St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread

Original post by solark

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I don't seem to get to find the response so I will ask again; is it really THAT secluded as many claim? I've done some research/digging online and the closest big-ish town, Dundee, seems to be 40 minutes away by bus!

i'm pretty sure Dundee is 25 mins away by bus (prob more like 30 during the day) and Edinburgh is 1.15 hours away. it's a 10 min bus ride to Leuchars station and then 45 mins on the train, plus any waiting time etc.

Reply 9925

solark

15

I have applied for Computer Science at St Andrews, and I was wondering if any current students could give me an insight to the course/department? Is the lack of accreditation by BCS an issue at all?

Reply 9926

Original post by solark

I have applied for Computer Science at St Andrews, and I was wondering if any current students could give me an insight to the course/department? Is the lack of accreditation by BCS an issue at all?

St Andrews is currently #7 for Computer Science salary (£40,800) after 5 years, behind Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL, Warwick and Edinburgh. The only two real stand-out universities for this metric are Imperial and Cambridge (50k), other than that salaries are around the 40k mark for the top 8 unis

The student satisfaction scores are very high across all the main league tables too: Guardian, Sunday Times and Complete.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 9927

Original post by CollectiveSoul

how are the supermarkets far away!? you have Tesco and Sainsbury in the centre, M&S, Aldi and Morrisons are really convenient for people who live in houses near there where it's cheaper to rent

Tesco and Sainsbury's are tiny and extremely overpriced. They're fine for quick shopping, and very convenient, but for real grocery shopping you have to go out to Aldi/Morrison's which are about as far away from any other place a student might need to go as it is possible to be. Many of us (including the vast majority of my friends) live in halls or rent in town, so it's very far out of the way (relatively speaking) for us.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 9928

Original post by solark

I have applied for Computer Science at St Andrews, and I was wondering if any current students could give me an insight to the course/department? Is the lack of accreditation by BCS an issue at all?

Good luck! I hope you get in, it's a really wonderful program. I'm a second year and I've absolutely loved it. So far I have had zero issues with the lack of BCS accreditation (I was nervous about that, too), and even already I've been courted by many companies who know that St Andrews CS students are great and want to lure me into an internship early. There are lots of events where companies including JP Morgan, Bloomberg, Google, etc. bring free pizza, or put on a networking event or lecture, and the like. Employability is definitely not a concern, at least if you're interested in working in the UK (which I'm not sure I am yet, but that's a different issue).

I've really loved the teaching. My tutors have all been very nice, the lecturers are very approachable and helpful, and you make a lot of friends in CS because everyone comes to work in the labs, so you run into familiar faces all the time. I've made friends with students in older years, even. Plus in first year we have exercise classes, which are mandatory but unstructured, so some people literally just sit and chat with their friends for an hour.

It's a lot of work, I'm not going to pretend it's not, and I basically turn into a lab zombie for a day or two when a practical is due, but if you really like cs (or just think you might!) then I highly recommend you study it here.

Reply 9929

Original post by solark

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I don't seem to get to find the response so I will ask again; is it really THAT secluded as many claim? I've done some research/digging online and the closest big-ish town, Dundee, seems to be 40 minutes away by bus!

Dundee is really closer to 20-30 minutes by bus. It's really not that big a deal. It's a pain to travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but they're each within a couple of hours by train if you're dying for a big city feel. Personally, I find that I am busy enough not to mind the small town feel, but once in a while if I get antsy I go to Dundee and wander around the mall for a while and then I'm fine again.

Reply 9930

solark

15

Original post by JainaRose

Dundee is really closer to 20-30 minutes by bus. It's really not that big a deal. It's a pain to travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow, but they're each within a couple of hours by train if you're dying for a big city feel. Personally, I find that I am busy enough not to mind the small town feel, but once in a while if I get antsy I go to Dundee and wander around the mall for a while and then I'm fine again.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to both of my questions! :bumps:

You are the best! I really hope I get in, I know it is crazy competitive! What subjects did you take alongside Computer Science in the first two years. I'm thinking about Maths and Statistics

Reply 9931

Original post by solark

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to both of my questions! :bumps:

You are the best! I really hope I get in, I know it is crazy competitive! What subjects did you take alongside Computer Science in the first two years. I'm thinking about Maths and Statistics

You're welcome! Good luck, I hope you get in.

I am actually doing joint honours in cs and economics. I have also done modules in geography and maths. There's only one required maths module for first year, MT1002, and it was honestly one of my favourite modules of the entire year. I highly recommend it!

Reply 9932

Bellejardiniere4

5

Does anyone know what the film program is like at St. Andrews? I would be traveling a long distance to a foreign country and I’m scared to find out if it would be the right choice. Also, this might be a weird question, but as a girl from the U.S., is there a specific dislike against Americans? I saw one really bad thing about them and now it’s got me scared. I’m nervous in case you can’t tell lol.

Reply 9933

Original post by Bellejardiniere4

Does anyone know what the film program is like at St. Andrews? I would be traveling a long distance to a foreign country and I’m scared to find out if it would be the right choice. Also, this might be a weird question, but as a girl from the U.S., is there a specific dislike against Americans? I saw one really bad thing about them and now it’s got me scared. I’m nervous in case you can’t tell lol.

