St Andrew's - has it changed?

[earlyr1ser]

Middle son is thinking about switching out one of his UCAS choices for St Andrews. He's planning to do a maths degree. In many ways I think it would suit him - he'd like the coastal setting, would enjoy the breadth of curriculum that Scottish universities can offer - but I don't think he would enjoy the atmosphere that prevailed at St A's back in the mid-nineties, when I was a student.

I studied elsewhere, but I had a close friend at St A's and visited a few times. TBF few people get to choose where they are sent to school, but middle son is not public-school educated and would not have fitted in around the people who dominated the St A's social scene in those days, nor would he necessarily have had the confidence and savvy to carve out an alternative niche for himself (to those who did - well done).

All advice welcome! Thank you.

I have a dc at St Andrews. They went to a Scottish state school, and they don't feel out of place there, in fact, they love it. Although a small place, there seem to be loads of diverse clubs and societies, teaching seems high quality and dc has found it a friendly place. Disadvantage is the high cost of accommodation. That said, there is more availability than there was 2 years ago, and there are opportunities for getting a pt job - most of dc's friends work.

Seriously?! I went to Glasgow in the early 90s and it was heavily dominated by m/c Scottish students from state schools, particularly the 'good' Glasgow area schools. It was one of the only negative things I could say about the experience. What's it like now?