University of St Andrews

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St Andrews University: A Warning

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Reply 20

xelarose

El Gennaro

I have stayed for around a month in St Andrews, and I can confirm everything you've said about the place. The only thing I don't know about is the quality of teaching. But the place is tiny with nothing to do.

Mental note: DO NOT GO TO ST. ANDREWS :p:

University of St Andrews

Reply 21

SiaSiaSia

That's exactly how I imagined it as well

yodude888

Reply 22

betheliza

I used to live in The Chimes in St Andrews. We had amazing parties that went on all night. I had a really good social life while I was there. I know there aren't any clubs but there is lots going on (the secret bunker for example). You just need some imagination.

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.

Reply 23

Sakujo

Looking at where St Andrews is on a map for the first time I have concluded that its in the middle of nowhere.

Reply 24

Installation

No need to deride people who enjoy stuff you don't 0_O, dunno if you're telling the truth about the place but jeez.

Reply 25

Fail-To-Impress

@Sakujo: Not really. A lot of Fife is countryside but there are loads of towns dotted about, by no means 'in the middle of nowhere'.

The bigger, more popular towns of Fife are down by the river Forth, on the way down to Edinburgh. I live in Fife, and really, the only time I ever go to St Andrews is on a summer's day to sit on the beach, it's very lovely then but I can't imagine living there.

Reply 26

duracell

Seriously, if you didn't visit before coming here for uni, that's your own fault, not St Andrews'.

As for the first two years being a complete waste, I'd like to see how well you'd do taking Honours modules straight off at the age of 18. :rolleyes:

You sound like St Andrews promised you a massive shopping centre and millions of clubs and a huge city, and now that it's not what you expected, you feel totally let down. The Union is open til 2am Thursday-Saturday, Lizard is open (I think) til 2am Thursday/Friday, Fat Sams in Dundee runs a bus there most Friday/Saturday nights... basically everyone (at least the people I know) who came here knew beforehand that's it's a small town with no 'clubs' per se, but still a good nightlife.
And anyone who isn't in a 'really cool awesome club' til at least 3 or 4 in the morning, isn't REALLY having fun? Suuuuuure.
If you thought you were going to be sunbathing on a beach in Scotland.. then I would say it is you who is delusional! We still go on beach-walks now.. have been doing since September, so that would be 5 months usage...

My point of view is that if you find something boring, it's probably because you're not making the most of it. We have never had problems finding something to do on the weekends/evenings: whether it be pub crawl, movie marathons in the tv rooms, drinking games/pool in the common room, bop, etc etc.. And I haven't even been to the castle/museum/aquarium/cathedral yet!

What I love most about your post is that bascially because you didn't do your research properly, you're slagging off a really good town and university because they didn't live up to your ridiculous expectations.

Reply 27

missbrowneyes

Hahahaha read your post and laughed OP...in terms of nightlife though is oxbridge much better? on the cambridge open day I kind of thought exactly the same thing:castles ( or castley looking buildings) and rabbits.

Reply 28

Angela_Beth

I was thinking of putting St Andrews as my insurance, but now I'm thinking twice..

I should do more research! :smile:

Thanks OP, better to know in advance.

Reply 29

moonlight_freakout

SiaSiaSia

That's exactly how I imagined it as well

I happened to look at your UCAS choices and if i could give you a piece of advice it'd be to firm bath instead of south hampton...it's such an amazing place!!!

Reply 30

L i b

You should have visited before you went, or at least tried to gain a reasonable idea of where you were applying to.

Slumpy

No idea about the uni.
As a place, who cares about the lack of shops? There's plenty for everything I need, certainly. And the beach is useable year round...
Also, if you think the clubs in Dundee are good, you're clearly quite confused.

There are at least some quite decent clubs in Dundee, or at least there certainly were a couple of years ago.

The beach is usable all year round? Yeah, you go and sit out on the sands in this ******* weather, see how much fun it is...

Fail-To-Impress

It is fairly isolated. Its proximity to Dundee and Edinburgh are its only saving grace, and transport links with either are pretty poor. The rest of Fife is, frankly, a hole which I can't imagine many students would want to visit.

invictus_veritas

Also St Andrews has a ridiculously awesome amount of pubs in the vicinity doesn't it? So it can't all be that bad!

Not really, just a fairly normal amount for a town its size, I'd say.

Reply 31

BigFudamental

Nice post OP, inside scoops on uni experiences are what TSR is all about.

Reply 32

Purplestardust

To everyone so far I'm glad I could help- I felt like I needed to say something, as someone who actually lives and studies here- what the place is actually like because I really hadn't so far read a coherant and intelligent assessment of the place so far that was brutally honest about what its like. Also, I'm glad for everyone I've warned about it so far!

Reply 33

sylarfangirl

That sounds great, apart from the teaching side of course.
Kind of wish I'd applied now. :/

Reply 34

Slumpy

L i b

Meh, there may be, but from St Andrews its always Fatties, which is pretty poor.

Pfft, sitting on the sands is for pansies, you gotta go swimming.

Reply 35

BrightGirl

duracell

What I love most about your post is that bascially because you didn't do your research properly, you're slagging off a really good town and university because they didn't live up to your ridiculous expectations.

They're expectations aren't ridiculous at all - they're what any student wants from a university experience.

I think this has confirmed my original decision to not pick St A's as one of my top 2.

Reply 36

WEB

Sakujo

Looking at where St Andrews is on a map for the first time I have concluded that its in the middle of nowhere.

yeah and a quick wikipedia search shows that the whole town has a smaller population than an average sized university LOL!!!

Reply 37

LAURA459

Of course, this is only your opinion.

And you sound like a snob.

Reply 38

duracell

BrightGirl

They're expectations aren't ridiculous at all - they're what any student wants from a university experience.

I think this has confirmed my original decision to not pick St A's as one of my top 2.

To be frank, I thought what any student wanted from a university experience was a really good 3/4 years with great people, that will eventually lead them on to something in the future. Must have missed the class that told us it was all about going out.