U of St Andrews - Admissions per State

[Anonymous]

Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

What is your source for "2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees" ? Seems off.

St Andrews is definitely easier to get into for Americans, but very competitive for UK students. Graduate prospectus is very good. Brown/Dartmouth/Wesleyan are comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

What is your source for "2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees" ? Seems off.

St Andrews is definitely easier to get into for Americans, but very competitive for UK students. Graduate prospectus is very good. Brown/Dartmouth/Wesleyan are comparable.

No way -- for American students, St Andrews is a MUCH easier admit than Wesleyan and a MUCH MUCH easier admit than Brown or Dartmouth. Great school, so smart Americans who get shut out of top US schools are wise to look there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there and LOVES it. The high number of CT acceptances reflects the high number of boarding school kids.
Most of my son's friends are Americans (about 60%-ish) but his flat mate is European and so is his girlfriend (British -gulp!)
It is a fantastic place for an independent, adventurous kid. It is academically rigourous- hard to get into from the US but Ivy-level difficult from the UK and Scotland.

I’m sorry but St Andrews is absolutely not Ivy level difficult from the UK. I should know, I went there.

So did I. I dont know how long ago you were there. But over the last few years the UCAS tariff is the highest in the UK. So yes, it is a tough admit for RUK and for the Scottish even more difficult. It is much easier for Americans and international. So yes, from a pure comparison point of view, it is one of the most difficult unis in the UK to get admitted to if your are RUK or Scottish.

Yes, that’s correct. I have three children. My eldest two applied to St Andrews, and my youngest is currently at Northwestern. We’re based in London, and all three attended boarding school.
My eldest achieved A*A*A and was accepted to St Andrews in 2016, although rejected by Oxford. 6 years later in 2022, my second applied with A*A*A* in the same subject, was rejected by St Andrews but offered a place at Oxford. My youngest didn’t perform quite as well on his A levels. He received AAA in his A-levels and chose instead to focus on American universities, preparing for the SAT and related applications. He is now in his second year at Northwestern.

It is frustrating for RUK applicants that international students appear to gain admission to St Andrews with relative ease, while our children are expected to achieve near perfect results. It’s important to remember that St Andrews is a small university, with a first-year intake of only around 2,000 students. Of those, approximately 900 places are allocated to international students, leaving around 1,100 for Scottish and RUK applicants combined. That split is roughly 50/50, meaning only about 550 places on average are available for RUK students. The competition is incredibly fierce. So the entry grades for the most popular courses are very high.

How did they get into Northwestern as an international student? Did they seek financial aid? Which extracurricular activities did they have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there and LOVES it. The high number of CT acceptances reflects the high number of boarding school kids.
Most of my son's friends are Americans (about 60%-ish) but his flat mate is European and so is his girlfriend (British -gulp!)
It is a fantastic place for an independent, adventurous kid. It is academically rigourous- hard to get into from the US but Ivy-level difficult from the UK and Scotland.

I’m sorry but St Andrews is absolutely not Ivy level difficult from the UK. I should know, I went there.

So did I. I dont know how long ago you were there. But over the last few years the UCAS tariff is the highest in the UK. So yes, it is a tough admit for RUK and for the Scottish even more difficult. It is much easier for Americans and international. So yes, from a pure comparison point of view, it is one of the most difficult unis in the UK to get admitted to if your are RUK or Scottish.

Yes, that’s correct. I have three children. My eldest two applied to St Andrews, and my youngest is currently at Northwestern. We’re based in London, and all three attended boarding school.
My eldest achieved A*A*A and was accepted to St Andrews in 2016, although rejected by Oxford. 6 years later in 2022, my second applied with A*A*A* in the same subject, was rejected by St Andrews but offered a place at Oxford. My youngest didn’t perform quite as well on his A levels. He received AAA in his A-levels and chose instead to focus on American universities, preparing for the SAT and related applications. He is now in his second year at Northwestern.

It is frustrating for RUK applicants that international students appear to gain admission to St Andrews with relative ease, while our children are expected to achieve near perfect results. It’s important to remember that St Andrews is a small university, with a first-year intake of only around 2,000 students. Of those, approximately 900 places are allocated to international students, leaving around 1,100 for Scottish and RUK applicants combined. That split is roughly 50/50, meaning only about 550 places on average are available for RUK students. The competition is incredibly fierce. So the entry grades for the most popular courses are very high.

How did they get into Northwestern as an international student? Did they seek financial aid? Which extracurricular activities did they have?

