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University of St Andrews
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of St Andrews
 Located in the small coastal town of St Andrews, the University of St Andrews has a long history - being the third oldest university in the UK, behind Oxford and Cambridge. It's still quite a small uni, with less than 10,000 students, but the students still make up a very sizeable portion of the town - around a third of the total population! FacilitiesLibrariesThe main library is on North Street and has 3 main floors. There are large study areas on each floor and computers are based on the ground floor. There are photocopying facilities and interloan facilities in the main library. There are plans to refurbish the library beginning in Sep 2009 and I believe this will continue for one or two years(?). Many of the subject departments also have there own library, smaller but still quite large in size. For example Modern History and Scottish History; Philosophy; Art History; Mediaeval History; and so on. These have computers, photocopiers and study areas. IT and ComputingThere is a 24 hour computer lab in Butts wynd and most of the halls of residences have computer areas. There are also computers in the libraries but they tend to get busy around essay time. SportsThere are many sports clubs within the AU from fencing to hockey and shinty to golf there is something for everyone. Most run taster sessions before you decide to pay your membership so you can give loads a try before you pick a sport! WelfareHealthcareShopsthere aren't many shops and the only one you'll probably be bothered about is the Tesco in the middle of market street. However St Andrews does have a few kitsch tourist shops and a few high street shops. For example New Look; Waterstones; Monsoon; Boots. RestaurantsSt Andrews has many, many restaurants! Most do early bird menus for dinner and most have special lunch menus (which are a bit of a bargain!). Overall the majority are around the same price range (£6-9 for a main course). The popular Thai and Japanese restuarants L'orient and Nahm Jims (Expensive but worth it)! The house restaurants; The Grill house (burgers, steaks, etc); the Glass house (mainly Italian); and the doll's house (somewhere most students get their parents to take them, very nice food). The chains Zizzi's, Pizza Express and Bella Italia. Bella Italia are the only restaurant to do student night which is Sunday and Tuesday with all courses half price! Peppercorn Grills (average food, average price). Ziggi's is a rock themed restaurant which serves burgers, etc. The Oak Rooms (genreal pub food), La rustic (French restaurant) and the vine leaf (Italian Restaurant, around the same price range as Nahm Jims). The Seafood Restaruant has some of the best views in St Andrews and the food is amazing! (Specialising in fish they also do Vegetarian dishes). There are probably more but I can't really remember right now. BanksThere are few English banks, for example Natwest and HSBC, but they do have a Lloyds, Clydesdale, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland. The nearest Natwest and HSBC are in Dundee, a short bus ride away. If Natwest tell you that you can bank with the Royal bank of Scotland (which they own) they are lying. The bank does not have access to your account details so either get online banking or be willing to travel into Dundee. TransportThe buses to Leuchars station, Dundee, Edinburgh and glasgow are frequent. The Train services are quicker than the buses to Edinburgh and Glasgow but you must get a bus to the railway station first. Careers serviceThe University offers a Careers Center, which offers both current and graduating students impartial and objective career advice. The Centre is located at 6 St Mary's Place, directly opposite the Student Association (The Union) building, and can be easily accessed by the disabled. The Careers Centre offers careers advice, careers information resources and also co-ordinates and delivers a wide ranging programme of fairs, presentations and workshops. The service aims to meet the needs of all students and its resources cover: * Getting started * Career planning * Occupational choices * Work experience * Further study * Graduate opportunities * Work and study abroad * Gap year opportunities * Application and interview coaching The Careers Centre also runs a Job Shop service which advertises term time employment opportunities in St Andrews. You need to call in at the Careers Centre Reception to join. You will then automatically receive email alerts of new postings. The Centre is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday. The Christmas closure is advertised on the website. During the summer the service closes between 1 and 2pm. Part-time jobsYou have to be quick with part time jobs as they go quite quickly. The University pay well and there are always restaurants and shops looking to take on staff. Religious facilitiesWe have a lot of churches and a really active CU. (With emphasis on the 'really' - I've never seen quite so many Christians gravitate to the same place all at once. It's quite intimidating really.) SocialThe social life in St Andrews is great considering how small the town is. A lot of it is pub or coffeeshop based but if you choose St Andrews I doubt you're the type of preson who loves clubs! However Fat Sams in Dundee is popular and easy to get to. A lot of social activities are based around societies and friendship groups. Bars, Pubs and clubsPubs - The Whey Pat; The Castle; The Raisin; the Crit; The Central. Bars - Dourthy Neebors; Westport (Mon-thur cocktails £2.50); The Oak rooms; The lizard; The Vic (boozeday tuesday, drinks £1.25); Aikmans; The Cellar Bar; Ma Bells. There are a lot more! Coffeeshops - beanscene; couch; taste; harbour house; Northpoint; starbucks; costa. EventsClubs and societiesThere are a huge number of societies - over 100, so there will be something for everyone. Most also have their own website. If you don't fancy any existing ones, you only need about 10 members to set up a new one too! They usually cost between £3-£5 each to join but remember, don't go signing up to everything straight away. Some people sign up and pay for things that they never use, its easy to go crazy and waste a lot of money at the fayres.
