St Andrews

[IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere]

DD has received a very good offer from St Andrews. She loves the look of the course and is very keen to go there. Aside from the course she loves the idea of a small town, has no interest in nightlife as part of the "student experience" and loves the quirky traditions.

Does anyone have any experience of being there and the extra expenses that could be involved such as the extra cost of travel, formal dinners and the like?

We are a low income family in an economically deprived area. She is part of a very small 6th form - 12 in the Upper 6th. Her school is not in special measures but is holding on by the skin of its teeth! They are very keen for her to go to St Andrews but she is not going to be their responsibility!

We will support her as much as we possibly can but I am worried that it will be a lot more expensive than a less elite university.

Any thoughts?

The Edinburgh table arrangement look dire. I'm hoping that in fully catered halls, they'll perhaps be eating in households and maybe having two sittings so as to create space.

St Andrews' website still says "Our intention is to provide a near-normal catering service in the new semester, subject to any changes in UK or Scottish Government advice and guidance." So I guess a lot depends on what new guidance comes out today.

@Newgirls Has your daughter made a decision yet? DS not surprised by latest developments- his insurance choice was due to be completely online for 5 weeks anyway.

@AChickenCalledDaal DS did the GP registration and says there was no requirement for the immunisation records in order to register but thinks he may need to forward it on at some point.

How’s the packing going? Not sure how much clothing he should take /how much storage there is?

Still very unsure here and latest developments not helping tho trying not to talk about it. I’m hoping the advisor meeting on thurs sheds some light. She did very much like the uni challenge show though!

My worry is - why will things be more normal in 7 weeks? Won’t that be a more flu-y time?

It would be great if more face to face then. I guess if no outbreaks by then, they will do more live teaching so let’s hope so

St Andrews isn't a snooty place at all! There are some wealthy students, but they are many others who aren't. I'm in the town at the moment and it's quiet, with tourists mainly away and students beginning to arrive. There was a group of them in the sea earlier this evening, playing frisbee, risking hypothermia but having a great time. Your kids will love it, I'm sure.

😂 sounds fun tho bracing!

Did anyone see any uni guidance that changed anything we know?

I found today's updated guidance from the Scottish government and had a skim. I didn't see anything radically different from what we already know. Broadly speaking, students to be in households defined by the university and the rules for catering and socialising will have to match the equivalent rules for the rest of Scottish society. Academic buildings to have social distancing signage, one way systems etc. An expectation of blended teaching. There was a definition of a small group for face to face teaching, which I think was under 50 students, but I'm sure all universities will be more cautious than that at first, at least till they see how things go.

BBC summary of new Scottish guidance. In person teaching limit is 30, not 50 (but that's till more than I thought it might be).

I came across this on the uni website which worries me a bit:

For students in our residences, catering will be provided centrally for you to eat in your room. Please be aware that if you leave your flat or residence for a non-essential purpose or do not observe social distancing rules, you are liable to challenge by the Police.

I think it is possibly old advice from the start of lockdown but the rest of the page was updated yesterday...can’t say I’m happy for dd to pay for catered just to sit and eat alone in her room! I assumed they would eat in household groups.

I saw that several weeks ago haggisaggis so I'm pretty sure it's from way back when there were students stranded on campus during lockdown. I wish there was some clarity on catering arrangements though.

Yes me too but thought they would have updated it when they added all the face covering stuff...

@haggisaggis I think that is for quarantining students. Where did you see it?

From the coronavirus FAQ page:

www.st-andrews.ac.uk/coronavirus/students/#d.en.86033

@Monkey2001 thank you, that's a bit more reassuring on the catering front. My dd is so excited to be going, I am a bit concerned she is going to disappointed but she says she wont be. Her take is she is just glad to be getting a chance to go, live independently and meet people from all over the world. As she is wanting to go into second year her department sent her online stuff to cover which she is working through. She says the quality is excellent easy to follow and well laid out. Dd feels if this is what they are given as part of blended learning then it is really very good, especially if eventually coupled with small group tutorials.

So do we think catering will be normal or in bedrooms?

It says if covid reasons you can give 28 days notice? So the students can leave mid this term and not be liable for next term?

Over on other much stormier uni thread some profs are saying they’ve been told to prep for no face to face this academic year. No idea where and that could be big city rather than a tiny st a.

Haggis - that might be because it’s mostly quarantining students there at the moment. Certainly other students are out and about and on the beach!

I would guess that they are hoping that catering will be in dining halls, but probably haven't been able to finalise arrangements until yesterday's updated guidance from the Scottish Govt. And a lot may depend how much space they have to maintain 1m separation between households.

I hope they will give short time slots for each "household" with a designated seating area and time to clean down between slots. With lots of stuff on line people are not going to have to get back to lectures as quickly as usual. A grab and go at lunchtime would be fine by me if they get a chance to sit down together for an evening meal. DS was bemused by the 3 course lunch and dinner anyway.

@Monkey2001 it was on the same FAQ page that you got your stuff against "What is the advice on social distancing".
I think it is old - just worried they haven't updated that bit but have updated the advice re face coverings (which is relatively new). I've not mentioned it to dd at all.

@haggisaggis if it is any comfort, they appear to be adding FAQs rather than generally updating old answers. They still have one about quarantining students for which they said they would have more information after mid-July!

Well we've done it! DD1 safely installed in Andrew Melville Hall. St Andrews looking sparkly in the sunshine (in between showers LOL). Her room is small but really well designed and lots of nice green space round the building.

On the catering front, she reports that meals are indeed in the dining room but they are to space out. However, she's not bothering with dinner tonight because I filled her up with baked goods in town before we left .

@AChickenCalledDaal - great to hear she’s there safely and that’s encouraging news on the catering front!
We going up tomorrow - exciting times!

Lovely to hear everyone's news. Tomorrow is the day for us too! 😁

I dropped DS2 off in his new flat in possibly the ugliest block in St Andrews (but nice and cheap) and I'm going back tomorrow to bring him all the things he's forgotten and to reunite DS1 with his girlfriend who's returned from California and done her quarantine. At this rate DH and I would be better off moving there too (actually a long held fantasy).