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!

Newgirls they did answer a question from a parent about September, at the end of the meeting. The jist of the answer was that yes, they are committed to getting students back on campus with as much face to face provision as possible, that they recognise the vital importance of in-person provision, but that they are also not in a position to make firm, detailed plans in advance of Scottish Govt guidance to the universities which they haven't yet had for next academic year. Also that they are talking to the Government "literally daily" and pushing for such guidance. They also explained that the meeting was a statutory requirement at which they are supposed to focus on their long term strategy for the university. It was never supposed to be about Covid, so they weren't going to spend a lot of time on it, which didn't seem unreasonable.

The meeting was very corporate and "look how well we are doing". But I don't know how much more they could realistically have said, given that September is still four months away .

Frankly, I'm in exactly the same position trying to make firm plans for re-starting choir rehearsals - potentially in three weeks' time - and living with complete uncertainty about what we'll legally be able to do. Planning for September is still crystal ball gazing, which is deeply frustrating for all of us, but more honest than making firm announcements that then have to be changed.

That’s helpful thanks chicken.

I suppose I want something from the uni to show that they realise they have been stricter than even other Scottish unis. And that between depts they were varied in their approach. I don’t think they’ve done a good job compared to others and they’ve relied too much on their gilded reputation. Will they hold any meetings about sept do we know? I imagine they won’t.

I agree the point about variation between departments is one that doesn't seem to be getting enough attention. In maths and physics, the level of in person teaching was reasonable in semester one and DD also seems to have had a reasonable level of interaction online in semester two. They have even completed their final group project pretty successfully, despite the time zone challenges referred to above! But I know that other subjects have had much less, or nothing at all. And that seems unfair and lacking in explanation.

Yes - mine had zero f2f due to her high profile head of dept staying in Edin...

We did email and got fobbed off about that too.

All too erratic.

I agree that the purpose of this meeting meant that they could not focus on what we are all interested in, which is the short term. In every meeting they come across as smug and make statements about support they are providing which simply aren't true. I would also like to know that they recognised what they are not doing well and were going to learn from it. Somebody made a point over on FB that the "Can Do" was better for students other than first years. The support for first years really was rubbish.

If you click on the meeting link, you might find it is still there, it works for me but that might because I joined it when it was live.

teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_YmVkODM0MWEtMTU5ZC00MDRjLWJkNzgtODc5M2IyZjUwNzY4%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522f85626cb-0da8-49d3-aa58-64ef678ef01a%2522%2C%2522Oid%2522%3A%2522dc640b96-4fc7-4d76-895b-554c7baf3fc9%2522%2C%2522IsBroadcastMeeting%2522%3Atrue%257D%26btype%3Da%26role%3Da%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=cb94e8ca-ffc4-41bb-88dd-3169e8179706&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true

I wonder if I can ask for some advice? DS (currently state school S6) has offers from all his universities and is trying to decide between Glasgow and St Andrews . St A is top ranked for his subject (Computer Science) but I know that he’s concerned about its reputation for poshness and that he won’t fit in. I was going to ask all my friends who have children at St As for advice - but then I realised that every one of them had been to a private school.....It’s so difficult this year when they haven’t been able to visit and firm their own impressions. Any advice would be much appreciated .

@cloudscape

I wonder if I can ask for some advice? DS (currently state school S6) has offers from all his universities and is trying to decide between Glasgow and St Andrews . St A is top ranked for his subject (Computer Science) but I know that he’s concerned about its reputation for poshness and that he won’t fit in. I was going to ask all my friends who have children at St As for advice - but then I realised that every one of them had been to a private school.....It’s so difficult this year when they haven’t been able to visit and firm their own impressions. Any advice would be much appreciated .

I have a state-educated DC at St Andrews (Science subject) and they enjoyed their first term despite the covid restrictions. If your DS fancies the quieter town experience - Glasgow would be massively busier - then I say go for it. It's a charming town to wander around and has a very safe feel. There will be a good enough mix of people from all backgrounds for it not to matter. It seems in covid-times self-catered accommodation proved less restrictive (as your bubble was your flatmates) than catered in Halls with social distancing/eating in your bedroom. You could visit both places to get a feel, even if you just wander around now lockdown is easing a bit. The St Andrews campus has a very open feel and is integrated within the town. Choose a sunny day and it will likely appeal to you both! Good luck whatever he decides.

Thanks Doasyouall we’re planning trips for this month and also the virtual offer holders events. Hopefully that will help. 😊

My dd is a State school scientist. She says people are very keen to play down their school background.

There are more state school kids at st Andrews than not so hope he feels in the majority. Have a good day exploring and do go to the toastie shack on the beach!

Do any Scottish DCs have offers for computer science or computer science/maths.

I understand it's not just 5As at higher (several people I know have been rejected from state schools for science degrees at St As with these grades) they're looking for but something else as well. Does anyone have any insight?

Thanks!

Ooh @cloudscape ! Just realised you have a Scottish DC with a CS offer. -congrats!

Any magic formula (apart from grades) for a successful application?

