St Andrews and Aberystwyth - disparity

[Plateglass]

DN is at St Andrews and loving it. When she applied, literally no one warned her off by commenting on how small and remote it is.

DS (with less stellar predicted grades) has applied to Aberystwyth and is planning on firming it. Cue literally everyone we know saying how small and remote it is. It is driving him crackers (and yes he has visited).

Thoughts?

Proud to say I know the exact location of both to the millimetre; I look forward to receiving my prize 🤣

I attended one for undergrad and my sibling attended the other for postgrad. We were both very happy and I bet your DS loves Aber, OP.

I think you have a fair point @Plateglass. St A is better known but is not that much more accessible. It's over an hour and a quarter from Edinburgh and the dual carriageway runs out half way there. It also doesn't actually have a train station in the town, you need to get a bus to a train station. DS applied but it was a bit of a relief when he didn't get in. As someone who lives not far from the east coast further south I don't have a bias to big cities.

St Andrews is way north, but easy to get to - train from Edinburgh - so it doesn't feel cut off. It is a lovely town and great University. It feels very much like a bubble centred on the University, though the surroundings are beautiful. Prior to it being so well known re William and Kate, I think it is also a university town that would not have been so placeable if you asked someone who had not been.

Aberystwyth is a bit more cut-off as there are not so many direct transport links. Some friends went and loved it.

Well around my way if anyone says they are thinking of applying to St Andrews the immediate comment is “But it is so tiny and far away… “ followed immediately by “but people who go there seem to love it” so I wouldn’t say it is never mentioned. I’d say it is always mentioned.

I supose it depends on your perspective. I live in Glasgow and St. Andrews is definitely not way north, it barely outside the central belt. Plus, I think everyone in Scotland has heard of the place, without the publicity of Wills & Kate. It’s one of Europe’s oldest unis. 🤣

I'm a city girl and went to Aber for uni. I loved it! Great uni, social and lively. Yes it is remote and it does mean most people stay there at weekends. You end up in this Aber type bubble but in a positive and family type of way! I don't regret my experience and would recommend it.

i thought that I would just add that my post was intended to be lighthearted. I know that most of the posters are probably from England and that Scotland probably seems quite far away. But I find it highly amusing when people talk about parts of Scotland as remote, especially when they mention places where most of the population are living. As far as I’m concerned Kent is remote but if I posted what’s it like living in the remote echelons of Maidstone you’d think I was nuts.

There is no league table worth reading that puts Aberystwyth above St Andrews. RG is besides the point for St Andrews. Everyone knows it’s highly ranked. The Guardian ranking should be ignored. Most people ignore its university tables because at times they are laughable. Anyone with stellar grades should not really aim for Aberystwyth unless they really really like the town and university. They almost certainly could do better.

DS confirmed Aberystwyth as his firm choice this morning, after his visit at the weekend. Yes, it’s the end of the earth (we live in Suffolk, it really is the end of a very long road for us!) but it seems like such a great place. No one has really mentioned its remote location, but I guess it’s all relative. It’s pretty remote here too.

I know both places, though not the universities as such. Aberystwyth seems considerably more remote to me, but for a university town, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It makes for a good community. And I like the drive through the mountains.
St Andrews has a very different vibe. I like both places. I imagine Aber would be much more affordable in lots of ways. I think your DS would have a great time.

Having spent a fair amount of time in both (family not uni) I would say Aber is considerably more remote. Its dead easy to get to larger places (like Edinburgh) from St Andrews than it is from Aber, which is why you may be getting more comments about Aber.

That said I dont know anyone whose been to Aberystwyth who hasnt loved their uni experience

Thank you for all the affirmative comments about Aber - DS is genuinely excited.

@TizerorFizz you are missing my point. I am not trying to say Aber and St A are comparable academically. Obviously not. I am just struck that people never mention that St A is remote (partic if you in S England) - whereas that’s the first thing they say about Aber. A RG or top uni is not on the table for my DS

That’s great! Congrats to your DS. Mine smitten by Aber when we visited and thrilled to get a decent offer BBC. We are in SE Eng so a heck of a schlep but hey!

@Plateglass yes, also pleased with the offer. He’s hoping to study in InterPol there, which seems well regarded. He liked the different assessment methods (he has SpLD so churning out essays isn’t his favourite thing!). Really enjoyed the sessions at the weekend and felt excited by the possibilities offered.

Fingers crossed for both DSes.

I have a friend who went ro Aberystwyth and he really enjoyed his time there ,and has fantastic in advertising . I can never remember the distance or remoteness being an issue,
Two friends sons have both recently graduated from ST Andrews and again had a great time ,It is a lovely place . My sister and BIL live there …great atmosphere and close to busy cities.

It would seem, by reading posts here, that the remoteness of Aber is part of its charm. A friend's son went there and loved it too. In his final year he lived in a reasonably priced flat overlooking the beach. It certainly sounds like a university where students feel a sense of belonging and community. It's great for outdoor sports enthusiasts too. My friend's son never came home mid-term.

Dd has picked Aber too. We went down twice in two years to the open day. Loved the place. Accommodations looked lovely too.
The train goes direct to Birmingham New street from Aberystwyth.

Aber is wonderful. I was there in the early 90s and had a whale of a time; it has a brilliant student community precisely because it's remote - no one went home at the weekend. It gets fantastic student satisfaction scores, and is absolutely beautiful too. I'm actually going back for my first visit in 25 years soon and am very excited to see it again (and walk up the hill!)

I had a good friend who was at St A at the same time and they are definitely very similar in some ways. Yes, St A has the prestige that Aber doesn't (although it was good enough for the King, so...) but really, who cares? It's a great place to spend 3 years. Hope your ds has a wonderful time!

I think I am the only person who went to Aberystwyth and didn’t like it. It was just too small and claustrophobic for me.

I did know one person who left in their first year for similar reasons @Oceanwarmedbythesun. They were also heavily into dance music and were disappointed by Aber's significant lack of super-clubs 😂

Of course if you live in Scotland anyway, St A's will not seem 'remote,' but obviously, for anyone south of say, Manchester (and particularly those from Southern England) it is massively northerly. It is remote from that perspective because what cities are actually further north - apart from Aberdeen and Inverness (which is small anyway) - and obviously the Highlands? From a London perspective, St A's is basically halfway to the Arctic Circle in terms of mileage! And London is northerly in European terms as it is. Also, St A's has no train station. This is no doubt one reason why it appealed to the royals. But it's a very respected uni and I'm sure students have a fantastic time up there. Especially, if you are from somewhere like London, it could be a very unique experience for your student years.

It must be expensive to study there if you’re from ‘down south’ (anywhere south of Glasgow I guess!)

I think I’d have been a lot happier somewhere like Sheffield or Nottingham - far enough from home to be ‘away’ but not so far that I felt isolated and cut off. The thing with Aber was that if you had a bit of a fallout with someone or split with an ex you couldn’t escape them! They were everywhere!

The sunset view that my DC in Aber has to suffer. 😀tough life living on the beach front.

St Andrews can offer that beautiful sunset too! I think they seem very similar.

I think a small uni is nice. It’s a little Easier to make friends and feel belonging in a small place. Sure, a huge uni has more opportunities, but it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. So many people describe their warmest and most enjoyable experiences in small schools, small unis, small towns, small companies, etc.