St Andrews University: A Warning

Wow, thanks for this! No, seriously, thanks! This is exactly what I was searching for. I visited St Andrews in October and it seemed to be extremely boring, however, I suppose I could go to Edinburgh every weekend or London every few weeks, so it shouldn't be too bad, and it may be great to study, yet the fact that you have to spend two years doing practically nothing puts me off- what's the point? Especially in a place as boring as that one. I'm not the most going out person but even I am starting to have second thoughts about the uni.
Either way, thanks for the lengthy explanation. It is much appreciated!

Do NOT let this put you off. I've grown up in some of the worlds busiest cities, London and Dubai, and smaller cities like Edinburgh and some of the best nights out I've had have been in St. Andrews. The difference between us and Edinburgh is we can choose to go out at a seconds notice. The pubs and bars are a 5 minute walk at most from the central halls. You should stay up there for a night with a few friends to see what a night in St. Andrews is like.

I just wasn't sure because I've grown up in Moscow and I currently live in London, so living in a really small town seriously made me question St Andrews as a firm choice.
Hm, yes, I've heard something about awesome parties there when the entire uni goes out partying. A friend of mine who lives in London said that it was incredible because of the amount of people present.
To be honest, I've given it some thought, and St Andrews is probably the best uni for me at the moment. To be fair though, I've only had two offers so far (St A and Edinburgh) and I still haven't heard from the other three, so we'll see.

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.

Not my intended student experience at all! University next year for me will be all studying and no drinking. I have never drunk alcohol in my life or gone out partying and have no intention to start.

Not my intended student experience at all! University next year for me will be all studying and no drinking. I have never drunk alcohol in my life or gone out partying and have no intention to start.

I'm really sorry that you felt this, perhaps you could send me a PM and let me know which behaviours you felt were bullying, as it's certainly not an impression I want anyone to get of the club.

All our social events have quite clearly stated that we were happy for people to choose to drink or not drink as they preferred. I can't help with your prejudice against "intoxicated people" - not everyone behaves the same after having had alcohol. Obviously some people are idiots when they drink, but some are idiots when they don't drink. Had you come to some of the gymnastics events, I would have done my best to have been friendly and inclusive, and probably wouldn't have been drinking either, so you wouldn't have been the only one.

Like I say, I just think it's a shame that you've discounted a big group of people that you have common interests with based on the "drinking". If I can do anything about the bullying situation, please let me know - again, I'm sorry that you've felt like this about some of the people in the club.

It is a shame, as I enjoyed being able to get some training in, but besides the unpleasant people, it's just not safe for me to be walking there by myself at night given recent events. I actually did want to go to the first event, but again, walking alone late at night is not something I do.

My experience with intoxicated people has been wholly unpleasant, and I just don't feel comfortable around them. It wouldn't be fun being the only sane person at a gathering, and I don't want to ruin anyone else's fun (as I'm surely one of those people who would end up calling the police if anything got too out of hand). Thanks for your concern.

If you do feel like you'd like to come back and train when it gets lighter in the spring (it will, I promise!), do let me know if there's anything I could do to make it better for you - I'm the safety officer on the committee.

For other people reading wondering about the "recent events" - a girl was sexually assaulted sometime near the end of November at around 5.40pm near one of the halls of residence. It's a horrible thing to have happened, but thankfully is incredibly rare at St Andrews in comparison to other places. Since it's so uncommon, it's quite big news when an attack like this happens.

You will see the same faces on a daily or at most weekly basis. In the supermarkets, on the streets, in the library. You cannot speak freely to friends in public as you simply do not know who will overhear, misinterpret, gossip. Everybody will know your name, your character, your achievements, your personal life. This was not how I wanted to spend my early twenties.

There is no room for platonic friendships. If a male and female are seen together it becomes accepted that they are seeing each other. The social pressure even in this arena becomes unbearable. Again, you become cautious to avoid difficult and unnecessary situations. Hence, welcome back to awkward high school tensions between the sexes.

I believe the kinds of relationships encouraged by the small town, provincial environment and the atmosphere of the place impacts negatively on the individual's ability to focus on what I would hope they came here for - an academic education.

Are you saying that you'd prefer to live somewhere where your actions were being constantly scrutinised and critiqued?

Furthermore, how would you explain anybody's preferences then for certain social groups, types of people, kinds of gatherings, lifestyles or even careers. If you really didn't care about the values and outlooks of others in your immediate vicinity and their assessment of your own values and outlook you wouldn't exhibit any preference when coming to make these decisions.

There is also a difference between having little concern for what strangers think - for example while living in a larger city where anonymity is the norm - and having little concern for what people who know you and who you encounter daily think of you or behave toward you, not just at work but in every public/private setting you enter (not that there is any real distinction between the two spheres, in practice, in a place such as St. Andrews).

I'm a current 2nd year at St Andrews and I'm really, really enjoying it.

Some of your points are ridiculous, but at least answer me this;

When you applied to, and accepted your place at, St Andrews university, did you really believe there would be many clubs or a large "shopping centre"?
St Andrews main appeal apart from its excellent academic reputation is the fact that it is a small, quiet, safe town. It is for exactly those reasons that I turned down universities like Imperial and Kings to come here.

It certainly doesn't sound like you're having a good time, and I am sorry for that - but were you expecting the town to be different to how it is? Did you not visit? Did you not look in a prospectus? Did you even go on the wikipedia? I can't believe someone could be as shocked as you apparently are.

edit: Some posts which stood out...


People generally don't think that, but the university performed exceptionally well in both the dreaded "league tables" and in other quality-measures (such as the RAE) this year. I do believe it is not only the best university in Scotland, but one of the top 5 in the UK.

I don't, St Andrews was only considered more attractive thanks to Prince William getting rejected by Oxbridge due to low A level grades. The university is prestigious for being very old and posh, but that doesn't make it academically good. The newspaper rankings use rubbish data to rank universities, and only a fool would place all their hopes on just that. St Andrews ranks at somewhere in the top 15-20 range academically speaking in the QS World Rankings as far as UK unis go.

I believe even Prince William considered transferring from St Andrews after his first year. A good job he stayed!

The QS and Times Higher World rankings are based on research output, considering that St. Andrews is a small, teaching focused university, it isn't surprising that we don't place as higher as the bigger universities. Take into account student satisfaction, graduate employment and a number of other factors, St. Andrews places much higher than most unis

But Mansun if you look at specific subjects for example, it is one of the top universities in the world. Say the graduate philosophy program is ranked by a legitimate source (not the awful news companies) as being the 2nd strongest in the UK and top handful in the world. Or the International Relations department, which ranks even higher.

So it is a matter of perspective and subject. Just like most Ivy league universities do not have a law school, so they cannot be top in those subjects. Its all subject and perspective.

I am very forthcoming about pointing out the many negative aspects of the university, but even I don't understand your relentless attempts to dismiss it as academically terrible. Do you even go here?