University of St Andrews

TSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of St Andrews

Located in the small coastal town of St Andrews, the University of St Andrews has a long history - being the third oldest university in the UK, behind Oxford and Cambridge. It's still quite a small uni, with fewer than 10,000 students, but the students still make up a very sizeable portion of the town - around a third of the total population! Despite it's humble size, it has pulled together a string of excellent performances in national league tables and is the top rated mainstream university in the National Student Survey.

Facilities

Libraries

The main library is on North Street and has 3 main floors. The opening hours are extensive and there are private study rooms available. Whilst the carpet is a gross colour, the library is clean, light and spacious. A slightly nicer study environment can be found in the library of St Mary's college which is quite stunning - this library stocks books on theology and medieval history but is open for study use to all students.

There are large study areas on each floor and computers are based on the ground floor. There are photocopying facilities and interloan facilities in the main library. There are plans to refurbish the library beginning in Sep 2009 and I believe this will continue for one or two years(?).

Many of the subject departments also have their own library, smaller but still quite large in size. For example Modern History and Scottish History; Philosophy; Art History; Mediaeval History; and so on. These have computers, photocopiers and study areas.

There is a large section of Medical books which includes almost all of the set texts and many, many more. The Medical school building (The Bute) also has medical resources

The library has a very easy to use and convenient online system where you can search for and renew books from the comfort of your own room.

Museums

The University has at least three museums: the Gateway galleries, the Museum of the University of St Andrews and the Bell Pettigrew Museum. The Gateway galleries and MUSA are home to exhibitions of the treasures of the university which are quite impressive and important in some areas whilst the Bell Pettigrew (housed within the Bute medical building) contains a large Victorian natural history collection.

IT and Computing

There is a 24 hour computer lab in Butts wynd and most of the halls of residences have computer areas. There are also computers in the libraries but they tend to get busy around essay time.

The Bute Building (Medical School Building plus biology) has a new, clean and bright 24 hr computer lab

Every room in halls has an ethernet port which connects you to ResNet(the residence network) and thus to the university network and thus the internet. You do not need to pay anything to use this network (it is included in your accommodation fees). You will need an RJ45 ethernet cable to connect (available from many places in town, including BESS, the students union shop). There is currently no wireless provision in hall rooms, although it is available in a few places in residences such as the DRA bar and the New Hall coffee shop.

You may register one computer at a time on the network, and may not use routers or switches of any kind. IT Services say that if they detect the use of such items, your access to ResNet may be suspended.

The download speed when using the internet is incredibly fast. I don't have any exact figures right now, but I could download a file of ~350MB in 2 minutes (obviously this depends on where you're downloading from :-)). Basically, I think you will always get (close to) the highest download speed possible. Luser gave speedtest figures of 90Mb/s download, 0.35Mb/s upload on one occasion. Obviously speeds will vary

Torrents will not work on ResNet. There are, as always, rumours of ways of getting around this, but for the average user torrenting is not possible. Any other types of P2P sharing are also forbidden. MMORPGs are also not allowed, but there are definitely ways of playing them (I've witnessed a few people doing it. IT Services state that VoIP and video conference software will not work, but I personally have been able to use Skype for voice calls (never tried the video facility) and webcam over MSN.

Sports

There are many sports clubs within the AU from fencing to hockey and shinty to golf there is something for everyone. Most run taster sessions before you decide to pay your membership so you can give loads a try before you pick a sport!

Welfare

Healthcare

There are three main GP practices in St Andrews.

There are several dentists in the town centre.

A GP clinic (and a sexual health clinic) runs every Wednesday (?) in the Union

Shops

Truth be told - there aren't many shops. BUT DON'T WORRY!! You can definitely buy what you need in St Andrews.

As a shopaholic, this has not been a problem whatsoever as Dundee and Edinburgh are but a bus/train ride away and online shopping is so much more convenient (not to mention bargainous!) anyway.

Shops in St Andrews town centre include:

Tesco, New Look, Waterstones, Blackwells (in the Union), Monsoon, Boots, Superdrug, The Body Shop, Jack Wills, Julian Graves, Holland and Barrett, Argos (for student essentials), WHSmith, Ryman, Thornton's, Curry's, Boutiquey clothes shops e.g. Shmooz (sells Diesel, North Face etc), Butler & Co - international foods and deli. (Very delicious goodies, a little pricey but they do 10% off for students on deli products!), Fisher and Donaldson (amazingly delicious bakery, famous for fudge doughnuts and coffee towers!), various kitsch tourist shops, a few shoe shops etc

Slightly out of town: (30 min walk one way) Morrisons, Aldi

Restaurants

St Andrews has many, many restaurants! Most do early bird menus for dinner and most have special lunch menus (which are a bit of a bargain!). Overall the majority are around the same price range (£6-9 for a main course).

