U of St Andrews - Admissions per State

[Anonymous]

Meant to say no merit anywhere….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are undecided on StA, what other schools are in the mix?

DD just selected St Andrews over Georgetown and W&M OOS and UNC OOS.

Interesting….I went to Georgetown and my daughter is also in at W&M but selecting St Andrews instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are undecided on StA, what other schools are in the mix?

DD just selected St Andrews over Georgetown and W&M OOS and UNC OOS.

Interesting….I went to Georgetown and my daughter is also in at W&M but selecting St Andrews instead.

+1

[Anonymous]

Congrats! Do your kids already have friends at StA?

[Anonymous]

A few clothing suggestions for new StA students. Several pairs of wool socks. LL Bean gumshoes or Bean boots sized to wear with the wool socks. Not necessarily lots of snow, but it definitely will be damp. Have layers of clothing. Wool sweaters, long sleeved shirts, flannel long sleeved shirts, and take lined chinos. It might be cold outside, but much warmer inside a building and layers help one avoid being too cold or overheated. Have a waterproof shell/jacket with lots of pockets. Wool gloves. Waterproof gloves. Wool cap.

Also, men should have a coat and tie with matching pants, socks, and dress shoes. Not needed often, but good to have when that is appropriate attire. Buy a StA school tie once there. The old school tie is definitely a thing in the UK. Women should have at least one semi-formal outfit also.

Also consider getting a small LED torch (flashlight) for use as needed at night or in early morning.

Waterstones is the main UK bookstore. Same CEO and owners as B&N, but it is a separate business. Amazon Uk offer overnight delivery if whatever to most of the UK. Tesco is the usual discounted grocery. Other grocers are usually more expensive. Get a student rail discount card. Nearest train station is Leuchars on the LNER main line and the 99 bus then connects Leuchars to StA.

Try to live in town (university accommodation is preferable) rather than the expansion university accommodation which is a 20 min bus ride away from town.

[Anonymous]

When parents visit, a bed and breakfast will be much more affordable than the hotel at the golf course.

[Anonymous]

The Central is the main pub. Reasonable pub food and many handles. Sundays they also have roast beef.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few clothing suggestions for new StA students. Several pairs of wool socks. LL Bean gumshoes or Bean boots sized to wear with the wool socks. Not necessarily lots of snow, but it definitely will be damp. Have layers of clothing. Wool sweaters, long sleeved shirts, flannel long sleeved shirts, and take lined chinos. It might be cold outside, but much warmer inside a building and layers help one avoid being too cold or overheated. Have a waterproof shell/jacket with lots of pockets. Wool gloves. Waterproof gloves. Wool cap.

Also, men should have a coat and tie with matching pants, socks, and dress shoes. Not needed often, but good to have when that is appropriate attire. Buy a StA school tie once there. The old school tie is definitely a thing in the UK. Women should have at least one semi-formal outfit also.

Also consider getting a small LED torch (flashlight) for use as needed at night or in early morning.

Waterstones is the main UK bookstore. Same CEO and owners as B&N, but it is a separate business. Amazon Uk offer overnight delivery if whatever to most of the UK. Tesco is the usual discounted grocery. Other grocers are usually more expensive. Get a student rail discount card. Nearest train station is Leuchars on the LNER main line and the 99 bus then connects Leuchars to StA.

Try to live in town (university accommodation is preferable) rather than the expansion university accommodation which is a 20 min bus ride away from town.

Thank you for all the insight!!! You are very kind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats! Do your kids already have friends at StA?

DS doesn't. Nobody from his school in Texas ever went there. He has connected with a few people through LinkedIn but no friends yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews is in the mix alongside U.S. T30s because it offers the chance to dive deeper into academic interests while gaining the benefits of an international experience (socially, intellectually, and in terms of personal independence), all without sacrificing a sense of community.

His hesitation stems largely from not fully understanding what the student body at St Andrews is like, or what the true U.S. equivalents/proxies would be to help him understand that. Since StA is a rare choice at his prep school, the content most readily available to him tends to focus on incredibly high satisfaction score, the relatively high offer rate, internet flame wars about prestige, and a mixed bag of YouTube videos that range from ultra-privileged party types to super chill, down-to-earth students that don’t drink. Very contradictory information.

This thread is already super helpful. Anything more to add on this front from those with first/second hand experience would be wonderful.

Parent of recent STA grad currently at Harvard Law here.

I wouldn’t worried about internet flame wars about prestige. Utterly ridiculous. This has increased after 2 UK publications put STA above Oxbridge 2 years in a row. The reaction was swift. There should be no fantasies here the STA is above Oxbridge. But that doesnt mean it is not an amazing university that is focused on undergraduate education.

His UK classmates will have one of the and sometimes the highest tariff rates of any university in the UK. His UK classmates wont be avg. They are smart driven kids. The sense of community is amazing.
For an independent kid who knows how to study on his own without the need of constant feedback like quizzes/homework etc, this is a great environment. Your 1st two years (anywhere in Scotland) is basically PASS or FAIL. Those grades do not compute into your GPA (first, 2:1, 2:2 etc). So you have two years to get your act together explore other modules (most of the time you can one module in your programme and 2 modules that could be anything). My niece did Management, and then a module in Italian and one in MacroEcon. Her friend was in Econ and besides the Macro semester 1 modules, she tool Film studies and Art History. This gives you even more time to mature a little, make sure you want to study what you sign up to study and prepare for the honors years. While these first two year modules are assigned a grade (0-20) These grades are irrelevant. All it matters is that you pass. Once you are in your Honors years (Jr and Sr) then your grades will matter.

