University of St Andrews
speciality: English Language & Literature

I had a meaningful experience at the University of St Andrews.
I was fortunate to learn from world-class educators who brought academic rigor and unique perspectives to the classroom. I also appreciated the breadth-then-depth curriculum structure, with two years of sub-honours followed by two years of honours, which allowed me to explore widely before narrowing my focus.

One of the things I loved most about St Andrews was its setting. The town is saturated in history, which you can feel in the cobblestones, the ruins, the sea. There’s something grounding about studying in a place with such a long intellectual and cultural legacy. I also liked the small size of the university community. At the same time, that intimacy could sometimes feel limiting and suffocating, like you were in a bubble you couldn’t quite step outside of.

Diversity was another challenge. There was a noticeable lack of racial, socioeconomic, and ideological diversity among students and faculty. Many students came from similar, often elite, backgrounds and hadn’t been meaningfully challenged to think beyond those experiences. That lack of representation sometimes narrowed the scope of classroom conversations and made it harder to find a truly global or inclusive perspective.

At the end of the day, would I recommend St Andrews? Yes, especially for students who are looking for a top-tier education in a historic environment. But I’d also encourage prospective students to seek out opportunities (both on and off campus) that expand their worldview and push them beyond the comfort of the familiar.

At sub-honours, the university’s module system feels very flexible, as students can choose modules from subjects that are not part of their degree title. However, at honours, the selection of modules available within your subject(s) changes each year. Some years are better than others. Additionally, the addition of a dissertation in your final year makes it much harder to choose modules you are actually interested in. Even with the option to not do a dissertation (an option available to joint-honours students), the student’s choices will still be restricted, as they need to do a year-long module rather than 2 semester-long modules. It becomes rather restrictive. No matter what module you choose, however, the teacher of that module will be extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject and, although you may not find it the most interesting, you still appreciate the passion that they feel for it.

This programme provided a substantial variety of textual material, and we interacted with many theoretical spaces and academics in the taught portion of the MLitt course. One of the significant elements of the programme is its interdisciplinarity, with students also receiving many opportunities to expand their field of study beyond the parameters of the programme, whether it was for presentations, essays, or the dissertation project. This facilitated diverse discussions between classmates and the expansive bodies of work, with many people choosing to study texts from outside of the dates outlined in the programme’s handbook, leading to generative applications of theory. The lecturers and staff were very open to these forms of work. I will note, however, that there was a limited focus on Scottish literature within the taught component of the programme, and this should be taken into account when applying.