The popular Thai and Japanese restuarants L'orient and Nahm Jims (Expensive but worth it for Sushi)! The house restaurants; The Grill house (burgers, steaks, etc); the Glass house (mainly Italian); and the doll's house (somewhere most students get their parents to take them, very nice food). The chains Zizzi's, Pizza Express and Bella Italia. Bella Italia are the only restaurant to do student night which is Sunday and Tuesday with all courses half price! Peppercorn Grills (average food, average price). Ziggi's is a rock themed restaurant which serves burgers, etc. The Links Clubhouse down near the West Sands offers a good lunch menu, but can be pricey on a student budget. The Oak Rooms (general pub food), La rustic (French restaurant) and the vine leaf (Italian Restaurant, around the same price range as Nahm Jims). The Seafood Restaruant has some of the best views in St Andrews and the food is amazing! (Specialising in fish they also do Vegetarian dishes). There are probably more but I can't really remember right now.

Don't forget there is a Starbucks, Costa and many other coffee shops.

Banks

Lloyds, Clydesdale, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Abbey, Halifax.

The nearest Natwest and HSBC are in Dundee, a short bus ride away. If Natwest tell you that you can bank with the Royal bank of Scotland (which they are owned by) they are lying. The bank does not have access to your account details so either get online banking or be willing to travel into Dundee.

Transport

BUSES

There are buses within the town centre, some go to David Russell Apartments (Hall of Residence) and to Dundee. \

There is a main bus station near the town centre with buses to Dundee, Leuchars train station and around Fife

TRAINS

The nearest train station is called Leuchars station and is a 5-10 minute bus ride from the town centre.

Trains to Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are frequent. The Train services are quicker than the buses to Edinburgh and Glasgow but you must get a bus to the railway station first.

There are direct trains to London.

AIRPORTS

Nearest airport = Dundee. Though cheaper flights are usually found from Edinburgh.

Careers service

The University offers a Careers Center, which offers both current and graduating students impartial and objective career advice. The Centre is located at 6 St Mary's Place, directly opposite the Student Association (The Union) building, and can be easily accessed by the disabled.

The Careers Centre offers careers advice, careers information resources and also co-ordinates and delivers a wide ranging programme of fairs, presentations and workshops. The service aims to meet the needs of all students and its resources cover:

• Getting started
• Career planning
• Occupational choices
• Work experience
• Further study
• Graduate opportunities
• Work and study abroad
• Gap year opportunities
• Application and interview coaching

The Careers Centre also runs a Job Shop service which advertises term time employment opportunities in St Andrews. You need to call in at the Careers Centre Reception to join. You will then automatically receive email alerts of new postings.

The Centre is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday. The Christmas closure is advertised on the website. During the summer the service closes between 1 and 2pm.

Part-time jobs

You have to be quick with part time jobs as they go quite quickly. The University pay well and there are always restaurants and shops looking to take on staff.

Religious facilities

We have a lot of churches and a really active CU. (With emphasis on the 'really' - I've never seen quite so many Christians gravitate to the same place all at once. It's quite intimidating really.)

St Andrews Discussions

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Social

The social life in St Andrews is great considering how small the town is. A lot of it is pub or coffeeshop based but if you choose St Andrews I doubt you're the type of preson who loves clubs! However Fat Sams in Dundee is popular and easy to get to. A lot of social activities are based around societies and friendship groups.

Bars, Pubs and clubs

Pubs - The Whey Pat; The Castle; The Raisin; the Crit; The Central. Bars - Dourthy Neebors; Westport (Mon-thur cocktails £2.50); The Oak rooms; The lizard; The Vic (boozeday tuesday, drinks £1.25); Aikmans; The Cellar Bar; Ma Bells. There are a lot more! Coffeeshops - beanscene; couch; taste; harbour house; Northpoint; starbucks; costa.

Events

- Opening Ball - Christmas/Winter Ball - Hall of residence balls (February onwards) - May Ball

Clubs and societies

There are a huge number of societies - over 100, so there will be something for everyone. Most also have their own website. If you don't fancy any existing ones, you only need about 10 members to set up a new one too!

They usually cost between £3-£5 each to join but remember, don't go signing up to everything straight away. Some people sign up and pay for things that they never use, its easy to go crazy and waste a lot of money at the fayres.

Accommodation

Accommodation policy

For first year, provided you return the application form in time, you're guaranteed a place in university accommodation. The form is sent out when you're made an offer, although you don't get any specific information through for a conditional until they've got your exam results.

When you fill in the accommodation application form, you can't choose which hall you go into, but you can always try your luck and ask for a specific one when you apply. The staff are very helpful and will do their best to meet your preferences.

They also ask for your preferences on the following:

Catered vs. Self-Catered

The cost of catered accommodation covers all of your meals (except evening dinner on weekends = 2 meals), making it easier to budget for the year. You also don't need to spend time trekking to Morrisons/Tesco to buy food, spend lots of time cooking and preparing and you don't have to fuss about washing up.

This is also a good option if you're from further away and don't want the hassle of storing pots and pans over the summer.

