***St Andrews in Scotland Class of 2022 Applicants Discussion***

Do students who apply to something other than IR typically hear back sooner than students who do apply to IR?

Yes. It is by far the most popular major for overseas students.

Alright, thank you! Would you happen to know the timeframe for someone not applying to IR?

It’s usually anywhere from 6-8 weeks @greatestshowman

I think I applied in the middle of October! Good luck!!

St Andrews is one of THE most competitive universities in the whole of the UK. Offer acceptance rates in the UK aren’t equivalent to Acceptance rates in the US.

In the UK, universities will state that their requirements are, for example AAA. you only bother applying to a particular university if you are predicted at least AAA in your exams. You are then made an offer, but universities over-offer because they know plenty of students will miss their grades. So whats why offer rates for UK unis seem so high.

Unlike in the states, where extra-curriculars are taken into account, students of all different calibres feel Harvard is worth a pop…

…Unlike in the states, where extra-curriculars are taken into account, students of all different calibres feel Harvard is worth a pop…<<<<<<<

Actually, if you read a few posts, you would understand that St As is pretty easy to get into as an American, and is in no way comparable to Harvard (LOL). The stats required in AP/SAT/ACT/SAT2s are not anywhere near as rigorous as the reqs for A levels or pure IB from home students. The posters here are mostly international vs brits. I am not sure most even UKers think St As is anywhere close to Oxbridge, LSE, IC, either. Horses for courses though. Lots of private school toffs go to St As.

@Sybylla St Andrews requires at least a 1950 on the SAT/28 on the ACT - that puts score-takers in the 91st percentile. And in general has higher academic entry requirements for US students than other top UK universities like Edinburgh. As I stated earlier, St As has one of THE lowest offer rates in the UK, with a simple search on Wikipedia you can compare offer rates between universities in the UK.

I don’t get the obsession some people on here have with putting down St Andrews’ entry standards for Americans.

I’m from the US and was recently accepted to the MA (Honours) IR program!! I’m very excited, but I’m slightly worried that I won’t be able to afford a visit before I need to decide on a university, and I’ve found that visiting schools really helps in seeing whether or not they’re right for you…

Congratulations @lydsminnesota that’s great news! Could you let us know when you submitted your application? I’m wondering how long it’s taking…

I submitted my app on December 10th, and was fairly surprised to hear back so quickly (I found out about a week ago), especially for the IR program-I had actually checked my portal the day before and seen that it was still on the “checking application” page, so I assumed it would still be at least a couple more weeks. In fact, if they hadn’t emailed me directly I probably still wouldn’t know I got in haha

@lydsminnesota, honestly, if you can afford to go to StA’s you can afford a trip over to see it.

If you mean in terms of time, you can do it by leaving on Thursday night, get off the plane, go visit the university, spend the night on campus, visit the area Saturday, home Sunday. Virtually no jet lag as you haven’t re-set your clock.

If you mean in terms of $$, there are super cheap fares atm (for example, Norweigan Air- no frills, but legit airline) has roundtrip fares NYC-Edinburgh for under $500 right now). Aer Lingus also has some good fairs for NY-Edi ($7-800). Check other secondary cities (Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin) for the long haul flights and then look at budget airlines (FlyBe, Ryanair, EasyJet) for super cheap fares (Ryanair Dub-Edi can be $24.00). It’s a bit more hassle, and you need to read the rules very carefully (ask anybody who has had to pay the €15 fee for printing a boarding pass at the airport…), but if $$ is the priority, there are ways to make it happen.

Thank you for the information! A trip would definitely be worth the money and time.

@collegemom3717 not trying to stir anything up, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that dropping $2,000+ on a weekend trip (assuming costs for two people for airfare and hotel) is an easy or necessary option. Personally, I inderstand the benefits of visiting, but practically I don’t think it’s an good assumption to make that someone who can pay for St. A’s, which is still rather inexpensive in comparison to US schools of the same caliber, can automatically afford to visit. My family could afford it, but I think the better question is if a two grand weekend trip is worth it if you already have some resources to look into the school online.

@tuneforever, It isn’t a matter of my opinion as to how easy or necessary it is: the OP indicated that s/he felt it was important to go, but was concerned about affordability.

On that basis, I pointed out ways that it can be done more cheaply than the OP might realize (it doesn’t have to be $2K, and it doesn’t have to be 2 people). But even so, with COA of $40K + / year (not counting transport) and no financial aid, it is unlikely that a family that has the resources to pay for StAs does not have the resources for a visit.

(though fwiw, imo $1-2K is not a lot to spend when evaluating a $160K investment).

Parent here: my son and I flew out to Scotland for 5 days last April to visit U Edin. and St. Andrew’s IR programs. Once all acceptances were in, we wanted to make sure my son could make an informed choice. It was a fun little trip, and I think it helped him feel that he doesn’t have to second guess his choice. Lot’s of memorable moments, including him leaving his backpack on the train, and the lovely Scottish conductors tracking down the bag to get it back to him the next day.

We stayed at youth hostels to keep down costs, and flew super economy.

Which one did your son ultimately choose?

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@Gmc2918 He actually chose Carnegie Mellon owing to cost considerations and program fit. However, he would have been happy to go to U Edinburgh. St. Andrews seemed too geographically isolated for his urban tastes. It was also absolutely freezing the day we were there, and all the traditions involving long rituals at night, one including going into the ocean, did not sound appealing.

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