Tell me about St Andrews in Scotland

[Anonymous]

For the sake of comparison- most American students considering a spot at St Andrew’s are not also weighing an offer from Stanford. It’s a lot of the Bucknell/Lehigh/Colgate/BC crowd for sure.

[Anonymous]

My DC just got back from junior semester here. Absolutely loved it. Said it had a much better work life balance than their US school. Didn't want to come back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the sake of comparison- most American students considering a spot at St Andrew’s are not also weighing an offer from Stanford. It’s a lot of the Bucknell/Lehigh/Colgate/BC crowd for sure.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the sake of comparison- most American students considering a spot at St Andrew’s are not also weighing an offer from Stanford. It’s a lot of the Bucknell/Lehigh/Colgate/BC crowd for sure.

+1

Then again, how many of us mortals could make friggen Stanford even ‘back in our day’. Attended St A in late 80s and it was a phenomenal experience.

[Anonymous]

just an anonymous American - who doesn't have a dog in this fight...but Saint Andrews is generally perceived in the US to be a close 3rd place to Oxbridge. And is well regarded as pretty prestigious school with great international exposure. the reality is if you are an American with an interest in having an international undergraduate experience...St. Ans. is a very attractive and regarded university. I think the comparison of somewhere between a 2nd tier Ivy and a William and Mary seem to be about right.

[Anonymous]

but at a transparent price point. I don't have a dog in this fight either but if I had a kid who was deciding btw BC at 85k and St Andrews, I know which way I'd push them.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, pls pls stop trying to make stoxbridge happen!

Cambridge
Oxford
LSE
Durham
Imperial
Edinburgh
Warwick
UCL

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Anon! Which newspaper published this list? Per what data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, pls pls stop trying to make stoxbridge happen!

Cambridge
Oxford
LSE
Durham
Imperial
Edinburgh
Warwick
UCL

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, pls pls stop trying to make stoxbridge happen!

Cambridge
Oxford
LSE
Durham
Imperial
Edinburgh
Warwick
UCL

Ranked by average UCAS entry tariff, the calculation of the scores to get in:
1. St Andrews (212)
2. Cambridge (208)
3. Imperial (204)
4. Oxford (203)
5. LSE (192)
6. Durham (185)
7. UCL (183)
8. Warwick (179)

So tell me again how students are choosing Warwick, UCL, and Durham over St Andrews when they likely didn't even get in to St Andrews, as the above numbers indicate.

[Anonymous]

Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews are great school providing a great experience but for undergrad, a semester there is enough for students who can get into similar schools here in US.

Kids can get sick, pandemics and travel bans can happen. Too much unnecessary stress for undergrads and their parents.

[Anonymous]

*semester abroad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews are great school providing a great experience but for undergrad, a semester there is enough for students who can get into similar schools here in US.

Kids can get sick, pandemics and travel bans can happen. Too much unnecessary stress for undergrads and their parents.

DC attended St Andrews for 2 years, 19-20 and 20-21 as part of the W&M JDP program. Dealing with COVID was no more stressful than if they were in the states. The UK and St Andrews handled COVID better than most US universities.

[Anonymous]

As UCAS scores demonstrate the quality of students at St Andrews is high. It is an institution on the rise, whether the old guard chooses to recognize it, or not.

It is also a great option for adventurous US students who can receive a quality education at a good price point if they don’t get into a top 30-40 US university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The large percentage of American students brings a friendly energy to the class-conscious British student body. The moody atmosphere of the ancient town complements majors like History and Literature, it’s a cinematic backdrop of a college town. Beware, though, the Stockholm syndrome the Americans have. The University takes dubious pride in tossing out the phrase “no handholding” at info sessions and orientations. “You are an adult. No handholding” is really a convenient way to dismiss students who are barely adults from expecting better service from the University. The collective eye rolling and disdain the administration has for the “silly” American undergrads who are “only there to meet royals” needs to be re examined. Don’t second guess yourself, Americans, this University falls seriously, significantly short in many ways but tries to make you feel needy and immature for expecting better service. Americans are subsidizing a giant chunk of the University by paying full tuition in comparison to the UK kids paying almost nothing, fine, but the University also unjustly paints these American kids as high maintenance, less impressive seat fillers with deep pockets who are taking spots away from deserving UK kids because the government can’t subsidize all of them. The Americans who choose St Andrews are solid, adventurous students who opt to study overseas at age 18 for four years. They contribute greatly to University life. “No hand holding” is really the catchall phrase the University fires back when American students want to hold it accountable for its many sub par services. For example- the University’s inability to house its students within walking distance- kids are housed in Dundee an hour bus ride away because the University over accepted and ran out of housing. We aren’t talking a ten minute shuttle bus, this is an hour+ long bus ride to another city to stay in the empty dorms belonging to another University in Dundee. The professors are unionized and quite often on strike, they cancel classes and stand outside on the shopping streets banging pots with spoons, leaving grad students to teach some, and recycling old zoom material from covid. There are no summer sessions, the University rents their dorms to golf tourists in the summers, so if you fall behind with credits, look forward to adding an extra year on to your studies, if they let you. They may expel you, saying you have run over the semesters allowed to complete your major in time, good luck somewhere else. There are two chances for academic assessment during the term- a midterm grade and a paper. They send the exams to students online, and if you have a problem with your internet that day, too bad. There is no academic advising system like there is in the States. You only use an advisor as a conduit for enrolling in your classes each year. They aren’t assigned to students for the duration of their studies. There is no academic mentor to advise or guide once classes are underway. Is this really “no handholding”? Or is this a gaslight-y way to make students feel like failures for questioning the sub par services available in comparison to similar Universities in the States? Student health services are also quite shaky in comparison to the support and privacy you can get in the states. It’s hard to get appointments, and if you have a health condition that interferes with your studies, it’s very very difficult to be excused from work you may have missed or need to redo. Don’t buy in to the “no handholding” stiff upper lip British thing. Americans have greatly bolstered St Andrews in every way; making do with less -than shouldn’t be a point of pride. In many ways, dealing with the admin at this University can be a lot like dealing with the DMV, don’t let them make you feel like you’re the problem.

It sounds like what you are saying is they need to be more Americanized since we are sending them so many students?

And i think the warning you are giving to parents is the wiggle room and negotiation they take for granted in the US isn’t going to be there. It’s a good warning and many parents will scoff and think it won’t apply to them bc even if they were faced with the same situation surely there would be some solution. It’s easy to see how this problem can happen ….