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Tell me about St Andrews in Scotland
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Anonymous
Only a small number of summer classes offered at UVa, and very very few upperclass courses on offer. It is only of trivial help. I know several who started at UVa, but their eventual degree was GMU because they could not finish UVa in the 4 years and had to transfer. |
Anonymous
Maybe they did not get the response one would get in Bethesda or McLean, not sure, but it almost certainly was much better than the emergency health care response available in Craig County VA or in Western Maryland. The US is a big place with huge variations between small towns and big cities. |
Anonymous
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Choosing any non-US college, or even a college in a rural part of the US, is something one really ought to consider carefully. Laws, customs, culture, language, health care, and many other things WILL vary from here. Vary might mean worse, better, or merely different.
Similarly, other US states have different laws, culture, health care arrangements, and customs than this area. So those factors also should be considered. A US college located in a small town will generally NOT have the health care infrastructure or supports of a college in a US big city. The point here is not that those factors are irrelevant. The point is that StA, Scotland, and the UK are not somehow worse or less caring than other overseas universities. Indeed, they do better at education, caring and health care than many US colleges, or other US states, do. |
Anonymous
| How about no ambulance? An ambulance was called for my friend’s child but couldn’t be there for over two hours. Students were drove the student to the emergency room in Aberdeen at night with a compound fracture. If you call an ambulance in Burlington, VT one will likely show up. Why so defensive about this? If we were having this conversation in person, as a parent you’d probably be horrified to hear that a friend’s child couldn’t get an ambulance with a compound leg fracture, and wouldn’t give me a million reasons why students at lots of schools can’t get ambulances, either. Yes, the academics are excellent. Yes, the town is superb. Yes, the students are international and interesting. Yes, it’s an excellent school. It is also different there. |
Anonymous
| As fellow parents- why not share stories that may or may not happen to your student in the future? A student can have a bad experience at a school but still like the school, and by sharing these stories- doesn’t it help other parents keep an eye out for things that might happen to their own students? Anytime someone shares something, a St Andrews fan dismisses it as something that could happen anywhere, or a titled parent tantrum, or “well this happens at other schools, too”. It’s like a competitive cocktail party in here. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
There are differences between the countries, some good and some bad in each direction, but both the US (generally) and Scotland have overall risks and standards of care that in my view are within the reasonable range. In Scotland, there's the NHS and elements that would seem unusual to us (particularly in the DC area) re ambulance response times and the like. That said, in the US, there's the fear (and reality) of mass shootings, which even if not physically damaging can be quite psychologically difficult. And we've a sadly high suicide rate and fentanyl issue across the US (and abroad but we have areas of concentration here). All to say that there are serious issues/experiences/circumstances for college students, in the US and abroad. Personally, I would not run from the US to seek safety elsewhere, nor would I decide against going abroad to a school with a risk profile like St Andrews due to security concerns. These are real and serious issues for those facing them, but overall the risks associated with US colleges and schools abroad such as St A to me seem pretty similar (or differences are unidentifiable and not worth making a decision based on). |
Anonymous
I’m not sharing that story to keep people from applying to St Andrews. It’s the kind of information that’s good to know as a parent. File it away under “convos to have with your student “. Maybe the kids shouldn’t have piled into the car at night to drive their friend to the distant hospital- what are the options, etc. Pretty sure someone in here works for the University or the Fife tourism board. 
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Anonymous
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It is a good conversation, but one to have before one’s student goes to ANY university.
Students in C’ville have had to make that exact same decision this year (i.e., because all the rescue units were tied up on other calls) and in past years. Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad is heavily dependent on volunteers, covers most of the county and city, and it has a finite set of ambulance/rescue units, not all of which are staffed at a given moment. This situation is common in many parts of the US. |
Anonymous
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A two hour response time for an ambulance is not so unusual in DC, which is its own tragedy, and has led to lawsuits against the DC government alleging DC government ineptitude.
Would you not also have that conversation with DC if applying to a university in the District ? |
Anonymous
| The title of this thread is “Tell me about St Andrews” |
Anonymous
?How many is “several” in your world? Four-year degree completion rate is ~95% |
Anonymous
C’mon, you know that’s not true. “2023-24 GBP Sterling US Dollars Tuition fees (actual tuition fees table) 26,547 35,838 Catered residence fees/Rent, utilities, food 10,387 14,022 Travel - based on two trips per annum 2,000 2,700 Computer equipment, books, etc. 1,200 1,620 Personal, living expenses (37 weeks) 3,330 4,496 Total £43,464 $58,676 If you are an entrant student you are eligible to add the following charges to your cost of attendance, if you wish: GBP Sterling US Dollars Visa 363 490 Immigration Health Surcharge 2,115 2,855 Total £2,478 $3,345 It’s ~62000USD a year. No bargain. |