University of St. Andrews in Scotland

<p>It doesn’t matter if you’re a British citizen or not, unless you have been living in the UK for the past three years you will pay international fees.</p>

<p>wcrc:</p>

<p>my son just got admitted for international relations</p>

<p>I’d appreciate your views, both positive and negative, regarding St Andrews.</p>

<p>It looks pretty good, but I don’t want to spend money just so my son gets to live in Europe and have a lot of fun. </p>

<p>He has 2300 SATs, so will likely have other good options as well.</p>

<p>St. Andrews acceptance rate for UK students is 1 in 12 which places it in a rank with the most selective schools in the US (including Stanford). HOWEVER the standard for US students is much lower. A 1950 SAT and 3.6 GPA will usually get you in.</p>

<p>My daughter was 100% determined to go to school in the UK. If she hadn’t gotten into St. Andrews she would have applied to other UK schools. Will she get as good an education? I’m not sure at all. I can tell you that several of the guidance counselors I have worked with all have nothing but good things to say. Let’s make this conversation private and I’ll get more specific.</p>

<p>I can confirm-almost no aid. There are a small handful of scholarships</p>

<p>wcrc:</p>

<p>I would welcome your views in a private discussion, but I am not sure how to even do that.</p>

<p>Please contact me if you don’t mind.</p>

<p>You seem to be a few months ahead of me on St Andrews, so now that he has been accepted, I would appreciate your input. </p>

<p>My son, too, prefers to go to school in the UK. And that is my main worry. I know St Andrews is pretty good, but I don’t want him to pass up some super top American school just because going to school in the UK would be fun. On the other hand, I don’t want to block him from his dream. And St Andrews, especially for International Relations, seems to be very good. Its academic rankings, however, seem to be all over the board.</p>

<p>[Base</a> acceptance rate](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/6642752-post10.html]Base”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/6642752-post10.html) is not the whole story about what makes a college “selective.”</p>

<p>St. Andrews promised me an admission decision via email within four weeks of my submitting the application. Today marks the end of the four-week period, and (from what I have read on other cc posts and from what friends have told me), they usually send out decisions three-ish weeks later. I emailed them yesterday to make sure they received everything (they didn’t reply). Should I be worried?</p>

<p>^
No, i wouldnt worry; from what I’ve heard they’ve been running a bit behind. I’m sure you’ll get an answer soon enough. It took me just a little over 4 weeks to get an answer.</p>

<p>St Andrews seems to be viewed better by Americans than those in the UK. St Andrews was hovering around the top 20 up until the prince studied there, and has suddenely leaped into the top 10. Many would place Imperial, LSE, Warwick, UCL and Durham above it.</p>

<p>This thread has been dead for a long time.</p>

<p>But perhaps someone is still out there.</p>

<p>The above are my son’s choices.</p>

<p>1) University of Florida–basically for free</p>

<p>2) UCLA–but enormous out of state tuition</p>

<p>3) St Andrews–not very well known in America, especially when compared to UCLA.</p>

<p>I know these are very different choices, but any thoughts?</p>

<p>It totally depends on what he’s looking for. St. Andrews is very small, and in a rural location - which is completely the opposite of UCLA. As you said, UCLA is better known, but St. Andrews offers a lot of opportunities that UCLA might not, since its so small. You should also look at his course, and consider the fact that he may have more flexibility at UCLA. </p>

<p>I am not sure about the University of Florida - I don’t really know much about it.</p>

<p>Did your son visit all 3 of these schools? Do they all shine in his intended field(s) of interest? St Andrews was a consideration, at least in theory for my son but because he would like to play American football, St. A would not offer this and also with drinking age of 18 in UK, known for its pubs, I fear he may be distracted! However it still sounds tempting to consider college (or grad school or at least study abroad) in the UK.</p>

<p>Time may not be as tight for your US vs UK decision, my understanding is that St Andrews has rolling admission and you could leave a deposit with either US school and still consider St A for a bit longer, however would lose the deposit. If finances are important UF would be better but overall UCLA is stronger, especially in certain majors. Sounds interesting so please keep us posted!</p>

<p>I’m an american who just applied to the university of st andrews (my top choice). I go to a highly respected private high school and I scored a 1330/1950 on the SAT. I have taken no APs until my senior year, but I am taking 4 my senior year. I have a GPA of about a 3.5. I selected History as my major. If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know how I look for getting accepted to attend the fall of 2012. Thanks.</p>

<p>Your stats are at the minimum cut off for St. Andrews according to their Admissions office. I think you have a chance but it isn’t certain. Most American applicants apply in the fall. They will also probably assume, as I am, that your US apps didn’t work out. If you go to a prestigous H.S. that has sent grads to St. A before, you should have your counselor call them. Be sure you explain why you have no AP’s yet. They regard them as a substitute for “A Levels” but if you school discourages them the counselor should explain this.
Here is what they say on their website:
Entry Requirements</p>

<p>"Our selection committee expect you to have taken a rigorous curriculum at school, with a GPA of around 3.5 and over. They look closely at your letters of reference, so choose your referee carefully. If you are applying to take a French course, you should have studied French to AP level (score of 4 or 5) or equivalent.</p>

<p>If applicable, we also expect you to have taken external tests such as SATs, APs and the ACT. If you have taken any APs we require marks of 4 and 5; 1950 + for SATs (across all 3 elements) and a score of 28+ in the ACT. You should submit to us at least one of these external results either directly from the Collegeboard (code: 0861 SAT & AP; 5316 ACT) or the score can be incorporated within your school transcript and verified by your school counselor. In general, the committee look for a good overall application."</p>

<p>I think it will just depend on how many spots they have left open for Americans. Good luck.</p>

<p>I think that in academic circles and in IR St. Andrews is very well known, but of course I am prejudiced at this point.</p>

<p>Wcrcmom:</p>

<p>You were nice enough to share your insights with me concerning St Andrews a couple months ago.</p>

<p>Just letting you know that my son wound up deciding to attend St Andrews.</p>

<p>Anybody else heading to St Andrews this year? I’m going for computer science, it would be good to talk to someone else who plans on attending, for that subject or any other.</p>

<p>There is a Facebook page for accepted students:University of St. Andrews Class of 2016.</p>

<p>To Floridadad:Let’s hope they made the right decision.</p>