St Andrews, Edinburgh, Durham - anyone have knowledge

[ifonly4]

Does anyone have a DC at these unis or have any knowledge of them? if so, I'd appreciated any honest positives and negatives.

DD has had a change of heart over where to apply for uni. At this stage, it's impossible to get her to open days for St Andrews and Edinburgh, however, hoping to get her booked onto an tour around each in summer hols and an overnight stay in each area, so at least she's seen something of the area. Durham have an open day late October which we can attend, but she won't have much time to consider other options if that gets written off.

Whatever they apply for, they need a stretch, two realistic, and two backups. There is no point in applying for 5AAA places.

It would be nice if the OP came back to tell us what subject her DD wants.

I don’t think many non-snowflakes bother with these surveys, or pay any heed to them.

I doubt that Edinburgh is any better than Durham for quality teaching or employability.

What Edinburgh vs Durham: Edinburgh is a big university in a big city, so students have capital city things on their doorstep - not everyone will like this at all and would be happy to take the train up to Newcastle to get their big city fix. It’s a four year degree, meaning more choice of electives, but also meaning an extra £15k plus, and a year out of employment. It has far more Scottish students, for what that’s worth (but DD hasn’t been happy to be invited for Sunday lunch with her flatmates’ families).

Both universities have solid traditions, and have excellent access to the countryside.

Neither is an isolated campus, which will be something that many students will appreciate in terms of safety and convenience.

I have a child studying at Edinburgh uni.

She loves it! Loves the city and her course.

It had the best reputation (Scotland) for the course she wanted to do.

Probably worth finding out that kind of info I would think.

I loved St. Andrews but it’s marmite. Love it or hate it. I’m state school / working class background so it’s not a rich/poor divide but whether you like the small community (knowing everyone, seeing everyone in the street all the time) or find it claustrophobic.

I grew up in Edinburgh and teach a bit there now. Edinburgh is big with all things for all people really. I love the four year structure and know lots of people who are now professionals in what was their “extra” first year subject so the flexibility is a real bonus.

Durham I know nothing about.

Attend the open days and take it from there.

My DS and I were bitterly disappointed in the Edinburgh open day a couple of years ago

Very much resting on their laurels, poor sample lecture which didn’t inspire my DS.
The lecturer was boring and patronising. Didn’t seem remotely interested in encouraging students to come.
Student helpers weren’t as impressive/ helpful as other unis either.
Perhaps everyone was having an ‘off’ day and we were unlucky.

This was in stark contrast to Durham. Exeter, Birmingham and Leeds.

Edinburgh is an amazing city but the university is in competition with many other places who are actively trying to ‘sell’ themselves.

My DCs have friends at St Andrews and Durham and are loving it.
The couple of friends who went to Edinburgh enjoy it now but it took them quite a while to settle in.

I live in St Andrews. The uni is excellent but the town is small. Lots of overseas students - especially Americans. Not much to do if your DD likes clubs and late nights out. The union is great though.

Durham - my DD applied there but then decided after visiting that it was too much like St Andrews. It is bigger but still a fairly small town in comparison to city unis. Very good uni though.

Edinburgh - my DD's best friend is there and loves it. Edinburgh is a fab city and the uni is great too. Loads to do and great connection by train and plane.

If you asked my DD she would say go to Bristol as that is where she is and she adores it!

These were the three on my own shortlist, getting on for 30 years ago

I had offers from all and went to St Andrews in the end. Loved it. I did International Relations and it was amazing. I went to a comprehensive, as did many of my friends there.

My advice to any young person is to go where feels right, where you can imagine yourself living and being. Visit and wander round. Talk to tutors and students. Don't get overly tied in knots over employment rates/destinations.

My own DD is considering Edinburgh and St Andrews. An extra year to pay for, but Scottish universities are great.

I went to St Andrews, just short of 20 years ago now.
Loved it and still go back every couple of years for a weekend.
It is small, it can be insular but the other side of that coin is that the university is easy to navigate around, you feel part of a community and town and it is easy to get to know people and places. Posh if you want it to be but there are students from all over the world there too - I made great friends from the US, Japan and lots of European countries as well as closer to home.
I did a tour of different universities before making my choice - that really helped with my gut instinct.

Bertrand you made a comment on a thread the other day about your hall of residence (rules on men staying), and I thought, that has to be St Andrews

You're not another Chattan-ite????

