Student review [#22456]
for History
at University of St Andrews
Saint Andrews, The United Kingdom
To pursue a career in History, Middle Eastern, and especially Iranian, Studies, the University of St Andrews is one of the best places possible. High-profile and highly knowledgeable lecturers, a great program, and the splendid amount of relevant books in the library easily help you to have a firm grip on previous scholarship, ideas, and of course, debates.
The best feature in sessions is the ability of instructors to prevent distraction from the discussion-based flow without manipulating how the students think. This demands good knowledge and presence of mind, which most instructors possess. They are also always there for help and ready to have a conversation with you, in which you will get good advice, and enjoy a part of their contagious keenness to their research interests.
Managers see diversity as an opportunity and are quite supportive of women, international students (from more than 140 countries), and of course, all gender, sexuality, race, and ability minorities. The university itself has a respectful, high-spirit atmosphere, with mostly helpful staff. It is on an eco-friendly pathway, going ahead fast (which means could still be improved).
However, there is not exclusively good news; the accommodation in the town is expensive with mediocre quality (one of the reasons some people prefer to live in Dundee);
St Andrews is not the most exciting place to live (the second reason!);
Sometimes you receive a response from your department or other authorities way slower than what you would expect (to be hoped to change after the pandemic);
and finally, you might be overwhelmed by emails (almost all of them are necessary, but indeed could be quite shorter if political correctness does not bother the writers that much).
Finally, I assume St Andrews graduates will have pretty good chances based on their advantages in terms of CV, knowledge, and integrity. With fewer positions available for historians and Middle-Eastern specialists, this might become even more important in the future.