The meal times are fixed, however you can request packed meals in advance should you need to eat away from hall e.g. you have lectures far away from hall and no time to get back for lunch or you have a sport in the evening during dinner time.

Catered halls do have kitchens and cooking facilities e.g. oven, hob, microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster etc, so should you not like/miss a meal is it very easy to cook your own. Some people live in catered halls and cook their own food. Peversely, this can actually still be cheaper than living in self catered halls!

nb. Most catered halls have cleaners who clean bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms whilst if you live in self catered halls you will most likely have to clean these all yourself!

En-suite vs. Standard

If you choose en-suite, be prepared to pay a little more for your accommodation. Some en-suite rooms have showers, and others come with a bath and a shower. Many en-suite rooms are self catered and are some walk from the town centre e.g. David Russell Apartments

Single vs. Shared

On the application form, they ask for interests/hobbies, and whether you're more outgoing or reserved, and also what kind of time you'd typically get up and go to bed. These factors are, presumably, taken into account when pairing up room-mates, or even considering who lives near who. The shared rooms are for two people of the same sex.

Different pairs of room-mates get along differently - some just click and have an amazing time, some coexist in the same space without any great interaction (either positive or otherwise), and some can't abide each other. Bear in mind that even if you do have a single room, your neighbours will probably still be able to hear clattery typing, loud music and any midnight shenanigans, so the absence of a room-mate doesn't grant you total freedom.

Note: If you do not want a room mate and would strongly prefer a single room, you can mention this in your application

Postgraduate residences

If you're looking for postgraduate accommodation, there's a list of stuff for that on the guide to residences page. Some residences are mixed undergrad and postgrad, and some are only one or the other.

Facilities

Residences

The university's guide to residences has lots of useful stuff, although I think the current students on TSR agreed that the photos from that link aren't particularly reflective or flattering of reality. There are two basic categories:

Catered

• Andrew Melville Hall ("The Titanic"?)
• John Burnet Hall (It has two bits: Atholl and Annexe)
• McIntosh Hall (Chattan)
• New Hall
• St Regulus Hall (Regs)
• St Salvator's Hall (Sallies)
• University Hall (Uni Hall)

Self-Catered

• Albany Park (Gatty)
• David Russell Apartments (DRA)
• Fife Park
• New Hall

St Regulus Hall

Location: Very central location, right in town and within minutes walking distance from pubs, bars, shops, the Union and almost all clubs and events! Great for medical students, biologists and psychologists in particular as it is right next to the Bute (the Medical School building). However, the very central location means it is convenient for most subjects as it is so near town.

(Except the sports centre which is 10 mins walk out if town)

Aesthetics, ambience and accommodation: Situated at the end of a long street Queen's Gardens, St Regs blends smoothly into the rest of the street with traditional grey stone exterior and original features still in tact. This is a traditionally styled building. It was originally a gentlemans' club some years ago.

The interior has character, with each room being slightly different in some way which adds to the quirks and charm of the building. It is not modern, but traditional and well maintained. The relatively small size means the 160 (40 of which live in the Annexe, 30 seconds walk from the main builiding) odd occupants become well aquainted and it is close knit and friendly.

Facilities:

The fairly small size admittedly means the facilities, whilst perfectly adequate are perhaps not as large as some other residences. There is a library mainly used for general hanging out, chatting, meetings and various newspapers are delivered daily (paid for by the hall subscriptions - part of the accommodation fees), cheese and wine, or cheese and whisky are often held here along with High Table - regular formal dinners with guest speakers, wine, juice and tasty nibbles (provided by management, of course!). The TV room is very spacious and comfortable.The games room is also freely accessible for residents and their guests, this is often used for parties held by the Hall Committee (a group of elected students who represent the residents and spend most of their time holding events for the residents, having meetings and liasing with management staff). The games room has some games, pool table (currently a bit old and hoping to be replaced) and table tennis tables. The washing facilities are conveniently located within the main building, so unlike some residences (e.g. David Russell) you do not need to drag your huge bags of dirty clothes outside to another builiding. A normal wash costs 1.80 and an extra long wash costs 2.00. The tumble dryers cost 1.00, or you can use the drying room for free. Beware of leaving expensive/designer clothes, however!

Food:

This varies according to personal taste. Some people enjoy the food and find it perfectly good, others are not so keen. Do note that even if you don't like the food, Tesco and restaurants are within easy access. Cooking for yourself is still cheap and easy. Given the expensive fees of some residences, it may even be cheaper to live in a catered hall and buy your own food! Do note that going to the catered meals is very social and a great way to meet people.

