St. Andrews Chance

collegemom3717
Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:40:33 +0000

St Andrew’s is the most US-centric UK university, so they pay more attention to GPA than is typical in the UK. Typically, UK unis look only at your standardized test scores in the subject area that you are applying to study. Your existing scores would be enough to get you an unconditional offer for a history/IR course at most UK unis. It is certainly worth trying St As, as your poor marks are not in your subject area.

However, could I suggest that you also look beyond St Andrews? I know that it is the one that most Americans know about, but there a couple of others that are worth a look-see. Notably, in Scotland, Edinburgh has a great IR program- and is substantially higher ranked internationally (see below). If you don’t prefer a city-based university, in England Durham is a top-tier university that, like St As, is in a lovely town, but it is not as remote as St Andrews. It also has a collegiate structure, like Oxford and Cambridge, which means that you belong to a college within the university. It also tops the list of UK universities for student quality of life:

Out of 91 UK universities, Durham students have the best quality of life | The Independent | The Independent;

World rankings: St As v Edinburgh v Durham

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/world-ranking:

St Andrews 117, Durham 80, Edinburgh 39

http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2014.html (international ranking / national ranking):

St Andrews 200-300 / 21-29, Durham 200-300 / 21-29, Edinburgh 45 / 6

QS World University Rankings 2015: Top Global Universities | Top Universities;

Durham 92, St Andrews 88, Edinburgh 17

Note that courses in Scotland tend to be 4 years, and in England 3 years (bar most language and science courses).