
Sack off the main library: New College is Edinburgh’s ultimate study spot
Your days of fighting for a seat on fourth could end right here
Standing tall at the top of the mound is Edinburgh's own (and rumoured to be the inspiration for) Hogwarts. The beautiful towers of New College call out as a bastion for tired students and camera laden tourists. Yet this gorgeous neo-gothic masterpiece fails to get the recognition it deserves.
Whilst you're battling for a seat at Main Lib, the ancient wooden benches (fit with plugs) lie empty, and the reading rooms completed with personal lights and classical busts remain barren.
New College is Edinburgh Uni's best kept secret, a haven for the Divinity students, who are keen for freshers to spend their study time commuting to the monstrosity of a library at King's, or making the effort to find a seat in George Square.
Not only is the study space empty, but New College comes with a little known university cafe, Rainy Hall, styled as a mock Oxbridge dining room. Forget that Oxbridge rejection when sipping on a latte under the university heraldry, without the queue presented at the library cafe.
More of an independent studier? Have no fear, the upper levels of New College are here. Wandering this building often rewards the student with empty study rooms, perhaps not inhabited since you were previously in there, that offer fantastic views over the city.
Want an even quieter place to read OR PRAY? New College has its own special church-like reading room, for which I've never seen another soul inside. Obviously, too, New College comes equipped with its own garden area smoking area with far superior views and comfier benches than the huddle masses you pass entering main lib.
Accordingly, New College remains Edinburgh Uni's hidden gem. It has everything the student should desire, except for those late opening hours. On the suggestion board in main lib another compatriot of mine wrote in response of what they could do better "shuttle bus to New College". For your day library sessions, scroll down your Facebook feed under the gorgeous stained class in a library that fits your university dreams.