St Andrews is the honestly the most pro-American uni in the world outside of the US. When you include exchange students etc. I'd estimate just under 1/4 of St Andrews students are actually American!

'Banter' is a strong part of British culture (we're #1 in self-deprecating humour) so expect a gentle ribbing at times from people in a totally jokey way, but tbh i didn't even see much of that when I was there which was prob was more frequent around 2001...we generally spend most time making fun of ourselves.

I can't speak for film in particular, but think of English unis as the trade off where you don't get to study a broad liberal arts education (only 1 subject your whole time) but you do get to avoid general education... Scotland is like the half-way house where you do 3 subjects in your 1st and 2nd year (your grades from those two years don't count towards your final grade), before only doing your major/double major in your last two years

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 9934

Bellejardiniere4

5

Original post by CollectiveSoul

St Andrews is the honestly the most pro-American uni in the world outside of the US. When you include exchange students etc. I'd estimate just under 1/4 of St Andrews students are actually American!

'Banter' is a strong part of British culture (we're #1 in self-deprecating humour) so expect a gentle ribbing at times from people in a totally jokey way, but tbh i didn't even see much of that when I was there which was prob was more frequent around 2001...we generally spend most time making fun of ourselves.

I can't speak for film in particular, but think of English unis as the trade off where you don't get to study a broad liberal arts education (only 1 subject your whole time) but you do get to avoid general education... Scotland is like the half-way house where you do 3 subjects in your 1st and 2nd year (your grades from those two years don't count towards your final grade), before only doing your major/double major in your last two years

Thank you so much! It sounds perfect, and makes me feel so much better . 🙂

Reply 9935

Original post by Bellejardiniere4

Thank you so much! It sounds perfect, and makes me feel so much better . 🙂

I'll chime in here as well, as an American girl myself. I have lots of friends from lots of different countries, including many who are Scottish and English (as well as other Americans, which is very nice!). Brits will definitely make occasional remarks like "ick, there are so many Americans here!" but, even when they slightly mean it under the banter, they aren't talking about me personally. They can be great friends with me, and think I'm a great person, but still feel like there are too many of us as a mass.

I don't know if I'm saying this well, but basically there IS some anti-American sentiment on campus but it's never really personal. Also, word of advice, steer clear of discussing our politics as much as possible unless you're a Democrat. Otherwise you'll quickly get very offended–everyone here has (the same) strong opinions about our politicians and no qualms about expressing them to us. Even if you try to avoid it, you will still run into this topic of conversation at least occasionally.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 9936

Bellejardiniere4

5

Original post by JainaRose

I'll chime in here as well, as an American girl myself. I have lots of friends from lots of different countries, including many who are Scottish and English (as well as other Americans, which is very nice!). Brits will definitely make occasional remarks like "ick, there are so many Americans here!" but, even when they slightly mean it under the banter, they aren't talking about me personally. They can be great friends with me, and think I'm a great person, but still feel like there are too many of us as a mass.

I don't know if I'm saying this well, but basically there IS some anti-American sentiment on campus but it's never really personal. Also, word of advice, steer clear of discussing our politics as much as possible unless you're a Democrat. Otherwise you'll quickly get very offended–everyone here has (the same) strong opinions about our politicians and no qualms about expressing them to us. Even if you try to avoid it, you will still run into this topic of conversation at least occasionally.

Thank you too! That makes a lot of sense, and thank you for the advice on politics. I figured there would be some “banter” as you put it, it was just on very bad thing I saw written somewhere that made me a little on edge.

I also have another question: How affordable, as an international student, is St. Andrews? Cost is a big factor for me, so I am curious what you think.

Thank you again

Reply 9937

CH2O3

9

Hi, and thanks for making this thread!

I have a few questions:
1. I applied for Theoretical Physics in October, do you know when I should expect to hear back from the university?
2. I just realised I made a grammar mistake in my PS, is there any way to retract it and fix the error?
3. How's the student life? it looks really good from when I went to visit, but I didn't get to speak to a student about it properly.

Thanks!

Reply 9938

Original post by CH2O3

Hi, and thanks for making this thread!

I have a few questions:
1. I applied for Theoretical Physics in October, do you know when I should expect to hear back from the university?
2. I just realised I made a grammar mistake in my PS, is there any way to retract it and fix the error?
3. How's the student life? it looks really good from when I went to visit, but I didn't get to speak to a student about it properly.

Thanks!

1. St Andrews are known for being slow at giving out offers. it could really be any time up to the deadline, but most likely Feb.

2. You cannot correct grammatical errors in your PS, but fortunately you are applying for Theoretical Physics where the academics won't give a toss. Does indicate though that perhaps you could have maybe done a few more drafts of your PS... so hopefully it's good regardless!

3. St Andrews is the ideal party uni for people who like a) student bars/pubs b) societies' drinking events c) flat parties.

If nightclubs specifically are your priority, this isn't the uni for you, as, apart from the Union which functions as a nightclub we only have limited dancing in the bars.

Reply 9939