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Higher education

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Original poster

Does anyone from down south go to St Andrews university? I didn't realise it was 50 miles away from Edinburgh?

254 replies

UlezSchmulez · 10/09/2023 17:14

Why do they call it At Andrews university Edinburgh when it's nowhere near Edinburgh!

It's 50 miles, 1 hour and 40 minutes by train.
If you're from Southern England do you just accept that you don't return for any weekend during term time.

Just thinking of booking an open day there but wondering if it's just too far?
Which is a shame as it's very highly rated for maths which my son wants to study.
Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Bluetrews25 · 10/09/2023 18:59

Will it blow your mind, OP, to realise IT'S COASTAL, too?
(Must confess I didn't know that until DC2 moved in and told me about walking along the beach to Uni in the morning....as I didn't go up to open day or to 'help' move in)
It's beautiful, and graduation is very, very special.

Thelonelygiraffe · 10/09/2023 19:00

Why do they call it At Andrews university Edinburgh when it's nowhere near Edinburgh!

No one has ever called it that.

Closest train station is Leuchars, closest town is Dundee.

DarcyProudman · 10/09/2023 19:01

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 17:45

@Baldieheid Fisher and Donaldson fudge doughnuts!

Janettas is still there, by the way!

F&D fudge doughnuts and coffee towers. I could eat one of each right now!!
I had a job in F&D for one day though, felt sick by the time I went home and wanted to throw the cakes at the next person who asked for them in a bloody box!! Couldn’t face going back the next day 😂 not even for the free cakes at break time!

2jacqi · 10/09/2023 19:01

I live near st andrews. the uni is practically on a par with cambridge and oxford now. to also put your mind at rest, st andrews is a small town and crime rate is very low. Students come from all over the world to attend st andrews!! you can walk round the town in a couple of hours and it is a very sociable union too

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:02

@RomaniIteDomum "Do I detect a hint of sour grapes?"

Not at all-I was one of the many Oxbridge rejects in my year at St Andrews!

Thelonelygiraffe · 10/09/2023 19:02

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 17:45

@Baldieheid Fisher and Donaldson fudge doughnuts!

Janettas is still there, by the way!

That's just what I was going to post! Fudge doughnuts, mmm

TrishTrix · 10/09/2023 19:04

It's posts like this that make me realise that not everyone had the benefit of UK holidays as a child!

My siblings and I are grave disappointments in that none of us went to StA to uphold the family tradition.... but we do know where it is despite having opted to go to other (younger!) Scottish Universities. My brother is very proud he went to Aberdeen which is older than my sister and I's alma mater by almost a 100 years.

And all this talk of Fisher and Donaldson's is MOST unfair!

Oakbeam · 10/09/2023 19:05

Which is a shame as it's very highly rated for maths which my son wants to study.

Any thoughts

Warwick uni is highly rated for maths too. You won’t find it in Warwick.

Dabralor · 10/09/2023 19:06

No-one calls it St Andrews Edinburgh. It's literally never been called that. Since 1413. Hope that helps 😉

EachandEveryone · 10/09/2023 19:06

My niece is there. It took six months to get settled as it is completely different to anything she has experienced before. She’s a normal working class kid and was somehow determined to go to St Andrews. It’s a lot. She’d never been to America before and the Uni is pretty much half of them, and they are rich. She’s much better now she has made friends. Impossible to get accommodation after the first year so most of her social group have moved to Dundee and it’s much more to their taste so now they have the best of both worlds. Also easier to get part time work in Dundee.

I keep saying I’ll visit as I’d love to see it but she avoids the conversation 😀

standys · 10/09/2023 19:10

Penelope1703 · 10/09/2023 17:18

Where do they call it St Andrews University Edinburgh?? Never heard that.
St Andrews is in St Andrews 😆

The closest large town to St Andrews is in fact Dundee 12.8 miles away but there is a regular bus service and trains to London go through Dundee. Leuchars (village) is even nearer to St Andrews and the London mainline trains also stop there.

Photio · 10/09/2023 19:10

But I still want to know where it is referred to as St Andrews university Edinburgh!

timetochangethering · 10/09/2023 19:11

I'm going to top you @UlezSchmulez I thought it was near Aberdeen! It's actually nearer Edinburgh than Aberdeen!

