<p>OK, so this is a Scottish university, and the IR course is pretty well regarded in the UK</p>
<p>But there also is a sizeable population of US students in St Andrews as well..</p>
<p>So.. has anyone heard of British universities besides Oxbridge?</p>
<p>Also, if you do know about them, can you tell me about their IR course?</p>
<p>Amazing IR course. Check out Edinburgh too.</p>
<p>St Andrews is not a top tier British university. For BETTER options check these rankings.</p>
<p>The THES rankings are good, but a bit overrated. For example if he is going to take IR, he won't be going to Imperial, UCL or any small universities like Loughborough or Aston...if you wanna check out the THES rankings, check out the Politics rankings for example:</p>
<p>Politics </p>
<p>Entry Standards Overall Score
1 Oxford 515 100.0
2 LSE 462 99.2
3 Cambridge 489 98.2
4 Bristol 389 94.6
5 York 451 94.5
6 Warwick 440 93.4
7 King's Coll London 390 93.0
8 Bath 358 92.7
9= Sheffield 420 92.1
*9= St Andrews 470 92.1 *
11 Durham 461 89.5
12 Newcastle 369 89.3
13 SOAS 341 89.0
14 Nottingham 419 88.9
15= Cardiff 364 88.7
15= Exeter 379 88.7
17 Aberystwyth 321 88.5
18 Birmingham 371 88.3
19 Hull 304 87.8
20 Essex 315 87.2 </p>
<p>Each of the top 20 universities according to THES have different strengths, and St. Andrews' strength is really in IR, with Edinburgh in the Natural Sciences etc.</p>
<p>I visited St. Andrews Univ. two years ago. Nothing short of Amazing; it's the archetypal university. I was impressed with the faculty. It is remote and difficult to get to, but well worth it. I have visited Univ. throughout Europe and this is my favorite. Much more intimate than O and C. The only downside is the American tourists who come there to golf. My impression of Univ. of Edin.; bureaucratic, tons of study abroad kids, tourists and more tourists; though the Univ. is truly international, and not provincial like St Andrews.</p>
<p>IIRC, they get a lot of American students to the extent that they have some special applications procedure so you wouldn't have to go through the normal British applications system. :) IR is a course that St Andrews is very well known for, most probably one of their top courses. It is in a small town if that bothers you - one of my former teachers went there and said he spent most of his weekends in other cities for something to do. For those who want a quieter environment, it is a nice place though (and amazing if you love golf!)</p>