This is my first year in the University of Edinburgh and so far it has been more than great fun! I have been enjoying the student life to the fulest and I am also very happy with my course! Overall I can say that I am proud to be a student of Edinburgh University, because I worked very hard to get here.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city and with a combined good student union, it makes way as a really fun place to study. There is so much to do here that you'll feel you won't have enough time to get through it all. However, I didn't enjoy my course because it lacked what I came for which was Maths. In the first two years, you take many outside courses which is a benefit to most however I wanted to concentrate and learn about my subject.

Library is fantastic. Although it does get packed easily. However, the facilities are great and there's a good student vibe. George Square is where you feel the student vibe. Students everywhere walking about gives it the campus feeling that you wouldn't think it had because it is in the centre of the city. A massive gym complex (CSE) nearby which is £106 a year. For great prices, the gym offers so much in terms of equipment. With a separate room for everything you really do feel you're getting your monies worth. There is a Blackwell's bookshop 5 minutes away from George Square which is handy for textbooks at lower prices.

For maths, there is an online website where students asks for advice which is really good because all students can look at these. There is also a group called Maths Pals which allows students to go and ask for advice about anything. A lot of help is given on this that it is unfortunate the system for mathematics lectures were not the same.

There are two main spots for the union, Potterow and Teviot. The latter is a Hogwarts like building that is upbeat inside. You really feel the student vibe when you're here. Potterow is where the night events happen however for such a big university, the facilities are quite small on a busy night. For a night out, there are plenty of clubs (relatively small) yet enjoyable as well as pubs .

It's breathtaking when you get here and walk through the streets with all the cultural buildings. There's a castle in the middle of the city! The Prince's street area is great for shopping and the Scottish atmosphere all year round is great. There is much to do and walking up Arthur's seat (extinct volcano) gives you an thrilling view of Edinburgh. Usually you'll have too much to do thus, it's hard to get all the fun city stuff in.

Clubs are great. In the cricket club there are many social events as well as training. Edinburgh are known for winning many club sport. The table tennis club and tennis club are run quite well and there are many new sports like Ultimate frisbee and Shinty that you can try out. The societies tend to die down after Freshers however in the ever cool sounding Maths society, events such as pub quizzes and pub golf are only a handful of events that go on. Societies tend to do families nights so that all years are brought together.

I made the mistake of coming to Edinburgh (coming from England) not knowing that their four year courses included many outside courses. This meant that I was not learning my course, Maths like I wanted to. The lectures themselves: in first year, lectures include clickers which allows students to communicate to one another when a question appears. The downside is that it takes up a lot of time hence, the depth of content isn't covered like it should be and I felt I wasn't learning as much as could do. The course at Edinburgh is the one reason why I wouldn't continue at this university hence the bad rating. Another reason is that many of the students didn't choose maths as their main course thus it was hard to meet people on my course with a general interest for it. If you can pick a subject that you do like here then you'll find you'll enjoy the rest of the university easily.

The main residential hub is Pollock Halls. 2000 students live in this catered area and it is a great place to meet people. It's even worth the extra walk. I stayed in private accommodation (Chalmers Street) and apart for the price, all facilities were amazing. Double bed and massive kitchen is a big bonus for self catered. The only issue was that many of the people here were not from Edinburgh University hence it was difficult to mix in with my university. My advice is that if you would like an easy in for the social life, then go to Pollock Halls