Any St. Andrews students willing to answer a few questions?

What kind of things would you like to know?

A lot! haha.

How selective is the school?

What are your favorite parts about it?

What are you studying?

What makes it stand out from other schools?

Why did you choose to go there?

Thats it for now. I'll have more soon enough! Thanks

I guess it's pretty selective in terms of grades and how competitive it is to get in. I think most people here have AAA or AAB at A-level or AAAB at Scottish Higher(about 555 in AP and/or 700 in SAT subject tests I think). It’s maybe not as difficult to get into as some unis (like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc), but it’s more so than most.

Fav parts: Pretty town by the sea; nice place to study; how friendly and active some of the student societies are; plenty to get involved in and events to goto (you need never be bored unless you want to be); how great my course and tutors are.

I’m studying medicine, the medicine faculty and teaching here is great. I’ve heard mixed reports about other faculties, but I think it mainly depends on how much you like a particular professors teaching style; although in the spirit of old unis and eccentric academics, some of the faculties can be a bit disorganized at times.

What makes St A stand out: Small picturesque town on the North Sea; tons of photo ops and the occasional glimpse of the Northern Lights; loads of weird and wonderful traditions (Raisin Weekendand the 1^st year foam fight in the quad, May Dip, the pier walk, the pier jump, the Gaudie); what feels like hundreds of balls, ceildhs and other student events; oldest university in Scotland and 3^rd oldest in the English speaking world. Scotland’s gorgeous too.

I came here because I really liked the medical school and staff on the open day, felt that the course content and structure really suited me, and fell in love with the town.

It seems most people either love it or hate it here, which is mostly down to it being such a small and isolated town, wedon’t call it ‘The Bubble’ for nothing. The closed off feeling here is more psychological and social than geographical– Dundee is only 20-30 min away and Edinburgh 1 ½ hours on the train, but a lot of people feel claustrophobic later on in the semester. In some ways it’s nice, being immersed in student life and your friends, but it can also seem a bit unreal until you go home or out of town for a bit and get some perspective. Just be sure you’d be happy being in a small town, the social life here can be great as long as you don’t only like the kind of nightlife that a big city can provide.

Alrighty. Thanks! Do they like volunteer hours and work experience? I have a lot of that. I want to study environmental earth sciences there and got a 5 on the AP US history test, planning to take the AP government and AP macroeconomics tests. Also will take a math and chemistry SAT. My grades are A's but I did get a few B's because I got a concussion right before final exams and wasn't allowed to study!

Sounds awesome! How far is it from major cities and that? Is there a train station?

Cool. Do you know much about the earth sciences department?

Nice! Sounds like a neat place then!

Thats cool. I may visit during the 1st week of April!

That will be fine with me. I prefer the small town feel because I grew up in one so I think I'll be able to survive!

Also...

How expensive is living there? What is the housing situation like?

Thanks for the help I really appreciate it!

I think they like to see volunteering and work experience, especially if it's relevant to what you want to study - they like to see in your personal statement that you are dedicated to your subject.

The nearest cities are Dundee and Edinburgh, Dundee is a lot closer but also smaller and not as nice. St Andrews doesn't have it's own train station (they closed in in the 1960s - stupid, right?), so you have to get the train to/from Leuchars which is about 15 minutes away by bus, the bus service here is pretty good, there's a big bus station in the middle of town and regular buses to and from Leuchars. Dundee takes about 20 minutes to half an hour on the train, Edinburgh 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 40. If you're interesting in ice skating (as i assume from your username ), Dundee is where the nearest rink is and the ice skating club do regular trips there.

Sorry, I don't really know anything about the earth sciences department (other than a girl in halls in first year moaning about the maths content of her geology module!).

If you're thinking of coming here you should definitely come to one of the open days, it really helps you decide whether you like it or not, and you don't want to be stuck all the way over the pond if you end up not being that keen on the place you'll have to study at for 4 years.

Unfortunately, it's really quite expensive to live here (partly because it attracts wealthy tourists), the Tesco (supermarket) here is apparently the most expensive in the UK.
Honestly, rent is horrific most places as the town is overcrowded with students and tourists and there's not all that much accommodation available; there's a bit of a housing crisis really. For first year you're guaranteed a place in halls, some of which is very expensive (catered single ensuite is around £7500 a year I think, and shared standard catered around £6000), although you can request one of the cheaper halls (Albany Park or Andrew Melville, around £3000 and £5000).
In terms of renting privately, prices vary a lot and are most expensive nearer the centre of town, I'm paying £500 a month (not including utilities) for a room in a shared flat a bit outside the town centre (10 to 15 min walk from town centre or my uni buildings). Prices can be as low as £350 if you don't mind being further out; town centre can be £650 or more a month.

Alrighty, thats good to know!

Cool! Sounds good but kind of isolated. Are the buses expensive? How hard it is to get around?

