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The facilities are great and the teaching staff and professors are lovely and very good at what they do. As with many Universities, the chief problems of the institution lie with the administration, which is often slow and cumbersome to deal with. It is also unlikely unlikely that you will be offered help from the university directly, but if you reach out you will very quickly be met with the assistance you need, even if the person you asked isn’t technically required to help you with whatever matter you’ve asked about. In short, everyone is very helpful, but you will have to ask for help. I can earnestly recommend every language program at the university aside from Spanish, other than that one outlier they are all very good and well organized. I would also recommend most programs at this university, aside from Spanish, Art History and Film Studies. The location is an optimal setting for serious academics, because the town itself doesn’t offer much of a night life; so if you need a university setting that will force you to get work done, this is the place for you. That being said, plenty of students often go out in droves to the many pubs in town and there is a very vibrant community of student societies and activities to take part in, so you’re unlikely to be bored here. If you enjoy sport, there is probably a team for you here no matter your skill level or how obscure your sport of choice is. The dance team and musical societies here are also top notch, despite this not by any means being an arts university. Within these teams and arts societies are a number of very tight knit communities, so you should have no trouble making friends either. On top of that, there are a plethora of lovely spaces to study in throughout the main town and its outskirts. I would definitely bring a car up if you can, because it’s much less of a hassle to get out of town if you have one on hand. Also, the housing market can be pretty brutal and quite expensive here, though that is a fairly universal trend recently. Overall, I would definitely recommend this Uni for it’s academics and community, but would caution anyone who needs a diverse range of options for shopping, eating, or a night out.

The International Relations program here lives up to it’s name, although IR as a subject is quite difficult and frustrating at baseline, especially for the first two years before you specialize. The professors are very good and cover a wide variety of theories and topics, because the lecturer changes every week for the first two years. Each is an expert in their field, which is fascinating, but without in person lectures it has definitely been harder to make connections with the lecturers. Tutorials are in person, and you will have the same tutor every week during each module. The first year IR class is around 450 strong though, so there are a number of different tutors whom the students will be split between. Because of the class size, lectures are still not in person, but are speculated to return to in person teaching by next year. Also, IR assessments are essay based rather than exam based, which I find helps take some of the pressure off. In the latter two years of study, students specialize into a few key topics and topics will study under one lecturer for each of the modules they select. With only 1 hour of in person contact per week (there are usually 3-4 per week in non-Covid times) I often find myself wanting more contact hours, because that is how I learn best. I understand, however, that this point is subjective and depends on the preference of the individual student. With that in mind, I can definitely recommend studying IR here, but only if you really love it. The Arabic program here is lovely and very well organized. The tutors are all very good and all of them are either Arab or have spent significant time in the Middle East, allowing them to give both insider and outsider perspectives on very valuable cultural insights about Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African cultures. The tutors are very supportive and focused on assisting our learning however they can, and I and many of the students have become very close with our tutors. We have 5-6 in person contact hours per week, with additional office hours offered as well. The course mainly focuses on reading and writing Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), with additional emphasis placed on speaking and listening startling in second year. Starting in second year, optional courses in Shami (a Levantine dialect of Arabic) are also available on the side. The school of Arabic offers and encourages study abroad options in Jordan, Qatar and Morocco in third year, as well as courses in Media Arabic or Classical Arabic. Fourth year offers further specialization in both of these areas. I think beginning with reading and writing competency in MSA is smart, as it gives students a strong foundation in Arabic grammar and an unfamiliar script. This allows students to more easily pick up dialects during or after their studies at St Andrews. This way does take longer than starting with a dialect, but allows for an understanding of where the dialects come from and how they derive from standard Arabic. The program is very difficult, but I can’t recommend it enough.