Generally you can’t send private messages until you have over a certain post count. I think it’s a pretty hefty number of posts too. It’s a blunt force way to cut down on spambots.
@Heckofatrip if you have specific questions regarding other UK universities, or the UK in general, start a seperate thread, however my knowledge extends about as far as Dover.
My son committed 2 days ago, molecular biology 4 years, we are very excited!!!
Congrats, @d3simmom, to you and your son! It should be a great adventure
Elguapo1
I started a thread titled: Are there European University Options?.
Well, today is 6 weeks since my son sent in his application so I’m hoping we hear back this week or next. We’re cutting it down to the wire on getting passports, visas, health plans, etc completed.
Crossing fingers. I hope any other US folks who applied early April will let us know if they get contacted, just so I know that things are moving.
@ninakatarina have you checked with them? It took about 6 weeks for my daughter to hear back last fall. What subject is he looking to study?
English or Film Studies. He has been checking the portal but hadn’t contacted them directly.
Nice?! It might be worth sending an email but either way I hope he hears soon! Did you have a chance to visit?
Heh, no. If he gets in this will be the first time he or my husband have been out of the country.
So, on the kiddo’s urging I called the school, transatlantic. Talked with a woman with a lovely accent and discovered that since kiddo is over 18 and didn’t list me as a proxy on the application, I have no right to learn anything about the application except for the fact that it exists.
I told her that I was mostly worried that they hadn’t received all the materials we sent in. She said she would have them send him an email telling him the status of all materials requested and received, because only he gets to know that they have received everything and should be giving him a decision shortly.
A very roundabout conversation. I do like that they respect the adult status of their applicants and don’t just blabber off to random callers. And if I’m reading between the lines properly we should be hearing something Soon. For relative values of Soon.
welcome to the world of the backseat parent, @ninakatarina! be sure your son understands that there won’t be anyone there to pick up the pieces, now or if he enrolls. StA’s does a lot more than many (most!) UK unis, but they still expect adults to be adults.
My interaction with St. Andrews consists of wiring them money twice a year.
He’s in! Oh crap! Now what do we do?
Our passports are expiring before the school year starts! Ack!
We got the forms for new ones and got pictures but this is probably only the first scramble panic of the summer. But that doesn’t matter because my baby is going to Scotland and he’s going to do such great things there.
Congrats @ninakatarina – exciting times!
@ninakatarina congratulations! ? Such wonderful news ! My D is going as well ? maybe they’ll meet during freshers week.
I probably shouldn’t have done the deep dive on YouTube. I ran into a lot of videos that seem to show a lot of students binge drinking. Is there a strong drinking culture at St. Andrews; can someone who doesn’t drink still have fun?
@ninakatarina there is a huge drinking culture at St. Andrews but also lots of students who do not drink. My son will be a third yesr this coming year studying management. He loves the St. Andrews and would be happy to speak to you or your son if you would like. PM me if you want.
@ninakatarina my D is going and she isn’t a drinker either. I am concerned about the drinking situation a bit as well but it exists at almost every school it seems.
UK drinking is a world apart: prepare your kid, no matter how much of a non-drinker they are now. Remind them to never drink a punch! Make sure they know about eating while drinking.
One of my older collegekids had a mini-drinking session at home with her sister before she headed off, so that she could know how alcohol felt in her body. They didn’t get drunk but it helped the younger one know how little alcohol would make her 99 pound body feel different. The older one also introduced the younger one to cider (that is, hard cider, which is now becoming a thing in the US- Angry Orchard is big with college kids atm), which is a very ok drinking option in the UK.
You -and they- may think that they will ‘never’ drink. It is possible, but it is very, very unlikely that they won’t ever drink a drop. Seriously. Pretty sure that when @collegecurious says ‘plenty of students who don’t drink’ there is a ‘very much’ implied- that they don’t binge drink, not that they are teetotal. And as a significant % of UK students have been developing their drinking chops for a couple of years by the time they hit university, you need to prep your student for it the same way you have helped prep them for other environments where they are the new kids on the block.