<p>I'm wondering how St. Andrews is seen in the U.S., it would help a lot if somebody could give me an example like: "it is equivalent to vanderbilt" or something along those lines. Thanks guys</p>
<p>Its more like boston college lol</p>
<p>i was just givin an example broseph</p>
<p>Most Americans that attend (or have attended) St Andrews come from the rich and / or wealthy class. Those students attend St Andrews not for the employment opportunities after college but for the social networking and experience of attending a foreign university. </p>
<p>Having said that, there isn’t an equal in the US. It’s unique mainly because it is in a foreign land, and quite isolated. On a side note, Oxbridge is equivalent to HYPSM. Lots of HYPSM admits attend Cambridge, for example. But I have not met or known anyone at St Andrews who got into one of those schools.</p>
<p>I’d think it’s on par with like a Tufts or lower. So it’s definitely a great school for smart kids, but the ELITE wont be going there.
With IR, it’s more like a Georgetown or JHU.</p>
<p>i’m really trying to get an idea of a u.s. equivalent and u sound fairly knowledgeable so u think u might be able to come up with one even if it isn’t spot on? like sefago said, i’ve heard it’s like bc, but do u have any other examples u might offer?</p>
<p>Its truly difficult to be honest. One comparing it to vanderbilt will not make sense. There are tons of Vanderbilt people in top industries in the US. You would be hard pressed to name one St Andrews student. But that’s because Vanderbilt is in the US and there are less STA alumni. From my research (a quick and unscientific linkedin search) there are more people in Vandy at elite positions in the US, than in St Andrews in the UK. I used Vanderbilt as an example because it has a lot of social cachet though its rarely mentioned on CC.</p>
<p>It all depends on what you want. Are you talking about prestige? It has a lot in the US. But no one is going to be comparing schools when you tell them that you go to St Andrews. As earlier mentioned, St Andrews is for rich prep school kids with connections. Getting a job is no problem, the person reviewing such a persons CV is probably daddy’s former roommate in college.</p>
<p>I personally would not compare it to any school in the US because of differences, and its definitely not in the same league as JHU or Georgetown in IR (I dont know if JHU even has an undergrad IR program?) However it has a huge alumni base which could be very helpful when you apply for jobs.</p>
<p>Most important question- what are your other options?</p>
<p>St Andrews is fantastic for IR, like JHU and GTown.</p>
<p>Many people thinks St Adrews is a kind of liberal arts college, just because its in the middle of nowhere, and being a relatively small, but ancient Scottish university. But if differs heavily.
The most important thing is, that its lack of alumni connections in the US. Because of for example Prince William, many Americans heard about St.Andrews, but that alone will hardy help you to land in a job. Exotic, thats true, but you will have much better job prospects if you go to, say, Vandy or Georgetown in fact, St. Andrews is hardly com parable with them in terms of academics, or selectivity. Oxbridge have enormous alumni connections in the US, but thats just Oxbridge. St.Andrews alumni is not that huge, and mostly not in top positions even in the UK. </p>
<p>Going to St.Andrews is surely a wonderful and cool experience, but when it comes to job prospects in the US well I dont think that it worth the price. But if you have all the money, fallen in love with the UK, go for it.</p>
<p>^ And your expertise on this is…what exactly? Because you are donig grad studies now in the UK? I think your earlier comments on UK credentially already reveal your ridiculously erroneous bias.</p>
<p>It’s hard to put a tag on it because from my understanding a uni’s strength in the UK is entirely correlated to each particular major. For instance, I’ve read that St Andrews IR is generally better regarded than Oxbridge and on par with the likes of JHU, Gtown, Tufts, etc. but no one would really rationally argue that St Andrews as a whole beats those schools if you take all majors into account. It really depends on the specified major.</p>
<p>Besides, the atmosphere and the fact that it’s across an ocean will usually be the deciding factor. It’s not an Ivy (apart from maybe a couple of degrees) and doesn’t have the connections of an Ivy but it never claims to have those attributes. It seems like a unique experience and it’s a respectable place to get a degree.</p>