubble of politics. Which is sort of true, and sounds nice for small-talk. But all that happened was I moved from an Americentric bubble to a Anglocentric one: the diversity that I expected to find was basically non-existent.

Another reason I'll sometimes throw in there is that I wanted to have the opportunity to travel, something which is much more accessible when you're already in Europe. And I have, which has been great: from the Scottish Highlands to Dublin to Vienna to Istanbul, and lots in between. But even though travel is cheaper, on a student budget it is very, very difficult. 

More on why I don't like the University of Edinburgh (and a few reasons why I do!) coming soon....