Hi,

I would be interested in hearing of people's opinions of the University of Edinburgh, more specifically the School of Law and the LL.Ms on offer, and more generally of Edinburgh.

I work in the School of Law, so I fear that I will be somewhat biased. Nevertheless, the LL.M and PhD students I talk to here have very high regards for the academic quality, the beautiful city and the wonderful social and cultural life.

I agree with them, and think that anyone considering postgraduate law study should have a look at the University of Edinburgh (but I did say I was biased!)

Hi CMiller!
Personally speaking I will definetely apply for the LLM in Commercial Law to University of Edinburgh within next week! My cousin has finished his master there and he is very satisfied. I hear nothing but good things about your university and of course for the city itself. I have to tell you that in many ways I prefer Scotland than England, so I might be biased myself!
Still, I have to tell you that I have heard there is a lot of criminality in Edinburgh and Scotland in general. I don't know if it is true, so please tell me! I have also heard that there isn't too much of nightlife, but since I am greek I know that there isn't much of mightlife for me nowhere in the United Kingdom!
What kind of job do you do in the University?

Hi thessaloniki.

The nightlife in Edinburgh is based mostly around pubs (many of which stay open till 3am) and a few good clubs. I'm not sure how it compares with the parts of Greece you like to party in, but you will always find a good crowd of people wherever you go.

Crime is not as large a concern in Edinburgh as other parts of the UK, and even other parts of Scotland. I would argue strongly against anyone who picked out Edinburgh as having a problem with crime. However, like any place that has hundreds of thousands of people, there is always going to be more crime than for example a rural area such as the Shetland Islands or the Isle of Skye!

If you are considering commercial law, don't forget also to have a look at the LL.M Innovation, Technology and the Law.

I work in the distance learning unit at the School of Law. Not everyone is able to live in Edinburgh while they study here, but would like to study the LL.M we offer. It is very exciting to think that people from all over the world are now able to study at the University of Edinburgh for an LL.M via the Internet.

Good luck with your applications.

Hi, I'm a swiss lawyer (passed the bar exam, but am working as
a law clerk) and have applied to the Commercial LLM at
the University of Edinburgh. I also applied to Glasgow. I have
yet to hear from them, it's been roughly a month now.

Do you know how many participants are accepted for the
Commercial LLM? I can't wait to hear from them!

Hello CMiller,
I am dying to attend Edinburgh. The school has a great reputation here in Canada. I applied for the LLM program last year and was accepted but without funding. I chose a Canadian school that offered me money and has a great thesis supervisor for my work. I will apply for the PhD research degree next year. But I am wondering if you can tell me more about the doctoral program at Edinburgh- are there lots of foreign students? are most students able to find funding? how long does it usually take to complete the research degrees? do you have to remain in residence for a certain period of time? Thanks for your help.

Zorkan - I hope you have received word by now - if not, don't worry. It is the University's busiest time for applications! You can get the contact details of the Postgraduate Admissions Office handling Law programme applications at:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/contacts.html

Nina - have a look at http://www.scholarships.ed.ac.uk/ for information on available scholarships. With regards details on placements available at the University you should contact the Academic who works in the field you wish to study in. You can find a list at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/staff/. There is a requirement to be present on-campus during your Ph.D.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your studies, and maybe see you in Edinburgh soon!

Dear CMiller,Hi! My name is bonnie, and I am from China. Coming to University of Edinburgh has always been my dream. But I feel upset because of your conditions in LLM offer for me. You asked that I must get the 7.0 band in IELTS test.

In fact, I have taken part in the IELTS test for two times before. Unfortunately, I did 6.5 band in both. The first result is as follows: Speaking 7; Listening 7; Reading 6.5; Writing 6. You can find that I could have achieved the 7.0 in overall if I got more 0.5 point in any one of these four items. After much effort, I joint the second test. It was so terrible that I had a bad bad cold on that exam day. The result is:Speaking 6; Listening 6.5; Reading 7.5, Writing 6. You can find that I have made a big improvement on Reading, although the decline in Speaking which was greatly influensed by my bad cold.

What I want to prove is that: I have the ability to get improvement, but exams are exams at all, they have been invloved with a lot of fortune elements.Now, I will have only one opportunity to take part in the IELTS test before the registered day of Edinburgh because of the limit of 3 months' intermission between two exams. I could not help worrying about the result. It is really cruel for me if I could not entry into University of Edinburgh in the end just because of my language problem which does not exist in my mind.

My English proficiency can be proved by my performence in TEM(Test for Englsh Majors) band 8, which is the highest level of English test in China, and few people could even have the chance to take part in it unless pass the university's strict selection. I majored in English language besides my first major of law. Besides that, you could also find my improvement in my undergraduate studies. I got the overall GPA of 2.98 of 4 when I sent the application materials to you then, but now, after half a year's best efforts, I have got the overall GPA of 3.11. Please note that the GPA of my fourth academic year reached 3.95. I could provide the transcript stamped by my university for you if you need. All the efforts of mine is just for realizing the dream of studying in the University of Edinburgh!

So, I am now writing to you for enquiring about the possibility of another way for me such as exchange for the pre-sessional courses or something like that?? I also get the LLM offer from University of Glasgow without any conditions. But I much prefer to University of Edinburgh. I really don't want to give it up just because the little deficiency in language which I think I do master.

Please forgive my anxiousness and long story. Thank you for your attention. I hope you could help me. Many thanks!!

Well Ive held a very different point of view.

Firstly, if you want to study common law then youd better not go to Edinburgh since the university locates in Scotland, which has been classified as the civil law system. Although learning commercial law makes no difference whether in a common law system or a civil one, but I should say that UK is well known for its distinguished common law system and it has established the reputation as orgies of English law.

Secondly, the city of Edinburgh and the university of Edinburgh are two very different concepts. Many people said that Edinburgh university is famous but they know nothing about the university itself, they always take it fro granted that because Edinburgh university is part of the city of Edinburgh and the city as the capital of Scotland is so well known so the university deserved to be well known as well. Another example at hand is the university of Manchester. The city of Manchester established it fame long time age, but how many of us have even known it well before you applied it?

But I should say the university of Edinburgh is so well respected, we should not miss the chance to study in a university as Edinburgh has so long a history good luck.

Bonnie: Why don't you take the TOEFL? The requirement
is 250 points at the CBT. Or does this not apply for
chinese applicants? I would check it out however!

Allen: Your points about common law are valid. I just wonder
how long common law will survive in England, considering
the fast increasing importance of european law. For me,
the main question was: Europe or the States. Since I
decided that european law will probably be more important
to me than american law, I chose to stay in Europe. While
the concept of common law is very interesting for someone
coming from a civil law country, I think I will be exposed
enough in my commercial law courses. Then again, I might
be wrong. Other than that I hope that my focus will be on
european law.

About your assessment of the University of Edinburgh: Most
university live from their reputation and it's always hard to
judge how well deserved the reputation really is. But I think
the reputation is not solely based on the city of Edinburgh,
just check out the world wide ranking of Universities, where
Edinburgh has a respectable position.

my

Firstly, if you want to study common law then youd better not go to Edinburgh since the university locates in Scotland, which has been classified as the civil law system. Although learning commercial law makes no difference whether in a common law system or a civil one, but I should say that UK is well known for its distinguished common law system and it has established the reputation as orgies of English law.