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?

@slug the St Andrews system is a bit frustrating, most universities allocate firm students accommodation, but St A is very last minute for A level applicants. Have you been following the FAQs in the Corona virus section of the website?

@slug don't worry my dd hasn't heard yet and she has an unconditional offer one of her friends has so there appears to be no rhyme or reason. As Monkey says poor A level students waiting on grades have a bit of a race to get organised.

DH went and absolutely hated it. The dark winters made it really claustrophobic. He couldn't wait to finish.

He does like the fact that he went there though and he has said on a number of occasions that employers were impressed with St. Andrews on his CV and subsequently got posts.

Sorry to hear that @felineflutter, I imagine it may be a bit of a "marmite" place as it is unique in ways which may or may not appeal. DS loves miserable weather and his GF is looking forwards to visiting and walking on the beach in the sleet (wellies definitely going). It is a sad thing that they are away for most of the nice weather in June to August.

@Newgirls and @idsisatwat, tagging you in case this thread has fallen off your active list.

Thanks for the reassurance. She has a firm offer but we're waiting for A level results like everyone else. She's not concerned as her mocks in January were already 2 grades above the St Andrews offer

Chicken I think that for mathmos Cambridge might use STEP more heavily than A levels this year.

Yes, I think that's very likely. I haven't suggested she gets it marked, but will think about that. I think she'd rather forget it and deal with whatever happens. On past performance, she's quite likely to be in the "missed a grade 1 but maybe they'll take her anyway camp"! On the bright side, we have family in Edinburgh, so don't need to worry about hotel bookings.

She is also quite happy with the prospect of typical scottish weather and living in a small town.

Chicken I can see that if getting the paper marked would not be likely to be conclusive, it would not help to resolve uncertainty. All the DC are different, and if she is one of those happy to go to St A with a few weeks notice, knowing approximate results earlier may not affect her - I would want to know in her position, but it is better to be relaxed about it, so good on her!

Thanks @Monkey2001
We (or rather I, am getting lots of stuff ready). But it's just the waiting for the A level results. I thought waiting for GCSEs was bad!!
She's got a couple of things, but she's worried about finding everything. She's normally incredibly level headed, but she does get stressed.

Dundee is really close if DC need anything - and IKEA deliver. We've just got the basics. And good weather in St Andrews is normally around/just after Easter these days 😁

St Andrews has frat boys...? Gosh, one lives and learns.

Is that why it's so popular with the Americans, or because it is (so they thought they might as well)?

Do they have sororities, too?

As far as I can see, the fraternity is not an official or widespread thing, but something involving a minority of US students.

The wider story is pretty concerning though.

The frat thing is a bunch of students who have come together to create this rather than a recognised student society. There is no frat system at St Andrews. I live in St Andrews and am a past and current student and my DH is involved with the students union so I can say this with complete certainty.

I have to say I am astonished that no one on this thread seems that bothered by this story. This is taken a report from the Times

The allegations were among hundreds submitted, apparently by present and former students, to an Instagram page, @standrewssurvivors, over the past week. Some alleged victims felt that the university had failed to deal adequately with their complaints, though both the university and the police said that they had been unaware of the alleged assaults.

I have had personal experience of this university when my DS started there in 2017, and I was shocked at how they treated a report of sexual assault by one of his friends - the alleged attacker was a wealthy American.

My DS had an appalling experience on his very first weekend there and the university did absolutely nothing to help him in any way - they treated him like a criminal (an 18 year old away from home fir the first time) once again the other party was a wealthy American.

If I had a 17 or 18 year old daughter there is no way on god’s earth I would let her go to St Andrews I’m afraid to say.

TonTon Yes, I'm somewhat bothered, but don't see that there is much to be achieved by discussing it here. Since this thread is mainly now populated by parents of year 13s that have already accepted offers, it would be quite drastic at this point to "not let" them go to St Andrews.

From what I've read, the university seems now to be responding more proactively than other universities that have hit the headlines as a result of similar situations. Which might be a good thing for those who are about to arrive.

The story does not chime in with all the other things we have heard about St A from existing students, through Mumsnet, TSR and the St A students who have Youtube channels. The youtubers talk about how safe St A feels.

@TonTonMacoute it is worrying to hear what your DS saw. All universities have problems and incidents, they all have their share of entitled idiots, the important thing for me is that the university nips such behaviour in the bud and does not just pay lip service to its responsibilities.

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/17/st-andrews-survivors-the-mood-isnt-just-senseless-outrage

Interesting article ClaudeDuval. I see that it acknowledges that the problem is rife across the higher education sector and that many of those who posted their experiences had never involved the police or the university authorities. So it's a much bigger issue than St Andrews but theirs is the name in the headlines. That tends to confirm my view that I should not panic into getting DD to withdraw from St Andrews since the same things could arise anywhere.

Having said that, we did steer her away from Warwick due to similar issues there. In that case, the thing that shocked us was the way the university was reported to have handled the situation. So far, I feel St Andrews seen to be reacting in a more appropriate way, but time will tell.

Agreed @AChickenCalledDaal it is very sad that this behaviour goes on within higher education facilities. Sadly gender based violence exists across all society but like you I am pleased to see St Andrews are taking the appropriate steps and my dd and I have discussed this since the issue came to light.
On a lighter note dd finally has her accommodation Agnes Blackadder and is really excited. It's close to the maths building and sports hall for her beloved dance. Feel like we can start buying things now as move in day is fast approaching!

Thanks monkey!

I’ve had a frank chat with DD about the appalling behaviour by some of these men. I hope that this awareness now means this behaviour is less likely now and suspensions hold.

We have bought a mattress topper and overnight accom booked for drop off. Let’s hope the grades go her way!

DD also likes moody weather and chose it over Exeter. Not sure I would have but teens are more resilient than my age 😂

@Newgirls did you pick up that when the DC accepts their accommodation they complete the e-induction for accommodation (about 15 slides on rules with a little quiz) then select an arrival slot between 31st August and 13th September, so your DD may or may not be moving in on 5th Sept.

DS now has details of the orientation week and it looks like it is all on line for him which means they do not need everybody physically there on 5th Sep, although I expect most DCs will want to be.

Is it just people with unconditional offers who have the information about accommodation etc?

Yeah those with unconditionals only at this stage. Just get them to check their uni email regularly also as Dd only got an email to that account. All her friends had accommodation offers sent to both uni and own emails. Dd nearly missed her deadline for replying🙈

@Alittlewornout when they got their university e-mail addresses they were given instructions on how to access it from their phone, so DS did that straight away. He has had quite a lot of things to complete (most, if not all, medicine related) which he would have missed if he did not have it going to Android Mail so I think it is probably a good idea to set it up.

Details of how to set it up are at www.st-andrews.ac.uk/it-support/services/email/

Glad to hear your DD is happy with her accommodation. Funny (but good) that the DCs here have first choices across the whole range of places available.

What arrival dates have the people with accommodation been choosing?