AccommodationAccommodation policyFor first year, provided you return the application form in time, you're guaranteed a place in university accommodation. The form is sent out when you're made an offer, although you don't get any specific information through for a conditional until they've got your exam results. When you fill in the accommodation application form, you can't choose which hall you go into, but you can always try your luck and ask for a specific one when you apply. They also ask for your preferences on the following: Catered vs. Self-CateredThe cost of catered accommodation covers all your meals, making it easier to budget for the year. You also don't need to spend time trekking to Morrisons to buy food, and you don't have to fuss about washing up. This is also a good option if you're from further away and don't want the hassle of storing pots and pans over the summer. The meal times are fixed, which can be awkward if you don't want to eat at the time food is available. There are cooking facilities in halls, but because they're only used a couple of times a week, they're typically not amazing, so if you like to bake, or are picky about your food, it might be worth considering self catering. En-suite vs. StandardIf you choose en-suite, be prepared to pay a little more for your accommodation. Some en-suite rooms have showers, and others come with a bath and a shower. Single vs. SharedOn the application form, they ask for interests/hobbies, and whether you're more outgoing or reserved, and also what kind of time you'd typically get up and go to bed. These factors are, presumably, taken into account when pairing up room-mates, or even considering who lives near who. The shared rooms are for two people of the same sex. Different pairs of room-mates get along differently - some just click and have an amazing time, some coexist in the same space without any great interaction (either positive or otherwise), and some can't abide each other. Bear in mind that even if you do have a single room, your neighbours will probably still be able to hear clattery typing, loud music and any midnight shenanigans, so the absence of a room-mate doesn't grant you total freedom. Postgraduate residencesIf you're looking for postgraduate accommodation, there's a list of stuff for that on the guide to residences page. Some residences are mixed undergrad and postgrad, and some are only one or the other. FacilitiesResidencesThe university's guide to residences has lots of useful stuff, although I think the current students on TSR agreed that the photos from that link aren't particularly reflective or flattering of reality. There are two basic categories: Catered
Self-Catered
Andrew Melville HallLocation: 15/20 minute walk from town. Is right next to New Hall and the biomedical sciences/chemistry/Gateway buildings. Near to a beach, the fitness centre and the Links golf course.
David Russell AppartmentsLocation: 3rd furthest hall from town right next to Fife Park but in St Andrews that doesn’t mean much! It’s around 25 minute walk from the centre of town which can be cut to 10/15 minutes on a bike. It’s about a 10 minute walk to north haugh which is where most sciences are taught, and where Uni Hall, New Hall and Andrew Melville hall are located. There is a regular bus service from the front of DRA into town costing 80p for students (or less if you buy weekly tickets) for those who are just that bit lazy (or hungover)
 Accommodation: DRA is the most modern accommodation with the oldest building being completed in 2002 and the newest in 2006. The site is made up of 15 blocks or houses each with 11 or 12 flats housing 5 students and a central facilities building. The site is very pretty and designed with a modern feel with most buildings over looking the central pond. Each bedroom is fairly large has amongst other things a double bed, a tv, ensuite (with a shower) and free access to the internet and shared rooms are rare. The in the flats themselves 5 people share a large kitchen with everything you would expect and even a dishwasher, though crockery and cutlery have to be provided by yourselves (some pans and baking trays are provided). Each person in the flat also gets their own lockable cupboard in the kitchen to store food ect if they want to, though most of the time people tend not to bother as with so few sharing kitchens people tend not to steal food like you sometimes get in other halls.
By Steeeeevo. Fife ParkSee DRA(above) for information on the facilities building etc. I'm going to write something for this in a wee while. For now, I'll give a wee summary: 6 people, 1 house, 1 shower room, 1 bathroom, very cheap, not amazingly nice, but it's not bad when you're spending so little. Is a bit tired, and breaches HMO standards because you're only meant to have 5 people to 1 shower. It'll be around for another couple of years, but they're planning to expand DRA-style buildings int he area, possibly catered, and then get rid of FP.
McIntosh Hall (Chattan)Location: 30 second walk from town. Close to the union (so great for staggering home after a night out) Market St (aka all the shops) and is also 5 minutes from most of the University (arts) departments, library, the quad and the Buchanan building. 10 minutes walk (max) from the science buildings. Also close to the West Sands for early morning beach jogging, and some of the views of the beach from the upper floor windows of hall are amazing. Chattan is, however, down a side street, so it is also nice and quiet for being so centrally located.
