This discussion is now closed.
Check out other Related discussions
- St Andrews V Edinburgh V UCl
- Insurance choice
- Asking for Advice <3
- Transfer from Dundee to St Andrews
- Help needed for ucas choices
- St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread [part 2]
- History of art UCL vs St.andrews
- Edinburgh, Dundee and St Andrews uni for Medicine
- Official: University of St Andrews A100 2025 Entry
- Is the Russell Group still relevant?
- Should i go to St Andrews
- Any Theology applicants?
- St Andrews or Edinburgh??
- OFFICIAL St Andrews University offers 2024
- Struggling to choose a uni
- Where to study Geology at University?
- Official: University of St Andrews A100 2023 Entry
- 1 week to make my uni decision, help please!
- St Andrews rejection
- Gateway Interview at St Andrews
St Andrews: Should it be my first choice?
I was considering Appling to St Andrews as my first choice, but after doing a bit of research I’ve heard that since Prince William went its become over-run by people from private school backgrounds, and that because of this everything has also become very expensive. I just wanted to know if anybody knew if this was true, because coming from a state school background I don’t want to go there and feel out of place and to find out in my second year that it would be too expensive to stay there. I look forward to any response I get.
Reply 1
Hiya,
Applications to St Andrews have increased by quite a high percentage but I've heard this is more from overseas applicants than anything else (although applications from people at private schools has probably increased too). You may find that since Prince William has now left these may decrease slightly.
I've heard its expensive for accomadation in St Andrews but don't attend there so couldn't say for sure, you could always try looking up some rent prices on the net. I doubt its much more expensive than Edinburgh etc. At the open day someone told me that you should try and get accomadation in one of the villages just outside of St Andrews as this works out a lot cheaper. When I applied it was also pointed out that the halls weren't just for first years so you could apply to stay there in your 2/3/4 year although places were limited.
Applications to St Andrews have increased by quite a high percentage but I've heard this is more from overseas applicants than anything else (although applications from people at private schools has probably increased too). You may find that since Prince William has now left these may decrease slightly.
I've heard its expensive for accomadation in St Andrews but don't attend there so couldn't say for sure, you could always try looking up some rent prices on the net. I doubt its much more expensive than Edinburgh etc. At the open day someone told me that you should try and get accomadation in one of the villages just outside of St Andrews as this works out a lot cheaper. When I applied it was also pointed out that the halls weren't just for first years so you could apply to stay there in your 2/3/4 year although places were limited.
Reply 3
when i say surrounding you'd still need a car or at least a bike. Can't remember what any of the little places were called, geography isn't my strong point.
There are at least 3 big towns, (much bigger towns than st andrews) near st andrews and a whole bunch of little villages. Public transport is good particularly for the little villages so you wouldn't neccessarily need a bike or car.
There are a lot people that were privately educated at st andrews but the majority have been educated in state schools. 60% of students at st andrews were educated at state schools, only 40% were privately educated!!! I am going and i am from a state school background and know of many others who are starting who are also from state schools.
St andrews is not overly expensive for halls rent etc, just the same price as most uni's depending on what your preferences are for your accommodation for example shared room or not, self catering or full board .
There are a lot people that were privately educated at st andrews but the majority have been educated in state schools. 60% of students at st andrews were educated at state schools, only 40% were privately educated!!! I am going and i am from a state school background and know of many others who are starting who are also from state schools.
St andrews is not overly expensive for halls rent etc, just the same price as most uni's depending on what your preferences are for your accommodation for example shared room or not, self catering or full board .
There are not 4 places bigger than St Andrews near it. To get that, you're looking at Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Glenrothes etc; all miles away!
You could live in Strathkinness or somewhere like that, but that's 2-3 miles from the edge of town.
If you're worried about costs, you'll get a hall price list; you can live there every year. I seem to remember Fife Park being the cheapest, which'll be less than £1500pa for a self-catered place.
You could live in Strathkinness or somewhere like that, but that's 2-3 miles from the edge of town.
