If I understand correctly, St Andrews participates in the Common Application and Edinburgh (like most UK universities) does not. Presumably a US student who is committed to studying in the UK would go through the UCAS process without hesitation but perhaps there are some who find the ease of the Common Application to tip the balance to St Andrews?

DC got a masters at Edinburgh not long ago at a fraction of the cost of a similar degree in the US. Loved everything about it but the weather. And, yea, it has a much better reputation in the UK than St Andrews regardless of the rankings. The locals consider St Andrews to be more of a finishing school.

Anonymous wrote:Edinburgh is viewed above St Andrews (why on earth is this random podunk school constantly being brought up on this board?), but we must once again ask why an American would elect to go to school in Scotland, of all places.

Why not? Scotland is great. I’ve never been to St Andrews but Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the world.

Edinburgh is viewed above St Andrews (why on earth is this random podunk school constantly being brought up on this board?), but we must once again ask why an American would elect to go to school in Scotland, of all places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC applied to University of Edinburgh, and was accepted. Ultimately, DC selected University of St Andrews instead because it is smaller and they felt it would be easier to integrate into the community and make friends. It's also in the middle of nowhere so it felt safer than Edinburgh.

I'm sorry but what a joke. Edinburgh is an extremely safe and super fun city. People really are clueless.

Why must you be so rude? These clueless people are 17 year old students contemplating moving abroad, alone. I can totally understand why a small town would feel safer.

For starters, these 17 year old students have parents who should know better. It makes no sense to me that a 17 year old would not be afraid to travel all the away across the ocean to attend a foreign university, yet is too afraid to attend one in one of the world's great cities. St Andrews might as well be Grinnell. Great school, sure -- but in the middle of nowhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC applied to University of Edinburgh, and was accepted. Ultimately, DC selected University of St Andrews instead because it is smaller and they felt it would be easier to integrate into the community and make friends. It's also in the middle of nowhere so it felt safer than Edinburgh.

I'm sorry but what a joke. Edinburgh is an extremely safe and super fun city. People really are clueless.

Why must you be so rude? These clueless people are 17 year old students contemplating moving abroad, alone. I can totally understand why a small town would feel safer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to live in Scotland. St Andrews is much better ranked than Edinburgh, both in terms of academics and research. If you want a UK uni, St Andrews has steadily improved in the rankings and is now at top. I'm sure Oxbridge will wrestle the title away, because they can't believe they're not n1 and will do everything they can to reclaim that title... but St Andrews will stay in the top 5.

It's a bit far for my oldest, who is making a college list now and prefers to stay close to our new home in the US. But perhaps my DD may be interested down the road...

Did you mix up your universities in your post? St Andrews is a great school but it has literally never been ranked higher than Edinburgh.

British ranking publications inexplicably place St Andrews ahead of Edinburgh. Global rankings place Edinburgh well ahead of St Andrews and among the top 15 or 20 schools in the world. So it depends where you look.

There have been previous threads about the virtues (or not) of St Andrews. Most of my British friends would definitely place Edinburgh above St Andrews but they all graduated years ago and could well be out of date. According to the ranking tables St Andrews is the best university in the UK and yet none of my friends want their kids to go there. It's entirely possible St Andrews has learnt how to game the rankings, which is particularly important if you are trying to attract full fee paying American students, which it clearly is. You should probably focus on the ranking of the faculty or field of study your child would be interested in.

Note that St Andrews has about 8,000 undergrads and 2,000 postgrads with 45% being international students. The kids I know who went there mostly hang out with other American kids rather than getting a more international experience. The population of the town is about 17,000. Edinburgh has 23,000 undergrads and 12,000 postgrads with a much lower percentage of international students. The city has a population of over 500,000. I am guessing it would feel like a more international experience.

Our native English section in a French private high school in central Paris sends one or more kids to Edinburgh every year (and to Cambridge, LCE, UCL, Kings). We are close with one American freshman who is happy there, and our American DC coming from said high school will also apply next year. Don't know anyone from our school at St. Andrews, but I recall something about W&M having a popular dual-degree program there for international relations majors.

Anonymous wrote:My DC applied to University of Edinburgh, and was accepted. Ultimately, DC selected University of St Andrews instead because it is smaller and they felt it would be easier to integrate into the community and make friends. It's also in the middle of nowhere so it felt safer than Edinburgh.

I'm sorry but what a joke. Edinburgh is an extremely safe and super fun city. People really are clueless.

My DC applied to University of Edinburgh, and was accepted. Ultimately, DC selected University of St Andrews instead because it is smaller and they felt it would be easier to integrate into the community and make friends. It's also in the middle of nowhere so it felt safer than Edinburgh.

Anonymous wrote:I used to live in Scotland. St Andrews is much better ranked than Edinburgh, both in terms of academics and research. If you want a UK uni, St Andrews has steadily improved in the rankings and is now at top. I'm sure Oxbridge will wrestle the title away, because they can't believe they're not n1 and will do everything they can to reclaim that title... but St Andrews will stay in the top 5.

It's a bit far for my oldest, who is making a college list now and prefers to stay close to our new home in the US. But perhaps my DD may be interested down the road...

Did you mix up your universities in your post? St Andrews is a great school but it has literally never been ranked higher than Edinburgh.

I used to live in Scotland. St Andrews is much better ranked than Edinburgh, both in terms of academics and research. If you want a UK uni, St Andrews has steadily improved in the rankings and is now at top. I'm sure Oxbridge will wrestle the title away, because they can't believe they're not n1 and will do everything they can to reclaim that title... but St Andrews will stay in the top 5.

It's a bit far for my oldest, who is making a college list now and prefers to stay close to our new home in the US. But perhaps my DD may be interested down the road...

Good question. I actually think Edinburgh is a much better school.

You hear a lot about American students applying to St Andrews in Scotland. In fact, many private schools (and public, I’m sure) in the Northeast have at least one or two students going every few years if not every year. However, you hear less about American students going to the University of Edinburgh. They’re both ranked similarly and they’re both in Scotland so I guess I’m wondering why? Is it because there’s already an American contingent in St Andrews? Or the fact that it can offer a closer to American university experience since it’s not in the middle of a bigger city? Or another reason? I’m just curious. Thanks for any insights.