Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

Wouldn't Oxbridge peets be on par with the top kids in the US? I would consider StA peers to be T50 level. Also, the admission requirement minimums seem to be ABB, not 3 A*s. E.g. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/management/management-ma/#entry-requirements

You are wrong. The minimum is a worthless metric. Sta has the highest Tariff entry for Scottish students. And the highest in the UK.
The avg entry grades of Oxford/cambridge and Sta kids are very very similar for English students. Minimums get you to apply. If you are applying to non-competitive program, sure. Same everywhere. Please go to student room forum. It is a UK forum with kid discussing their acceptances and rejections….many A*A*A*s rejected at Sta. That is top of the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

Wouldn't Oxbridge peets be on par with the top kids in the US? I would consider StA peers to be T50 level. Also, the admission requirement minimums seem to be ABB, not 3 A*s. E.g. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/management/management-ma/#entry-requirements

Again, this has nothing to do with prestige, research quality, name brand, etc. It is simply about the Peers from a UK perspective.

https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/what-are-ucas-points/

[Anonymous]

Good academics, adventure, Harry Potter style, drinking age is 18, plenty of Americans to build a social circle to bring back home, good job placement, good price.

[Anonymous]

My private-school-educated DC is currently weighing St Andrews and another international offer. DC also has been admitted to some excellent US schools, and in two cases been awarded significant merit aid ($40k/year) that makes the all-in costs pretty equivalent. DC has been interested in going outside the US for college since 8th grade and their interest has only intensified with the election outcome and now the first few months of the new Administration. I think they want a different and more independent experience than they would likely have in the US. And I will be very glad to not pay $90K/year for college.

[Anonymous]

Many don't apply to Oxbridge because the date to take the exam is super early--like late September. You have to begin senior year knowing this is what you want.
In contrast, you can add St. Andrews up until February.

My kids were still adding schools well into late December. They really didn't know what they wanted until they started writing apps, looking online, etc. This is not unusual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

Wouldn't Oxbridge peets be on par with the top kids in the US? I would consider StA peers to be T50 level. Also, the admission requirement minimums seem to be ABB, not 3 A*s. E.g. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/management/management-ma/#entry-requirements

You are wrong. The minimum is a worthless metric. Sta has the highest Tariff entry for Scottish students. And the highest in the UK.
The avg entry grades of Oxford/cambridge and Sta kids are very very similar for English students. Minimums get you to apply. If you are applying to non-competitive program, sure. Same everywhere. Please go to student room forum. It is a UK forum with kid discussing their acceptances and rejections….many A*A*A*s rejected at Sta. That is top of the top.

I looked there for a bit but I couldn't find any with three A*a rejected.

[Anonymous]

Are st Andrews and McGill on par?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

On par with more than that. If the future King of England attended, you know this is a school acceptable to the aristocracy. The idea that that would be appealing to (some, not all, before you come at me) private school kids is a no-brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews, and McGill. These I don't get it.

Why not Oxybridge? Why not UBC?

A lot of private school Californians randomly go to UBC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews, and McGill. These I don't get it.

Why not Oxybridge? Why not UBC?

A lot of private school Californians randomly go to UBC.

+1

We’re in Colorado and more people go to UBC vs. McGill. I think it’s more common in the west.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

Wouldn't Oxbridge peets be on par with the top kids in the US? I would consider StA peers to be T50 level. Also, the admission requirement minimums seem to be ABB, not 3 A*s. E.g. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/management/management-ma/#entry-requirements

You are wrong. The minimum is a worthless metric. Sta has the highest Tariff entry for Scottish students. And the highest in the UK.
The avg entry grades of Oxford/cambridge and Sta kids are very very similar for English students. Minimums get you to apply. If you are applying to non-competitive program, sure. Same everywhere. Please go to student room forum. It is a UK forum with kid discussing their acceptances and rejections….many A*A*A*s rejected at Sta. That is top of the top.

I looked there for a bit but I couldn't find any with three A*a rejected.

Not going to babysit you….you can look through here starting with the Oxford kid rejected at Sta: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7519579&page=48

[Anonymous]

Are St Andrews and McGill on par?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.

Wouldn't Oxbridge peets be on par with the top kids in the US? I would consider StA peers to be T50 level. Also, the admission requirement minimums seem to be ABB, not 3 A*s. E.g. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/management/management-ma/#entry-requirements

You are wrong. The minimum is a worthless metric. Sta has the highest Tariff entry for Scottish students. And the highest in the UK.
The avg entry grades of Oxford/cambridge and Sta kids are very very similar for English students. Minimums get you to apply. If you are applying to non-competitive program, sure. Same everywhere. Please go to student room forum. It is a UK forum with kid discussing their acceptances and rejections….many A*A*A*s rejected at Sta. That is top of the top.

I looked there for a bit but I couldn't find any with three A*a rejected.

Not going to babysit you….you can look through here starting with the Oxford kid rejected at Sta: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7519579&page=48

The required grades don’t mean much for UK students. Obviously you have to get these grades to get in but all of the top universities require similar. And simply getting the grades doesn’t mean you automatically get in either. It isn’t a useful metric to rank quality of the university. As has been exhaustively discussed in this forum, St Andrews is extremely popular in the US but it is not super popular in the UK (for lots of reasons including extra year of study, weather, location, etc) nor is it super prestigious compared to Oxbridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial, etc. However, it is a sort of hack for Americans because it is considered prestigious here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good academics, adventure, Harry Potter style, drinking age is 18, plenty of Americans to build a social circle to bring back home, good job placement, good price.

explain how StA is a “good price” for US students. absurd.


2024-2025 GBP Sterling US Dollars
Tuition fees (actual tuition fees table) 27,450 37,058
Catered residence fees or rent, utilities, food 11,328 15,293
Travel - based on two trips per year 2,000 2,700
Computer equipment, books, etc. 1,200 1,620
Personal, living expenses (37 weeks) 3,700 4,995
Total £45,678 $61,666

Also please add:

Visa 490 662
Immigration healthcare surcharge (based on four years of study) 3,492 4,714
Total £3,982 $5,376

[Anonymous]

2025-2026 Total Cost to Attend (excluding travel)
- USC $99K
- NYU $88K
- Georgetown $87K
- Tufts $92K
- BC $89K
- Tulane $88K
- UCLA OOS $77K
- Lehigh $82K
- BU $91K
- Villanova $81K

While StA is by no means 'cheap', for those stuck with full pay and not great in-state options, the difference is meaningful enough to be an added consideration.