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?

Well, 4 streets actually if you count The Scores.

I did biochemistry there years ago. I am from a small town in NW England from a working class family. I had the time of my life there and met lifelong friends from around the world. There are of course very privileged students and I'd never been exposed to wealth like it but there are also lots of regular people just like me who fit in. It's big enough to find your own group of friends yet small enough to always find a friend in one of the bars. I worked in The Central so had local friends too. I actually met my husband working there who was a PhD student at the time. Lots of people meet their future partners there I guess the small town means people get close quickly! I used to go clubbing in Dundee but the Union has lots of events. There's a large US cohort from Atlanta as we have a program with Emory. One of my friends now works with CNN thanks to her Bobby Jones scholarship. We go back to visit often - it's a huge part of who I am now. Can't recommend it enough! As for funds I had nothing but made it work and regularly attended balls. Good luck to her!

She has booked for the offer holder day on the 29th February. We have our train tickets and plans for a lovely mother/daughter trip - 12 hours each way!

We had parents evening on Thursday and the staff are so excited. One teacher said she had cried when she heard the news. It is a huge thing for our little school even to have an offer. Whether she changes her mind or not, whether she gets the grades or not, it has restored her confidence in her abilities and she is working so very hard. If she doesn't get the grades it won't be for lack of work.

Fingers crossed for everyone still waiting for offers and a big thanks to those of you who have been and have encouraged me to believe it is possible.

Her older sister did a similar thing - set her heart on one particular course and worked so hard to be able to afford to study there so she has a great role model to follow.

I am still wavering between excitement and terror!

Does anyone know if/when they are holding offer holder events in SE England? I see that they hold them around the UK, but DD hasn't yet had an invitation and we need to plan.

She loves the town and the feel of the university, based on a flying visit last summer. But she has some quite specific questions about the course and degree structure. Not sure if she should just email them or whether there will be an event local-ish to us that she can get to for some face to face conversations.

There seem to be two sessions (am and pm) in London on March 22nd.

Excellent, thanks MarchingFrogs. We'll keep that date free and look out for the invite.

www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/offer-holder-events/uk/

We have booked to go to Cardiff but as we are going to the University on the 28th of this month I don't know if we need to do that as well.

I went to St Andrews and met my DH there. We now live in St Andrews and I am back at uni doing an evening degree. It is a wonderful place and great If you don't want a big city with loads of nightlife. Having said that my DDs who went to school in St Andrews left running for the bright city lights (of Glasgow and Bristol respectively) and they say going to ui at St Andrews would not be their idea of a fun place to study so it isn't for everyone.

I would say that living in Dundee and travelling would be the absolutely worst idea, especially for a new student. You need to be part of the community to really get the most out of your time at St Andrews. Most of the socialising takes place in flats or at the union and various pubs around town. There are plenty of places to get jobs in the town.

Thanks ithinkisaw. When I looked at that link before, I could only see the event in St Andrews, but it turns out that's because I had disabled a critical cookie. Glad I asked!

Given that their degrees are 4 years its an added year’s expense isn’t it? For ruk students anyway. Ok if Scottish or EU but not if English, Welsh or N Irish. The economics one doesn’t seem to allow a year 2 start either. So it’s 4 years at £9250. Or am I missing something?

I went to St Andrews (graduated 2011) and loved it - it really is a unique place, and the only complaint I heard from other students was lack of nightlife so if your DD isn't fussed about that even better! There are lots of lovely little coffee shops and we used to go to house parties or the pub to hang out, the Union has also been done up I think since I was there. There's a great atmosphere, lots of different societies you can join, and I found it really easy to meet people and make new friends.

As for affordability, as others have mentioned I think the cost of rent would be the biggest issue but I second what a pp said about seeing whether spending a second year in halls might be possible. I was in Andrew Melville, which was one of the cheaper ones (not sure if it's still there). Does your DD drive? Cupar might be worth looking at if so, if not then I reckon your best bet would be to find cheaper accommodation in Dundee and get the bus, and then she'd also have more opportunities for part-time work.

Hope it works out because it really is a wonderful place to study and while it's not the cheapest uni to go to I don't think it would be impossible to budget to get around this. I never once went to a formal dinner, pretty sure you can rent gowns (which you barely wear, maybe a handful of times over the 4 years if that) and as for balls, the tickets can be a bit pricey but you don't HAVE to go, I only went to one and never felt like I was missing out!

If you need any more info feel free to PM! What course is she looking to do? Sorry if that's already been asked...