There is usually enough food for people to have seconds should they be hungry. Vegetarians have been perfectly happy with the food served in hall

Breakfast Weekdays

Cereal Toast Porridge Juice Coffee Tea Hot chocolate Milk Sometimes fruit

Hot breakfast items vary. Usually three or so of: bacon, fried eggs, sausages, potato scones, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms etc

Weekends

As above but no hot breakfast. In addition there are usually croissants, pastries, muffins. Nicer yoghurts and more fruit

Lunch/Dinner - there is always:

HOT: two non vegetarian, one vegetarian choice PUDDING: crumble/cake etc and always a choice of fruit or yoghurt SALAD BAR: lettuce, tomato, cucumber plus another choice that varies day to day STARTER: (for the evening meal only) will either be a soup (e.g. tomato and basil, Scotch broth, pumpkin, broccoli and stilton, mixed vegetable etc, usually rather good) with bread roll or a special salad/melon bowl etc If none of this appeals you can get a sandwich/roll or jacket potato (at lunch time)

Juice, squash (sometimes) and water are available

Typical lunches include: pizza, chips, deep fried fish, peas, baked potatoes, salads, curries, sandwiches, pasta Typical dinners include: salmon, curries, pasta, lasagna, chicken dishes, vegetable bakes, meat and non meat moussaka, gammon There is a roast Sunday lunch pretty much every week.

Bins are emptied daily, bathrooms are cleaned daily. Bedrooms are cleaned weekly.

Andrew Melville Hall

Location: 15/20 minute walk from town. Is right next to New Hall and the biomedical sciences/chemistry/Gateway buildings. Near to a beach, the fitness centre and the Links golf course.

Aesthetics and accommodation: Okay, it looks ugly from the outside (pre-fab, supposed to look like ‘sinking ships’), and a bit Spartan on the inside. When in your room though, it’s spacious and rather nice looking. Contains desk, bedside table, sink and bookshelves. Oh yeah, and a bed obviously! I recommend bringing a new duvet so you are nice and warm in the winter months though. Internet and incoming calls on your room phone are free, but outgoing calls on your room phone are not.

There are three common rooms – Lower common room (Piano, TV and DVD player), Middle common room (TV, DVD player, free view, snooker, vending machines and table tennis) and the upper common room (used only after formal dinner (high table) with the warden)

There are 250 residents in the hall – accommodation is split up into 5 blocks of 50. Any given year, two blocks are all female, two are all male and one is mixed. There is a laundry room in block B with 5 washers and 5 driers – never really too crowded in there, despite what you’d think.

Outside the building there are many rabbits. Many many rabbits. Although soon this may change, as a good percentage of them have myxomatosis.

Rooms get cleaned once a week, toilets/showers/baths once a day and your bins get emptied 3 times a week.

Food: The food in catered is good, if not incredibly varied. Two options, plus a veggie option available at lunch and dinner plus soup/starter and dessert/fruit – also as much juice as you can drink. Breakfast is the standard fare – cereal, cooked breakfast, toast, fruit, yoghurt, porridge and sometime croissants/pancakes. Plus fruit juices and hot drinks. You get breakfast/lunch/dinner through the week, and breakfast and lunch on the weekend.

Kitchens are available for the weekends with lockers to store your utensils in and 2 fridges and a freezer for your goodies. Gets a bit crowded, but does the job.

All in all, living in AMH has been great – everyone is friendly and you’ll quickly find friends who you’ll get on with. Nice atmosphere, beautiful surroundings and, honestly, the look of the building grows on you over time... And it's not sinking into the ground, honest...

David Russell Appartments

Location: 3rd furthest hall from town right next to Fife Park but in St Andrews that doesn’t mean much! It’s around 25 minute walk from the centre of town which can be cut to 10/15 minutes on a bike. This is not a fun journey with lots of Tesco shopping. It’s about a 10 minute walk to north haugh which is where most sciences are taught, and where Uni Hall, New Hall and Andrew Melville hall are located. There is a regular bus service from the front of DRA into town costing 80p for students (or less if you buy weekly tickets) for those who are just that bit lazy (or hungover)

Accommodation: DRA is the most modern accommodation with the oldest building being completed in 2002 and the newest in 2006. The site is made up of 15 blocks or houses each with 11 or 12 flats housing 5 students and a central facilities building. The site is very pretty and designed with a modern feel with most buildings over looking the central pond. Each bedroom is fairly large has amongst other things a double bed, a tv, ensuite (with a shower) and free access to the internet and shared rooms are rare. The in the flats themselves 5 people share a large kitchen with everything you would expect and even a dishwasher, though crockery and cutlery have to be provided by yourselves (some pans and baking trays are provided). Each person in the flat also gets their own lockable cupboard in the kitchen to store food ect if they want to, though most of the time people tend not to bother as with so few sharing kitchens people tend not to steal food like you sometimes get in other halls.

The central facilities building contains a games room with a (free) pool table, table tennis table and a few board games, a music room with a piano and drum kit, a TV room with sky, a dvd player, a Xbox 360 and a PS3 all projected onto the wall (also movies are regularly shown in here on Sundays). The central facilities building also has its own bar open every night from 6pm-12am (or 11pm if it is not very busy) serving drinks ate union prices and a bistro serving food from 8am(?) to 7pm Sunday – Friday, and both the bar and the bistro are covered by free wireless internet.

