st.andrews?

emosen · 08-31-2007, 05:19 AM

so, anyone heard of the university of st. andrews in scotland out there, more renowned for its golf course and the fact that prince william went there. now.if you had a choice between this university and beloit, what would you choose? ive got a scholarship for beloit but nothing from st. andrews. i know most of you will go 'depends on what suits u more and what you wanna do'...
in the subjects i wanna study, st. andrews is ranked 3rd, only behind oxford and cambrdige and 4th overall..yes iknow, rankings are crap and dont mean anything but besides that, st. andrews is much better academically than beloit. but what about other factors. internships? beloit seems to have more/better opportunities. but then if u have a M.A honors in 4 years from st. andrews as opposed to just a B.A from a middle-of-the-road liberal arts college how important are internships?
bah ive begun to lose my mind.
if it helps. i wanna be a writer.

More Cowbell · 09-03-2007, 04:19 PM

Will someone be paying for St. Andrews or will you be going into debt to go there? I think that carrying a lot of debt out of college would make it tough to work as a writer, which doesn't traditionally pay a lot. I know St. Andrews is a great school (I have a friend who went to medical school there) but I'm not sure it's worth going into a lot of debt for.

emosen · 09-07-2007, 04:54 AM

well, my parents say they'll be able to fund me. but that means eating into their savings and pension money. here's the million dollar question. at the end of it all, how valauable is a M.A honors degree from st. andrews compared to a simple B.A from beloit. both in terms of gettin employment in the U.S, as well as graduate school.

great lakes mom · 09-09-2007, 09:44 PM

One of the other questions that comes up, is what sort of school you want to go to. Large, or small, British or American? Those two choices seem like quite the opposite ends of the spectrum, in many ways. I don't know much about St. Andrews academically, though my grandfather went there and I've been to the town and seen that beautiful university from the outside. Beloit, Wisconsin, where my D just started is a small, unassuming little town in the cornfields, an old factory town. But they do a great job of creating community, give quite a bit of individual attention in their instruction. And people are quite nice.

If you separate out what Beloit plus an American MA degree would cost, how does your money stack up? Is MA honors like an American Masters degree? I realize I don't know your terminology, as the British system is different, and most of us in the US don't understand how.

emosen · 09-15-2007, 06:05 AM

well..ive read in places that the american education system is based on the scottish system...the scottish system is slightly different from the english one...england unis offer a 3 year bachelors and a 1 year masters...it seems to know that st. andrews and other scottish unis combine them to give a 4 year masters..now if i pursued graduate study in UK, a 4 year MA from st. andrews would mean i coul do an M-phil, or an m-litt (which is halfway to a phd). but if i came to the U.S i would have to do a masters/phd..so in that sense, if i come to U.S.A for a higher degree (masters, phd). the BA of beloit would be the same as the MA from st. andrews...it stil is a first, undergraduate degree...
my parents say money would not be a factor...but to give an estimate...my cost of 1 years education (tuition and accomodation) at st. andrews is the cost of the entire 4 years educaiton at beloit.hehe

great lakes mom · 09-15-2007, 09:37 PM

Would you be flying home to someplace in Britain very often? That would be a factor in the cost. Dorms close at Christmas, etc.

Thanks for the explanation of degree differences US vs England and Scotland, as I'd always wondered.

Am I guessing right, in that you want an American as opposed to a British life after college? Would think that where you want to spend your worklife would be important as a choice. Are you on facebook, and able to get a feeling for the student body at both places? Might be quite a different feel to each.

emosen · 09-16-2007, 11:50 AM

im not entirely sure abt the 4 year masters thing... this is what i understood myself and from doing some research. but i think its abit more complicated. the scottish secondary school system is slightly different in that u do ur scottish highers a year earlier (similar to U.S) whereas English complete Alevels (13 years of education as opposed to 12). the extra year i suppose is spent in college. in a nutshell however, the 4 years of M.A honors in scotland is pretty much the same as 4 years of college in the states. For this reason i suppose, a lot of americans go to st. andrews. (apart from the fact that its a very good university).
i did check on facebook. the atmosphere is very similar. St. andrews, although has traditions has a liberal atmosphere similar to that of beloit. traditions themselves are pretty quirky. its not as snobby as oxbridge but i think beloit certatinly has a more diverse socio-economic student body than st. andrews. as far as working, to be honest id prefer going back to my home country to work (pakistan) once i'm done with my educaiton (atleast a masters and maybe a Phd). st. andrews has a larger student than beloit ( abt 3 times as much) but the town itself is very small with more than 50 percent of the town population being students. It is by every definition a university town. (as well as being a golfing one). what does your daugher plan to major in and what does she plan to do afterwards (graduate study or employment). Ive applied for IR in st. andrews. not sure if i will get in cuz its very competitve. i think it will boil down to whether they give me the program i want. anyway thanks all for your opinions. take care all