St Andrews vs Edinburgh

I'm undecided about whether to apply for biosciences at St Andrews or Edinburgh. Regarding academics and reputation which is more reputable. However, Im also aware St Andrews is known to have a large international student body and has only one club. Any tips would be appreciated .

Reply 1

Jgrier

6

Original post by Student267

I'm undecided about whether to apply for biosciences at St Andrews or Edinburgh. Regarding academics and reputation which is more reputable. However, Im also aware St Andrews is known to have a large international student body and has only one club. Any tips would be appreciated .

Only one club? Not sure what you mean. St Andrews has many societies. St Andrews and Edinburgh are very different but both beautiful. Would be worthwhile visiting both if at all possible. St Andrews population doubles during term time. It is a quiet beach/golf town. Edinburgh is steeped in history and is bustling with tourists, students and locals. You need to decide which type of setting would suit you best. Academic wise, you couldn’t go wrong with either of them.

Original post by Jgrier

Only one club? Not sure what you mean. St Andrews has many societies. St Andrews and Edinburgh are very different but both beautiful. Would be worthwhile visiting both if at all possible. St Andrews population doubles during term time. It is a quiet beach/golf town. Edinburgh is steeped in history and is bustling with tourists, students and locals. You need to decide which type of setting would suit you best. Academic wise, you couldn’t go wrong with either of them.

I think OP is talking about 601 which is St Andrews only 'Nightclub'.

Reply 3

FrogTesseract

11

Personally I would recommend St Andrews but its up to you.

Typically Edinburgh has a higher international ranking but locally St Andrews is regarded as the higher ranking university, however I wouldn't get too caught up in the difference between rankings they are both very good unis with lots of prestige. The main thing is Student Satisfaction with St Andrews having the highest in Scotland and Edinburgh having one of the lowest (2nd lowest iirc), even lower than most "low ranking" unis in Scotland. Having spoken to some Edinburgh students (computer science) many felt the teaching was very poor and disorganized.

However Edinburgh is very well known for research so if that is what you are interested in it could be good!

Original post by Student267

I'm undecided about whether to apply for biosciences at St Andrews or Edinburgh. Regarding academics and reputation which is more reputable. However, Im also aware St Andrews is known to have a large international student body and has only one club. Any tips would be appreciated .

Reply 4

emkelt

12

st andrews has lots of americans & is known well there (could be a con or a pro depending on how u see things). students i know there say that it’s quite hard to walk down the street without seeing someone you know. it’s a lot smaller than edinburgh, but has lots of the shops you would want there as well as lots of small independent shops.
i read somewhere that as there is fewer clubs that lots of students have house parties? not sure how accurate it is. they often go for nights out in dundee apparently as it is quite close.
people have said there’s more of a sense of community in st andrews because the town is the campus really.
both are absolutely beautiful.
not sure how expensive edin accommodation is but st andrews is quite expensive.
edinbrugh’s science buildings are a bit further away from the main area for student accommodation and other subjects. you’d probably have to get the bus or cycle. st andrews is very small so it’s easy to walk or cycle if you want to. i haven’t seen many busses in st andrews when i’ve visited— but there’s lots from st andrews to other cities in scotland. edinburgh has lots of good bus routes across the city.
the points about teaching are good to consider. edinburgh also has a little bit of a reputation for not doing much about student satisfaction (whether this is true or not idk but worth bearing in mind).
visit both if u haven’t already.
whatever one you pick is a fabulous choice!

St Andrews vs Edinburgh

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