<p>I received a conditional offer from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland yesterday. If I attend St. Andrews in the fall, I wouldn't pay a single penny. If attend Colby, I would have to pay around $60,000 every year for four years, making it $240,000 by the time I graduate. </p>
<p>My question: Is Colby and the American college experience worth $240,000?</p>
<p>Not at all… 240,000 dollars is too large a sum to waste for something intangible. St. Andrews is fairly American anyway so that’s somewhat similar.</p>
<p>No school is worth $60,000 a year unless your family is rich enough so that spending that much wouldn’t matter to them.</p>
<p>4,000th post woohoo</p>
<p>Is $240,000 too much to spend on something intangible? Maybe, but I’m not so sure. I don’t regret spending a dollar of it–it was worth more than most of the money I ever spent on tangible items. But, I wouldn’t venture to suggest that the same calculations would be true for someone else, not knowing their financial situation or the other factors that would weigh in their decision. And, the opportunity to pay nothing for the education offered at the University of St Andrews is not a small thing to consider…</p>
<p>240,000 in amateur trading on the stock market + a free elite education at st. andrews would surely outweigh the potential that an american full pay college experience could offer.</p>
<p>Although I strongly disagree with the post that says no school is worth $60,000 per year, this decision is not a close call, in my opinion. Even without considering finances, St. Andrews is the obvious choice. St. Andrews is widely regarded as offering an outstanding education in most majors. It is a school with far more name recognition and a more positive reputation overall. The student experience at St. Andrews should be quite good.</p>
<p>As a current student, I completely understand how expensive Colby is. However, the experience and the connections I’ve made thus far have truly been amazing. I have never visited St. Andrews so I can’t speak to what that school is like, but I can say that the resources, campus and professors have made it so I do not in any way feel as though I’m wasting money.</p>
<p>A quarter of a million dollars for an undergrad degree, with the strong likelihood that you will need a graduate degree to supplement it afterwards? Um, no.</p>
<p>Unless St. Andrews pays for OP’s food and housing, the comparison is highly inaccurate.</p>
<p>It is not unheard of for Americans to attend U. St. Andrews in Scotland. Indeed, St. Andrews is gaining popularity among New England boarding school students. For example, Choate (Wallingford, CT) has sent 16 students to St. Andrews over the past five years, 11 to Colby, 12 to Bates, and 38 to Yale (by comparison). It is possible that St. Andrews is just a preppie dumping ground for the less academic gifted types or for those who want to drink in pubs. However, prep school guidances counselors must know who goes to St. Andrews and why.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.choate.edu/academics/pdf/College_Profile2.pdf[/url]”>http://www.choate.edu/academics/pdf/College_Profile2.pdf</a></p>
<p>To a much lesser extent this is true at Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire.</p>
<p>Colby is an LAC. It has low student/faculty ratio, very good facilities and a decent endowment. It can’t really be compared state supported St. Andrews by cost alone.</p>
<p>@rhg3rd
As an EU citizen, tuition at every Scottish university is free. Because I live in a rather sociallist country, food and housing is paid for by the government. </p>
<p>Since tuition is free for all EU applicants, St. Andrews is one of the most competitive universities in the UK for EU applicants. More students from my highschool go to Oxford and Cambridge than St. Andrews. I was the first student in four years from my highschool to be offered a place in St. Andrews. By no means is St. Andrews “just a preppie dumping ground for the less academic gifted types or for those who want to drink in pubs”. Your statement is probably true for American applicants though as they pay £20,000 a year.</p>
<p>I’m afraid that if I go to St. Andrews it will be as if I went to a big prestigious university in the US. I’ll have no contact with the professors, they will spend all of their time with graduate students, I won’t have the possibility to do research, all my classes will be lectures with over 100 other students, and additionally I won’t get that close-knite community feel that I’ll get in a LAC like Colby.</p>
<p>What to do… what to do…</p>
<p>If your parents can support the cost with no problem, Colby better fits your interests based on your the comparisions you made. If paying the cost, however possible, presents some hardship to your parents, I would suggest St. Andrews. Also talk to your parents about this if you haven’t done so.</p>
<p>@IB in Luxemboug:
I think there is good reason why many US students from top New England prep schools like Choate head to University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It’s a small university (<8,000 students) whose focus is largely on undergraduate education. Specifically, there are only 1,500 or so grad students. So most certainly it is NOT like going to “big presitgous university in the U.S.” Indeed, it’s likely the closest thing to a European approximation of a Brown University. Since St. Andrews is located in a small town, there must be more opportunities for contact with professors than at most places in Europe.</p>
<p>If I were in your position, I’d hop an easy jet to Edinburgh and visit St. Andrews. The other thing I would look into is using your EU status to go to St. Andrews for a year abroad from Colby. That way you could be doing three years at Colby instead of four years.</p>
<p>What subject are you admitted at St. Andrews in? What are you planning on studying at Colby? BTW, there are quite a few small colleges in New England and New York that I would characterize as preppy dumping grounds.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to hijack your thread IB, but I am literally in the same boat right now.</p>
<p>I’m torn between choosing another school that will save me close to 100k over four years and with Colby, which will be at almost 240k over four years as my family doesn’t qualify for FA. Like IB asked, would paying the full cost at Colby be a good choice, even if you know grad school is something you want to pursue? Or would choosing the cheaper option that will allow me to save my resources for grad be a wiser choice?</p>
<p>Well, there are several questions here. What is your offer? Is it relatively easy for you to make those points? St. Andrews has indeed become much more selective since tuition in England has gone up so much (yes, it is all relative but it did triple). I have several good friends who have kids who go or went there. They loved it, but they were looking for a UK experience. What are you really looking for? It is true that there is more flexibilty in Scotland versus England, but…There have been articles in the NYTimes about the fact that while St Andrews is the closest option to US university experience, it still lacks the same kind of student focus and care that you will experience in the US. Clearly, $240,000 is a lot of money, but you can’t replicate your undergrad experience. My S1 missed his offer so make sure that either you still send in the deposit or are happy with your insurance school.</p>
<p>St Andrews is a very good school. Colby is an amazing school.
Depends on your major. If you are going to major in science related field, that you’ll obviously need your MA so go to St Andrews and get a <em>slightly</em> low quality. If you don’t need MA, go to Colby. After Colby you’ll get a job that’s going to pay the loan (if you are going to take one) or pay back to your parents.</p>
<p>Colby is very selective. Especially this year when some terrific applicants from my country got rejected. One had 2260 SAT and 800s on three subjects + 116 on TOEFL and 4.0 GPA. He got flat out rejected. So getting into Colby class of 2017 is a HUGE deal. </p>
<p>I’d go to Colby. Cause experience will be completely different. </p>
<p>You could also try going to St Andrews for a year or two and then transfer. That’d cost you $60,000 less 
Cause it’s highly likely you’ll be accepted transfer if you were accepted first year and didn’t enroll (of course in case you keep your grades high)</p>
<p>Good luck in whatever you choose.</p>