Thanks

Hi Aurea, no magic formula I’m afraid. I can only guess that these might have swung it - He did a summer school last year with Cyberfirst www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberfirst/overview. It’s free and is a week’s residential in normal times. He did it online over 2 weeks. He’s also doing CS and Maths at AH this year. Not sure there’s anything else that might have made a difference but hope this helps.

Hello. My DD is currently at St A.
State school (UK, France) private school (USA).

She absolutely loves it. It is a very international school, 25% students are international like she is. I asked her about Posh people and she laughed and said there are a few but most students are not posh, and St A’s makes fun of itself as it knows it has a posh reputation.

She said she’s met a lot of people on scholarships and bursaries. She’s studying ancient history and said courses like hers attract more posh people, but computer science not so much. One of her new friends is U.K. state school from Glasgow and she learned from her that Glasgow Uni has a reputation for drugs and is also located in a rough part of the city. So her friend said that she was thrilled to get into St A because she didn’t want to have to go to Glasgow.

Honestly, I wouldn’t let perceived poshness put your son off. He will find many people similar to him in background if he goes. Congratulations to him as well, St As is second hardest university to get an offer from in the U.K., so an offer means he definitely is a good match for the course.

Hi Cloudscape

Thanks for replying. You must be delighted for your DS.

Yes, my DS did a CyberFirst course last year (Defenders) and is booked again this summer.

He's not able to take CS at school, although he does plenty of coding comps in his spare time.. His AHs will be (maths), mechanics, physics and music. He took AH maths a year early alongside his other highers.

I know several pupils being rejected with 5As at higher so it makes me feel nervous as he's very keen on the course at St As.

Hearing about your DC gives me hope!

Thanks Plan, this is all really reassuring.
Aurea, that’s amazing - my son’s AHs are CS, Maths, Mechanics and Music ! We made a bit of a thing in his personal statement about the link between Music and Maths. Good luck to him for next year.

Aww thanks. 🤞

Hope your son has a ball.

@cloudscape
No problem. We did visit it with DD when she was deciding. We all thought the campus was incredible. St As is a picturesque seaside town. The beaches were gorgeous. Of course it’s colder than we are used to, but still very beautiful. The university has lots of social clubs and activities (these will restart after Covid). It is easy to get to Edinburgh from there which has lots of things to do/nightlife (and airport). I will say too that as my DD has SEN she has also had good experience with and support from the SEN office.

@cloudscape we discussed the same issue a couple of months ago on this thread. My DS is also from a state school studying medicine and has been happy socially whenever Covid rules allowed. Lots of people from Scottish state schools.

It is quite hard for Scottish students to get offers compared to rest of UK, although it does seem to vary by subject. A Computer Science offer should likely be seized with both hands! Also i.m.e. Comp Sci students are the least likely to care about social status! I went on that department's open day a few years ago and was impressed they even gave us all free mugs!
Finally if state school pupils reject universities on the grounds of poshness, the poshness will prevail!

Four kids went from my DSs Scottish state school in his year, it does have a posh rep but i think it's exaggerated and the reality is more diverse. Some subjects are more private school heavy but i think the sciences in particular have less pretentious students! DS managed to find a nice mix of friends without much bother, better than he managed at high school. As usual the social media representation of St Andrews reflects the more outspoken or confident students and not the more self - effacing ordinary ones.

It would be interesting to see the Scottish student application statistics for 2021. Numbers are tightly controlled by Scottish govt due to funding, but Brexit meant that EU students were no longer competing for those same places. Scottish applicants already had a much higher success rate than EU applicants, but distorted the stats. I think Comp Sci will remain very competitive because it is so highly rated across the UK, but some other courses should be more accessible.

Of course the teacher assessed grades will make the 2021 stats odd too as offers are down at top universities because they are assuming applicants will nearly all meet grade requirements. You should see an improvement in the success stats for Scottish applicants when exams are back.

@Monkey2001 i was wondering about offer numbers, if they swing too far in the direction of low offer numbers it's actually possible that some places could even end up in clearing.
A trend I've noticed is that St Andrews is not fashionable as a uni choice with the pupils of my local independent school, anecdotally they seem to be choosing a couple of big city scottish unis and English unis, UCL, Exeter, Durham etc. And theres also a persistant rumour that Scottish unis favour state school pupils in applications for competetive courses.

My DD was worried about the poshness when she started last September, but it’s been fine. I think there’s more of a mix if you’re doing sciences, but everyone seems down to earth.

My DS has a good mix of arts/science friends with varied backgrounds - international, Scottish, RUK, private, state, rich, poor, the mixing is one of the joys of St Andrews. I think that in his friendship group state schools dominate. He has a choral scholarship and says the scholars are all nice but mostly very posh!

Hi all was wondering if anyone can advise on 1st year Halls & accommodation please. What I am after is info on accommodation close to the Medical school, are they catered/uncatered and do they offer different food choices or is it all based on traditional meat eaters. Are they mixed or girls only halls?

If they are catered is it brekkie & dinner only? If lunch is included is there the time in the lunch break to get back to halls before afternoon lectures (1st year Medicine - so bound to be lots of lectures).