History at Edinburgh

Well I'm in my last few weeks of teaching at the University of Edinburgh, on a History (hons) MA course, and so the last thing I should really be doing is writing ABOUT it instead of writing FOR it, but hey never mind! The last four years have been fabulous fun, and work has hardly got in the way of that at all. That said, my parents tell me its what I'm actually here for! So how does History here work? Well, like most Arts degrees at Edinburgh, when you arrive, you are actually more part of the Arts faculty than the History department, although that is where you are based, and where they track you down. For the first two years, you do very general courses, designed to introduce you to the topics, rather than to actually really further your knowledge. Of your three courses, two must be in history itself (1st year this means European, British or Scottish history, 2nd year American, Imperial, Medieval or Scottish) and the third can be in whatever else takes your fancy, although they do tend to prefer you to stay in the Arts department! This is great as it means you effectively get two first years, you aren't expected to do hardly any work and its not hard anyway, and you have the flexibility to change your degree without too much problem!
After second year it gets far more interesting. In third year you take four more specialised options, two each term, and write an 8000 word long essay. The courses are more interesting, there's a really wide range of what to do and you get to choose them yourself, although you may not always get the courses that you want. They are also mixed with the 4th year, which means you meet a lot more people. You get better access to books, and tutors suddenly become friendly. In 4th year, you take two more one term courses and one two term course, which again goes into even more depth. You spend more time with the same people and tutors and the work can be really fascinating, especially if you get the courses you want, which you usually do in 4th year.
The work overall isn't hard - every course throughout the 4 years only demands one essay per term - although it can get quite hardcore when you're also trying to write a dissertation at the same time. Exams are in the summer term, but in 3rd and 4th years you don't have any seminars then either. Historians tend to be a sociable bunch, and pretty outgoing. I've met some really great people and done some fascinating courses over a wide period, studying topics as diverse as medieval warfare, the second world war, and spies and saboteurs. There are also some world class historians in the department, and pretty good facilities. All in all, I've loved it and would thoroughly recommend it!