If you're worried about costs, you'll get a hall price list; you can live there every year. I seem to remember Fife Park being the cheapest, which'll be less than £1500pa for a self-catered place.
Wzz
There are not 4 places bigger than St Andrews near it. To get that, you're looking at Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Glenrothes etc; all miles away!
You could live in Strathkinness or somewhere like that, but that's 2-3 miles from the edge of town.
If you're worried about costs, you'll get a hall price list; you can live there every year. I seem to remember Fife Park being the cheapest, which'll be less than £1500pa for a self-catered place.
You could live in Strathkinness or somewhere like that, but that's 2-3 miles from the edge of town.
If you're worried about costs, you'll get a hall price list; you can live there every year. I seem to remember Fife Park being the cheapest, which'll be less than £1500pa for a self-catered place.
Yes there are 3. Glenrothes is only 19 miles away, em only 20mintues away by bus or car!!! Cupar is 8 miles away and 5-10mintues away by car or bus. Kirkcaldy is only a 10 mintues train ride away from leuchars and then a 5minute bus ride into st andrews!!! and Dundee is a city, not a town so no i was not considering that!!!
Reply 9
Monii
may i ask you - how easy/hard is to find a part-time job in St.Andrews? since it's quite small, i'd suppose it must be quite complicated...
I asked 3 people that on my open day, every single one of them replied that they didn't work during term time but that they'd heard tesco took on alot of people...
niamhster
Yes there are 3. Glenrothes is only 19 miles away, em only 20mintues away by bus or car!!! Cupar is 8 miles away and 5-10mintues away by car or bus. Kirkcaldy is only a 10 mintues train ride away from leuchars and then a 5minute bus ride into st andrews!!! and Dundee is a city, not a town so no i was not considering that!!!
It takes a lot longer to get to St Andrews from Glenrothes than 20 minutes; it takes at least 10 minutes to get there from Cupar, plus 5 mins to fight through Cupar on a busy day. Cupar's also smaller than St Andrews.
Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are not nice places at all, and I've never heard of anyone living there and commuting to St Andrews. I've known some people live out in local villages (myself included), but if you're further away than Cupar it starts to look a little silly.
Kirkcaldy's more than 10 mins from Leuchars too; and it's about 5.5 miles from Leuchars to St Andrews, so I'm pretty certain the buses don't do it in 5 minutes! Bearing in mind I used to use the east coast train line to visit St Andrews when working in England, and used to visit family in Edinburgh while there and drive up via Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.
Wzz
It takes a lot longer to get to St Andrews from Glenrothes than 20 minutes; it takes at least 10 minutes to get there from Cupar, plus 5 mins to fight through Cupar on a busy day. Cupar's also smaller than St Andrews.
Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are not nice places at all, and I've never heard of anyone living there and commuting to St Andrews. I've known some people live out in local villages (myself included), but if you're further away than Cupar it starts to look a little silly.
Kirkcaldy's more than 10 mins from Leuchars too; and it's about 5.5 miles from Leuchars to St Andrews, so I'm pretty certain the buses don't do it in 5 minutes! Bearing in mind I used to use the east coast train line to visit St Andrews when working in England, and used to visit family in Edinburgh while there and drive up via Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.
Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are not nice places at all, and I've never heard of anyone living there and commuting to St Andrews. I've known some people live out in local villages (myself included), but if you're further away than Cupar it starts to look a little silly.
Kirkcaldy's more than 10 mins from Leuchars too; and it's about 5.5 miles from Leuchars to St Andrews, so I'm pretty certain the buses don't do it in 5 minutes! Bearing in mind I used to use the east coast train line to visit St Andrews when working in England, and used to visit family in Edinburgh while there and drive up via Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.
If you don't live in either towns, how do you know what they are like?!!
Both towns are nice places to live in, certainly most places in Glenrothes are!!!In a car or by bus it does not take any longer than 20-30mins every day to get from Glenrothes to st andrews( I know as i have travelled this way myself many times!!). By TRAIN, as i said does only take 10minutes to get to an aberdeen train from Kirkcaldy which stops via cupar and leuchars. Many people commute from Glenrothes to St andrews, and i know many people who do this for work and university daily!!!.
