The Student Room Group
St Salvators Quad, University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews

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Reply 1
Yes, we're perfectly happy to try and answer any questions you give us to the best of our ability :smile:
St Salvators Quad, University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
Reply 2
ok so i'll have the first couple of questions :smile::

How expensive is St.Andrews (in terms of living costs)? and compared to other places in England/Scotland?

Do you have to live-out? if so, for how many years (i've read somewhere that most students can live in for three years out of four)

How hard is it to get a part-time job there? do many people have one?


Thanks
Reply 3
Which accomodation should I avoid? :biggrin:
Reply 4
If you can't get a part time job in St. Andrews itself are you able to get jobs outwith the town?

Does it ever get really boring some days living in St Andrews?
Renza


Does it ever get really boring some days living in St Andrews?


I wondered that. I love the place to bits, my annual holiday there is always fabulous but do you not sometimes get cabin fever? I mean where do you shop for shoes?! And what about the transport links since you don't have a train station. I'm asking this but it's really not going to change my mind about the place.
Reply 6
OK one at a time one at a time!!!!

How expensive is St.Andrews (in terms of living costs)? and compared to other places in England/Scotland?

Do you have to live-out? if so, for how many years (i've read somewhere that most students can live in for three years out of four)

How hard is it to get a part-time job there? do many people have one?


St Andrews is an expensive town accommodation wise. The halls with the best facilities (ie single ensuite catered) are among the most expensive in the UK. The price of some small flats in the town cetre is unbelievable.
However don't let this put you off!
Most of the student accommodation is relatively cheap and can be easily covered with your loan. Student flats which you will more than likely rent in 2nd year are easily affordable, just like anywhere. Being a student in St Andrews is not too bad financially, being a permanent resident in St Andrews however is a lot more expensive.

What do you mean by "live-out"? I don't get what you mean, but if it's to do with staying in uni accommodation, most people get a hall in first year, then get a flat in 2nd year with friends.

Part time jobs are surprisingly easy to find. The union is constantly looking for bar staff and people to walk about and clear the place at closing time. Places like the Grillhouse are usually looking for dishwashers. If you have a job in Tesco or Somerfield you can transfer to the St Andrews branch without hastle. Also the halls have jobs, eg kitchen staff, £6.50 an hour or so, and they are usually looking for staff. Many people don't apply for jobs because they want as much free time as possible, but if you want a job it is not hard to get one.

Which accomodation should I avoid?


Well, avoid Andrew Melville sometime next year as it's being demolished.
Also Hamilton Hall is being sold to a hotel.
All the remaining accommodation is quite good. I would say (Sorry Chris) avoid Fife Park as it is the furthest you can get from the town, and without a bike (or even with a bike) it is just annoying. The place itself is alright its just the distance.
DRA is also quite far but it isnt too bad, only a 10-15 minute walk to the science buildings, 20-25 minutes or so to the town centre.

If you can't get a part time job in St. Andrews itself are you able to get jobs outwith the town?

Does it ever get really boring some days living in St Andrews?


Well, it is unlikely you wont find work somewhere in St Andrews.
If you don't, you could get a job in Cupar which is around 8 miles way, and has a regular bus service. It is a small town with a lot of shops.

As for boredom, it NEVER gets boring. Seriously. I am at home in Ireland at the moment and probably the most bored Ive been for ages, looking forward to going back to Scotland tomorrow. There is always something to do, there are events somewhere every night, you make LOADS of friends. The night life etc is great, there are a few nice pubs and the union, which has the bop every friday night, basically a disco type thing, a lot of fun. For a change, you can get the bus to Dundee and back 3 nights a week which brings you to the clubs such as Fat Sams or London, and returns to St Andrews when the clubs close.


I wondered that. I love the place to bits, my annual holiday there is always fabulous but do you not sometimes get cabin fever? I mean where do you shop for shoes?! And what about the transport links since you don't have a train station. I'm asking this but it's really not going to change my mind about the place.


There is a shoe shop on Market Street, there may well be one on South Street too.
For good shopping its best getting the 10 minute bus journey to Dundee where there are all the main high street stores.
The transport links are fine, for 90p you can get a bus to the train station at Leuchars, and from there you can go anywhere, I use it to go to Edinburgh.
Reply 7
Can't believe Andrew Melville is being demolished! :redface:

And Hamilton Hall... What are they going to do for accomodation?
Reply 8
Is there a proper symphony orchestra or a choir at St Andrews? (quite a bit of a stupid question but you'll never know...)
Reply 9
What do you mean by "live-out"?
She's talking about living outwith uni accommodation. It's perfectly possible to stay in uni accommodation for all four years, but there are people who like to get out on their own in later years, renting flats around town. Some choose to do this as early as half-way through first year and some choose to do it only once they're in their final year. I personally have no real intention of doing it unless I can get some of my close friends to move with me :smile:
Accommodation will ALWAYS be provided for first-year students. That's guaranteed. It may be wise to have a backup in later years just in case - some poor students found themselves kicked out at the start of this year because the uni couldn't get a new licence to allow 6 students in residences instead of 5 (although where this was, I'm not too sure - Fife Park got their licence renewed...)

