Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 02:30     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Sorry for long post.

I went to St Andrews in late 1980s/early 1990s - my roommates then (as I’m sure now) were just missses at Oxbridge due generally to disastrous interview outcomes. It became a bit of parlor game to listen to their high stakes, often zany recalls of those failed interviews…Whippet smart from UK and Commonwealth, generally.

All true about independent-minded, worldly mature kids. The Americans were mostly JYAers - junior year anbroad - and remarkably immature in those days. The other Americans were a few fifty year-olds-trapped-in-eighteen-year-old bodies boarding school kids mostly if not all from New England elite schools. Well resourced kids would be what they would be called today.

Excellent choice for ADHD kids in particular (you get to really narrow focus earlier than US, really interesting crowd - one of my girlfriends was Danish, one from Hong Kong and one from Madagascar! All worldly, blazing quick minded and kind beauties. Best part (and I’ve never been a drinker) was the fact you could go to bars at 18).

How many American Universities give you a comprehensive exam in your major in your 4th year? None that I’m aware - to this day. That’s honestly why I left after 2 years. My favorite professor noted Americans often received 2.1 or 2.2 (low scores if you wanted a job at top flight consulting in those days after graduation).

It wasn’t b/c Americans weren’t bright enough but he noted exam culture is like a golf stroke: these UK/European kids have had high stakes exams since 5th grade and very well practiced.

So I departed.

Ended up at Cornell - more upstate New York crowd with extremely high GPA which did the trick but I look back VERY fondly on those St Andrews days…hope this helps someone on the fence.
Anonymous
Post 04/12/2025 00:14     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Although St Andrews has the highest UCAS tariff of the 3 Stockbridge universities its application process (common app) is familiar and the 4 year degree offers some flexibility in terms of double majoring.

That and a $20-$30K per year discount over a number of US choices and St Andrews becomes a very attractive option for an independent kid.


come on now


Come on all you want. For UK students it is just as hard to get in St Andrews. It is a fact. You might not like it. But it is true.


Maybe that’s true - it’s a small university and it takes a lot of international students? But it is nowhere near as desirable for UK students as Oxbridge and its reputation is nowhere close in the UK. It’s totally fine that you like it and that it’s popular with Americans but it is not in the same league as Oxbridge. I can tell you that as a student in a top school in London in 1990/2000s, only one student in my class of 120 wanted to go to St Andrews (she was friends with Prince William and that was why!) and now that my friends have kids of this age in top schools in London it is similar.


Im not PP. I don think PP claimed this was on the same league as Oxbridge. That was not the Point. The comment was simply pointing out the FACTUAL statement on the “CALIBER” of UK students attending St Andrews. The UCAS Tariff for RUK (non Scottish) is the highest alongside Oxford and Cambridge.
1/3 UK (non Scottish), 1/3 Scottish and 1/3 International. 20% American.

Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 11:45     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Although St Andrews has the highest UCAS tariff of the 3 Stockbridge universities its application process (common app) is familiar and the 4 year degree offers some flexibility in terms of double majoring.

That and a $20-$30K per year discount over a number of US choices and St Andrews becomes a very attractive option for an independent kid.


come on now


Come on all you want. For UK students it is just as hard to get in St Andrews. It is a fact. You might not like it. But it is true.


Maybe that’s true - it’s a small university and it takes a lot of international students? But it is nowhere near as desirable for UK students as Oxbridge and its reputation is nowhere close in the UK. It’s totally fine that you like it and that it’s popular with Americans but it is not in the same league as Oxbridge. I can tell you that as a student in a top school in London in 1990/2000s, only one student in my class of 120 wanted to go to St Andrews (she was friends with Prince William and that was why!) and now that my friends have kids of this age in top schools in London it is similar.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 11:32     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am not sold on the idea of going abroad for four years. If you can’t get in ivies, what difference does it make between going to Rochester and McGill? What difference between Tulane and St. Andrew’s?


Nobody has to sell you on anything. You can do whatever you want. Just zero reason to come here and criticize those that think different than you.

I have been a Mgmt Consulting and Investment recruiter for 20 years. I’m in NYC. About 13 yrs ago was my first placement of a St Andrews grad. Since then, after conversations with clients, I have placed my fair share of recent St Andrews grads at some of the top firms in NYC. These are the same people hiring at only 10 to 15 colleges in the US. And guess what….they are also hiring Oxbridge kids and St Andrews kids…..they are not hiring Rochester or Tulane kids….This has been my experience. I dont have a kid that goes to St Andrews and have zero attachment to the school other than having placed a bunch of them (more and more with each passing year) at top firms. So much to like about the quality of these kids coming through….


Crazy capitaliser strikes again. So faux.
Isn’t Bucknell better for that pipeline?
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 11:31     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.


On par with more than that. If the future King of England attended, you know this is a school acceptable to the aristocracy. The idea that that would be appealing to (some, not all, before you come at me) private school kids is a no-brainer.


It’s not just William and Harry who went to StA. A lot of Europe’s royalty goes there.
It’s an excellent school. It’s inexpensive for people with dual citizenship (EU passports) too. Less hand holding than in the US, which I consider a plus. Students there tend to be more independent than in the US except maybe be the top 20 or so US universities that are full of driven, focused kids. No Greek life, which is also a plus imo.


