How Long Once Your St Andrews Apps Says "Pending Decision"?

St Andrews into 2021 (new thread)

(512 Posts)

Newgirls Fri 11-Dec-20 15:16:46

Ok can't think of a catchier title! If anyone can send the other thread over here pls do!

Prospective and existing parents etc all welcome here. Transport, accom, cloaks, choirs, beaches and more to be discussed. Next year will be better surely!

Monkey2001 Fri 11-Dec-20 15:24:02

Just got a text from DS, he is on the train in Edinburgh, will see him in just over 6 hours. Pizza dough in fridge, I had better go and get some lager and ice cream! grin

Newgirls Fri 11-Dec-20 15:29:29

Aw happy days! Sounds like he did so well this term - really made the most of it all 😀

PlanDeRaccordement Fri 11-Dec-20 15:46:52

My DD has her last exam on tuesday and is busy revising and looking forward to the break.

Newgirls Fri 11-Dec-20 15:51:26

Nice to get them out of the way - a few unis seem to do them all in Jan

Alittlewornout Fri 11-Dec-20 16:24:27

@Newgirls thanks for the new thread!!
@Monkey2001 so glad your lad is on the way home and hope you have a lovely evening with him. Yep no issues with the vaccine so far, but likely to get a sore arm and perhaps a slight fever ( same as any vaccine) nothing paracetamol shouldn't fix.
Dd last exam on Monday and it can't come quick enough but so glad all our kids wont be studying over Christmas. Really love to hear about everyone's DC smile

AChickenCalledDaal Fri 11-Dec-20 17:14:07

@HerbalSnores In response to your question on the other thread ... DD has actually chosen a five year course, as it's an integrated Masters!

There are obviously rather huge financial considerations. Although DD could have chosen to go direct into year 2, based on her A level grades. That can be a way forward for English students with high grades. A lot of DD's first year modules didn't require anything like the A*s which she had under her belt and seem designed to cater for Scottish students who left after Highers, rather than Advanced Highers.

On the other hand, they are positively encouraged to do a mix of subjects in the first year and explore their options before specialising. That opportunity wasn't on offer at any of the English universities she looked at and was a major factor in her choosing to do the first year year. And we're glad she did, because it's provided an extra year to hopefully put Covid behind them.

But mainly, she loved St Andrews as a place, the course is ranked second in the country, and we were happy for her to take on the extra years if she felt it was the right place for her.

Newgirls Fri 11-Dec-20 17:24:33

To pick up on achicken - once you've seen the place not many places compare! It's a magical place to visit and students rate it highly to live there (top uni for student satisfaction in normal times)

Monkey2001 Fri 11-Dec-20 19:43:16

My DS doing medicine and St A is a 6 year course but you get a BSc as part of it, which would take 6 years anywhere in the UK.

DS2 is looking at Edinburgh for just the reason Chicken described - he is dithering between Sports Science and Engineering and because the first year is a sort of bonus year, he could start both degrees and decide which one he is doing when he has tried a bit of both. Most students will never repay their loans anyway, so the extra year makes little difference unless they are high earners.

At the open day we attended, they said that you might start off doing a Biology degree and end up with a Chemistry degree because your interests at the university levels may change and the degree structure is flexible enough to accommodate that.

Wish we had moved to Scotland 3 years ago on the fee front!

AChickenCalledDaal Fri 11-Dec-20 20:08:23

To get a bit more specific, DD is doing maths, but has a bit of thing for quantum physics. She's able to do both in the flexible first year at St A's. Also dabbling in Astrophysics for fun ( yes, really!)

She'll probably stick with maths longer term, but it feels very healthy to have this year of settling into uni and finding out what undergraguate study is like before focusing. Most of the other courses she looked at were entirely the other way round - no flexibility at all in the first year and you have to wait quite a while before you can follow your interests.

I have to be honest - her first choice was actually Cambridge which has a different approach again. But having ended up in St Andrews, it really does seem like the right place and the longer course is a big factor in that.

HerbalSnores Fri 11-Dec-20 20:51:03

D@Newgirls & @AChickenCalledDaal thanks for your replies. Do you think most people choose the four yr route because of the chance to choose different modules? what extra modules is your dc doing that wouldn't be possible in England can you give an example?

HerbalSnores Fri 11-Dec-20 20:52:22

@AChickenCalledDaal I've just posted only to see you've preempted my question.

Alittlewornout Fri 11-Dec-20 21:03:19

@HerbalSnores Chicken is correct that 1st year keeps lots of options open. My dd is also doing the integrated masters for maths but following a discussion with her academic tutor opted for direct entry to 2nd year as she has always been very clear on her goal. She is a Scottish student with excellent advanced highers. However if she had wavered at all we would ( and I have no doubt the uni) have encouraged her to do first year and keep options open. In contrast one of her friends applied for a science course in 1st year and after the first semester and taking a humanities module is now thinking of switching.This would not have been possible I don't think had this student originally decided to do direct entry 2nd year. So definitely lots of options. And as others have said St. Andrew's itself is truly magical.

Alittlewornout Fri 11-Dec-20 21:06:37

@HerbalSnores as an example my DS is also at St Andrew's and in 1st year studied Ancient history modern history and maths. He did at one point consider a joint ancient history and maths degree which would have been unusual but not impossible! In the end he opted for a general history degree which still allowed his to take both ancient history and modern history modules.