Offer rates are irrelevant. Specially for international. They have 20%+ Americans. They know the vast majority of these kids come from wealthy backgrounds, therefore they are competing with Private University in the US for the same talent. Being across the pond, means they need to have a decent offer rate to guarantee a decent yield of qualified applicants.

One thing to keep in mind is look at not only the Satisfaction Rate (16 of 17 yrs the highest rate in the UK) but also the retention rate. STA has a 97%+ retention rate for 1st years. This is almost unheard of in the US and very few in the UK match that. This a huge deal. Hard to keep that high of a retention rate if kids are not happy, failing, or not enjoying their time there.

As far as reputation, again, this is so relative. If the plans is to stay in the UK, the answer is obvious. The reputation is great. If you come back to the US, there are a lot of companies that active recruit there. Specially consulting firms.

If the goal is grad school back home (Law School for instance) this would be great. As far as prospects back in the US, STA has one of the highest population of Americans graduating year year (about 500 or so on avg per year). Assuming 75% comes back home (I Don’t know the number), that is a large number. Top US employers know and understand STA. My cousin runs a boutique recruiting firm in New England placing recent grads up to 5 yrs of experience in consulting, investment and corporate jobs. He has run through several STA grads over the years and they have all placed very well. You also have to remember and be mindful that since the avg type of American kid that goes there are well connected and wealthy (i know they are not all wealthy, but a big number is) and they come from NY, LA, SF, CT, DC/VA, they end up getting great placements at some of the top companies in the US which helps with diffusing information about STA in corporate America. Just look at LinkedIn to see where these grads are working in those cities.

As far as true equivalents that is a very difficult question and a very personal one. It is so hard to compare two completely different education systems. One the one hand the type of UK kid that attends St Andrews are in the top 3% of their “high schools”. Does it mean it is on par with Ivy Leagues? Not necessarily. Certain subjects are incredible, others not so much. As you can see in this thread people are choosing STA over other t30 programs. This is pretty common, specially if the US uni your kid got is is a full pay private. That will make the ST cost 50% of their US counterpart. If you have merit, then the story changes. Also, dont forget there is a scholarship for brilliant international students.

As for weather, most people dont realize but STA weather is not that bad coming New England. Winters are not as cold (rare to go below 30), and not as wet (drier than NYC on an annual basis) and they actually get more sunshine hours in a year than anywhere else in the UK.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/sunniest-university-st-andrews-to-harness-solar-power-n9nf96xl8


The final almost irrelevant plus, but a nice one, hard to find another university in such an amazing setting like St Andrew’s to spend 4 years. Tiny town of 20k, where the uni is 10k. The village and campus are intertwined. Great setting where you basically know everyone. Amazing place to spend 4 years focusing on your studies and making friends that will last a lifetime.

That is a highest retention rate than almost all US colleges. Pretty impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who are undecided on StA, what other schools are in the mix?

For my kid: Bates, Wisconsin, Northeastern, UVM, UCSC, UCSB (waitlist), Boulder, DU.

My kid is also deciding between CU Boulder (in-state, direct admit to BS Computer Science within the College of Engineering and Applied Science, $16k scholarship), UBC Vancouver (Faculty of Science), and St Andrews (BSs Biology, Hons).

He just got his St Andrews offer earlier today. We visited last summer and fell in love with the place. He applied in September and we've spent the last six months in suspense. He applied for a joint degree with computer science but I later discovered that it's next to impossible to get admitted for that particular joint degree (source: https://www.admissionreport.com/university-of-st-andrews/bsc-biology-and-computer-science). That said, from what I recall, depending on what classes he takes, he could still earn that joint degree (someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that).

I just hope the exchange rate holds up. When I got my master's from Oxford 20 years ago, it was 1.85 dollars per pound. Painful. Is there anyone here from the future? If so, please advise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in CT and there are a few mid range boarding schools that send 4-8 (always girls for some reason) to st Andrews every year.

Is it because they think they can meet a Prince there?

I applied to St. Andrews for a semester abroad in my junior year. It happened to be the same year Prince William had enrolled, and the admissions person told me they had an unprecedented number of applications from female American college students. I didn’t get in (wondered if in part because of that factor). So I went instead to a different country, where I met my future husband…a Brit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in CT and there are a few mid range boarding schools that send 4-8 (always girls for some reason) to st Andrews every year.

Is it because they think they can meet a Prince there?

I applied to St. Andrews for a semester abroad in my junior year. It happened to be the same year Prince William had enrolled, and the admissions person told me they had an unprecedented number of applications from female American college students. I didn’t get in (wondered if in part because of that factor). So I went instead to a different country, where I met my future husband…a Brit!

American girls were pitiful…

[Anonymous]

blame Disney

[Anonymous]

Is there an offer holder event in the US for US accepted students?