University of St Andrews

Is St Andrews really that bad?!

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Not a fan either but i'm out soon anyways so its not a big deal. In the end its just tooo small of a town and the people are a bit too different however I've formed a fantastic group of of friends and I think that is all you can expect from a university.

By the way the university itself is great, lectures are top notch, facilities are good (some better than others), getting around town is convenient etc and staff are helpful and responsive. That is why I will be giving St Andrews top marks.

Just wondering what you mean with the people being "too different"

University of St Andrews

Reply 41

Okorange

Original post by luxemjuxem

Just wondering what you mean with the people being "too different"

Like different interests, hobbies etc so not able to really connect with them

Reply 42

psychean

Original post by Okorange

Like different interests, hobbies etc so not able to really connect with them

In a whole university you cant find anyone you can connect with? That's worrying. What is the issue?

Reply 43

Okorange

Original post by psychean

In a whole university you cant find anyone you can connect with? That's worrying. What is the issue?

I said earlier that I was able to find a fantastic group of friends, most people should be able to find people to connect with.

Reply 44

lesterwatson

Hey! First year biologist at St Andrews here and can't say I'm overly impressed with the department. The town is lovely (although very small) but the actual course has been a bit of a disappointment. All work is marked by PHD students so is very inconsistant, this semester I have got a 9.5/20 and 18.0/20. Despite sending 3 emails I still haven't had any feeback to why I recieved such a low score! Also, many of the proffesors seem disinterested in lecturing as if we aren't worth their time. I really wish I gave Durham and Bristol more thought as they seemed just as nice on the open days but I was sucked in by the novelty of St Andrews!

Reply 45

la_banane_verte

Original post by lesterwatson

All work is marked by PHD students so is very inconsistant, this semester I have got a 9.5/20 and 18.0/20.

Just because you got different marks in different pieces doesn't necessarily imply their marking was inconsistent you know, the fault could lie with you as well? Going to Durham or Bristol wouldn't have changed the fact that PhD students would have marked your work, they do that at those two universities as well.

However it is pretty crap that they didn't offer you any feedback or opportunity to discuss your work.

Reply 46

lesterwatson

Going from a 9.5 to an 18.0 is basically unheard off, the scale used to mark it is not logarithmic! I feel my work is very consistant, however if I had made a huge mistake it seems like I won't ever find it out as they seem to be ignoring me -_-

Reply 47

Ekrubkkk

^ I actually agree with lesterwatson on the feedback in the bio dept. I'm a second year and believe I put in an equal amount of effort on most of my coursework yet receive marks all over the place as do many of my course friends. It's unreasonable to expect the same marker to look at every single paper but they really should work on making it more consistent.

Reply 48

ElizabethRG

Original post by Ekrubkkk

Similar problem in the history department. Everyone marks on different criteria; things one tutor requires to get a decent mark, other tutors will deduct points for. How well you do in the course and on the exam depends far too heavily on the tutor marking your work.

Reply 49

luxemjuxem

Note on the tutor grading thing: all tutors have office hours, so if you are doing a subjective subject such as history or English, I would get in contact about the papers and such, it's a good way to have them look it over and tell you what is right/wrong, and that will also help you learn their grading style when you reach time for final exams! Just a hint... I know it's a lot of out-of-the-way work to do but it's what's going to get you a strong mark!

Reply 50

ElizabethRG

Original post by luxemjuxem

But for your exam (at least for history), a different tutor will mark your work (we had to write our tutor's names on our exam paper just to ensure a different tutor would get it). So unfortunately that only helps for essays.