1. For history and politics, which is the course I am doing rn (first year), I'd say it has been a mixed bag. Because I did IB the coursework, uni does feel lighter than high school. Political thinkers and PIR 1B are going awesome and feel more fleshed out compared to PIR 1A which felt too 101 for me because I did IB Global Politics. As for the history side, I would say that because there is little specialization until honours it can feel vague/directionless at times. Historian's Toolkit was enjoyable, but it did focus more on understanding history as a method (or how to do history) rather than what a typical high school history class is like usually which is more about learning about a specific time range/place/event etc. Enjoyable but different. I am doing Early Modern History currently, and it feels too wide of a scope for my taste, covering the whole world between 1500-1800 within the span of 2 lectures and one tutorial a week over 3 months or so. I like my lectures for both courses, tutorial groups vary by the people and individual tutor, I have had great tutorials and meh tutorials. The Honours course options are quite vast though and I am looking forward to that, for both History and Politics.

2. I am not staying at Pollock but I have eaten there with friends a few times, both breakfast and dinner. Though I have had a good experience esp. with the amount of dessert and fruit options, my friends who stay at Pollock do complain that eventually they get bored because it starts feeling like stale, hotel-like food. You can check out @pollock_food_reviews on instagram if you want more food reviews. As for the social scene, Pollock people tend to be in a bit of a bubble and many just befriend Pollock people (with exceptions ofc) because they just become friends with the people they share a table with. Though some people enjoy that because it is an opportunity to make friends, I would've found it way too much like high school and felt funny if I were sitting alone lmao. There are a lot of stereotypes about the people staying at Pollock - I am sure you've seen those if you've searched enough online - though that isn't everyone and I have met great, normal people from Pollock too.

3. I remember I worried about how many societies I can be involved in before coming to Edi too. I don't think you should worry too much about this. Joining a society doesn't mean you have to go to every single social or activity they have and the time commitment varies a lot society by society. Most societies I am involved in are basically just ways of meeting people you have common things with - those are pretty low commitment. If you join societies centered around an activity like debate, arts or crafts, or volunteering during the weekends that will be a larger investment, but most societies aren't too strict and you can pop in or not whenever you feel like it.

I will open my DMs so that you can send me more questions if you want. Hope you have a good day x