Food: DRA is all self catered but meal tickets can be bought at the bistro or you can go just for the occasional meal when you can’t be bothered to cook so I thought I would put it here. The meals are usually very nice and fairly priced though portion sizes sometimes leave a little to be desired (unless you get on well with the staff ). Fast food such as burgers, fries and paninis are served throughout the day (healthier options also available) and breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at set times with an alternating menu. Dinner (usually 5 – close) is the most popular with Tuesday (theme night) and Thursday (the most popular curry night) attracting the most custom (so much so they offer flat / house discounts if you can rope your friends along!)

Atmosphere: As has been criticised many times before DRA is not the most student friendly places and has clearly been designed with the tourist in mind but that does not mean it is complete void of atmosphere, you just have to try a little harder. The good point about DRA is love them or hate them you get to know 4 other people really well within you first few days which you can use as your foundation to get to know other people. All the senior students at DRA are past residents themselves and focus freshers week on forcing people to get to know each other which if you take part is a good way of meeting people. Also don’t be afraid to just go knocking on random doors in DRA and Fife Park in the first few weeks, its amazing how many people you can meet and become good friends with just because you knocked to say hi. As for the rest of the year atmosphere is great, there is a flat party in DRA practically every week and DRA always runs the best events.

Overall: DRA is a fantastic place to live with great people and if you're looking for the more independent lifestyle to get you ready for the real world then DRA is most definitely it. (well or Fife Park or Albany Park )

By Steeeeevo.

Fife Park

See DRA(above) for information on the facilities building etc. I'm going to write something for this in a wee while. For now, I'll give a wee summary: 6 people, 1 house, 1 shower room, 1 bathroom, very cheap, not amazingly nice, but it's not bad when you're spending so little. Is a bit tired, and breaches HMO standards because you're only meant to have 5 people to 1 shower. It'll be around for another couple of years, but they're planning to expand DRA-style buildings int he area, possibly catered, and then get rid of FP.

McIntosh Hall (Chattan)

Location: 30 second walk from town. Close to the union (so great for staggering home after a night out) Market St (aka all the shops) and is also 5 minutes from most of the University (arts) departments, library, the quad and the Buchanan building. 10 minutes walk (max) from the science buildings. Also close to the West Sands for early morning beach jogging, and some of the views of the beach from the upper floor windows of hall are amazing. Chattan is, however, down a side street, so it is also nice and quiet for being so centrally located.

Aesthetics and accommodation: Lovely old building. Rooms are a good size on the whole, with lots of quirky features like fireplaces and built in cupboards and huge bay windows (if you are the lucky person in my room next year anyway). Most first years in hall share a room, although there are a few who get single rooms. Sharing is not a problem, I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t get on with their roomie. The singles tend to be the more boxy rooms in hall, but still a good size, with everything you need. Rooms contain bed, desk, bedside table, sink, wardrobe or drawers and bookshelves. Bathrooms are nice, usually shared between about 6 people but never busy. Most of the bathrooms just have shower cubicles, but there are also one or two baths lurking about if you know where to find them. Bathrooms are cleaned and bins emptied in rooms daily, rooms are hovered once a week. There are 5 floors, A-E. A is on top, E is the basement and D is the ground floor where the entrance is A,C and D are girls floors, B is boys and E is mixed. There are about 200 people in hall, mostly freshers, although there are a fair few older students too. They tend to hide in their rooms and worry about work though.

As far as facilities go, we have:

• 2 TV rooms
• a Hogwarts style common room, with 2 pianos (one upright, one grand) pool table, lots of chairs, free newspapers, fireplaces.
• 2 study rooms (The Green room in particular has really good views of the beach, for daydreaming and general procrastination)
• A computer room, lots of new computers, and printers
• A small library of our own, decent selection of books relating to most courses
• Vending machines for those late night munchies
• 2 Laundry rooms, the main (Abbotsford) laundry and the secret laundry, which is... well, in a secret location on E floor. Good luck finding it, E floor is a real maze.

Food: Catered hall. Food is usually really good, but can occasionally “interesting” (if you know what to avoid – cheesy chops and pizza chicken are the two main culprits – you are usually guaranteed a good meal). We were voted to have the best hall food in St Andrews. Breakfasts are pretty basic, the traditional fry up option, but made Scottish with Haggis if you want it, or toast and cereals, fruit, yoghurt, croissants and juice, as well as coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Lunch and dinner usually consist of a a choice of 3 or 4 meals, with at least one veggie meal and a choice of sandwiches or a jacket potato if you don’t fancy the hot meal. There is also soup with most meals (always really good) and a salad bar to help yourself to. The menu is on a 3 week rotation, but they always mix it up and throw some new things in once in awhile, so you don’t feel you’re eating the same thing every meal. Puddings are amazing, sticky toffee pudding and millionaire shortbread are my favourites. The dining room is also where all the post is delivered into little pigeon holes. Big ego booster.

