St Andrews: Tea, Biscuits, and So Much Love Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I loved everything about my academic experience at St Andrews. I would be wary about taking first-year (1000) level courses there, though, because I've heard from others that they are much more boring; huge class sizes, lectures...very different from Wellesley. It's really what you make of it, though.

On-site administration of your program

St Andrews seems to do pretty well with helping and being there for its student body. They have a building for Student Services where you can go and ask any sort of question and they'll help you out or give you information on how to proceed. There are also offices in the Student Union as well. Whenever I had questions or concerns, they were very nice and accommodating.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Housing was great. I was in University Hall (Uni Hall love) in the Lumsden wing--it looks really ugly on the outside but it's great on the inside, practically a hotel. Almost all of the rooms here were singles, and someone came and emptied the trash everyday and vacuumed every week. The rooms in all the dorms come with sheets as well, so that was nice. I mostly loved housing, though, because that is how I met my core group of friends. All except for one lived on my floor and we became extremely close.

It's dining hall food, so it's not fabulous, but anything is better than AVI Fresh. They always have a meat and vegetarian option, as well as sides, soup, and a dessert (also salad bar). For lunch you can make your own sandwich as well. Scottish people really like their potatoes so be prepared to have it a lot of different ways. The food is on a 3-week rotation, so you get to have variety as well as look forward to some of the good things (mushroom soup ftw). The only big complaint I have was that tea/hot drinks were only available at breakfast, even though the machines were there all the time. Very weird, especially because it gets cold so it would be really nice to have tea later as well.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Travel during Reading Week! I went to London, Bath, and York, and loved (almost) every minute of it. I also went on a day trip to the Scottish Highlands and went to Edinburgh a couple of times. Scotland is beautiful, so definitely try and take advantage of your surroundings. There is also an intense amount of history there, so there are a lot of interesting things to see. Also, go to a ceilideh, drink a pint of cider, take a walk on the West Sands, and have high tea. You can't do those things anywhere else!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

All Americans get assigned a doctor. I never got sick enough to need it, though, so I can't say how the services actually were. There is a small hospital in St Andrews, though, and a larger one in Dundee. There is absolutely no Health Center for the university, though, which I found rather unhelpful.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• International Students
• Local Students
• Americans

Select all that apply