Reply to How do Americans view universities abroad such as McGill, St Andrews, or similar?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it is so interesting that uninformed Americans are denigrating St Andrews as a place for rich American kids when the tuition (even including airfare) is less than University of MD.  We are considering it for our high stats kid because it is a bargain - great school for less than you pay here.[/quote]

Uh, uninformed Americans? The most pointed critiques of the school are coming from Brits themselves. The simultaneous combination of intense pretentiousness and mediocrity at St Andrews and among its boosters is a huge turnoff.[/quote]

I truly have no dog in this fight other than curiosity because my DC attends another UK uni but the various league tables all rank St Andrews very highly. Sometimes prestige is a lagging indicator. Who knows?!?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankings_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom[/quote]

My DC goes to school in the UK. When she decided to apply, we looked at rankings to try to get some idea of what else was out there beyond the most famous universities and did consult rankings. Having heard her perspective as someone in the UK and done a bit of digging myself, the criteria that go into making these rankings are rather misleading. In the Complete University Guide ranking, for example, student satisfaction - based on a survey that is frequently boycotted and not a good representative sample of UK uni students - is weighted higher than any other category, including degree completion and per-pupil allocation of academic funds.

These criteria favor St. Andrews over other universities that are generally considered more prestigious within the UK, such as Imperial, Durham, and so-called "red-brick" unis like Manchester and Birmingham. St. Andrews has a smaller student-to-stall ratio (at 8,000 students, it has one of the smallest student populations in the country), high rates of degree completion, students that tend (at least stereotypically) to come from more affluent backgrounds, and, likely, high degrees of student satisfaction. Still, the fact that the [i]Times[/i] rankings put St. Andrews above Oxford or Cambridge would be laughable to most Brits.

That being said, St. Andrews is still a great option for American students, even if it does not have a reputation as being *the* most prestigious university in the UK. It's better-known within the United States than, say, University College London or Imperial (which most British people would say are more "prestigious") thanks to the pub it got from Will and Kate, and because it's within the Scottish system, students are able to study more than one subject, as opposed to the more restrictive and rigid courses within England. Because of the high level of international (and American) students, DC and I found St. Andrews to be quite good at communicating; her application was processed quickly (about two months after applying!) and there was much more frequent correspondence and publicity materials than at any of the others she applied to - it felt much more like an American college than anywhere else, which could be nice for students who feel ambivalent about taking the plunge and going to another university. Additionally, it's in a freaking beautiful part of the world with some stunning architecture. There are far worse places to spend four years and if your DC wants to take some time to study in an ancient place that is beautiful and rich with history, there are few places that offer what St. Andrews can. Combine this with the quick application processing time (being in to at least one school is such a relief) and the relatively lower tuition costs and I see a winner!

Tl;dr, rankings disproportionately favor St. Andrews because of its smaller size and large endowment - just like USNW, etc. But just because it might be overrated doesn't mean it's worth writing off entirely if you're interested in studying abroad for four years at a beautiful university.

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