St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread

And the subject talks are on the Tuesday arent they?

EDIT: Ive just had a look at the orientation brochure and according to that the psychology subject talk is in the physics building, lecture theatre A at 11.30 on Tuesday, is that what you mean by a science talk because it is in the physics building? If it is then dont let that worry you, that will be a general psychology talk aimed at both BSc and MA students (as there will be a lot of similaritys between the courses) and it is only in the Physics building because it is a large building that is easy to find and has nothing to do nescicarily with the nature of the subject. If you look at for example the Linguistis subject talk is held in the Computer Science building (John Honey) and Management is in the Chemistry building (Purdie) do not think that just because psychology is in the physics building it will not be relevant to you, its probably just the best place they could put it in freshers week when most buildings are closed.

EDIT 2: Ahhhh you mean the welcome, dont worry about it they are both pretty much the same apart from in one the Dean of Arts is on stage along with everyone else to welcome you and in the other the Dean of Science is on the stage with everyone else to welcome you. You just get a brief introduction to the University and a hello from the big wigs (Including either the Arts / Sciences dean) told about the Union an about various welfare services and a few safety warning. They do it in arts then sciences for the simple fact that Younger hall although big is not big enough for the whole first year at the same time and with fewer people doing sciences than arts they would prefer Psychology which can be either a Science OR an Art go go in with the Science crowd so it doesnt fill up when the Arts students are in. In theory you can go to either as there in no checking of what your doing or who you are at the door you just sit down and get bored to death for an hour. Really dont be worried about it, if you want to go to it go to either the only difference is who says hello but in my experience you are not missing out if you give yourself a lie in (I only wish I knew that last year). If you want to find out specifically more about your subject go to the Tuesday Subject talk I mentioned above (Also useful for any modules your considering)

Reply 1984

dragon500uk

13

I knwo this is a bit of a silly question - but is it possible to get internet connections in the room? And if so do you ahev to pay?

Reply 1985

Sub-D

To answer the above question, you do get an internet connection in your room so long as you are in the halls of residence and the cost of a years worth of the "intartubes" is included within the price of staying in the hall. Just remember to bring an ethernet cable!

Time for my daft question -

As part of the registration procedure, a new student is asked to enter their personal information. For this step (as accessed via logging in on the following address "https://portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/advising/") I am redirected to a page asking for my student number and an "E-mail password" something which I'm certain I haven't been given yet. Have I misplaced my password or am I not picking up on something?

Any and all help greatly appreciated!

UPDATE: I got it sorted. It was a stupid question afterall :biggrin:

Reply 1986

Knudsen

Sub-D

To answer the above question, you do get an internet connection in your room so long as you are in the halls of residence and the cost of a years worth of the "intartubes" is included within the price of staying in the hall. Just remember to bring an ethernet cable!

an ethernet cable? but I thought we had "hotspots" in the room? although, seeing as english isn't my first language I am not familiar with technical words like these (the word ethernet cable is fortunately not needed when writing an essay on Macbeth) and it's possible that hotspots involve cables :confused:

anyways, I just remembered that I had some minor difficulties when trying to fill my personal details page - it asked for my term address, which I interpret as being the address of where I stay when at the uni? it was however already filled out with my Swedish home address and got me all confused :p:

could someone help me sort out the english here as well?

Reply 1987

butterdori

Knudsen

an ethernet cable? but I thought we had "hotspots" in the room? although, seeing as english isn't my first language I am not familiar with technical words like these (the word ethernet cable is fortunately not needed when writing an essay on Macbeth) and it's possible that hotspots involve cables :confused:

If you mean wireless by hotspots, then no. We have to get a lan cable (ethernet cable) to connect to the computer. Also, I checked the rules on Resnet(the internet connection) that you can't install a wireless router... pity really because i was thinking of bringing one because i don't want my desk cluttered with cables

Reply 1988

If I am honest I am too drunk to know which direction the convo is heading but by the looks of what you are asking the answer is NO, no hall is completely wireless but all halls have a free wirered connection to the internet and the St Andrews network in every room which is connected by a ethernet cable (cheaply avilable from anywhere, you need a standard network cable [not crossover!])

