St Andrews - Ask A Current Student Thread

Hey,

I'm thinking of applying for 2017 entry (taking a gap year), and I was just wondering if anybody could tell me a bit more about how you choose extra modules from other subjects in your first year, and how much flexibility you have with that. Are there only certain combinations that work? Do you take the same subjects in first/second year?

Thanks

Are there any medical students from St Andrews lurking around here? I'd like to know how flexible they are with their offers, because I've missed an aspect of my offer by a small margin while meeting all other requirements and I'm really worried about the likelihood they'll accept me...

What are the academic requirements for St. Andrews? GCSEs & A Levels?

When I applied you need C or higher in Maths and English Language GCSE. A-level grades need to be whatever they give as a guideline and vary per subject and faculty.



A degree from St Andrews is not to be sniffed at. Whilst it may not have the immediate name recognition that Oxbridge has, generally the university is considered prestigious. We have often ranked very well in the league tables.



This varies per faculty and department. But enthusiasm for the subject you're applying for is a good start, especially if you can demonstrate that enthusiasm with things you have done/read/learnt etc.



Annoyingly, yes. No point in sugar coating it. But during my degree I don't know of anyone who hasn't managed to find somewhere to live and been out of pocket because of it, though a couple have commuted in from Dundee.

Hope that answers some things for you.

What have you missed & how much by?
I'm a med student at St Andrews, I'll help if I can, but I still don't know all that much about how lenient they are likely to be.
As a general rule med schools don't need to accept people who have missed their offers as they are so oversubscribed and give more offers than they have spaces so allow for people missing their offers.
The only way to know for sure is to call them.

Very much appreciated.
Although are any PhD programmes offered for any of the sciences? I was considering neuropharmacology/ neuroscience.
Is the department of neuroscience any good/ natural sciences?
Oh, and from your opinion, is St. Andrews better or equivalent to Edinburgh university? I'm contemplating between both, as both are such excellent universities!

Hi, question from a foreign parent whose daughter is now offline for 3 months and will start at St Andrews in September. Want to make sure we have things sorted as there will be little time between her return and time to leave for uni.

Other than your clothes, what should you bring when you come over? She will be flying in, so wondering how much might be needed. We don't yet know her accommodation but assume that we can go to Dundee and buy all necessary bedding, etc. Or are the UniKitOut website packs any good?

Also need to check what happens during Fresher's week - any balls for which ballgowns or such attire might be needed and if so, are they easy to hire or should you plan to bring one with you? Anything else one needs to look out for or book in advance, etc.

And finally, are uni red gowns readily available - do you need to purchase one as soon as you arrive, are they needed immediately? I have read you can find them second hand, so will look out for this too.

Sorry for all the questions, thanks for your help!

Hi! Thank you for replying!

I should probably mention that I'm an international student, and I do the IB. The offer St Andrews gave me was to achieve 38/45 points, and a minimum of 6 in every single subject, except for Chemistry - I was expected to get a level 7 (highest grade). In the end, my final results were 41/45, with a 6 in everything, and a 7 in Biology and 7 in English Lit. And yes, I failed to get a 7 in Chemistry - even more frustratingly, by 2% according to my component grades.I've called the university, but they told me to wait until mid-August when people who take A-levels get their results. I'm honestly really scared at the moment and I get the feeling I'm going to be extremely devastated when I find out their decision.

I'm so sorry for the long message! It really helps to type it all out though, so thank you very much

I read somewhere that the bedding you can order through the university is poor quality, can someone confirm this?
I cannot bring my own duvet and pillow and I am not entirely sure I have time to buy it in St Andrews on the first day, so it would really be convenient to order it through the uni and have it delivered at the house...

I heard from people who ordered them that they weren't nice! If you are living in a house rather than in halls it is moot anyway, the bedding packs are for within halls. You can order bedding from an online store (Argos, Ikea etc) and have it delivered to your house, a lot of people do this.
Also Tesco in town often have pillows, towels & some other household stuff in stock at the beginning of term (can't remember if they have duvets as well though, but possible).

Technically you can take whatever you like as long as it fits your schedule. Of course, you have to take the core subject necessary for your degree (I did History, so I had to take a certain # of credits of history courses over first and second year), but aside from that, you can take whatever you're interested in (IR is a dicey one though, if it's not part of your degree you're not guaranteed a place in the course. Everything else is just a matter of fitting it into your schedule).

Some people take the same courses in first and second year; I took Medieval History as long as it was available, but took Ancient History and Classics in 1st year, and Modern History and Church History in 2nd year. That's pretty consistent, but lots of people take modules that are all over the place. So there's a fair amount of flexibility. Certain combinations make more sense than others, but they're not mandatory (though again this can depend on the subject's credit requirements and pre-requisites for Honours courses). If there's a course you want to take in 1st year but can't fit it in, you can go back and take it in 2nd year. Take a look at this: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/coursecatalogue/ug/

Thanks for the info! I guess I wasn't very clear by saying 'house', I will actually be staying in uni accommodation. I will definitely look into other delivering options, I just need to make sure I have everything on the first night...