We get 19 meals a week: 3 meals a day Monday – Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday. There is a kitchen on each floor for the evening meals at weekends, and although these are fairly small, and pretty basic (cooker, microwave and fridge) they do the job, and you can always eat out if you don’t fancy cooking.

I couldn’t imagine being in any other hall. I’ve met so many great people and had such an amazing time here, I’ll be sad to move out at the end of the year!

By Chicklet21.

New Hall

Location: Right in front of Andrew Melville. For about four weeks i never knew Andrew Melville was behind us.... Anyway, Andrew Melville is a sinking/crashing ship, and New Hall is the Swedish prison. Easily recognisable by the sniper turrets.

Aesthetics and accommodation: New hall is pretty big. We have one entrance, which has security at night and a reception. There is also a coffee shop/TV room (DVD and Sky) which you can enter any time during the day but food and drinks are only served until about four in the afternoon. There are four flours, and it's a little confusing in your first week trying to find your way around. We have a computer room opposite the lift on the second floor which doubles as a study and two more studies on the third and forth floor. In the foyer, there is a huge dining hall, a games room with a pool table and such, a music room with a piano and a laundry room. Each corridor has at least one kitchen set to serve about 6-12 people. Some of the kitchens are really basic, with one fridge, one cooker, sink and such while other kitchens on halls that may be for self catered have two freezers, fridges, cookers, and cooking utensils and such. They're called diners. There are about 500 rooms, 25 shared rooms and mixed and same sex corridors.

We also have rabbits (and ducks), but I'm very sad to hear they may be no more!

All rooms are en suite, with a shower, sink and toilet and are cleaned once a week. Linen can be changed every two weeks.

The rooms have a cupboard, desk, TV and double bed, along with your side cabinets and drawers and such. The hall is suitable for wheelchair users also.

Food: There is the option to be catered, or you can be self catered, the self catered diners come with lockers to hold your stuff if you don't trust your corridor mates. Food is... Interesting. There is a wanna be chef sitting in the back with a spatula trying to make food pretty... and interesting. He succeeds! There's always something on the menu that you can eat though, and the pudding's are top notch. There's always plenty also, so no worries about coming a little late and not getting any food (and then there's always seconds).

New hall is fun and friendly. The place is huge, and we have a fantastic RA team that makes sure you find friends early on and hold many events.

By dragon500uk

St Salvator's Hall (Sallies)

Location: Practically in the centre of town, closest hall to a lot of the arts buildings. Not quite so good if you're doing sciences, but it's a short walk home if you've been out at night. We back on to the scores, and some of the rooms have amazing sea views. Downsides, can be a bit chilly! Right next door to Younger hall (the music centre etc...), and about a minute from the library.

Accommodation: OK, so I'm biased but sallies is one of the 'prettier' halls (ie. one of the older ones). Within the main building, there are three floors of rooms (A,B and C floor) with a couple of rooms on the ground floor. There's also D block, which I don't know very much about apart from they seem to put returning students there.

If you're a first year, chances are you're going to have to share a room at sallies. Room sizes do vary, from slightly snug to very spacious. As a warning, some of the internet connection points are in really strange places (behind a bed on the opposite side of the room from the desk) so a really long cable might be required. Bins get emptied and sinks cleaned in the rooms, and the bathrooms get cleaned every day (not at weekends). Rooms get hoovered once a week.

Other facilities at sallies include the basement (laundry room, table tennis and huge snooker? table), big common room (reasonably comfortable chairs, free papers, drinks machine, TV and grand piano), study room (v. quiet), small library and computer room (handy for 3am printing!).

Bathrooms are, surprisingly, almost always quiet. there's one toilet between about 2 and one shower between about 3 on our end of the corridor. There's even a bath tub lurking around somewhere!

Food: Sallies is fully catered (19 meals a week), but we don't get dinner on Saturday or Sunday. The food does vary (big emphasis on potatoes), but there's always a veggie option and some sort of salad available. I can't really comment on breakfast, apart from it's too early!

There are 2 (I think) kitchens on each floor for midnight snacks and cooking at the weekends. They are small, but have a fridge, microwave, toaster,cooker, hot water urn etc. However I wouldn't advise leaving pots and pans in there as they may walk.

Atmosphere: First of all, we're not as posh as our reputation! It's really easy to find friends here, especially during meals. Apart from that, coffee and cake on a sunday afternoon with the warden is not to be missed!

By WhiteSugarMouse.

University Hall

I was in Uni Hall for first year, and they've been doing work on it since then, so I have no idea how up-to-date all of this is - please remember that and read it in the past tense!

Also, if anyone has any more recent information on Uni Hall, please write a mini-guide or just correct me.