As a side issue, I had a friend in Southampton who accepted a place through clearing without going there or knowing where it was...I've spent years wondering why he didn't just fly to Aberdeen!

ohboohoo · 10/09/2023 19:16

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 18:25

William went there partly because of the security, but also because royals with dodgy A Levels can't get away with Oxbridge any more, so he went to St As with all the other Oxbridge rejects....

Wow. People who didn't get into Oxford are something to be derided to you? I dint even have to know you to know you are one of life's underachiever. Actual achievers are never this scathing

MarchingFrogs · 10/09/2023 19:17

Photio · 10/09/2023 19:10

But I still want to know where it is referred to as St Andrews university Edinburgh!

Well, Google came up.with this:

Does anyone from down south go to St Andrews university? I didn't realise it was 50 miles away from Edinburgh?
Daisyislazy · 10/09/2023 19:20

Omg those coffee towers < totally missed point of thread>

gearedup · 10/09/2023 19:20

ohboohoo · 10/09/2023 18:41

How do people not know what? Exactly where St Andrews is? Why would anyone be born with this knowledge? Surely people learn this sort of random info only when they need to

Show quote history

True. Including the OP's son, if he wants to visit.

Though the OP seems to think she's the one going to university.

Newgirls · 10/09/2023 19:24

Apparently it’s now harder to get into st Andrews that Cambridge - prob due to tiny size of it and no interview so a lot of people apply.

its very beautiful and on a beach - I can see why people love it

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:24

@ohboohoo "Wow. People who didn't get into Oxford are something to be derided to you? I dint even have to know you to know you are one of life's underachiever. Actual achievers are never this scathing"
Certainly not intended to be scathing! Just factual. A generation before, William would have gone to Oxbridge. Not really acceptable by the time he went, so he went to St As, like me, and many others who didn't make the Oxbridge cut!

TakeMe2Insanity · 10/09/2023 19:24

Justmuddlingalong · 10/09/2023 17:20

It also doesn't have a train station. The nearest one is Leuchars.

This!

Photio · 10/09/2023 19:25

Crikey @MarchingFrogs
I don't know who's Facebook page that is but it's not the University of St Andrews Facebook.
When you click on it, it drops the Edinburgh and just refers to Scotland

ohboohoo · 10/09/2023 19:27

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:24

@ohboohoo "Wow. People who didn't get into Oxford are something to be derided to you? I dint even have to know you to know you are one of life's underachiever. Actual achievers are never this scathing"
Certainly not intended to be scathing! Just factual. A generation before, William would have gone to Oxbridge. Not really acceptable by the time he went, so he went to St As, like me, and many others who didn't make the Oxbridge cut!

Ok maybe I was a little harsh. It just grinds my gears when people make snide comments about people who have achieved something. Pulling people down as if they are complete losers when getting into St As is a massive achievement. Far far more people with top grades apply to top units than can get in. Not speaking for a William as we all know the royals are not exactly competing with the rest of the population.

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:27

@Newgirls "its very beautiful and on a beach - I can see why people love it"

Yes- it's a glorious place. I think some people find it a bit claustrophobic-certainly by the 4th year. There is a limit to the number of times you want to bump into a tutor you owe an essay to in Willie Low's. (I think now Tesco)

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:30

@ohboohoo "Ok maybe I was a little harsh."

Good thing this isn't Real Life, eh?

wordler · 10/09/2023 19:31

CurlewKate · 10/09/2023 19:24

@ohboohoo "Wow. People who didn't get into Oxford are something to be derided to you? I dint even have to know you to know you are one of life's underachiever. Actual achievers are never this scathing"
Certainly not intended to be scathing! Just factual. A generation before, William would have gone to Oxbridge. Not really acceptable by the time he went, so he went to St As, like me, and many others who didn't make the Oxbridge cut!

I don’t think it was just that - they seem to have been fairly strategic with William’s choices - I think going to university in Scotland is good for a future heir similar to being based in Anglesey for his air rescue job. He’s now lived in three different nations for a significant time.

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