University of St. Andrews in Scotland

<p>I just recently got accepted into the IR program at St. Andrews. Georgetown is my top choice, and I applied for EA there. Is there anything else you aren’t quite satisfied in Georgetown with?</p>

<p>Congrats. How long did it take for you to hear? Was it conditional or unconditional? My daughter is waiting to hear. She did a summer program at Georgetown and definitely prefers St. Andrews.</p>

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<p>It took about three weeks. I had looked up when I got the conformation email that they got it, and worked out four weeks from that and it was Halloween that made it exactly four weeks. That’s funny! I did a summer program at Georgetown the summer of 2010! I absolutely loved it. That’s the reason why Georgetown is my number one. I think I like the feel of DC more than I might Scotland, but I’m not sure. I’ll probably schedule a visit overseas sometime next spring. </p>

<p>Oh, and all freshman/non-transfer offers are unconditional, I believe. </p>

<p>Here’s my stats:
33 ACT
4.2/3.88 GPA
Strong essays that pertained to St. Andrews
5 AP classes
Top 10% (small school though, about 360 in my grade)</p>

<p>My daughter is now officially St. Andrews class of 2016. Offer in IR and Social Anthropology. Took 2-3 weeks to get acceptance.</p>

<p>My son is applying to International Relations.</p>

<p>Can anyone share any information on this program with me?</p>

<p>Academic quality?</p>

<p>Employment Prospects?</p>

<p>Social Life?</p>

<p>Etc. Etc. Etc.</p>

<p>How academically prestigious is St Andrews?</p>

<p>In America, it seems the only UK schools we know about are Oxford, Cambridge, and London School of Economics.</p>

<p>My son has 2300 SAT scores, and a 34 ACT.</p>

<p>gpa unweighted 3.6 or 3.7</p>

<p>If he gets in, I don’t want him going just because Scotland is a good place to visit.</p>

<p>I want to make sure that he would be attending a rigorous and valuable academic program.</p>

<p>Your son will definitely get in. Stats close to my daughter’s-SAT’s better, GPA slightly lower. They especially like AP’s with “5”'s (daughter had 5-5’s) because they are the closest equivalent to A levels. If he applies direct he should hear in 2-3 weeks. I have been researching St. Andrews for 4 years. It is generally regarded as one of best IR programs in the world. Lots on CC about ranking-is it really 3rd after Oxbridge or lower? No question it is in the top ten in the UK (which of course is not the same as the top 10 in the US). One of my daughter’s college counselors had a son who was at Wesleyan and spent a year at St. Andrews. He thought it was quite comparable. </p>

<p>I too have lots of concerns because it is rather easy for an American to get in (they say 1950 SATs, GPA 3.6 weighted). I took my daughter to visit about 15 colleges in the US and the UK and St. Andrews was her unequivocal first choice (Reed was the only US school she liked). One of the reasons she was so focused on the UK is the ability to concentrate on her areas of interest right from the start and not having to take required science and math (in which she has no interest). In the UK the acceptance rate is 1 in 12. I can’t validate that statistic but I think it is from the “League Tables”. </p>

<p>We have visited St. Andrews twice and met with admissions staff both times. In addition, my daughter has attended selective prep schools (one for 9 and 10 and another for 11 and 12). Both schools send students to St.A. every year and the counselors do consider it a world class university. They also note that students are very happy there. I have heard of kids returning to the US after a year or two but that almost always seems to be attributed to homesickness type issues. They also do not use a continous assessment approach (frequent tests and papers) but rather a final exam or paper and this is difficult for some US students to adjust to. While for many students it is a first choice, it is also a “safety” for both US students applying to the Ivys and Brits applying to Oxbridge so I think that the caliber of student will be high. Being with other smart kids was my #1 requirement. </p>

<p>There is quite a lot of drinking there since it is legal at 18. You should check out the British equivalent of CC-it is called The Student Room. There seems to be quite a bit of moaning about the lack of nightclubs, etc. but since in the US that is not an option I don’t think my daughter will miss this. There are “societies” and many look quite interesting to my daughter, like Debate, Model UN and Dr. Who.</p>

<p>I worry about what my daughter will do with a degree in IR/Social Anthro (from any school). Unfortunately, aside from an undergrad professional degree like Engineering, a liberal arts education doesn’t get you a job. I do worry that the opportunity for internships, etc. will not be what they are here. On the other hand, I would think that having an international education will count for something.</p>

<p>My daughter is convinced that St. A. is her perfect fit so I really couldn’t push her to consider other US schools. Her college counselors supported her 100% and also felt it was the right fit.</p>

<p>I am no expert, but have made lots of inquiries so happy to try to answer more questions. I look forward to hearing what others have to say. There is also a Facebook page for American parents of St. A. students (not much help) and a guide to St. A. for Americans which I found on Google. Here is the site:
<a href=“http://cgi.st-and.ac.uk/media/disorientation-2011.pdf[/url]”>http://cgi.st-and.ac.uk/media/disorientation-2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;. I found it on the second page of a Google search of Guide to University of St. Andrews if the url doesn’t go through.</p>

<p>@wcrcmom,
Thank you for the link to the guide! I find it very helpful.</p>

<p>I am also applying to St. Andrews with a similar GPA to floridadad55’s son but lower SAT and ACT scores. I will be the first from my school (in the past five years) to apply, will that affect my chances significantly?</p>

<p>I will be applying to University of Edinburgh in addition to St. Andrews… How would you say they compare (reputation and rank wise)? They seem to be pretty on par with each other and if not, there is a large gap with an equal chance of Edinburgh or St. Andrews being ahead.</p>