Location: Overlooking the North Haugh, you're about 3 minutes from Maths, Physics, Comp Sci, Economics and the Purdie Building, and anything else on the North Haugh that I've forgotten to mention. Some of the rooms have great sea views. The walk out to DRA takes 15-20 minutes, and you're 10-15 minutes from the middle of town. You're also right next to the sports centre - even if you're as unsporty as me, this is still useful for when you have exams in there.

Aesthetics & accommodation: University Hall has 3 main buildings: Wardlaw, Lumdsen and Old Wing (The latter two are stuck together, Wardlaw is separate). I'll deal with them individually:

• Wardlaw: I lived here - it looks like a castle from outside, and is fairly old. Nicknamed 'Virgin Megastores', because it's the only all-girls building remaining. They've been doing it up lately, and it has apparently changed significantly from when I last saw it. There's a good balance of single and shared rooms; some have sinks, none are en suite. The room size varies considerably, as does layout, but you've got all the furniture you'd want, even if some of it is classy and antique and some is snazzy 60's stylin'... Baths, showers, toilets and sinks are scattered all over the place, and there are a few kitchens, along with a common room on the ground floor.
• Lumsden: The dining hall is located in here, as is the computer room, the exciting, 'alphabeticised' pigeon-holes for getting your post from, and the general offices and stuff like that. Lumsden is newer and less pretty, with more single rooms than shared, most of which are basically identical. They're not big rooms, but are nicely designed and laid out, with decent furniture [no quirky antiques, I'm afraid] and a sink in each. There are a few shared, ensuite rooms, which are relatively small. The baths, showers, toilets and sinks are in little huddles on each floor - each floor is single-sex, so ladies, there is low chance boys seeing you scampering back to your room in a towel =) Kitchens are well-designed, with a big one on each floor.
• Old Wing: I ventured in here about 3 times - they have their own common room. There's a mix of single and shared rooms, and kitchens and bathrooms semed scattered about, more like in Wardlaw than Lumsden. Other than 'Old Wing seemed rather nice', there's not much else I'm able to say.

Food: Catered, 19 meals per week, I'll deal with them individually again

• Breakfast: Typically from 8-9am; shorter and later on Sundays. Always 4 kinds of cereal, with ordinary or soya milk, and usually yoghurts and porridge, although I didn't eat much of that. Twice a week, they had croissants/english muffins/pancakes/etc, and the rest of the time, there were various constituents of a fried breakfast, including something potatoey. [Mmn, hash browns...]
• Lunch: Always baked potatoes with cheese and another topping to choose from, and there were always various breads and sandwich fillings, along with a huge salad bar. There were usually about 3 hot options, one of which was always vegetarian, and there were either yoghurts or some kind of traybake/cake. Usually some kind of soup as well. You could request a packed lunch in advance if you were away from hall.
• Dinner: Always baked potatoes and the salad bar again. You had 3 main meal options with veg, and yoghurts or a hot pudding of some kind. Usually a starter available.

There were also big boxes of rolls and sliced bread (white and wholemeal) available at every meal, along with the option of one piece of fruit and one cup of fruit juice.

The most entertaining thing about the food is that in one day, you could eat: Potato waffles for breakfast, baked potato with potato salad for lunch, baked potatoe with mashed/boiled potatoes and potato salad for tea. sadly, I never quite managed this.

Other stuff: Wardlaw has a washing machine and dryer, there are about 5 of each located on the ground floor of Lumsden as well.

By ImperceptibleNinja.

Albany Park

Location: Literally right on East Sands, a great big beach on the east side of town. Very advantageous for Marine Biologists (next to the gatty marine lab), and close to town for other stuff - about 10 minutes or so. Not so great if you're on the North Haugh for lectures as it's the opposite end of town. But to be fair, nowhere in st andrews is far away, leave yourself maybe 30 minutes to the science buildings, depending on your pace. There's also a little newsagents about 2 minutes walk away, but only use in emergencies as it can be expensive for basics like milk.

Aesthetics and accommodation: From the outside, it doesn't look quite as pretty as some of the other residences, but it's definitely a place you grow fond of. Houses are grouped in little blocks, and numbering of houses isn't exactly logical, but the insides of Albany houses are pleasant. Each house is a home to six students, single-sex in first year (most of the time) and for returning students it can be mixed - depends on who you apply with.

The kitchens are newly refurbished and although small (not suitable if you all want to cook at once), they are functional and we've never struggled in our house. The kitchens also come with a microwave, kettle and pots and pans alongside the typical stuff like fridge and oven.

There are two bathrooms in every house, however, some houses have two showers, where other houses have one. My house has one and we've been fine...the bathrooms are of a pretty good standard in my opinion.

The rooms are just about big enough to fit all necessary things in. You're provided with a wardrobe, desk, desk lamp, shelves, chair, single bed and bedside table. Heating has never been a problem in my experience (it's often too warm), but not sure if that's the case for everyone.