It's true that 60% are from state schools, however most people definitely do not sound as if they do not have money i.e do not have regional accents, just one similar accent. Obviously there are a lot of foreign students, something like 30%, and whilst these people may often be wealthy, you must also consider that to go to a private university in the U.S like Brown or Yale you must pay very high fees and the amount of debt Americans expect to come out of university with is higher, and there is more of a culture of saving for university over there.
Although rents are relatively expensive compared to say Leeds or Sheffield, they are cheaper than London. As for Edinburgh, I've been to both Edinburgh and St Andrews' open days and having stayed in both places can say that per week Edinburgh may be a little cheaper. However, St Andrews is quite rare in that most of the private rentals only have 9 or 10 month leases so you must find a job or go stay with parents or whatever in the summer, consequently rents are slightly cheaper than Edinburgh.
As for jobs, although it is a small place there are a few shops and many people choose not to work because they don't have to or they choose to work in the summer. When I was there plenty of shops were hiring, much more than when I went to Edinburgh.
BTW I attend a state school and my mother earns next to nothing. :-)
Although rents are relatively expensive compared to say Leeds or Sheffield, they are cheaper than London. As for Edinburgh, I've been to both Edinburgh and St Andrews' open days and having stayed in both places can say that per week Edinburgh may be a little cheaper. However, St Andrews is quite rare in that most of the private rentals only have 9 or 10 month leases so you must find a job or go stay with parents or whatever in the summer, consequently rents are slightly cheaper than Edinburgh.
As for jobs, although it is a small place there are a few shops and many people choose not to work because they don't have to or they choose to work in the summer. When I was there plenty of shops were hiring, much more than when I went to Edinburgh.
BTW I attend a state school and my mother earns next to nothing. :-)
Wzz
Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are not nice places at all
lol, thanks.
As someone who lives in Kirkcaldy, and goes up to St Andrews quite often, without traffic I'd say that by car it takes around 20 - 25 minutes to get there. However, this would probably differ during busy hours of the day.
I know first hand that the train and bus service to St Andrews are absolutely crap, and I think it would be quite a tast to commute.
As for the costs of living in St Andrews, they are fairly high due to the main sources of income of the town being tourists and golfers, to be honest.
foxo
lol, thanks.
As someone who lives in Kirkcaldy, and goes up to St Andrews quite often, without traffic I'd say that by car it takes around 20 - 25 minutes to get there. However, this would probably differ during busy hours of the day.
I know first hand that the train and bus service to St Andrews are absolutely crap, and I think it would be quite a tast to commute.
As for the costs of living in St Andrews, they are fairly high due to the main sources of income of the town being tourists and golfers, to be honest.
As someone who lives in Kirkcaldy, and goes up to St Andrews quite often, without traffic I'd say that by car it takes around 20 - 25 minutes to get there. However, this would probably differ during busy hours of the day.
I know first hand that the train and bus service to St Andrews are absolutely crap, and I think it would be quite a tast to commute.
As for the costs of living in St Andrews, they are fairly high due to the main sources of income of the town being tourists and golfers, to be honest.
I have always found the public transport(glenrothes and kirkcaldy to st andrews) including taking a train from kirkcaldy to leuchars to be quick, reliable and haven't experienced any problems. I suppose everyone's experiences are different
Kirkcaldy is about 25 miles from St Andrews-along the road, not as the crow flies.The roads are pretty winding, too...and on the train, it's much more than 10 minutes. It's 8 minutes from Cupar to Leuchars on the train! (I know, I lived in St Andrews for 5 years).