Re. Accommodation I meant she should of course try and live in halls for one or two years if possible then look for cheaper accommodation potentially in Dundee

Another one joining in with the St Andrews praise. DS2 is in second year and doing well academically and socially, despite being a wallflower at high school.
He is in his second year in one of the old catered halls but will be moving in with friends next year. We don't have a lot of cash as DH and I are freelancers in the arts but DS is thrifty and has scored a job as a kitchen porter in his halls for extra spending money (top tip ask about these as soon as you arrive while everyone else is distracted by freshers stuff!). There aren't expensive formal dinners as such, just a top table at hall dinner where staff are invited and students wear a gown, it doesn't cost extra. There are loads of balls, some of which are expensive but plenty of people don't bother, I believe a group of students have started a dress borrowing service as an anti fast fashion idea.
DS2, having been brought up in a Scottish village, liked the idea of meeting people from all over the world and he now has a very multi-national group of (nerdy) friends.
Not to be left out, DS1 who is not a student, is going out with an American student at St As he met online and is now going to the student union and more parties than DS2, a bizarre twist that we still haven't got used to!
A plus with St Andrews is that they schedule exams before the Christmas holidays and then have a whole month off with no need to revise over the holidays (although DS2 started to get bored this year). Because St Andrews is very touristy there are lots of jobs available in shops and cafes and hotels.

@Isbutteracarb Thank you so much. She wants to do Chemistry.

We had the itinerary and details of our accommodation on Saturday. We are staying the Cameron Guest House which looks lovely. I may well have loads of questions after our visit and take you up on your offer.

@wigglybeezer I love the idea of a month without study. It would be the first time in 4 years that she hasn't had to spend half the holiday studying!

Cameron Guest house is in a great spot. I am sitting literally round the corner from it in my evening class. I hope you enjoy your visit and your DD chooses to come here!

@IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere have a wonderful visit! We are heading up tomorrow ( hoping it’s ok weather wise 🤞). It’s my dh’s big birthday and as ds is there already we are all staying over and then Dd will do her tour of the uni. Really looking forward to it as it’s where our story began.

@Alittewornout - how lovely. My husband and I met in school (in the olden days, when it was a grammar school) and it is the school that all my children attended. When my daughter leaves in June I will have had at least one child there for 20 years continuously!

@Apolloanddaphne good to know it is not a dump. It looks beautiful from the website.

Hello! DS got an offer for Medicine on Friday and was absolutely delighted as he loved the course and the place. He is currently on a gap year, not having got any offers last year so he has the full deferred gratification!

He is now wobbling a bit about what he will do if he also gets an offer from Sheffield. His main concerns are:

1 - Cost - the allocation of places in halls looks a bit random - how do you manage if you get catered en suite, which costs more than the full student loan?! I don't think it is feasible for medics to work as they have such a full timetable. Does anyone know how much of a risk it is that you get allocated en suite if you request standard?

2 - Distance - his friends are mainly going to Sheffield, a couple to Liverpool. Anybody who went to St A - did your friends ever visit or was it too far/expensive. Also worried about time and cost if he visits friends.

Of course this may all be academic if he does not get an offer from Sheffield, but would be useful to know about accommodation.

My DD , also holding an Oxbridge offer just found out she has an offer. She loves StA and is thrilled. Its been a long wait since October. Short of being abroad we couldnt live further away , agggh

@hobbema Sounds like you have a longer journey than we have. It will take us 11/12 hours door to door by train but we live two hours away from the nearest airport so much easier to go by train than fly. Plus I don't drive and if my husband came as well the dogs would have to go into kennels.

My stepson is studying there and was initially doing chemistry but changed to economics (which was his first year extra course). He loves it. It’s a lovely little, safe feeling, town. They organise a lot of social activity, he’s not bored. I think you can get second hand gowns. It’s very quirky. I loved the pictures of the harbour wall walk in their gowns. They also have student families where third year students look after new students (and humiliate them in a strange weekend of challenges and games, which they all rave about!).

Ps, I went to Swansea, which had a lovely campus feel. I loved it there. I also live near Huddersfield, which has become a lovely university town (surprised me). All three would suit her if she doesn’t want the big city vibe.

@Honeyroar that was quite a change of subject! Did your stepson get the accommodation he wanted in the first year?

@Honeyroar she had originally looked at Cardiff and Swansea and loved the old campus in Swansea although the town is very depressed/run down and has changed a lot in the past 20 years.

She loved the campus in Huddersfield and she wouldn't be too far from her brother in Loughborough but the St Andrews course is what has swayed her the most. She is so excited about visiting at the end of the month.

Re travel costs, we live an hour from London on the train. It costs more to get an off peak single train ticket to London than to get the overnight coach from London to Dundee if you plan a few weeks ahead and can be slightly flexible with dates. So if you're prepared to slum it in the coach, travel costs shouldn't really be an issue.

Accommodation in 2nd year onwards v expensive if you say yes to private rental in town centre but there are other options, e.g. very good value catered halls. My DDs first year halls seemed to be almost 50% non-first years.

One tip - I certainly wouldn't have thought of it - is to start collecting free/dirt-cheap dressing up stuff well before she goes (if that's where she decides on). My DD seems to go to a lot of fancy dress parties and although she makes do and improvises rather than spending any money, she'd have loved to have got some stuff on Freecycle/at charity shop before she went up. 1920s, Halloween, some sort of animal, etc. Fancy dress seems to be more of a thing currently than formal ball type clothes.

Good luck with the choice - I'm sure she'll be happy anywhere, but my DD is certainly v v pleased she chose St A. As am I. Good work hard play hard environment and what seems to be a genuinely caring ethos.