University of St Andrews

Fife Park vs Albany Park

Hi guys,

I don't know much about these two residences, just what is in the uni website. So, as I think of choosing one of them to be my first choice, which one would you recommend and why? Just list me the advantages and disadvantages of each. Thanks !

Reply 1

Purplestardust

Hey, I've lived in both, so heres my take:-

Albany

Pros
- Refurbished kitchens
- The houses have common rooms, so it tends to be more social, so it an be easier to meet people and have people over for gatherings and stuff
-Both are distant from town, but Albany is deifnately closer by about 10 minutes walking
- Close to the beach

Cons
- Rooms are extremely small, smaller than Fife Park
- More claustrophobic IMO due to small room size, small corridors also
- No 'shuttle' type bus service to and from town- there is a bus which can take you to town and stops opposite Albany, but it is not as regular as the DRA service which I discuss below
- Feeling of being more remote from the other halls like New Hall, Uni Hall, DRA etc.

(OLD) Fife Park

Pros
-Cost- Cheaper than Albany
-Rooms are bigger than Albany
-Close to DRA which is obviously the biggest hall, so good social events tend to be organised, and the DRA lounge has a bar and a canteen which serves hot food, as well as a reception desk- Albany Park doesn't have as nice central facilities
- Proximity to DRA, New Hall, Uni Hall etc. means you're surrounded by more people

Cons
-Main problem is the distance away from town. Its about a 20/25 minute walk. There is a bus which goes to and from town every 20 minutes and gets you to toen in 5 mins which runs from 9am to 6pm on weekdays, but not on weekends...and if you miss it and ur late for class...well good luck LOL
-Houses have no common rooms, so its less social, you can't really have proper house parties without a common room unless ur gonna party in the kitchen X-D, as opossed to Albany where you can have quite a few people in the same house at once, so people rarely have parties in Fife Park
-Heating is crappy, only comes on twice a day and can get VERY cold in winter, but heaters are banned *not that it stops me though LOL*

For a first year, I would choose Albany because I met more people there than I've met living in any other Hall because of the amount of parties and gatherings people had due to the way the houses are laid out i.e they have common rooms...Albanys definately the most sociable Hall I'VE lived in personally...

By the way, as a general piece of advice: STAY THE **** AWAY FROM ANDREW MELVILLE. You'll thank me at some point X-D xxxx

University of St Andrews

Reply 2

GREED

Thanks bud ! Appreciate your advice :smile:

Reply 3

DanielFNG

Something else you might want to take in to consideration is how far you'll have to walk to get to lectures. If you're taking Maths, Physics or Chemistry then Albany Park is much farther away from your lecture theatres than Fife Park, and walking the extra distance every day could get annoying. But it's not really a deal breaker, especially if you have a bike.

I was given Albany Park after the first round of selection (because I'd chosen self catered, which I imagine you have) but after noticing how far away away it was I asked for a change and they put me in Melville, which is far closer and, for the record, a fantastic place to live. :smile:

Reply 4

Usernameitis

Excellent, someone has just made the EXACT thread I wanted to make. Kudos my good sir!

Reply 5

Scharre

I think the only hall you can specifially choose on your application form is Andrew Melville Hall...
They just ask you what type of accomodation you would prefer, e.g. en-suite self-catered/ en suite catered etc.

Fife Park vs Albany Park

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