Misinfo.
EU Applications Continue to Dive Post-Brexit
Writer: Hannah Kershaw
Hannah Kershaw
Apr 6, 2023


EU applications at the University of St Andrews are down 56% since 2020, coinciding with a surge in tuition fees after Brexit. EU and Swiss nationals are no longer entitled to the £1,820 home fee status in Scotland, which was previously required by EU legislation.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 09:34     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am not sold on the idea of going abroad for four years. If you can’t get in ivies, what difference does it make between going to Rochester and McGill? What difference between Tulane and St. Andrew’s?


Nobody has to sell you on anything. You can do whatever you want. Just zero reason to come here and criticize those that think different than you.

I have been a Mgmt Consulting and Investment recruiter for 20 years. I’m in NYC. About 13 yrs ago was my first placement of a St Andrews grad. Since then, after conversations with clients, I have placed my fair share of recent St Andrews grads at some of the top firms in NYC. These are the same people hiring at only 10 to 15 colleges in the US. And guess what….they are also hiring Oxbridge kids and St Andrews kids…..they are not hiring Rochester or Tulane kids….This has been my experience. I dont have a kid that goes to St Andrews and have zero attachment to the school other than having placed a bunch of them (more and more with each passing year) at top firms. So much to like about the quality of these kids coming through….


Isn’t Bucknell better for that pipeline?


The Bucknell nut is back!
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 09:21     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Do you also place kids from McGill?
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 03:24     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am not sold on the idea of going abroad for four years. If you can’t get in ivies, what difference does it make between going to Rochester and McGill? What difference between Tulane and St. Andrew’s?


Nobody has to sell you on anything. You can do whatever you want. Just zero reason to come here and criticize those that think different than you.

I have been a Mgmt Consulting and Investment recruiter for 20 years. I’m in NYC. About 13 yrs ago was my first placement of a St Andrews grad. Since then, after conversations with clients, I have placed my fair share of recent St Andrews grads at some of the top firms in NYC. These are the same people hiring at only 10 to 15 colleges in the US. And guess what….they are also hiring Oxbridge kids and St Andrews kids…..they are not hiring Rochester or Tulane kids….This has been my experience. I dont have a kid that goes to St Andrews and have zero attachment to the school other than having placed a bunch of them (more and more with each passing year) at top firms. So much to like about the quality of these kids coming through….


Isn’t Bucknell better for that pipeline?
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 02:24     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:I am not sold on the idea of going abroad for four years. If you can’t get in ivies, what difference does it make between going to Rochester and McGill? What difference between Tulane and St. Andrew’s?


Nobody has to sell you on anything. You can do whatever you want. Just zero reason to come here and criticize those that think different than you.

I have been a Mgmt Consulting and Investment recruiter for 20 years. I’m in NYC. About 13 yrs ago was my first placement of a St Andrews grad. Since then, after conversations with clients, I have placed my fair share of recent St Andrews grads at some of the top firms in NYC. These are the same people hiring at only 10 to 15 colleges in the US. And guess what….they are also hiring Oxbridge kids and St Andrews kids…..they are not hiring Rochester or Tulane kids….This has been my experience. I dont have a kid that goes to St Andrews and have zero attachment to the school other than having placed a bunch of them (more and more with each passing year) at top firms. So much to like about the quality of these kids coming through….
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 02:18     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Although St Andrews has the highest UCAS tariff of the 3 Stockbridge universities its application process (common app) is familiar and the 4 year degree offers some flexibility in terms of double majoring.

That and a $20-$30K per year discount over a number of US choices and St Andrews becomes a very attractive option for an independent kid.


come on now


Come on all you want. For UK students it is just as hard to get in St Andrews. It is a fact. You might not like it. But it is true.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2025 00:09     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Another plus is the peers. The UK peers you will have at St Andrews are on par with the top kids in the US. It is much harder for them to get in and most need A*A*A* just to be considered or a 42+/45 IB.


On par with more than that. If the future King of England attended, you know this is a school acceptable to the aristocracy. The idea that that would be appealing to (some, not all, before you come at me) private school kids is a no-brainer.


It’s not just William and Harry who went to StA. A lot of Europe’s royalty goes there.
It’s an excellent school. It’s inexpensive for people with dual citizenship (EU passports) too. Less hand holding than in the US, which I consider a plus. Students there tend to be more independent than in the US except maybe be the top 20 or so US universities that are full of driven, focused kids. No Greek life, which is also a plus imo.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2025 23:48     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Oxbridge is close to impossible for US students. The field specific exams plus the interviews make it very, very hard. By contrast, St Andrews is very easy. At DC’s private school, the acceptance rate has been 100 percent over the past 5 years.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2025 22:27     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:Although St Andrews has the highest UCAS tariff of the 3 Stockbridge universities its application process (common app) is familiar and the 4 year degree offers some flexibility in terms of double majoring.

That and a $20-$30K per year discount over a number of US choices and St Andrews becomes a very attractive option for an independent kid.


come on now
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2025 21:27     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
Anonymous wrote:I am not sold on the idea of going abroad for four years. If you can’t get in ivies, what difference does it make between going to Rochester and McGill? What difference between Tulane and St. Andrew’s?


That is fine. It is still a free country. You don't have to go abroad. Do what makes you happy.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2025 20:46     Subject: Why do so many private school kids go to St Andrews?
PP. not to mention there are lacs. Today there was a post about ED middlebury. There are so many good options within US.