The union is constantly looking for bar staff
*cough* The union is also one which has many people applying for it...the workers (barstaff, security, whatever) are mostly third and fourth years, so there's always a chance that some may leave because of heavy study workload...

If you have a job in Tesco or Somerfield you can transfer to the St Andrews branch without hastle.
Add Morrisons to that list, too - it's near to the Somerfield :wink:

I would say (Sorry Chris) avoid Fife Park as it is the furthest you can get from the town, and without a bike (or even with a bike) it is just annoying. The place itself is alright its just the distance.
Nah, I'm not offended by it - I do agree...it's a half-hour walk into town, which can sometimes be a severe hassle, as you've got to leave a lot of time for travelling. Of course, Fife Park is right beside DRA, which has a regular bus service, so you could always use it :smile:

And what about the transport links since you don't have a train station.
The nearest train station is in Leuchars. You can take a bus or taxi between there and St Andrews :smile:

Does it ever get really boring some days living in St Andrews?
Three words: Societies and clubs...they are a godsend for avoiding boredom :wink:
I joined the pool society (£3 membership for the whole year, and you never have to pay for the games :biggrin: - we also have a spot of gambling (that I'm pretty sure the union is aware of but doesn't do anything about) when we play games of Killer...the society meets once a week and there are tournaments that keep members going back at other times :smile:) and the lacrosse club (£5 membership for the club, and £26 for the Athletic Union membership). I'm always kept busy by the two of those alone:
Lacrosse practice on Tuesday afternoon
Pool on Tuesday evening (can sometimes go on until the union closes at 2am)
Lacrosse practice or a women's match on Wednesday afternoon (if it's a match, I go and support...and talk to the substitutes :biggrin:)
A lacrosse social on either Wednesday or Thursday evening
Lacrosse practice or a mixed match on Saturday (if it's a match, I'm probably not on the team, but I still go and support anyway, and again talk to the subs :smile:)

the union, which has the bop every friday night, basically a disco type thing, a lot of fun
The Bop...fun??? Alright, I'll put it this way - you either like the bop or you don't...personally, I'm in the latter category. Of course, being an anti-social prat who can't dance, I suppose that's to be expected, but still... :rolleyes:

What are they going to do for accomodation?
They'll do something. Hell, McIntosh Hall was converted from two hotels and a small house in the middle :biggrin: That's why the rooms in that hall are bloody massive...

Is there a proper symphony orchestra or a choir at St Andrews? (quite a bit of a stupid question but you'll never know...)
There is no such thing as a stupid question, in my mind...
Yes, there are orchestras and choirs in St Andrews. Younger Hall, where music is taught, is the meeting ground for many musical groups. One of my housemates last year joined one of the singing groups.
If I could be bothered, I could, too - I've got a nice voice :smile: Won some trophies for singing when I was younger, and I sing songs all the time, but I just don't want to join a group (I'm not sure why)
Anyway, enough about me, let's get on with the other stuff I can quote and talk about :biggrin:

The night life etc is great, there are a few nice pubs
I'll vouch for that...St Andrews is a small town, but it has heaps of pubs. Just off the top of my head, there's the Whey Pat, Westport, Droofy Neebor (or something - I can NEVER remember the name of the pub), Lafferty's (our resident Irish pub - wahey!!!), Broon's, The Raisin, The Vic, The Lizard, The Central, Red Riever (I think that's what it's called - I've never been in it...I hear it's a pub, but as I've never been in it, I don't know), there's another one on Market Street too...and there's the union, as well :biggrin: And I've probably forgotten to mention one or two :rolleyes: I've been in most of them, usually on pub crawls, mostly while I was underage :redface:

Can't believe Andrew Melville is being demolished!
It's got quite a reputation, mainly built up by the people that actually live in it. In almost a year and a half, I've heard several people describe AM as looking like a ship, a submarine...even a prison (the person who called it a prison was a girl who lived in it :biggrin:)
It's nice inside, but it's far from aesthetically pleasing on the outside...

