Honest Reviews: Students Rate Their Courses

As we move toward the end of the academic year, university teaching comes to a halt and students are growing restless in preparation for their final exams in May. With nearly a full year of university under their belt, the team at Uni-Chat wanted to gain insight into what this year’s freshers think of their degree programmes so far as they gear up for the May exam diet and their second year of university. Students from various schools were asked to rate their respective degree programmes out of 10.

Veterinary Medicine - 7/10

Yoojae, a cat lover turned Veterinary Medicine student, rated her course a 7/10. Though she loves what she is learning, even in spite of the odd cow milking exam, she finds that the pace of course content is so swift that it becomes difficult to catch up after falling behind. However, she loves the time spent caring for animals and understands the necessity of the course’s known difficulty. Needless to say, the passion that Veterinary Medicine students have for their course carries through.

English Literature - 7/10

English Literature student Lucy also rated her course a 7/10, explaining that she doesn’t find the lectures useful but thoroughly enjoys her tutorials. However, Lucy also makes note of the fact that the quality of assigned tutors can vary. According to Lucy, many of her fellow Literature classmates don’t find value in their tutorial time, or find that the number of contact hours is severely lacking.

International Business - 7/10

Hunter is an International Business student who rated her course a 7/10. According to Hunter, the International Business workload is manageable but the biggest issue seems to be in student support, as she says, “we do have a fair amount of student support, but it’s hard to access.”

Philosophy and Politics /Politics - 5/10

Kayleigh, a joint honours Philosophy and Politics student, rated her course a 5/10 - the lowest in this brief survey. The thoughts Kayleigh shared reflect the issues many others have experienced at the University of Edinburgh across various degree programmes: the need for more tutorials and contact hours.

Mathematics - 6/10

Azalea is an exchange student from Australia, studying under the university’s School of Mathematics. Though maths, for many, is an intimidating and difficult subject, Azalea finds that studying Maths at the University of Edinburgh is rather manageable, though she mentions that this may also be due to the lack of imposed course requirements on exchange students. She rated her overall experience under the School of Mathematics a 6/10.

Spanish - 7/10

First year student and passionate language learner Bo rated her Spanish course a 7/10. Overall, according to Bo, she truly enjoys studying Spanish, appreciating her first year thus far for its meticulous and comprehensive consolidation of language studies. However, in an interview, Bo also expressed some frustrations, notably in regard to the course’s treatment of its students’ prior knowledge. Most Spanish degree students have had between 3-7 years of experience studying the language before coming to university, but, according to Bo, the program treats its students as though they lack a proper grasp of the subject, especially in relation to their understanding of grammar. In fact, some students feel as if they are held back in order for others to catch up. However, Bo finds that the course has overall been beneficial to her progression in the Spanish language.

University of Edinburgh students review their courses

Student reviews of their courses varies but overall seem pretty happy with their experience. How would you rate your course? Is your uni doing enough to pass the educational vibe check? Let us know in the comments below.