London or Edinburgh for Master's program...

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Same Masters offered in two different location. Will be applying to both anyways. Question is.. if I get to choose... which city to end up in?

Which would be less expensive in terms of housing/food/etc? Any locals care to comment?

My nephew was in London for a few years as a student, and stayed with me for a few months earlier in the year. I live near Glasgow.

He said that supermarket prices were pretty much the same for food, but that it was cheaper here to eat out, and for drinks. He said that public transport was much cheaper in London, though. Having said that, Edinburgh is a small city so you could probably walk places instead or make only short mourneys on buses. Housing in London, is very expensive, but he had managed to find a flat share at a reasonable rent - but only after he'd been there for a year or so and got to know the rental market and make connections with people who helped him find a good place. Generally speaking, rents in Scotland will be cheaper than London, but Edinburgh is a more expensive place to stay, but that will depend on the area.

There's a website - s1homes.com - which you can search for rental properties in Edinburgh so that would give you an idea of the rents there. I think that website only deals with Scotland, but there must be something similar for London so you could compare.

Personally, I hate London, so I'd definitely choose Edinburgh. But I'm biased!

If I had to choose between only those two, I'd run off to Dublin (Trinity College) and not tell anyone until commencement.

haha but they don't have my Masters sadly

GIS & Archaeology.

Edinburgh rents will be cheaper (expensive for Scotland, but not London expensive). It is far more possible to stay close to the centre in Edinburgh than in London.

The majority of buses (and coming soon tram) are run by a municipally owned company (single fare £1.50, dayticket £3.50) http://www.lothianbuses.com/ . Transport in London varies by distance and mode of transport, but is likely to be more expensive http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/ .

Assuming your course is at Edinburgh University (not one of the three newer universities) you may be able to walk depending on where you live and which building/campus your course is being held in).

http://www.gumtree.com/ is used a lot for advertising accommodation (covers both London and Edinburgh).

It is worth pointing out that the Edinburgh Festivals are about to start so prices for (short term) accommodation rental will be very high at the moment. The areas surrounding the university buildings, which are some of the largest venues in the city, will show the biggest increase due to the tourist influx.

Thank you. It helps lots.

As important as financial means are, try to choose the department/courses which suits your interest better. The more you enjoy your studies, the more you will benefit from it. This is already true for under-graduate degrees (although reputation and rankings generally do play a role here as well) but even more so for post-graduate degrees.