How expensive is St.Andrews (in terms of living costs)? and compared to other places in England/Scotland?
As has been mentioned, St Andrews is for the most part one of the most expensive places to live in the whole of the UK...current accommodation prices can be found here.
Reply 10
Aw you have to love the bop!!!!
As for the jobs in the union, I know two freshers who got jobs there, one as a doorman and the other as one of those guys who stand inside. But yeah, it is the first place people look to when they want a job.
And yeah there is an orchestra and choir, a friend of mine plays trombone in the brass band
Reply 11
How long did it take to receive your offer, and in particular an arts offer?
Reply 12
How long did it take to receive your offer, and in particular an arts offer?
Well, both Skeve and I chose science subjects as opposed to arts subjects, but I've said elsewhere that St Andrews was the last place to reply to me (after Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Dundee and, uh, Abertay :redface:)...don't hold your breath waiting for a reply from St Andrews - it's a very popular university, particularly with foreign students (it has that international reputation :smile:), so it takes them a while to go through all the applications.
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Skeve
Aw you have to love the bop!!!!
No...just, no...I went there once with friends last year, and have no intention of going back, unless it's to laugh at another friend making a fool out of himself (I specify 'himself', as I have one person in particular in mind :biggrin:)
Reply 13
It's weird, if you ask anyone to name unis in the UK, they'll usually mention Oxbridge and St. Andrews. Which is in no way related to academic excellence, is it? I suppose it's partly because of the hype about the prince and all that.

For my part, I didn't know any other substantial university in the UK before I started to get involved with the applications process...
This thread is great guys :smile:...4 questions
1. Hows the uni in terms of prestige/job opportunities?
2. Does anyone know anything about its history and international relations departments?
3. What does one do apart from "uni stuff"? As in whats the next most substantial aspect of social life e.g. pubs, clubbing in nearby places etc.
4. I dont want to get the post deleted so may i pm one of you for the fourth one? :biggrin: (nothing frightening)
Reply 15
It's weird, if you ask anyone to name unis in the UK, they'll usually mention Oxbridge and St. Andrews. Which is in no way related to academic excellence, is it? I suppose it's partly because of the hype about the prince and all that.
Well, I'd say it is and it isn't...these universities do have a solid reputation for academic excellence, but Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews are the three oldest universities in the UK and also have an extremely solid footing on world-leading research in several fields. With Prince William coming to StA, there was also some level of knowledge about that which would spread the word about the uni, but for the most part the reputation was already there.

1. Hows the uni in terms of prestige/job opportunities?
See my above comment :wink:

2. Does anyone know anything about its history and international relations departments?
Personally, I've not got a clue. History and IR are two things I avoided like the plague...I don't even know off the top of my head where the hell history or IR lectures take place :biggrin:

3. What does one do apart from "uni stuff"? As in whats the next most substantial aspect of social life e.g. pubs, clubbing in nearby places etc.
Binge drinking's a pretty common one :biggrin:
On a serious note, though, there are literally hundreds of societies and clubs to join that can appease your fancy, and if there isn't a society that fits your needs, you can always make one yourself (the pool society, for example, was only set up about 3 or 4 years ago - the founder of the society graduated last year). Drinking in pubs is also a common pasttime for students - I gave a partial list of pubs in just three streets of the town (North Street, Market Street and South Street) in a previous post :wink:

4. I dont want to get the post deleted so may i pm one of you for the fourth one? :biggrin: (nothing frightening)
Go ahead - I'm happy enough to answer questions over PM if anyone's unwilling to publicly post them for whatever reason :smile:
This thread is great! I just have a few wee ques...
1) Is it worthwhile bringing your car?
2) Is it true that the weather is really awful?
3) What's the whole Raisin Monday thing???
Reply 17
1) Is it worthwhile bringing your car?
Could be - living in Fife Park, I sometimes wish I could drive :redface:
Useful for doing shopping runs, and if you want to have day trips to Dundee or Edinburgh :smile:

2) Is it true that the weather is really awful?
It can be, but it's not really any worse than anywhere else in Scotland. When I came back up, it was actually bright and sunny, but was bloody FREEZING...that's the worst thing about StA - it's so damn cold.

3) What's the whole Raisin Monday thing???
The whole Raisin Weekend thing is basically just an excuse for students to get completely bladdered and not have to go to class on the Monday :biggrin: It may have some historic significance, but nowadays it's just a way for you to get drunk and handle your hangover without having to go to classes :wink:
The heavy drinking is done on the Sunday - in some cases it's done all day...last year I went into a tutorial for a class on the Tuesday. Someone else came in late and apologised, saying that he was still drunk (from the Sunday) - not just hungover, but still drunk :biggrin: Oh, how we laughed about that at the time...
Reply 18
:redface: what kind of clothes shops are there (if any lol)? any high-street ones?
Just a couple of questions, Is St Andrews also an expensive to live on a daily basis (What I basically mean by that is how much do you spend a day, not including rent) and, dare I say it :smile: , what is the English presence like there, are there many and is it true what I hear that most are (probably quite understandably) disliked by the Scottish students (oh and please tell me there not all full of themselves toffs :frown: )

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