Haha, it's alright, thanks!

Geez...thats expensive. I honestly don't think I can afford that :/ Does the school give financial aid of any sort?

I've looked into the tuition price, which is pretty high as well compared to other British schools. The reason I want to go to the UK is because tuition is cheaper in many areas, it is an English speaking country, and the schools are good. St. Andrews seems awesome but I really don't think I can afford it since it is at the high end of my budget. Thanks anyways for the help though I really appreciate it!

I am certainly considering it for a graduate degree though so your answers are still very helpful!

Yeah, it's definitely isolated! A bus to Leuchars is about £2, I don't know about to Dundee or Edinburgh as I always take the train (£13 to Edinburgh, £11 if you have a student railcard). tbh most people don't bother to travel out of St Andrews very often even if their school schedule allows it (mine doesn't most of the time).

The university does offer financial advice and support such as accommodation bursaries and the discretionary fund if you are from a low income family. There are also various scholarships and academic bursaries you can apply for. I would never have been able to afford it here without them!

The nearest international airport is Edinburgh Turnhouse, which is about 50 miles away. There are trams to Edinburgh Park and Haymarket train stations. The ticket is £5. There is a construction work being carried out at Guardbridge and bus trip between St Andrews and Leuchars train station may take longer. Sharing a taxi with 4 other people costs around £20 and takes over an hour.

Hello! Please can anyone tell me about the shopping in St.A? Are there any high street stores there? x

I guess it's pretty selective in terms of grades and how competitive it is to get in. I think most people here have AAA or AAB at A-level or AAAB at Scottish Higher(about 555 in AP and/or 700 in SAT subject tests I think). It’s maybe not as difficult to get into as some unis (like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Imperial etc), but it’s more so than most.

Fav parts: Pretty town by the sea; nice place to study; how friendly and active some of the student societies are; plenty to get involved in and events to goto (you need never be bored unless you want to be); how great my course and tutors are.

I’m studying medicine, the medicine faculty and teaching here is great. I’ve heard mixed reports about other faculties, but I think it mainly depends on how much you like a particular professors teaching style; although in the spirit of old unis and eccentric academics, some of the faculties can be a bit disorganized at times.

What makes St A stand out: Small picturesque town on the North Sea; tons of photo ops and the occasional glimpse of the Northern Lights; loads of weird and wonderful traditions (Raisin Weekendand the 1^st year foam fight in the quad, May Dip, the pier walk, the pier jump, the Gaudie); what feels like hundreds of balls, ceildhs and other student events; oldest university in Scotland and 3^rd oldest in the English speaking world. Scotland’s gorgeous too.

I came here because I really liked the medical school and staff on the open day, felt that the course content and structure really suited me, and fell in love with the town.

It seems most people either love it or hate it here, which is mostly down to it being such a small and isolated town, wedon’t call it ‘The Bubble’ for nothing. The closed off feeling here is more psychological and social than geographical– Dundee is only 20-30 min away and Edinburgh 1 ½ hours on the train, but a lot of people feel claustrophobic later on in the semester. In some ways it’s nice, being immersed in student life and your friends, but it can also seem a bit unreal until you go home or out of town for a bit and get some perspective. Just be sure you’d be happy being in a small town, the social life here can be great as long as you don’t only like the kind of nightlife that a big city can provide.

Yes, there are high street stores here, just not a large range as it's a very small town. There's a Boots, Tesco, WHSmith, Rymans, Paperchase, H&M, New Look, Superdry, Jack Wills, Bobbi Brown and a few others. If you really enjoy shopping the closest cities are Dundee or Edinburgh.

Tell me anything about the medicine course at St Andrews (that makes it different from other unis?)
How are the facilities?

How many contact hours/ lectures/ anything else per week? (Is attendance to everything monitored?)

What do you need to get in? (Anything specific or anything thats very important? Apart from work experience, futher reading, volunteering is there anything else you'd recommend?)

What grades did you get? In which subjects?

Is the accommodation nice? Very close to classes? Good food?

Anything you dont like about the university?

Anything else?

(All the questions I have at the moment 😂)

One major problem is that there is an accommodation shortage here,

No, there isn't. There may be an *affordable* accommodation shortage, but there's not a shortage of accommodation. They might be expensive, but, (http://www.thesaint-online.com/2015/11/empty-beds-in-halls-may-indicate-progress-in-accommodation-level/) there were 155 empty beds in halls and 207 empty beds in private halls in November this year. Plus, the uni is building more bed spaces (http://www.thesaint-online.com/2016/03/university-announces-70-million-accommodation-plan/).

We also have a relatively high % of students in halls. If you look https://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/3313, about 21% of student live in halls across the UK. The St Andrews prospectus says 44% of our students live in halls.

A lot of people here don't like how cliquey it can be; some of this varies with year groups, but the environment seems to unintentionally encourage it.