The University of Edinburgh…?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is weird how so many people hate a school they have not visited, and their kids don't attend. I have visited (it's lovely), I do have a child attending (who had a 34 ACT and doesn't party), and I work with Brits. I actually heard last week from a UK colleague whose child is head girl at a very famous UK boarding school and will be attending St Andrews next year. It was her top choice and my colleague is thrilled.

I'm not a huge fan of rankings, especially at the undergraduate level, and I really don't care what random DCUM people think about a school my DC loves, but for those of you whose child is interested in the school I will point out one objective factor in the Guardian ranking table shared by the PP: the average entry tariff, which is a numerical score UCAS assigns to each student based on grades, test scores, and qualifications. St Andrews has the highest average entry tariff, which means that in DCUM-speak there are quite a lot of high stats students attending the school.

St Andrew’s is not a difficult admit for a US student. A B+ average will get you in. They are happy to take your money, and even though you’re paying a lot more than the locals it’s still cheaper than a US private.

I never visited St Andrew’s but I did have a kid at Edinburgh. Such a nice city and so much to do. The typical Edinburgh student is more self sufficient and confident than a St Andrew’s student and would be bored to death there. My kid visited for a weekend and said they’d go crazy there. Compared to Edinburgh there’s absolutely nothing to do. It also has far too many American students, which detracts from the international experience. It’s almost like a junior year abroad program. You don’t truly get the entire international experience in most of them.

+1. Glorified study abroad program is right. The annoyance comes from St A kids and parents who then act like they attend some ultra prestigious school.

Wow talk about petty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is weird how so many people hate a school they have not visited, and their kids don't attend. I have visited (it's lovely), I do have a child attending (who had a 34 ACT and doesn't party), and I work with Brits. I actually heard last week from a UK colleague whose child is head girl at a very famous UK boarding school and will be attending St Andrews next year. It was her top choice and my colleague is thrilled.

I'm not a huge fan of rankings, especially at the undergraduate level, and I really don't care what random DCUM people think about a school my DC loves, but for those of you whose child is interested in the school I will point out one objective factor in the Guardian ranking table shared by the PP: the average entry tariff, which is a numerical score UCAS assigns to each student based on grades, test scores, and qualifications. St Andrews has the highest average entry tariff, which means that in DCUM-speak there are quite a lot of high stats students attending the school.

St Andrew’s is not a difficult admit for a US student. A B+ average will get you in. They are happy to take your money, and even though you’re paying a lot more than the locals it’s still cheaper than a US private.

I never visited St Andrew’s but I did have a kid at Edinburgh. Such a nice city and so much to do. The typical Edinburgh student is more self sufficient and confident than a St Andrew’s student and would be bored to death there. My kid visited for a weekend and said they’d go crazy there. Compared to Edinburgh there’s absolutely nothing to do. It also has far too many American students, which detracts from the international experience. It’s almost like a junior year abroad program. You don’t truly get the entire international experience in most of them.

+1. Glorified study abroad program is right. The annoyance comes from St A kids and parents who then act like they attend some ultra prestigious school.

Wow talk about petty.

You new around here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is weird how so many people hate a school they have not visited, and their kids don't attend. I have visited (it's lovely), I do have a child attending (who had a 34 ACT and doesn't party), and I work with Brits. I actually heard last week from a UK colleague whose child is head girl at a very famous UK boarding school and will be attending St Andrews next year. It was her top choice and my colleague is thrilled.

I'm not a huge fan of rankings, especially at the undergraduate level, and I really don't care what random DCUM people think about a school my DC loves, but for those of you whose child is interested in the school I will point out one objective factor in the Guardian ranking table shared by the PP: the average entry tariff, which is a numerical score UCAS assigns to each student based on grades, test scores, and qualifications. St Andrews has the highest average entry tariff, which means that in DCUM-speak there are quite a lot of high stats students attending the school.

St Andrew’s is not a difficult admit for a US student. A B+ average will get you in. They are happy to take your money, and even though you’re paying a lot more than the locals it’s still cheaper than a US private.

I never visited St Andrew’s but I did have a kid at Edinburgh. Such a nice city and so much to do. The typical Edinburgh student is more self sufficient and confident than a St Andrew’s student and would be bored to death there. My kid visited for a weekend and said they’d go crazy there. Compared to Edinburgh there’s absolutely nothing to do. It also has far too many American students, which detracts from the international experience. It’s almost like a junior year abroad program. You don’t truly get the entire international experience in most of them.

But how do you know? You haven't visited, your child didn't go there. This is the stuff that drives me nuts. You are giving an uninformed opinion about something you know nothing about, just because you want it to be true. I've been to Edinburgh many times, and I agree it is a wonderful city and a fantastic school. I can say that and believe it and it doesn't mean that St Andrews or any other city or town or any other university in Scotland, the UK, or the US isn't equally fantastic.

Well, for starters, I have family friends who have more than one kid there now, and they were B+ students in high school.

[Anonymous]

Who cares whether one is ranked a little bit above the other?? It's all about fit - even if your child is heading to the UK instead of staying here for college.

FWIW- my friend's DD was accepted at Columbia and chose Edinburgh. She is happy there.

[Anonymous]

DS finished his BA at Edinburgh and loved it. Got into Harvard Law from there.

It’s my oldest son’s first choice.