We get 19 meals a week: 3 meals a day Monday – Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday. There is a kitchen on each floor for the evening meals at weekends, and although these are fairly small, and pretty basic (cooker, microwave and fridge) they do the job, and you can always eat out if you don’t fancy cooking.
By Chicklet21. New HallLocation: Right in front of Andrew Melville. For about four weeks i never knew Andrew Melville was behind us.... Anyway, Andrew Melville is a sinking/crashing ship, and New Hall is the Swedish prison. Easily recognisable by the sniper turrets.
By dragon500uk St Salvator's Hall (Sallies)Location: Practically in the centre of town, closest hall to a lot of the arts buildings. Not quite so good if you're doing sciences, but it's a short walk home if you've been out at night. We back on to the scores, and some of the rooms have amazing sea views. Downsides, can be a bit chilly! Right next door to Younger hall (the music centre etc...), and about a minute from the library.
By WhiteSugarMouse.
University HallI was in Uni Hall for first year, and they've been doing work on it since then, so I have no idea how up-to-date all of this is - please remember that and read it in the past tense! Also, if anyone has any more recent information on Uni Hall, please write a mini-guide or just correct me.
There were also big boxes of rolls and sliced bread (white and wholemeal) available at every meal, along with the option of one piece of fruit and one cup of fruit juice. The most entertaining thing about the food is that in one day, you could eat: Potato waffles for breakfast, baked potato with potato salad for lunch, baked potatoe with mashed/boiled potatoes and potato salad for tea. sadly, I never quite managed this.
Private sectorThere are various letting agencies in town. Places in town seem more expensive than those further out, but generally it's a relatively expensive place to stay. Houses take usually in the range of 2-4 people, with houses for 5 or more people being rarer. There is a high demand for 4-person houses, it seems. This is probably because 4 is a good number. Student unionPricesAlcohol, well it depends on how much you drink. Union and DRA prices (heres where I try and use my crappy memory) are £1.70 for a pint of tennents, £2.20 for stella, A shot of Vodka is £1 or £1.30 with coke, most shots are £1.50 or £1.60 bottles of magners are £3.20 I think and other bottles are around the £2-£2.50 mark, a pint of pepsi / lemonade is £1.20 (£1.40 in DRA) if you're a non-drinker (there are other things available but that all I can think of now). Most other places charge a bit more but most places are still pretty reasonable (NOT EVERYWHERE though so be warned). The Modular SystemHow it worksSt. Andrews uses a modular system which can at first glance appear very confusing. A Bachelors [or MA] degree requires at least 480 credits and takes 4 years, whilst a Masters such as MPhys or MSc require 600 credits and takes 5 years. This means you are expected to take 120 credits each year which breaks down to 60 a Semester; although it is normally acceptable to take 50 in one and 70 in another. Each module has assigned to it the number of credits it is worth. This usually corresponds to the amount of work involved. For example, a 20 credit module normally requires less work than a 30 credit module. First year modules are normally worth 20 credits, Second year modules are normally worth 30 and Honours modules [third,fourth and fifth year] can vary anywhere from 5 credits to 30. Choosing ModulesEach degree programme has specific modules that you must take in order to graduate with that degree; meaning that you must take these modules and are free to make up the remaining credits by taking modules of your own choosing. For single honours the required number of modules normally works out at one a semester in first year meaning that you are free to take two other subjects. Then in Second year the modules increase in size to 30 credits meaning you are free to continue one of the other two subjects from first year. Each module has a code attached to it. A typical module code looks like this: MT1002. The first two letters are the department code [ie. Mathematics] the first number is the year [ie. First Year] and then the last three numbers are the unique module code. It is perfectly possible to take modules from a different year provided you meet the pre-requisites. Things to be wary ofA number of modules [particularly in higher years] have pre-requisite modules meaning you can only take them if you have already taken the previous module. It is also worth making sure that modules don't clash by checking the Web timetable [only available inside St. Andrews]. Example First Year ModulesIf I was taking a single honours Physics degree then I would be required to take PH1011 and PH1012, both of which are worth 20 credits. This means that Semester 1 I could take [assuming no timetable clashes]:
Then in semester two I could take:
This combination means that I have met all the first year Physics requirements and can then proceed and take second year Physics, but it also means I have met all the requirements for first year Geography so I could also change my degree to Geography if I wasn't enjoying Physics. Sources of InformationYou can find more information on the modules required for a specific degree in the course catalogue. EnvironmentArchitecturePretty and grey. The pictures say it all! Local areaTeaching qualityApplying to St AndrewsThinking of applying to St Andrews? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other St Andrews ArticlesWhy not read these other St Andrews Articles? Links | 
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