Also yes it is against the terms and conditions to install a router of any sort (as it would be possible to provide a service through it which is strictly disallowed by the terms and conditions) however the uni has a growing wireless network and up-to-date locations of access can be found here

Reply 1989

Sub-D

To answer the above question, you do get an internet connection in your room so long as you are in the halls of residence and the cost of a years worth of the "intartubes" is included within the price of staying in the hall. Just remember to bring an ethernet cable!

Time for my daft question -

As part of the registration procedure, a new student is asked to enter their personal information. For this step (as accessed via logging in on the following address "https://portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/advising/") I am redirected to a page asking for my student number and an "E-mail password" something which I'm certain I haven't been given yet. Have I misplaced my password or am I not picking up on something?

Any and all help greatly appreciated!

UPDATE: I got it sorted. It was a stupid question afterall :biggrin:

Im having the same trouble, what password do I put in? I typed in the one that I created when I signed up but it doesnt work.

EDIT: its sorted, no worries

Reply 1990

right, I just paid for a years membership to the sports centre online, but am i supposed to get some kind of membership card or membership number? I just got an email confirming my payment but thats it.

Reply 1991

mousy

right, I just paid for a years membership to the sports centre online, but am i supposed to get some kind of membership card or membership number? I just got an email confirming my payment but thats it.

Your matriculation card is your membership card, there is a magnetic strip on the back that you use to get into 24 hour access doors and to swipe in at the sports centre.

Im not sure if that means you cant use your membership until you actually have your matriculation card or if you can just tell them your number to get in during freshers week but I would say that if your planning on going before you matriculate pop in first if your near by to check before you bring all your stuff (that is unless you dont really care about a possible wasted journey)

Reply 1992

Steeeeevo

Your matriculation card is your membership card, there is a magnetic strip on the back that you use to get into 24 hour access doors and to swipe in at the sports centre.

Im not sure if that means you cant use your membership until you actually have your matriculation card or if you can just tell them your number to get in during freshers week but I would say that if your planning on going before you matriculate pop in first if your near by to check before you bring all your stuff (that is unless you dont really care about a possible wasted journey)

Okay, thanks, I doubt I'd go during freshers week so thats no problem :smile:

Reply 1993

january_rain_23

Thanks for sorting out my confusion about the welcomey talk thing!

These ethernet cables - you say they're available anywhere so does that mean I'll have no trouble getting one during the first coupla days of freshers week, cos me thinks I'll be needing the internet soonish!?

Reply 1994

january_rain_23

Thanks for sorting out my confusion about the welcomey talk thing!

These ethernet cables - you say they're available anywhere so does that mean I'll have no trouble getting one during the first coupla days of freshers week, cos me thinks I'll be needing the internet soonish!?

Very easy, they are available from the union shop, DRA shop, the IT desk in the library, the computer shop in town, Argos and Woolworths off the top of my head so you should have no trouble coming across one. You will only need a meter or so which should cost around £1-£5 (depending on where you get it) but if you have a laptop and want a bit more freedom of where you use it you might also want to by a longer cable (I have a 5m cable too which I use when I use my laptop on my bed, but switch it with a 1m cable when its on my desk so it doesnt get cluttered)

Reply 1995

I read somewhere that insurance is included in halls of residences, does this include laptop cover?

Reply 1996

mousy

I read somewhere that insurance is included in halls of residences, does this include laptop cover?

Yes it covers everything up to a certain amount, I think it is up to £800 per item and no claims under £100 pounds but thats just off the top of my head from what I remember so you may want to check that. Note however that the insurance only covers fire and theft and then only when your door is locked so you may want to consider additional insurance if you are a little wary (which BTW is very cheap due to the area and at least one company who will be at the freshers fayre offer further discount as you are already insured by the Uni, they even advertise boldly that they will even cover theft if you leave your doors and windows wide open!) but most people tend not to bother as the uni insurance is usually enough.

EDIT: Ive tried to look up info on insurance and Im not sure if they offer it anymore now, last year there was something about it on my paper contract but Ive looked through my e-contract and I cant find anything about it, also on the university accommodation advice page, the last line about halls says 'Consider taking out insurance cover for your personal belongings' which look to me like you are not covered. If anyone is worried I would say contact accommodation [email protected] to ask what you are / are not covered for but for all some might say its bad advice I wouldnt worry as either way I probably wont bother getting insurance as I dont feel there is a great need for it in St Andrews (possibly for fire as that is unpredictable, but Ill take my chances)

Reply 1997

Lou_