Why did Robert Louis Stevenson enter the University of Edinburgh?

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Robert Louis Stevenson entered the University of Edinburgh at age 17 with the expectation that he would prepare for the family profession of lighthouse engineering.12

Although he had no personal desire to become an engineer, he attended the university to fulfill this familial obligation. As a compromise with his father, he eventually shifted his studies to prepare for the Scottish bar, though he ultimately pursued a career as a writer instead.12