I am in love with St. Andrews and want to study Computer Science and Philosophy there.
GPA: 3.63 (unweighted) on a 4.0 scale
ACT: 32
APs: Calc AB (5), Biology (5), English (5), Spanish (4) and going to take Calc BC, EU History and Macro.
What are my chances? And would it be difficult for me to find a job back here if I studied in Scotland?
I have only applied to two universities in the UK so far: St. Andrews and King’s. In case St. Andrews doesn’t work out, can you guys recommend me any other universities in the UK (can apply for another 3).
You have strong stats and should have a good chance of an offer from St Andrews as long as your PS and recs are as good. the only fly in the ointment could be that anecdotal data seems to be thaUS apps are rising to St Andrews and their reputation as a relatively easy admission may as a result be misleading. OTOH you’re not applying for one of the most popular courses.ŵ
Your problem with finding a fallback option is that you want a relatively unusual combination of subjects. the only similar courses I can see are at Oxord (too late to apply and a high reach for anyone) and Kent, which is not especially highly rated but not awful either. Course title there is Computing and Philosophy, and it has high acceptance rates. I would think that could be a safety for you.
Would you be prepared to apply for any straight CS courses?
Is St. Andrews easy to get into for Americans? I read that it has an offer rate of around 50% which is really high already.
Yeh I have applied for straight CS at King’s so I am willing to consider universities which don’t offer philosophy as well. I will look into Kent.
Out of curiosity, what anecdotal data?
I suspect the rate is high because they are upfront about their requirements and appeal to a segment of applicants that are researching those and thinking outside the box of normal us admission targets.
On this forum someone said St Andrews had told them US applicants were significantly higher this year.
Me. We were there for admissions session and tour last week.
They said IR and History apps were up a lot, not so much other programs.
There are two useful points in here. St Andrews is seen as easy to get into for Americans, largely b/c they mix the pluses of the UK admissions system (very clear criteria) with an explicit focus on recruiting Americans (so they are a little more holistic, paying more attention to GPA & EC than most UK unis). As more and more Americans apply to StAs they will eventually set some limits on how many Americans they want (right now about it’s at 20%- a 40% increase from 6 years ago) and then it will get harder- just meeting the ‘standard offer’ won’t be enough. IR is already in that range and History is getting close.
The second point is that by UK standards a 50% offer rate is not high- it’s comparatively low. In the UK the ‘standard offer’ is known and published for every course at every uni. Students do not waste one of their 5 application slots on programs where they aren’t ‘predicted’ to meet the standard offer. The unis never make offers higher than predicted marks and the schools work hard to get and keep a reputation for being accurate with their predictions. So, almost everybody who is applying for a course has been predicted to get the standard offer or better. Simply meeting the offer is generally sufficient for international students (who bring their international fees with them), but it is not enough for domestic students.
@VickiSoCal and @Conformist1688 , have you heard anything about American applications to math at StA? Is this a popular course? I saw your post in another thread here @VickiSoCal about StA “gating” at least American IR applications this year due to the increase in application volume. 
Here is a link for the U.K. League tables. You can sort by subject area. I know Bristol, Manchester, and South Hampton ask for a 5 on the AP Calc BC, but Edinburgh only requires a 4 or better on AP Calc AB. With already getting a 5, you should be in good shape for Edinburgh and Glasgow,
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Computer+Science
Just want to say that an offer rate at 50% is not high at all for British Universities.
In fact, when compared to similar British Universities, it’s actually on the lower end for offer rates:
UCL - 61.7%
KCL - 66.7%
Durham - 69%
Warwick - 84.3%
@MANVMom2016 the only thing I know is what was said about IR and History in the general info session, about apps up and gating and then when she met privately with the person in charge of Chemistry admissions he said he had not yet received any international apps yet from the admissions office. And that was a full month after she applied.
Unless I am looking at the wrong link, it appears that StA has changed the “After Your Apply” Web page for international applicants by removing the previous reference to providing a decision by the end of the third week of November if you apply by October 31st, and if you apply on or after November 1, within 4 weeks of receipt of your completed application. This is what is posted now:
"We make decisions on international applications on a rolling basis.
If you are an International applicant who applied through a direct application or the Common Application, you will receive a response to your application by email. This email will outline your offer and conditions from the International Undergraduate team. You should respond to your offer by replying directly to this email, indicating whether or not you will be taking up your place.
If you have any questions relating to your offer, please email the international undergraduate team (myapplication@st-andrews.ac.uk) who will be happy to help you. We recommend that you reply to your offer by 31 May."
I’m glad they removed it as it was misleading and contrary to what we were told at the info session. It really does seem to vary greatly by Department.
It could well be that they are receiving many more applications and that reaching the entry requirements in itself is no longer sufficient to receive an automatic offer. They are limited in the amount of places they can give to international students so in order to be more judicious they are slowing down the process somewhat.