St Andrews into 2021 (new thread)

[Newgirls]

Ok can’t think of a catchier title! If anyone can send the other thread over here pls do!

Prospective and existing parents etc all welcome here. Transport, accom, cloaks, choirs, beaches and more to be discussed. Next year will be better surely!

I'm sorry i can't remember but not until after all the accomodation offers are sorted out I think, isn't that after exam results ? I seem to remember being able to chose which day though. We only live an hour away so didnt have to worry about logistics but if you want to take your student out for tea after they have sorted they room out i would book that in advance as the town is usually heaving. Sorry I couldn't be more specific but most freshers do move into halls the weekend before Freshers week and the slots are on the Saturday and Sunday and really just designed to facilitate parking etc. (v limited in old halls) and know numbers for fire regs.

Okay if the slots are Sat and Sun I could fly up Fri eve and home Sun eve. That could work. Her dad is driving her and all her stuff up so can go whenever.

Have noted about the tea!

We flew up on the Friday morning - and stayed the night in the Premier Inn ( booked so that I could cancel if necessary.) We had a time of 10am on the Saturday to go into the halls - very popular time but 2nd
year students around to help. Unpacked and then left by lunchtime as they had lunch to go to and other things arranged (this was year before last.)

Hello, I wonder if I might pop on this thread. My DD has got an unconditional from St Andrew’s which is her top choice. All the information on this thread is very helpful. I am a single parent and I am worried about money, so the cost estimates are useful. I am also worried about her feeling out of place, which is probably daft, but I imagine being in halls helps make friends.

Hi KatySun

My DD is from a single parent family too, I’m hoping she will fit in okay. I think it’s a broad range that go there. We have done our calculations and think she will be okay, she is planning to get a part time job as soon as she can and looking at posts on this it seems that is what most do.
What is your DD going to study?

There are kids from comprehensive schools, my DS is one of them, four kids went from his year, although he sounds very posh for a Scottish lad (he always has, but he's on the autistic spectrum and just never picked up the local accent!). I think the student mix varies depending on subject too and the student societies are very good for making friends in more normal times, theres a big choice, its not all polo and fashion shows theres plenty for the quieter student.

To get a job in halls in second year DS approached the catering staff proactively right at the start of term, he didn't wait to see what was advertised (he had a very savvy roommate in first year who did this so DS2 emulated him the next year).

dd also from a state school. 3 from her year accepted offers. She is friends with a mixture of people from different backgrounds so it's definitely not all posh kids!

Thank you for the replies. DD is planning to get a job as and when this becomes possible too. She definitely falls into the quieter student category so good to know there are lots of things on offer in normal times. You have all reassured me on the fact that there are a mix of young people from different backgrounds!

honeyandbutteredtoast it is an Arts subject, I don’t want to put exactly as I have no idea how big the intakes are.

My DS also from a Comprehensive school, has friends ranging from extremely rich (non-American Internationals) to not at all rich - they all seem to mix very well. He said that at the Christmas dinner there were people in tail suits and people in hoodies!

All very quiet on here. Does everybody know about the open meeting on Saturday? Hoping to find out plans for the autumn.

Seems very strange that people are planning festivals over the summer, but universities are still talking about on line learning.

@Newgirls, hope your DD was as pleased as my DS was with the Truck line up - a welcome bit of normality at a dismal time.

Morning 👋

Yes she’s very excited about Truck! She seems in a very positive mood about life right now with job and uni work going well.

I’d urge anyone on here to sign the petition about unis doing all they can to offer more face to face opportunities in sept. Pls don’t assume it will all be more normal - it seems ancients like St A and Oxford seem quite resistant to open up compared to the moderns - and space really isn’t the issue in all cases. We know St A has spacious labs, rooms, marquees etc so they could be timetabling to use them at least for small tutorials etc

Hello - how are your students all getting on? DD is gobsmacked to find that this is the last week of teaching and first year is nearly over. How did that happen!! Currently they are doing a group Physics project with the participants spread between New Jersey and China. So the logistics are somewhat challenging and there are lots of lunchtime Teams meetings, as that's the only hour when everyone is happy to be awake!

I see that some of our international friends on FB are busy finding reasons why their students have to travel half way round the world to pick up possessions, despite what seems like a pretty clear message that they shouldn't. And now I'm stressing that there will be an outbreak that will set plans for September back .

Morning! St A seem to have the shortest year of any uni! The English uni students we know are heading back this week to start their term 🤷‍♀️

My dd is getting good grades and has mentally switched to thinking of aug as when she starts properly. Thank heavens for a 4 year course. We have emailed ahead of Saturdays meetings with questions wanting reassurance that aug will be more normal with labs, f2f etc so pls do the same if you can. St A does seem more cautious than many. I want them to have a ‘can do’ attitude to teaching and normality - especially as st a is apparently heaving with tourists and beach visitors!

And yes madness that they are flying over!

I've sent in a question. I don't think the public meeting is really aimed at addressing these issues, but hopefully if they get lots of questions it will at least generate some sort of response. And balance any opposing views from local residents.

I think they said that all Q&A would be available after the end, so am assuming the ones which are not answered on the day will be answered later. Has the deadline passed? I was thinking of asking for their response to the Portsmouth VC's article on HEPI. One possible is that things they said at the last meeting I watched, at the beginning of term, bore no relationship to what was actually happening on the ground. The nurturing pastoral support from the wardens was a myth as far as I should see.

Yes I agree it’s important to say something to balance out the local views. Although surely many of them rely on uni and tourism jobs?

My very brief encounter with a warden was underwhelming to say the least

Medicine at St Andrews offers the chance of doing the final 2 years in English universities. 2 are listed - Manchester and Barts. Does anyone have practical experience of being able to go anywhere else besides these two? Is it the case that these are the 2 that St Andrews will organise for you but you can do the legwork to sort out something elsewhere?

Medicine is 3 years in St Andrews and 3 clinical years elsewhere. You are either on Scottish route (final 3 years Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee) or English route (mainly Manchester, some at Barts, and apparently 1 place a year available at Cambridge for a high achiever). Or you can apply for a transfer into clinical phase at other medical schools which use a traditional structure - Oxford, UCL, Imperial.

...... And yes, the admin for going to Manchester or Barts is all sorted by the medical school and you are guaranteed a place.

@Monkey2001 thank you so much. Yes the Scottish and English routes are in their prospectus but where did you get the other info from?

My son is a first year medic and there is a lot of stuff on whatdotheyknow

Sounds like the ‘community’ presentation today was a let-down. I failed to get into the meeting but reading the comments it seemed to be more about building and carbon neutral goals rather than student welfare and face to face teaching. We sent two questions about sept which I’m hoping they will email about.