HerbalSnores Fri 11-Dec-20 21:29:46

It does seem like the first yr allows a lot of flexibility. St. Andrews is ranked very high for ds's subject Management, however it doesn't offer a placement yr like others universities do, so it's difficult to see what advantage doing a four yr full time management degree will offer or why is ranks so high.

Alittlewornout Fri 11-Dec-20 21:35:10

@HerbalSnores try and look at the long game ie the number of graduates in employment. Again from personal experience my DS has already secured a graduate job for September 2021 after he graduates with a big 4 firm, a degree from St Andrews certainly didn't do him any harm.

HerbalSnores Fri 11-Dec-20 22:15:20

@Alittlewornout Congratulations to your DS securing a top job in this current environment. DS is also concerned about how well known St Andrews is within industry in England compared to the likes of Warwick, UCL etc he is looking at the employment stats but not sure whether they relate to employment in Scotland.

Alittlewornout Fri 11-Dec-20 22:34:13

@HerbalSnores my understanding is St Andrew's is very highly rated. When ds applied to unis he also had an offer for a very highly ranked English uni.We spoke to a friend of ours who has held top jobs in various companies as to where to accept, he said St Andrews. I appreciate it's only one opinion and others may well disagree ( truth be told there is probably not much between them). What matters most is where your DS will be happiest. Every uni will have its pros and cons and what suits one student wouldn't suit another. It is so hard when they can't attend open days to get a feel for a place. My Dd was considering a certain uni as one of her choices but a visit there put her off. She opted as a choice a perceived lower ranking uni than that one as she could see herself being happy there if that was her only choice. She was lucky that her top choice was St Andrews. Its horses for courses in a way, and my only experience of DC at uni is St. A and both are very happy there.

Dahliafairy Fri 11-Dec-20 22:39:43

@HerbalSnores My DS is a first year management student (combined with economics) He had offers for Management degrees with a placement but loved the flexibility of St Andrews and fell in love with the town when we visited for the open day. Speaking to students at unis that offered the placements they all said how difficult it was to actually secure a placement and some were unsuccessful and had to transfer to the 3 year degree anyway. DS has decided he will use the summer holidays between years to try and gain meaningful work experience/internships. At the Management open day the lecturer made the distinction that management at St Andrews has much more of a social science outlook than a straight business school one. He loves it there and I think it is the perfect fit for him.

HerbalSnores Sat 12-Dec-20 00:31:29

@Alittlewornout - DS loves apart from the course, loves the whole cosy campus vibe just can't decide whether it's worth travelling that far out, so we'll just have to wait and see.

@Dahliafairy It's so good to hear from someone who's on the course. Difficulty getting placements is a very good point. I have a DN looking for one for next yr at the moment, the recruitment process for most placements is so rigorous, they're holding no prisoners. It's as if applying for a graduate position. It will be a shame to choose a degree for the placement only to not secure one in the end. It's also useful toknow the distinction tween the St Andrews v others I.e social science/business degree.

Sagittariusgirl44 Sat 12-Dec-20 08:23:06

Hello, I wonder if anyone has experience with this issue we have come across. Sorry it's a bit long! My DD has applied for St A as a RUK student. I am English and she is too, born and brought up here, never lived anywhere else. My husband is from Northern ireland so when brexit happened we got her an Irish passport thinking it would be easier for travelling and if she ever in the future wanted to live/work in Europe. On her application form she said she had dual nationality irish/british. She received an email from admissions asking for proof of her Irish citizenship so sent a copy of her passport. She has now been told her fee status is 'home' and the fees will be £1820 pa. Obv it would be great if this is the case but surely they have made a mistake! I have heard that there are less places for home students than RUK/ international students so really to maximise chances would be best to be classed as RUK. Anyone heard of this happening and have any advice??
Also she has applied for Edinburgh and Glasgow too and has been offered a place at Glasgow with no questions asked, hasn't heard from Edinburgh yet.

Revengeofthepangolins Sat 12-Dec-20 08:46:35

Unless it is simply a clerical error, perhaps they already have knowledge of the pending decision about how scotland will treat students from the Republic of Ireland - all the info about EU students nor being treated as overseas has an addendum that the status of RoI students has yet to be settled, suggesting that possibly they will be treated differently. Although treating them as Scottish rather than as RoUK seems an i excess art two step exception.

But in that case would she belong in the home or overseas basket for places numbers? But surely not the RofUK pot

All v odd I agree!

idsisatwat Sat 12-Dec-20 09:25:43

Thanks for starting the new thread.

I'll echo what everyone else has said in regards to the flexibility of the Scottish system. I know that's why DD chose St Andrews.

Hope your DS got home safely @Monkey2001

DD is now convinced she's failed her course as said her exam was awful. I'm sure she's exaggerating, but in case she's done really badly does anyone know what will happen?

Newgirls Sat 12-Dec-20 09:52:40

Surely there will be some leniency in this strangest of years - and she has more than one exam to take? It might just be that the exam is different to those she is used to taking. Hope she is ok.

Management courses - one plus to being in St. Andrews is it is very international especially American which might be good for contacts. But if he can get a placement course in London etc then that would be great too!

Alittlewornout Sat 12-Dec-20 09:54:47

@idsisatwat your poor DD. I am sure she will have done way better than she thinks. Remember first and 2and year doesn't count towards her degree.
A percentage of the overall grade will be exam but most subjects have an element of course work that makes up the remainder. The mark's are all then worked out of a grade of 20 a 7 is a pass.
At the end of 2and year they generally need an 11 to progress to honours.
Hope this helps, and remember this is not an ordinary year so I hope the uni cuts the kids some slack.

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