An applicant with questions

I have an offer to study Psychology here but I'm really uncertain whether to firm or not. I won't be able to attend a visit day (though have been to the town) so I figured asking some things here might be helpful.

- How often do people not get the 11 needed for Honours, when that's what they want? I'm concerned it's a bit of a 'risk' studing at St A because it's not guaranteed I'll be able to actually graduate in that subject when I want to be a psychologist.

- Do people who have previously taken a sub get a bit bored in the first 2 years? I've done A Level Psych and in a way, feel ready to go more in depth.

- How does the uni help you get relevant experience to put on the CV? My other possible firm has a placement year, so people are telling me to pick there as experience is more important than your uni's reputation.

I'd be thankful for any comments!

- It doesn't happen to a lot of people, you'd really need to screw up to get that low. I know someone in psychology who didn't attend any lectures and still got a 14. All I would suggest is attend lectures and tutorials, and do a reasonable amount of work in between, so that you have a decent understanding of the content before the exams.

- Since some Scottish students start uni a year earlier, the first year of uni has a lot of repeat content from A-level. If you feel confident enough then (in some subjects) you can do direct entry into second year, where things are a lot harder. If you're worried about making the grades though, don't be afraid to go into first year - plenty of non-Scottish students do this.

- I've known some people do a year outside of uni, but I don't know enough about it to say so myself. If I were you I'd look up the options online, or contact the department itself.

Hope these answers helped!

Thank you for such a detailed reply, that has definitely helped Do you take psychology? Are the staff friendly/approachable? I've heard people are snobby, is it true?

Alas, I am a maths student so I know little about the Psychology department overall, although the maths staff are very friendly and approachable (you can drop in and ask your tutors/lecturers for help at any time during the academic day), so I'd imagine psychology could be similar. I'd check student satisfaction scores to be sure though.

There are definitely some snobs around town, more in the arts than the sciences I'd say. Luckily they're a minority, most people are either really friendly or just super quiet.

Ah, I'll be studying arts subjects alongside psych. Still, I suppose it'll be okay if they're the minority - I am a bit concerned I might not fit in.

One more question, if you don't mind! Part-time work - is it really hard to get? I'm definitely going to have to find a job.

You'll be fine, I mean you all share a similar interest for that subject so classes shouldn't shouldn't be too bad. Also no-one seems to care about background at all so you're unlikely to be discriminated on for those sorts of reasons.

I'm afraid I don't know too much about part-time work. I've only known one person (first year) get a part time job, at a local coffee shop, and I haven't known anyone get turned down for work. I guess there are opportunities but I don't really know what it's like compared to other universities.

You'll be fine, I mean you all share a similar interest for that subject so classes shouldn't shouldn't be too bad. Also no-one seems to care about background at all so you're unlikely to be discriminated on for those sorts of reasons.

I'm afraid I don't know too much about part-time work. I've only known one person (first year) get a part time job, at a local coffee shop, and I haven't known anyone get turned down for work. I guess there are opportunities but I don't really know what it's like compared to other universities.

Sorry to invade the thread, but can I ask whether you know if the lectures are recorded so you can revise in your room listenting to them later? I know that some unis do this, I was just wondering if St andrews do. Particularly for Biology?

Also, if you're in catered accomodation, is there still somewhere to make a snack if you want to?

Is the library good? I heard there isnt enough books for everyone, and you can never find a seat during exam period?