Don't think about living outside- you would hate it--you'd feel cut off relying on the buses. My ex lived in Leuchars (again, more than a "five minute" bus ride away- more like 20 or 25 minutes, especially if you get the 99 which goes through Strathkinness. It's like a magical mystery tour, that one! Anyway, yes, my ex used to feel REALLY frustrated- the last bus out of St Andrews and up to Dundee (ie- bus he needed to get) left at 10.30 pm- imagine that! You'd have to cut your nights really short, unless you could splash out about £25 for a taxi
I suggest you go for a self catered room like I did- Fife Park or Gatty are hte cheapest. And get a pushbike :-)
Don't think about living outside- you would hate it--you'd feel cut off relying on the buses. My ex lived in Leuchars (again, more than a "five minute" bus ride away- more like 20 or 25 minutes, especially if you get the 99 which goes through Strathkinness. It's like a magical mystery tour, that one! Anyway, yes, my ex used to feel REALLY frustrated- the last bus out of St Andrews and up to Dundee (ie- bus he needed to get) left at 10.30 pm- imagine that! You'd have to cut your nights really short, unless you could splash out about £25 for a taxi
I suggest you go for a self catered room like I did- Fife Park or Gatty are hte cheapest. And get a pushbike :-)
Reply 16
Fife Park's minging!!!!! Gatty's supposed to be alright though.
'Ello all, thought I might add my two penneth in ere as I've lived in St.Andrews for 18 years and thought i could be helpful.
St.A is a lovely town, and steve-o, it's always been overrun with toffs! But it's not a major point. There's also a hell of a lot of normal people from state schools, whose parents don't own multinational conglomerates or continents. The toffs are mostly very nice too- the percentage of actual Hooray Henry's (The sort who won;t associate with the Proles), is actually very small. I'd agree with KateBush, unless you really want the country life it's best to stay in St.A itself. It's easy enough to move around in, and accommodation can be cheap- try looking at lisitngs for Eve Brown Letting company. Lamond drive I think is cheapest.
St.A can be a bit more pricey than elsewhere, but it's manageable, and there's certainly opportunities to live the BOGOF and charity shop lifestyle if you're really watching pennies! The percentage of thick yuppies applying due to Wills' presence has lowered dramatically since he graduated.
I know loads of things about the place, so if anyone has any Questions, PM me and I'll help you out as best i can
'Ello all, thought I might add my two penneth in ere as I've lived in St.Andrews for 18 years and thought i could be helpful.
St.A is a lovely town, and steve-o, it's always been overrun with toffs! But it's not a major point. There's also a hell of a lot of normal people from state schools, whose parents don't own multinational conglomerates or continents. The toffs are mostly very nice too- the percentage of actual Hooray Henry's (The sort who won;t associate with the Proles), is actually very small. I'd agree with KateBush, unless you really want the country life it's best to stay in St.A itself. It's easy enough to move around in, and accommodation can be cheap- try looking at lisitngs for Eve Brown Letting company. Lamond drive I think is cheapest.
St.A can be a bit more pricey than elsewhere, but it's manageable, and there's certainly opportunities to live the BOGOF and charity shop lifestyle if you're really watching pennies! The percentage of thick yuppies applying due to Wills' presence has lowered dramatically since he graduated.
I know loads of things about the place, so if anyone has any Questions, PM me and I'll help you out as best i can
Related discussions
- St Andrews V Edinburgh V UCl
- Insurance choice
- Asking for Advice <3
- Transfer from Dundee to St Andrews
- Help needed for ucas choices
- St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread [part 2]
- History of art UCL vs St.andrews
- Edinburgh, Dundee and St Andrews uni for Medicine
- Official: University of St Andrews A100 2025 Entry
- Is the Russell Group still relevant?
- Should i go to St Andrews
- Any Theology applicants?
- St Andrews or Edinburgh??
- OFFICIAL St Andrews University offers 2024
- Struggling to choose a uni
- Where to study Geology at University?
- Official: University of St Andrews A100 2023 Entry
- 1 week to make my uni decision, help please!
- St Andrews rejection
- Gateway Interview at St Andrews
Latest
Trending
Last reply 4 hours ago
Official University of St Andrews 2025 Applicant ThreadUniversity of St Andrews
220
1079
Last reply 1 day ago
Official St Andrews Uni Offer Holders Thread 2025 entryLast reply 3 months ago
Slightly under entry requirements - Durham v St AndrewsLast reply 3 months ago
Does Sutton Trust actually guarantee an offer? For St andrews
