St Andrews Uni

I study IR atm so you're in luck, Im currently going into 3rd year next semester doing Economics and IR MA.
My opinion of IR is that its very solid here. There are a huge variety of lecturers who some you will like and others you wont, but that's only because they vary in style, not ability. The modules themselves so far has been pretty good, you will learn a lot about the core theories such as realism, liberalism and constructivism as well as newer ones like feminism and ecology in the first two years and will be spent in doing these subjects in a very broad manner. When you get into honours you'll be able to choose what you want to focus on, there is a very wide choice of topics ranging from feminism to causes of war, and if you are doing IR on its own in honours you will be able to choose two topics per semester (so thats 4 topics a year). since Im doing econ and IR, I only have 2 topics chosen (which are Globalisation and Terrorism, and Political Leadership). You will be examined based on your essays (2 per semester [first two years] as well as a final exam at the end of each semester consisting of MORE essays). The department is good and can be helpful... how your year will be will depend on who your module co-ordinator is, and that is also pure luck... sometimes you'll get a great module coordinator and sometimes they just dont suit you very well. There are also alot of americans doing IR so be ready for that HAHA

what else do you want to know?
sorry for my english, im still half at sleep... its abit too early in the morning where I am right now.

EDIT: first and second year, if you don't know yet, you will have to normally choose 2 other subjects (can be anything) to do. That's because subjects give you 20 credit per semester, you need 120 credits per year

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ANSWER!!!! I'm from Romania and I am keen on applying to St. Andrews University, because I loved the features of the IR Department in there. I am really interested in all the subjects you mentioned and I can't wait to start, but I need to know a few more details about the course and the town. I understood it is a very small one, cca. 16.000-18.000 residents and many students are complaining about it. I'm not coming from a HUGE city, just a medium one, but, still it has 400.000 residents or more and it's quite bigger than St. Andrews. I want to apply for a joint degree : IR and Film & Media Studies and I would like to know if it is more difficult to study a joint degree than a single degree. Oh, and are there any part-time jobs available in St. Andrews? Thanks again.

Hi again,
yes st andrews is very small, but like i said before in the other thread, you can always take trips down to edinburgh or up to dundee if you feel like you want to go to a huge city. I don't think you can do a joint degree for IR and Film studies, check out http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/intrel/ug/ as they have a list of what you can do with IR.

As for difficulty wise I think it depends on your preference, doing a joint honours requires you to excel at both subjects which may or may not have different work loads (some people say its easier, some say its harder). But you do not need to write a dissertation in 4th year if you chose to do a joint degree.
Part time jobs are very easy to find IF you have work experience and write a good CV/Resume, many places here look for students to fill in part time (haha looks like you didnt read the thread link I posted)

One thing to keep in mind though, is that unless you really want to go into film, its not wise to do film studies as a degree as it is considered "weak" for employers

Yeah, I did read the posts you sent. I have found this joint dregree below, and yes, I know film studies doesn't offer many opportunities for getting a job after I graduate. I know that Joint Degrees are chosen by many students because they provide a back-up specialisation if the first choice doesn't work while finding a job. I am going to apply for International Relations and another subject, because I really want to do a Joint Degree. I know that International Relations at St. Andrews is a very good School, some students say thet the whole Univerisity is famous for this department, but I don't know if that's entirely true. I have found out that there are lots of pubs in the town and many students get part-time jobs there, but I guess you need to have some bar experience in order to be hired. I would like to ask you of you received a conditional or an uncondtiional offer, because I am going to apply before my last exams. Oh, and did you volunteer in different organisations? I also have a librarian volunteer experience. I would like to know if that helps me to find such a job in campus. Thank you very much.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/courses/route/UAHFFLSJIRL/year/2013-4

I got a conditional offer, i dont think it matters though as long as you make your offer (I don't see what you are looking for asking this) but yeah, I applied with my "predicted grades" as I applied before my last exams. Some pubs here do not require experience, to be honest, not many places here require work experience... one of my friends got a job for next year at a pub and she has 0 work behind a bar. Volunteering is even easier, you can apply for the university, or charities.... although they dont pay you :P . There are jobs around the campus, you can get a job at the student union, as an embassador, or even at the library. I heard they pay pretty decently compared to other places. Have you been to visit the university yet? if you havn't I reccomend you do

Thanks a lot for your answer. It mattered to me, because I heard about some suspective cases (the prospective sutdent got the cond offer, but after stting exams and he fulfilled the requirments, he was not accepted, but that didn't happen with ST. Andrews University). I haven't been to visit yet, but I will try in the future.

Normally that shouldn't happen... that's very weird! well good luck anyways, and message me if you have any other quesitions!