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?

Great your dd likes her room mate Newgirls. It's a great start. Dd is also a dancer and has signed up for something with them on Wednesday night and there are loads of sports drop in events this week
Chicken things will def pick up in halls. Dd only had another 3 in her corridor ( should have 12) and one was quarantined but is released today so its been quiet on that front. However 2 moved in yesterday and the hall are doing bubble group Pizzas tonight for them to have in their kitchen so things are beginning to happen. Oh and she was at an event held at the beach last night. So all in all it's going ok here I think.

Met a couple whose dd was fed up with the party animal neighbours in sallies. Might calm down when they have more to do. Amazed they got to be party animals - seemed so quiet everywhere last night!

Maybe the party animals were Americans released from quarantine and celebrating freedom! It did sound awful.

DD has been told she can move into her proper room today. Hooray! Hope she likes her neighbours after waiting four days to meet them!

Good new Chicken, hope it has a good view !

Oh yes monkey that would have been it - I wish I’d thought of that and that they don’t think it normal?

Hooray chicken! Step forward 👍

Nice view of the pond apparently. Which means she is facing towards the West Sands, but I guess the trees get in the way. It sounds like a nice place to work anyway - their desks are attached to the wall right under the window.

Personally I rather enjoyed this view, which is looking towards the town from the main entrance to Andrew Melville Hall. It may not have the pretty stone buildings, but the North Haugh campus is certainly a good place for people that like open spaces.

Very pretty view

St Andrews is SUCH a pretty place, lovely views all over. Driving there across Fife was stunning and St A is a gem!

I agree - the drive across Fife is sensational. On our (extremely lengthy) drive home to Kent, we stopped at an Abadour viewpoint which looks out towards Edinburgh and the bridges; it is a beautiful spot. I’m definitely looking forward to exploring more of St A and Fife over the coming years.

DD went into the sea yesterday...her teeth were still chattering when she called me an hour or so after her dip

Hope everyone’s DC are settling in well.

Well done her for getting in the sea!

I had a lovely view on the train from leuchars to edin inc an island. What a lovely part of the world

Dd ordered a bedding pack and it wasn’t there - anyone else had this? Apparently it’s arriving on weds!! Warden helped her with some stuff and dd is chasing it up.

That is a bit rubbish @Newgirls. We took our bedding up - 3 sets as DS not enthusiastic about doing much laundry!

That’s frustrating, Newgirls. I hope it gets sorted.

3 sets! @Monkey2001 DD suggested similar (also not a fan of doing laundry) and I told her no & that no-one else would be bringing 3 sets. I hope she doesn’t find out...

Think my dd has become the social convener for her corridor. Picture sent to me at 1am of them all in the shared kitchen looking slightly tipsy but all big smiles said they had had the best night. I have suggested perhaps just having a cup of tea tonight might be wise. Nice to see their whole bubble getting on, hope it lasts!!

@Alittewornout that’s what dd wants her corridor to be but at the moment they’re not gelling. Early days I suppose! Unfortunately she’s really reserved so unlikely to take charge socially. She’s palled up with the girl across the corridor so that’s something.
Glad your dd is having fun.

Sounds fun alittle! I saw plenty of students walking back from town with clinking bags 😂

We flew up so didn’t take pillows etc. I would have thought the bedding co would have had that system all sorted #onejob!

Did you see bbc news app a st a student saying about the classes being online. Nothing new to us all but I guess bbc now looking for uni stories and picked it up.

My guess is they can do some
Science classes as the building is large and new so easier to manage? Arts tend to be in the smaller cosier buildings?

Haggis - mine is more reserved too. Hopefully when classes start they will find their tribe or at least chat over meals! I have suggested breakfast is where dd might find her quieter ones!

@Newgirls Not much hope for my DS's seminars starting anytime soon, he does medieval history which is based in an almost medieval building!

Ooh sounds amazing! Perhaps they will try and meet on the lawns somewhere. Is it near the main uni building and sallies?

I've just got notifications that this thread is active again. It is funny reading it though as I am looking at it from the 'other' side. My husband is a lecturer there and we live fairly locally (not in the town though, it costs ££££££ and soooo busy). Hope everyone settles in okay. If you are having fish and chips I would always choose The tailend over Cromars every time. And yes the fudge doughnuts from Fisher & Donaldson are a local legend. :-)

Good to have fish and chip tips!

@haggisaggis is good if she has paired up with the girl across from her. That's how dd started then with of them knocked on the other students doors, safety in numbers I think. Oh and she made it down for breakfast today, have to say I was rather impressed by that. They will all find their tribe and what suits them. It does take time and the dining room is definitely a good place to start.

@Alittlewornout think the problem is some of her corridor have friends elsewhere and are spending time with them rather than their “bubble” which kind of defeats the point. Hopefully it will get better. Her brother had so many stories of freshers at Aberdeen that she was looking forward to it even though she knew it would be different due to Covid.

@Monkey2001 ds is getting ready to go back to Aberdeen - he still had 2 lots of bedding and towels he’d put away dirty when he came home in March that had to get washed!

@Newgirls its on South street.
I don't think DS2 will mind, anything is better than being sick at home any longer.
For those worrying about their kids making friends, DS2 got off to a bit of a slow start socially, he has ASD so social not exactly a social butterfly and he was 17 for the first term and therefore excluded from events in the Union, he made friends by joining societies but was too late to have potential flatmates organised for flat hunting season and did a second year in halls. He did much better in second year and even did a trip abroad with friends before Covid hit, he also found flatmates and is now having the classic student flat experiences.