There is no “they.” It is him. My son scored 1590 on the SAT and 36 on the ACT, one sitting each time. He found both tests super easy. And yet, he had the lowest A-levels of my three children. He applied for financial aid and was given close to 50%. They are need aware for international students, but they gave us exactly what we needed to make it work. Most of his extracurriculars were sports, and in his final year here he was lucky enough to work with an economics professor at UCL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

Americans have it easy here. For strong RUK kids, getting in is far tougher, while your American child benefits simply because UK universities want your dollars, not because your child is some academic prodigy. So drop the competitive nonsense. US admissions only look brutal because anyone can apply anywhere. Here you get five choices and that is it. You are comparing apples to oranges. If my son had been offered St Andrews, he would have taken it over any US private outside the Ivy League without hesitation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

What is your source for "2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees" ? Seems off.

St Andrews is definitely easier to get into for Americans, but very competitive for UK students. Graduate prospectus is very good. Brown/Dartmouth/Wesleyan are comparable.

My source is this very thread. The OP lists the number enrolled in the first page, and several pages later reports the number of USA applications for the same year. It's also reported on this thread that the yield (percent of accepted students who enroll) for USA applications is 33. I assumed closely to 50 percent to be conservative. If it's 33 then the admit rate is well over 50 percent. This is basic math.

Anecdotally, I know families in the DMV whose kids go there. They're not superstars, they didn't attend top privates, and they weren't accepted at anything near a top 25 in the USA. Smart and hardworking for sure. Just not elite level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, assuming a 50 percent yield, which is assuming a lot, in 2023 there were 2200 USA applications and 471 enrollees. That suggests an acceptance rate of 50% if not more.

The reason why California and New York combined have 1/3 of the enrolled students is because the two states combined have about 1/5 of the entire US population. And the reason why there are so many from Connecticut is because of boarding schools. As for DC nobody from DC public schools is going to Saint Andrews — it’s rich people from the top private schools choosing to go after not getting into a top USA private university.

St Andrew’s is a good school for sure, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not in the same league as the top USA privates and isn’t nearly as competitive in admissions either — for American applicants at least.

Americans have it easy here. For strong RUK kids, getting in is far tougher, while your American child benefits simply because UK universities want your dollars, not because your child is some academic prodigy. So drop the competitive nonsense. US admissions only look brutal because anyone can apply anywhere. Here you get five choices and that is it. You are comparing apples to oranges. If my son had been offered St Andrews, he would have taken it over any US private outside the Ivy League without hesitation.

What is the general perception in the UK of Edinburgh compared to St Andrew's? Just curious and wondering if you considered it as well and if not why not?

[Anonymous]

These are the exact USA numbers according to OP for 2023:

Applications: 2218
Enrolled: 471
Yield: 33 percent

My math says that if these numbers are correct then 1413 were admitted, an admit rate of 63.7 percent. That’s safety school territory for the USA top 50.

[Anonymous]

They want to see three 4s on AP exams and SATs above 1320 or ACTs above 28. I'm honestly surprised their minimums are this low:

https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/entry/usa/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are the exact USA numbers according to OP for 2023:

Applications: 2218
Enrolled: 471
Yield: 33 percent

My math says that if these numbers are correct then 1413 were admitted, an admit rate of 63.7 percent. That’s safety school territory for the USA top 50.

Agree, thanks for pointing this out. Good school for sure but way overbought and overhyped on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

my son will be applying to st Andrews and is 99% unlikely to apply to any other UK school.

is there any benefit to applying via UCAS? I sort of think applying directly shows more interest than UCAS or common app, but it's total speculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my son will be applying to st Andrews and is 99% unlikely to apply to any other UK school.

is there any benefit to applying via UCAS? I sort of think applying directly shows more interest than UCAS or common app, but it's total speculation.

No. Apply direct. Not through UCAS or Common App.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are the exact USA numbers according to OP for 2023:

Applications: 2218
Enrolled: 471
Yield: 33 percent

My math says that if these numbers are correct then 1413 were admitted, an admit rate of 63.7 percent. That’s safety school territory for the USA top 50.

Agree, thanks for pointing this out. Good school for sure but way overbought and overhyped on DCUM.

Don’t forget that yield statistic is only for US applicants. No way is it that for British students, although the yield stat is also irrelevant for the UK given the constraints on how many courses you can apply for. Aside from being limited to only applying for 5 courses, British students are not permitted to apply for courses if their predicted grades do not meet the course requirement.