St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread

what's the average a-level score?

Reply 1581

713

what's the average a-level score?

about 320 I'd say but I dont know for sure, look around on UCAS statistics or in one of the good university guides (probably the times') for the exact figure, it will be there.

Reply 1582

I got an offer from St Andrews a few days ago, as mentioned somewhere else, and now I am in the process of deciding whether to take it. One thing which is holding me back is the 4 year course. I heard from some sides that as the scottish finish school earlier the first year of uni is going to be more relaxed than somewhere else. Is the 4 year Bachelor in St Andrews equivalent to a 3 year course at decent english university?

Reply 1583

713

I got an offer from St Andrews a few days ago, as mentioned somewhere else, and now I am in the process of deciding whether to take it. One thing which is holding me back is the 4 year course. I heard from some sides that as the scottish finish school earlier the first year of uni is going to be more relaxed than somewhere else. Is the 4 year Bachelor in St Andrews equivalent to a 3 year course at decent english university?

Firstly yes, there both seen as exactly the same, secondly I can only assume the first year is more relaxed in a Scottish uni than at an English uni but as Ive never studied at an English uni I cant say for sure. I can honestly say though that the work load here at least isnt that much more than A-Level in your first year, so assuming that this is not the case in English uni's then yes it would seem more relaxed. Dont let that make you think your first year is a waste of time though, I and all other English students I've spoken too still say they are learning new things and are still being challenged. Only occasionally does the odd old topic come up which to be honest often comes as a nice little break from thinking :wink:

. Also dont forget that the extra year gives you a much grater freedom of choice in your end degree title than at an English uni as you can effectively 'trial' multiple degrees in your pre-honours years whilst still doing what is required for your own, due to the extra available time. I hope this information is useful to you in making your final choice, but dont hesitate to ask anything else if you need to know more.

Reply 1584

Steeeeevo

Firstly yes, there both seen as exactly the same, secondly I can only assume the first year is more relaxed in a Scottish uni than at an English uni but as Ive never studied at an English uni I cant say for sure. I can honestly say though that the work load here at least isnt that much more than A-Level in your first year, so assuming that this is not the case in English uni's then yes it would seem more relaxed. Dont let that make you think your first year is a waste of time though, I and all other English students I've spoken too still say they are learning new things and are still being challenged. Only occasionally does the odd old topic come up which to be honest often comes as a nice little break from thinking :wink:

. Also dont forget that the extra year gives you a much grater freedom of choice in your end degree title than at an English uni as you can effectively 'trial' multiple degrees in your pre-honours years whilst still doing what is required for your own, due to the extra available time. I hope this information is useful to you in making your final choice, but dont hesitate to ask anything else if you need to know more.

Thanks, your reply helped me a lot.
I do, however, have another question as you mentioned the stuff i marked black. As I understood it, if one goes to a scottish university having applied for eg economics the course will not only focus on economics but on more subjects within that department. In the third year final modules are chosen. So, could I decide to take another degree than economics after 1-2 years?

Reply 1585

So, could I decide to take another degree than economics after 1-2 years?

If you wish to change your module, it's best to do it after first year, though doing it after second year is possible (in theory, at least, though I don't know anyone who's personally done it)

In first year you'll usually be doing six modules - two for your degree course, and two each for two other subjects (in my case, I had Computer Science and Internet Programming for my CompSci course, two German modules and a couple of Maths modules). Assuming 20 credits per module, six first-year modules give you 120 credits of the 240 you need to get in the two sub-honours years.
In second year, because the modules are worth 30 credits each, you can effectively drop one of the courses you took in first year (in my case I would have carried on with the CompSci and Maths modules and dumped German). Four second-year modules would get you the final 120 credits.

So my pre-uni degree choice was Computer Science. After first year I could have changed it to Maths or German. After second year I could still have changed it to Maths.

Reply 1586

I just had a look in their prospectus (which made me even more confused) and it mentioned something called general degree or general Bsc. how do i know whether i did apply for that? would i know it?
regarding to your very extensive explanation of the module system, Dalymr, (thank you very much as well), is that the case in every uk university that you have to take modules out of different subject areas or is it just scotland?

Reply 1587

ebonyphoenix

1

My understanding is that the general degree only takes three years and is generally reserved for those who may not have done as well in their coursework and do not get into honours modules. The vast majority of St. Andrews students do an honours course for four years. I'm sure you applied for a four year honours course.