<p>I am a member of TSR and, from what I have read, St. Andrews more closely resembles a small city/large town (campus) while Edinburgh is a large city. Is that correct?</p>

<p>Was accepted to St Andrews Management and Economics joint degree program. I applied through the direct application and heard back within 5 days.</p>

<p>Stats were:
~3.5 UW GPA
2160 SAT
6 AP Courses by graduation (8 AP Exams taken)</p>

<p>Askjeeves, how did you perform on your APs?</p>

<p>My daughter looked at both schools and her roommate is going to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a great school. At the moment St. Andrews is ranked higher but you should consider what your course will be. Edinburgh is in a big city, St. Andrews is a small (very small) town. It only takes about one hour to get from St. Andrews to Edinburgh. University of St. Andrews and the town/city of St. Andrews are very integrated. The campus is the town-city buildings, private buildings and Uni buildings intermingled. They have very different vibes. Check out the requirements for your course on the University websites. The will list the UK exam scores required. This will give you a comparison re. the competitiveness of the programs to each other.</p>

<p>Oh. That’s a great idea (looking at UK requirements), I’ve only been checking minimum entry requirements for American applicants. My interests depend on the school. For st. Andrews I want to study psych and IR but for edinburgh, I would like to study psych and linguistics. I know st. Andrews has a well known IR program and linguistics at Edinburgh is very highly ranked.</p>

<p>EDIt: what rankings are you referring to(where st. Andrews is ranked higher)? So far, I have seen Edinburgh ranked higher… Am I looking at unreliable sources? (I’m referring to the times rankings [36. Edinburgh 85. St. Andrews], us news and world report rankings [20. Edinburgh 97. St. Andrews], and QS rankings [same as us news].)</p>

<p>[making a new post because CC wont let me edit]
I just did a little more research actually and St. Andrws seems to be ranked higher than Edinburgh in UK rankings. I was looking at only world rankings…
(I’m sorry if you were offended and felt like I questioned your sources previously)</p>

<p>@Cricket123
I took 3 AP exams my Junior year and scored, 4 5 4. However to be honest I don’t think they really cared too much about it.</p>

<p>Sorry just wanted to jump into this thread! I am waiting to hear back from St. Andrews, I think it is my top choice! </p>

<p>Stats:
33 ACT (36R, 31M, 30S, 32W 11Essay)
3 4’s on APs that I self studied for (my school doesn’t have AP classes) Bio, psychology, and calculus
SATII: math710, bio 660, english lit 660 not very good I know! :/<br>
I also studied at Stanford university this summer and took undergrad courses in human physiology (B) and a psychology course (A)</p>

<p>I am applying from a top American prep school, and many of the admission officers at UK universities told me that was a large plus for my application. The only drawback is that we don’t have GPAs on a 4 point scale (our grades are from 0-6) and we have no reported GPA, weighted or unweighted. </p>

<p>Sent in my UCAS app November 8th, and heard back from University of Glasgow on the 14th (unconditional) for their psychology program. </p>

<p>I applied for Biology and Psychology at St. Andrews and waiting is killing me! Hoping they don’t count the GPA aspect against me!</p>

<p>I think you will definitely get in mid, but I’m surprised that St Andrews would be your top choice for psychology. There are a lot of other UK and US universities that you could definitely get into that have better psych programs than St Andrews’.</p>

<p>wcrcmom:</p>

<p>Thanks for your very helpful post</p>

<p>If you don’t mind, I might be contacting you again for advice as my son gets farther along in the admissions process.</p>

<p>My son is applying to IR. My fear is that IR may be the next educational “bubble”, no matter where a kid attends college, but I think it is safe to say that nonetheless, St Andrews is a pretty good choice. Good enough for the future King of England and the future Queen of England. By the way, you probably know this, but supposedly the movie Chariots of Fire was filmed at St Andrews.</p>

<p>My son did not apply direct.</p>

<p>You sound like me. I have been researching various colleges for my kid for about 5 years. I have probably read every college guidebook sold at Barnes & Noble. </p>

<p>My son also applied to Oxford, but that is probably a longshot. Oxford is his dream. </p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what other schools did your daughter apply to?</p>

<p>@askjeeves,
What UK universities have good psych programs?
I definitely want to study psychology (primarily child psychology but I am also interested in social psychology like social influence and the power of memory).</p>

<p>floridadad55,
I think IR is the new political science major substitute. It’s just an undergrad degree but I hope that getting that degree in a different country will make St. A grads a little more interesting to grad schools or employers.<br>
Because my daughter applied direct and has an unconditional acceptance she did not apply anywhere else. The only other school she liked in the US was Reed. She did a summer program at Georgetown and really did not like the atmosphere. She is a pretty classic “Reedie type” (minus the drugs). If she had applied UCAS I think she would have added Edinburgh, University, Kings and SOAS (with SOAS being her 2nd choice). I’m not clear why she decided not to apply to Oxford,because she did have a shot. I’m also not clear why she wasn’t interested in LSE. I was very opposed to the London schools because of the accommodation situation, but I did leave it up to her.
Have you been to St. Andrews? It is a very special place.</p>

<p>What’s the appeal of St Andrews? I really don’t understand it, it’s not a particularly amazing university, not even top 5 in the UK - so why do so many Americans apply there?</p>

<p>@Dionysus58,
I’m not quite sure.
Perhaps it’s the prospect of studying in the UK, the large American student population there, and/or the fact that Will and Kate attended St. Andrews and met there.</p>