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?

[IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere]

Thank you @Monkey2001. She is applying for anything she is eligible to claim for. She is so organised and confident.

We're off to St Andrews tomorrow. I think she is more excited about this than she has been about any other trip ever!

[Alittlewornout]

@IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere enjoy your trip and I really hope your Dd likes the uni. Take your brolly I think you might need it.

[IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere]

Thank you @Alittewornout. We had a wonderful time. I was really impressed by the pastoral care they have in place. I loved the town, the old university buildings, even the train journey.

She loved all that and is really excited by the course and the option to study something completely unrelated alongside Chemistry.

All I can do is keep her supplied with food and drink hope Coronavirus doesn't cause any issues with school/exams/study.

[Alittlewornout]

@IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthereso glad she loved it. Yes fingers crossed for no disruptions.

[Alittlewornout]

Thought as there a few DC heading to St Andrews might be appropriate to resurrect this thread?? My current St Andeews student says St Andrew's are planning to offer 2 weeks accommodation and food free of charge to international students for the 14 day quarantine period prior to term starting. I think this is a really good idea and may mean our dc get a slightly more normal experience. Wonder if any other unis are doing this?

[ClerkMaxwell]

Edinburgh offering similar if quarantine is still in place. DD has offered to drop off things for her quarantined flatmates that the uni won't provide (we live near). The americans in her flat have already started a list.

[Newgirls]

Hello! Just joining in for talk of wellies, train journeys, accom etc

Dd has a conditional place so we won’t know for sure if she will go to st a - her predicted grades and mocks were above her offer so I hope so - but with the new system of grading who knows. She has her heart set on it so I hope it works out.

[Alittlewornout]

That's great @ClerkMaxwell really glad unis are planning ahead. Lovely of your dd to help the international students.

[Alittlewornout]

@Newgirls keeping fingers crossed for her! It's a fab uni my Ds has had a blast so dd is very excited to have a place. Nice and easy for Dh and I with both in the same place!😀

[Monkey2001]

Hello, thanks for doing this @Alittewornout, great idea.

Have you seen the latest updates on the university website - very encouraging www.st-andrews.ac.uk/offer-holders/ where they talk about managing quarantine. I think DS may wish he was an international student as it could be a nice little "pre-fresher" experience.

Also nice letter from Senior VP www.st-andrews.ac.uk/offer-holders/your-st-andrews-offer/

I think our DC are lucky that it is a small university in a small country, which makes it more controllable.

The only thing bothering DS at the moment is that it seems unlikely that he and his GF will be allowed to visit each other for a while which will be really odd as she has been living with us since the start of lock-down, so to not see each other for 3 months would be tough.

Not too long before the ones with unconditional offers should find out about accommodation now.

@Newgirls how is your DD feeling about the teacher awarded grades?

[Alittlewornout]

Agreed @Monkey2001 very reassuring. Dd has an unconditional so we are in the should hear soon camp very exciting as then they can start to search out their group and start a flat chat. The GF/ BF scenario is a tricky one but who knows where we will be with lockdown rules in September fingers crossed freedom will have increased by then.

[Newgirls]

That’s a great letter from the VP - the 600 years... gives us some perspective... was very good.

Monkey - she knows her teachers and they know her and she trusts them. She is worried about the mystery of the ranking and the ofqual checks in case that takes her down a grade or 2. It should be ok but they can’t give everyone As can they?! We shall see. She has been looking at wellies!

[Newgirls]

The new rule that you can stay with your partner implies that more changes will happen so I hope the couples can meet up by sept. All the numbers seem to be going down so I remain hopeful.

[Monkey2001]

Tagging @Heffapotamus and @idsisatwat to join us. I thought there was another St Andrews person, but my brain is like a soggy old dishcloth at the moment!

@Newgirls it will vary by subject but I think there is some flexibility which should be more the case than ever this year. St A never go into clearing and they need to fill their places. If you are interested, you could check Unistats for her course to see how many UCAS points people actually had. May be a bit odd for St A as the Scottish qualifications seem to get a lot of points as they do several subjects, so the thing to look at is the number getting in with relatively low points which might be comforting.

[Alittlewornout]

@Monkey2001 you are correct re Scottish students most do at least 5 highers. Most will have 5As or 4As and a B unless contextual but they do place a huge weight on personal statement. Dd was told on her talk and tour the ps is graded out of 100. 5 As at higher I think of the top of my head would give the equivalent of almost 3 A stars at A level( I think 3 points off but I am willing to be corrected!!). Dd although has an unconditional for 1st year is hoping for direct entry to 2nd year ( maths) so needs 2As at Advanced higher. Fingers crossed for them all.

[Alittlewornout]

Sorry that wasnt clear 5As at higher is I think 165 ucas points??? Haven't looked in a while, I didn't mean to imply that highers are equivalent to A level difficulty as they are quite clearly not so apologies for any misunderstanding.

[AChickenCalledDaal]

I also thought that was a great letter from St Andrews. And I must admit that the though of a small, safe town feels quite attractive right now.

Does anyone know much about how they normally arrange arrivals during orientation week? I realise this year may be completely different but would also like to start thinking ahead. It's only just dawned on me that orientation week is only just over three weeks after A level results day, so we're going to have to do a lot of preparation very quickly if that's where DD is heading (insurance offer).

[Monkey2001]

This is the link to the accommodation guide for 2019 which says that all accommodation was available for check-in from 10:00 on the Saturday before Orientation week, but it will probably be different this year.
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/residential-and-business-services/documents/Residents%20Guide%20%20October%202019%20%20DU40988.pdf

Where is your DD's first choice?

[AChickenCalledDaal]

Thanks Monkey2001. First choice is Cambridge but their STEP exam is a massive hurdle. In eight days' time we'll have a better idea how that went and can start planning accordingly! On the bright side, both locations are known for being absolutely Baltic in winter, so I know she needs a decent coat wherever she goes

[Monkey2001]

How are they managing to do STEP? On the bright side, at least having an exam to do means she will have had more focus over the last few months than many Y13s who are drifting and however the results pan out, the work she has been doing will make her more ready for her degree. I know that Cambridge over-offer significantly on Maths, knowing that STEP will whittle the number of students achieving the offer down.

[Newgirls]

Thanks Monkey that is a great site. They’ve renamed it slightly but it popped up 👍

So I found out dd has a lower offer than standard offer but looking at Unistats she will need to get that offer to match the lowest points score from last year.

It is lower than her mocks so I think im hopeful. It does seem a long time to results day...

[AChickenCalledDaal]

STEP is being run online, via what turns out to be quite an intimidating secure web-based system. They will be monitored by web cam and have 30 mins to upload images of their papers into the website at the end of the exam.

You're absolutely right that it's been good for her to have something to work towards and she's been working like a Trojan since the initial shock of A Levels being cancelled wore off. Nevertheless STEP is living up to it's reputation of being properly difficult, and we're trying to remain equally excited about both her options. She felt very comfortable in St A's when we visited and I think she'd love all the strange traditions and living by the beach.

[idsisatwat]

Thanks for the tag @Monkey2001
I’m not sure how much to plan as don’t want to jinx anything! I know that isn’t very logical, but DD is getting stressed.
Though on the upside she has decent wellies, as did geography A level so they were useful for the field trips

[Monkey2001]

Chicken when do the STEP results come out? What does she need?

[Alittlewornout]

Good luck to your dd with the STEP exam @AChickenCalledDaal. Will keep everything crossed. Mind you having St Andrew's as your insurance choice is a lovely place to be in. My dd is very much looking forward to studying maths at St Andrew's so they may well meet!