How did St. Andrew's become such a big draw for Americans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the St Andrew’s boosting. It’s a third rate school and its location makes access to US-based internships and jobs near impossible.

Yet for the past decade it has been ranked alongside Oxbridge is a variety of UK ranking schemes and a growing number of firms are hiring St Andrews grads.

BS. Just stop.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2025/sep/13/the-guardian-university-guide-2026-the-rankings

There are several well-used rankings in the UK that that cite St Andrews higher than either Cambridge and/or Oxford

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the St Andrew’s boosting. It’s a third rate school and its location makes access to US-based internships and jobs near impossible.

Yet for the past decade it has been ranked alongside Oxbridge is a variety of UK ranking schemes and a growing number of firms are hiring St Andrews grads.

BS. Just stop.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2025/sep/13/the-guardian-university-guide-2026-the-rankings

There are several well-used rankings in the UK that that cite St Andrews higher than either Cambridge and/or Oxford

Oh, and this has been going on for several years at least

[Anonymous]

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-university-outranks-oxbridge-latest-33706078

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our small NYC private 15+ girls are applying - I think more than any other school. It's super popular for private school kids who are used to a cosseted environment, although not necessarily their first choice. My dd isn't applying bc she would be happy at UT-Austin but many of her private school friends do not want a state university. They want to feel like they are at a posh, exclusive school.

I see what you mean, there are definitely a lot of wealthy kids there
But US schools are known to be very overprotected compared to those in the UK, including St Andrews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The negative perception of St Andrews is primarily tied to ignorance- people think because they haven’t heard of it, it’s not a good school.

In the UK, St Andrews is one of the hardest schools to gain entry. It’s consistently been ranked very high in UK league tables.

Some US students would choose a T20 over St Andrews, but some people will choose St Andrews over a T20. It comes down to preference.

Mine did, as well as a "lesser" Ivy and a 1-2-3 ranked SLAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the 2025-2026 academic year, international undergraduate tuition at the University of St Andrews is £31,670 for Arts, Divinity, or Science, and £37,730 for Medicine. The total estimated cost of attendance for the 2024-2025 academic year was £45,678, which includes tuition, accommodation, travel, books, and living expenses.

that equals just under $61K per year (with potential 10% increases year on year) for 4 yrs.

So at least 30% less than a private university.

someone posted with better numbers, not AI numbers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-university-outranks-oxbridge-latest-33706078

Uh, Insider.co.uk is a Scottish business magazine so hardly an authoritative resource

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-university-outranks-oxbridge-latest-33706078

Uh, Insider.co.uk is a Scottish business magazine so hardly an authoritative resource

+1. Times Higher Education is a much better, respected ranking service and has Oxford as no. 1 in the world for the last ten years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's often a pick for private school kids who can't get in somewhere more elite here. A family I knew drew the line at Colgate and when their son didn't get admitted there, they settled on St. Andrews.

It's obviously a good school, but I'm not sure the degree holds as much power if you plan to come back to the US for employment post graduation.

About right. It's somewhere between Colgate and Bucknell. Can't get in Colgate and don't want to go to Bucknell, that's where StA comes in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's often a pick for private school kids who can't get in somewhere more elite here. A family I knew drew the line at Colgate and when their son didn't get admitted there, they settled on St. Andrews.

It's obviously a good school, but I'm not sure the degree holds as much power if you plan to come back to the US for employment post graduation.

About right. It's somewhere between Colgate and Bucknell. Can't get in Colgate and don't want to go to Bucknell, that's where StA comes in.

This is inaccurate and has 0 basis. Where is your data to back this?

Look at the UK league tables, St Andrews has a similar graduate prospectus score to Oxford and LSE. This is an unbiased analysis highlighting that students from those 3 universities have similar graduate outcomes.

Go to any MD at an Investment banking firm or Consulting firm in London/NYC. They consider St Andrews a target school. I know this because I work directly with both parties and have discussed their perception of St Andrews.

None of my kids went to St Andrews, it doesn’t matter to me. People on this thread need to stop it with the baseless claims it only causes more drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's often a pick for private school kids who can't get in somewhere more elite here. A family I knew drew the line at Colgate and when their son didn't get admitted there, they settled on St. Andrews.

It's obviously a good school, but I'm not sure the degree holds as much power if you plan to come back to the US for employment post graduation.

About right. It's somewhere between Colgate and Bucknell. Can't get in Colgate and don't want to go to Bucknell, that's where StA comes in.

This is inaccurate and has 0 basis. Where is your data to back this?

Look at the UK league tables, St Andrews has a similar graduate prospectus score to Oxford and LSE. This is an unbiased analysis highlighting that students from those 3 universities have similar graduate outcomes.

Go to any MD at an Investment banking firm or Consulting firm in London/NYC. They consider St Andrews a target school. I know this because I work directly with both parties and have discussed their perception of St Andrews.

None of my kids went to St Andrews, it doesn’t matter to me. People on this thread need to stop it with the baseless claims it only causes more drama.
Just stop with the nonsense. St Andrews is not even on the radars of NY firms. It’s not a target school for US firms. Kids that want to do internships or seek full time employment in the US would be much better served by attending a US-based school. The academics may be wonderful, questionable, but the pipeline is non-existent,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the St Andrew’s boosting. It’s a third rate school and its location makes access to US-based internships and jobs near impossible.

Yet for the past decade it has been ranked alongside Oxbridge is a variety of UK ranking schemes and a growing number of firms are hiring St Andrews grads.

BS. Just stop.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2025/sep/13/the-guardian-university-guide-2026-the-rankings

There are several well-used rankings in the UK that that cite St Andrews higher than either Cambridge and/or Oxford

Yes, the old guard Oxbridge crowd are devastated that the moniker “Stoxbridge” has become part of the lexicon.

But times change and reputations in the case of St Andrews rise.

[Anonymous]

St Andrew’s is in the middle of nowhere. So many more opportunities at Oxbridge, LSE, Edinburgh, etc.

[Anonymous]

StA will take 3.2-3.4 private school kids in the US. 50% acceptance rate in the 3.2-3.4 band.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop with the St Andrew’s boosting. It’s a third rate school and its location makes access to US-based internships and jobs near impossible.

Yet for the past decade it has been ranked alongside Oxbridge is a variety of UK ranking schemes and a growing number of firms are hiring St Andrews grads.

BS. Just stop.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2025/sep/13/the-guardian-university-guide-2026-the-rankings

There are several well-used rankings in the UK that that cite St Andrews higher than either Cambridge and/or Oxford

Yes, the old guard Oxbridge crowd are devastated that the moniker “Stoxbridge” has become part of the lexicon.

But times change and reputations in the case of St Andrews rise.

You are the only person in this board who brings up the ridiculous “Stoxbridge” at every opportunity. I asked my DD, who is at Oxford now, and she says you are out of your mind.