University of St Andrews

How hard is it actually to get into St Andrews?

username2762796

Deleted.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

Capricancer

Original post by catmckie

I'm asking because I hear that it's crazy hard to get into but to be perfectly honest the grades they ask for (at least for the course I'd want to do anyway) are perfectly reasonable I think. (AAAB - SQA Highers)
So is there something they're not telling me? Do they only accept Head Boys and Head Girls or people who've won awards or people like that?
If there are any St. Andrews students reading this I'd greatly appreciate it if you could tell me your thoughts on St. Andrews being 'really tough to get into' and (if you want to) could you tell me what your grades were and how much extra-curricular sort of stuff you did?
Even if you're not a student there, any input would really help.
Thanks in advance!

Hey, I'm a current student at St Andrews and I think it really depends on several factors such as:

1) On the competitiveness of the course you apply for

So, obviously if you apply for a less competitive course like Art History or Geography, your likelihood of getting an offer is higher than if you apply for International Relations at St Andrews. They may all have similar entry requirements, but the number of applicants means that the university will be able to choose to give offers to students who have achieved grades higher than their published entry requirements. Here are the admissions statistics for Scottish/EU applicants for 2012 entry - mind you though this was 5 years ago, and I believe that the offer rate is higher now.

2) On your fee status

Since you're stating SQA qualifications, I'm going to assume you're Scottish. The number of Scottish/EU students at Scottish universities are under quota by the Scottish Government (since we pay nothing) so it will be more competitive to get an offer as a Scottish/EU student (where numbers are capped) than as an International student (where numbers are not capped).

3) On your background

If you are from a disadvantaged background (e.g. free school meals, your postcode is in the lowest 20% of the SIMD, you went to a low-achieving state school etc.), then they will take these contextual factors into account. AAAAA at Scottish Higher from a private school student may be judged similarly to AAABB for a state school student in a poor performing school. In fact, at the school I went to, several of my friends who met the minimum entry requirements got rejected. I’ve heard that St Andrews place a great emphasis on your personal statement.
I was accepted for Economics and International Relations and achieved AAAAAB in my Scottish Highers at S5 and had a fair few extracurriculars at school.

University of St Andrews

Reply 2

alysha678

I got A*AA in my a levels and got rejected from there :frown:

(((

Reply 3

holly_hethers

I got accepted with A*AB (Equivalent of my offer of AAA). I did a lot of extra curriculars and made sure I linked them to my course - I think that is the most important thing for personal statements. Show how what you have experienced has given you qualities/experience which will help in your time at St A studying the course you want to .

Reply 4

punkbreath

Do they care about gcse resists? I have to resist maths and science. But I got ABBCDDEDD, i'll hopefully get two A's for science. I messed up royally on my isa and one exam but before I was predicted A/B in science.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 5

amygracebroad

I applied last year and was rejected (10 A* 2 A GCSE, AAAAC at AS) and have just achieved A*A*A* at A2. To be honest I do now think, with hindsight, that I applied for the wrong course (Modern History) and will be reapplying this year for English. Fingers crossed they offer me a place this year, because I absolutely fell in love with the uni and was gutted to be rejected. It's definitely competitive, but worth a shot!