Dd1 went to Durham and loved it. She took advantage of societies and sports and had a fun three years. She found it academically tough though and her tutors weren't really interested in any of the students other than the guaranteed first/PhD type.

Dd3 thought she would go to Durham until she went to the offer holders day and hated it. She didn't get her choice of college which I'm sure didn't help but the really stupid thing about the day was the evening social - they organised a pub quiz in the college bar. This sounded like a great way to get the prospective students mixing until she found out that they were given wristbands according to age and only those over 18 were allowed an alcoholic drink. As a June birthday she wasn't- she doesn't drink much and lack of alcohol wasn't the problem but being treated as a child most definitely was. So Durham was off the list. She is now at St Andrews and loving it.

I think your daughter should visit and will know for herself which one feels right. All three are excellent.

Bertrand

Thanks for all your replies - there's a lot to take in but very helpful.

She's looking at Sustainable Development at St Andrews & Edinburgh and Combined Social Sciences (taking mainly geography modules) at Durham. Edinburgh would be her insurance.

I think she'd enjoy Edinburgh and Durham with more shops. She isn't into clubs at all, but likes to be sociable so the odd bar, restaurant, cafe would suit. Her main interest outside studies is music and would so would integrate herself heavily in whatever the uni/societies have to offer.

DD isn't worried about backgrounds of other students as she had the benefit of a state education until 16 and presently has a scholarship at a private school and feels comfortable with both.

My DD is at St A's and loves it - she also missed the open day and arranged a tour. A small group of us were taken around the town by a student and then we had a one on one chat with an admissions person.

She fell in love with the place straight away and then we went back on offers day.

I loved my first 2 years at St Andrews. The second two million years dragged a bit.......

DS went to Durham and absolutely loved it.
He made his decision after an open weekend where he had a blast. He made great friends he is still very close to 10 years on.
It was a four year course with third year spent abroad (languages), which was fully funded by the EU's Erasmus programme (excellent but almost certainly about to end for UK students ) . He also organised and got funding for a new sports team for his college.
It's well regarded by employers as a 2nd rank university after Oxbridge.

He went to a state school but there were a lot of ex-public school students there (the 'Oxbridge rejects') -- he mixed equally with both, it taught him a lot, gave him loads of confidence and a fair bit of polish.

I graduated from St Andrews 10 years ago, loved it! Have lived in both Edinburgh and Durham, both are fantastic places to live.
Edinburgh is the busiest. Regarding music going on, St Andrews has revamped the Byre theatre, and has loads of concerts.

PiggyPlumPie, can you remember how long St Andrews took to get back to you confirming a date for your tour? I tried booking tours yesterday, Edinburgh was an immediate response. Haven't heard from St Andrews yet, but in all fairness it's the hols.

Hastalapasta - thanks for the feedback over music. Just looked St Andrews up and it does look good. That could certainly balance out somewhere with less to offer locally.

Cholka, Edinburgh is not snobby!

My daughter attended state schools (no private education at all) and has fitted in just fine there. We live in a not posh part of our city.

OP, why not find out which has the best reputation for the course she wants to do?

She’s applying for two different courses? That will take some crafting on her UCAS application.

There are far more state educated Oxbridge rejects, than Private school ones!

I would look at employability for this subject(s). Where are students getting jobs and who is employing them? Does the university have links with employers? This is a niche subject so could lead to students being planning officers or working for organisations/developers on innovation regarding sustainability. Therefore what is “best” might not be the academics but whether meaningful employment follows.

My DDs both had a state/Private education and I very much dispair when people level the accusation of “toff” at them. Why do people have to be so judgemental about other people who just happen to be looking at universities and didn’t decide on their own schooling. It’s so stupid.

Looking at her subject choices, I'd second Bubble point about employability and accessibility to relevant placements, volunteer opportunities.

As well as thinking about whether you'll like a place, you need to think tactically about the grades. In my experience, Edinburgh offers low if it likes you, Durham is hard to squeeze an offer out of (mine got Oxbridge but not Durham).

My husband is a lecturer at St. Andrews. What subject is your DD thinking about doing? I went to Aberdeen and loved it. I think most people tend to enjoy wherever they go and if not it isn't usually down to the city but not being ready for uni or away from home or needing to be out and working at that particular moment in time.