You also get a common room, which is a handy space to put extras (ours currently houses a tv, playstation 2, bookcase, general stuff we can't fit in our rooms), and comes with *either* two big comfy couches OR six not so comfy worn out chairs.

Food: Self catered. Self catering has advantages and disadvantages. While many residents in halls complain about food, we can make our own! Which if you can cook is great, especially if you and your housemates take it in turns. However, after a long day of lectures or being busy, you really can't face going to a messy kitchen and finding the motivation to whip up a smashing meal, leading to the inevitable junk food option. Advantages are that you can cook what you want when you want, as opposed to living by the timetable of residential kitchens.

Overall, Albany Park / Albania / Gatty, is a great place to live, with a great spirit and a lovely heart behind the grey and gloomy facade. We have a cat who likes to visit us occasionally. We have bunnies, seagulls, the occasional ducks. We're right next to the sea of course which is an amazing bonus (midnight swimming!). Albany is the best (not biased at all.....).

Private sector

There are various letting agencies in town. Places in town seem more expensive than those further out, but generally it's a relatively expensive place to stay. Houses take usually in the range of 2-4 people, with houses for 5 or more people being rarer. There is a high demand for 4-person houses, it seems. This is probably because 4 is a good number.

Student union

Prices

Alcohol, well it depends on how much you drink. Union and DRA prices (heres where I try and use my crappy memory) are £1.70 for a pint of tennents, £2.20 for stella, A shot of Vodka is £1 or £1.30 with coke, most shots are £1.50 or £1.60 bottles of magners are £3.20 I think and other bottles are around the £2-£2.50 mark, a pint of pepsi / lemonade is £1.20 (£1.40 in DRA) if you're a non-drinker (there are other things available but that all I can think of now). Most other places charge a bit more but most places are still pretty reasonable (NOT EVERYWHERE though so be warned).

Tuesday nights are known as Boozeday Tuesday with many pubs and bars offering cheap deals on drinks. Tuesday is a popular night out because most students have no lectures on a Wednesday (not true for medical students in particular, but that certainly doesn't deter them!).

e.g. The Vic does cheap deals and if you buy any drink in the Union before 11pm, you get free bop entry (usually 3.50)

The Modular System

How it works

St. Andrews uses a modular system which can at first glance appear very confusing. A Bachelors [or MA] degree requires at least 480 credits and takes 4 years, whilst a Masters such as MPhys or MSc require 600 credits and takes 5 years. This means you are expected to take 120 credits each year which breaks down to 60 a Semester; although it is normally acceptable to take 50 in one and 70 in another.

Each module has assigned to it the number of credits it is worth. This usually corresponds to the amount of work involved. For example, a 20 credit module normally requires less work than a 30 credit module. First year modules are normally worth 20 credits, Second year modules are normally worth 30 and Honours modules [third,fourth and fifth year] can vary anywhere from 5 credits to 30.

Choosing Modules

Each degree programme has specific modules that you must take in order to graduate with that degree; meaning that you must take these modules and are free to make up the remaining credits by taking modules of your own choosing. For single honours the required number of modules normally works out at one a semester in first year meaning that you are free to take two other subjects. Then in Second year the modules increase in size to 30 credits meaning you are free to continue one of the other two subjects from first year.

Each module has a code attached to it. A typical module code looks like this: MT1002. The first two letters are the department code [ie. Mathematics] the first number is the year [ie. First Year] and then the last three numbers are the unique module code. It is perfectly possible to take modules from a different year provided you meet the pre-requisites.

nb. If you are a medical student, you do not choose any modules as you do all the set modules. So, less hassle!

Things to be wary of

A number of modules [particularly in higher years] have pre-requisite modules meaning you can only take them if you have already taken the previous module. It is also worth making sure that modules don't clash by checking the Web timetable [only available inside St. Andrews].

Example First Year Modules

If I was taking a single honours Physics degree then I would be required to take PH1011 and PH1012, both of which are worth 20 credits. This means that Semester 1 I could take [assuming no timetable clashes]:

• PH1011 - First year Physics module 1
• MT1001 - First year Mathematics module 1
• GE1001 - First year Geography module 1

Then in semester two I could take:

• PH1012 - First year Phyics module 2
• MT1002 - First year Mathematics module 2
• GE1002 - First year Geography module 2

This combination means that I have met all the first year Physics requirements and can then proceed and take second year Physics, but it also means I have met all the requirements for first year Geography so I could also change my degree to Geography if I wasn't enjoying Physics.

Sources of Information

You can find more information on the modules required for a specific degree in the course catalogue.

Environment

Three beaches, dramatic cliffs, posh hotels, ye olde architecture and some stunning scenery

Architecture

Pretty and grey. The pictures say it all!

Local area

Teaching quality

Applying to St Andrews

Thinking of applying to St Andrews? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here?

Other St Andrews Articles

Why not read these other St Andrews Articles?

• Personal Statements

Links

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• St Andrews University Homepage
• A-Z of Universities