- Beth & Tim Manners
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read

“Good afternoon! My name is Isabella. You can call me Izzy or Bella or Isabella, or whatever your heart desires!” She smiled broadly, extended her hand, and nearly curtsied. Her long blonde hair cascaded over a woolly, heavy scarlet-red robe. As she stepped out from behind her desk, we couldn’t help but notice her very stylish knee-high, brown-leather boots.
We had been in Scotland for a few days and were still adjusting to the amazing warmth and occasional eccentricities of its denizens, but Izzy, Bella, or Isabella, was something else again. She was certainly unlike any other tour guide we had encountered on our many college campus visits. Her attire was particularly puzzling, given that it was hot and summery outside.
St. Andrews University, located in its incredibly historic and picturesque, eponymous seaside village, is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world. The most ancient would be Oxford (c. 1096) and Cambridge (c. 1209). St. Andrews came along in 1413. The town’s famous golf course also dates back about 600 years.
The village itself is small, quaint, and bustling. The total town population is about 22,000, of which approximately 10,000 are students. With its mix of shops, pubs, and other intriguing eateries, it is everything a college town should be.
We were joined by about a dozen prospective students and their parents, a mix of Americans and Europeans. We were there because of a palpable increase in interest among our students recently. It’s easy to imagine why any young person – especially a generation raised on Harry Potter – would find St. Andrews nothing short of entrancing.
We saw the school’s buildings only from the outside, but their cut-stone, antique-gothic style is a vibe that other universities (we’re looking at you, Yale) could only achieve by acid-washing and even scorching their building materials. The one exception is the St. Andrews library, which dates back only to 1976 and features a blocky, brutalist design that was popular in that era.
You may have heard that St. Andrews is where Prince William, England’s future King, met Kate Middleton, now known as Catherine, Princess of Wales. They began as “just friends,” and legend has it that Kate didn’t quite catch William’s eye until a student fashion fundraiser when she catwalked in a sheer black lace dress. So much for red, woolen robes.
As we stood outside St. Salvator’s residence hall, where the royal couple initially encountered one another as first-years, Isabella noted the extra-glossy, bulletproof window panes where William once lived.
We passed through a magnificent stone archway and stood on a cobblestone sidewalk with the initials “PH” embedded near the curb. Lots of colleges have a legend of a spot on which you must never set foot, or else you will fail your exams and not graduate. At St. Andrews, this is that spot.
On February 29, 1528, a 24-year-old Protestant theology student named Patrick Hamilton was burned at the stake here because of his outspoken criticism of the Catholic Church. The execution took hours because of wet wood: about as grim as it gets. Even though the curse didn’t apply to us, we proceeded with care.
Unlike most American universities, where students typically don’t choose a major until the end of their second year, students applying to St. Andrews must select their field of study when they apply. Instead of a “bachelor of arts” degree, graduates are awarded a “master of arts and social sciences.”
This sure sounds like an upgrade, even though it isn’t. It’s just a tradition that dates back to the school’s medieval origins, and St. Andrews doesn't want to change it. Science students earn a “bachelor of science” degree.
St. Andrews routinely ranks among the top universities in the UK, even surpassing Oxford and Cambridge in student satisfaction according to some surveys. The most popular majors include international relations, philosophy, history, divinity, and the sciences (especially physics, mathematics, and biology). It is known for a strong research culture, particularly in the liberal arts.
As of 2025-2026, annual tuition for non-UK students is £31,670 ($40,190 USD at this writing). It is £9,535 for English, Welsh, and Northern Ireland students and £1,820 for those from Scotland. Scholarships are available via an application that is due at the end of January.
College is a long way from home, both figuratively and, where St. Andrews is concerned, literally – at least for American students. All told, about 42% of the school’s students are from outside the United Kingdom. This reality leads directly to one of the university’s most cherished and distinctive traditions: the “academic family.”
To help assimilate, newly arrived first-years are “adopted” by their more seasoned classmates as their “children.” Each “family” usually consists of one or two “parents” (who may or may not be an actual couple) and several children. