Hi, I am an american and I am trying to convince my dad to let me go to St. Andrews after recently being accepted, I really want to go there since at this point my only other option is calpoly
But I am unable to find the retention rater for any students, let alone american students at St. Andrews so I was wondering if anyone knows this info?
Thank you
https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?o=Degree+Completion
St Andrews has a ‘Degree Completion’ rate of 96.4%, the third highest in the UK.
I do not think there is a breakdown by where the students come from. It was a concern for me as a parent as well.
Have you already SIRed at Cal Poly?
Retention rates at top UK schools all tend to be very high, mid 90’s an up, there are two main reasons. First off admissions are based on academic ability, so the top schools attract the brightest motivated students who are ready and able to tackle the next stage in their education. Secondly, there is no meaningful difference in the cost of university whether you go to Cambridge or Univ of East London. The few kids who do drop out at top schools tend to change univ’s rather than drop out completely, while there are no doubt some who experience some form of illness that precludes them from continuing. The cohort at St Andrews will be strong, you will need to spend more time in the library than the student union bars to do really well. Good luck.
@elguapo1: When I do hear of students dropping out of top UK unis (not invited back after first year), they tend to be Internationals.
UK unis tend to have a good grasp on the level of academic ability as measured by academic achievement that UK kids need to have to be successful at their courses, but some of their international equivalencies to A-Levels may not actually be equivalent.
You kind of see this even with regard to Americans/AP’s, where an A*AA requirement may mean 55555 in certain (more difficult) AP’s at one uni and 555 at another uni.
We spent a lot of time talking to US students and parents. Anecdotally other IB kids/parents seem better prepared for the UK system than those who did traditional US degrees with a few AP classes thrown in.
I’m more worried about homesickness than academic preparedness.
^^It is actually quite hard to get kicked out of a UK school after year 1 unless you actually fail to show up at all or very rarely, and that can be as much to do with the immigration authorities than the university. Academic weakness will usually result in down grade from Honours to Ordinary degree level, but I have no doubt a straight dismissal does happen on occasion.
^ But you can be homesick anytime/anywhere you are away from home. I should imagine homesickness will be no more or less at UK schools than US schools. But the very low drop out rates means it is not that much of an issue for domestic or foreign students.
@elguapo1: Right, but you have to get past the first year. Even some Brits have to switch courses because they are not allowed to continue after the first year.
^UK students usually switch courses in the first couple weeks month, switching course after the first year would mean starting from the beginning on a brand new course, I am not sure that happens very often.
^ Not very often, but it happens. And yes, that means starting over. Because they weren’t allowed to continue in their original course.