The extra subjects in your first year is exclusive to Scotland. I specifically applied only to St. Andrews and not to other English universities for this reason.

Reply 1588

Lucia.

16

Hello

Are there any St Andrews History students about? What's their History course like?

Unless I hate it at Open Day, which I'm sure I won't, then it's going to be my first choice. :biggrin:

Reply 1589

Greenangel2k6

What are the good and bad points about st andrews?
i am sorry if this is a generalisation but I have heard that there is some racism , e.g. towards English people.
Also what time does in go dark in the winter, are there enough thing to do?
Do many people get SAD?
Sorry its a lot of questions but i am completely stuck!

Reply 1590

i am sorry if this is a generalisation but I have heard that there is some racism , e.g. towards English people.

Generally in Scotland, that'd be quite true (depending on where you are - it's particularly bad in places like Glasgow or the Borders)...but St Andrews has a very large number of students from England and other countries, and racism of any kind is minimal.

Also what time does in go dark in the winter, are there enough thing to do?

What time does it get dark in winter in Liverpool? :wink:

It's not THAT far north, for god's sake :p:

are there enough thing to do?

St Andrews has the highest number of societies to join of any university in the whole of the UK. I'm sure you'll find SOMETHING that takes your fancy...if not, you can always just go to one of the pubs around town (I listed them in a thread sometime last year - I think there were about twenty :biggrin:

)

Reply 1591

Greenangel2k6

What are the good and bad points about st andrews?
i am sorry if this is a generalisation but I have heard that there is some racism , e.g. towards English people.
Also what time does in go dark in the winter, are there enough thing to do?
Do many people get SAD?
Sorry its a lot of questions but i am completely stuck!

Who the hell told you that!?! its a bit unfortunate as this is a Scottish university but you could easily forget that due to huge proportion of English students here (more than Scottish probably). I havent seen racism of any form since I got here but English / Scottish racism would be the type I would LEAST expect.

Reply 1592

Lou_

Are there more non-Scottish people than Scotish people?

Also which accomm is better (i.e nearer to the buildings where my classes will be) if I'm doing biology?
And also which out of FP and AP is closer? I was looking at the map which came in the post today and AP seems nearer and it's also closer to the sea :biggrin:

Reply 1593

Are there more non-Scottish people than Scotish people?

Wouldn't surprise me...not that I was ever too fussed. I had a good mixture of friends from all over the place (mostly from Scotland or England, but some from Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, USA, Japan...I'm sure there'll be others I've forgotten as well)

Reply 1594

Lou_

Are there more non-Scottish people than Scotish people?

Also which accomm is better (i.e nearer to the buildings where my classes will be) if I'm doing biology?
And also which out of FP and AP is closer? I was looking at the map which came in the post today and AP seems nearer and it's also closer to the sea :biggrin:

There are probably more non-Scottish people here, but to be honest after a few weeks nobody seems to even realise, there is such a diverse amount of people here that where you come from seems not to matter any more, saying that if you say something strange in your particular accent prepare to have to say it A LOT (in my flat there are 2 Scottish – east coast and west coast, 2 northern English – east and west again and a southern English, and we ALL constantly take the .... out of everyone elses accents! :biggrin:

)

St Regs is the closest being right next to Bute, but thats standard catered. I dare say Albany Park is slightly closer than Fife Park, but not by a huge amount, and the first semester, first year Biology modules are in North Haugh anyway. Fife park is still within easy walking distance of Bute though, to give you an example it took me exactly 23 mins and 24 seconds to walk from my front door in DRA (right next to fife park) to door C in the bute building (I was timing 2 different routes to see which was quickest today coincidently, both of which turned out about the same), but if worst comes to worst there is a bus from DRA at 20 to each hour that gets you into town at 10 to if you feeling lazy!

Reply 1595

Greenangel2k6

Steeeeevo

Who the hell told you that!?! its a bit unfortunate as this is a Scottish university but you could easily forget that due to huge proportion of English students here (more than Scottish probably). I havent seen racism of any form since I got here but English / Scottish racism would be the type I would LEAST expect.

Well i got told my someone who went to St andrews for a couple of months and both her and her mum said there was racism,which really surprised me..
and well about the light and dark issue, well it seems strange but i have been told that by a different person that in the winter it gets light at 10ish and dark about 3ish..

In liverpool its more like 8:30 ish and 5 ish

Reply 1596

Lucia.

16

What's the pace of work like in the first year?

Reply 1597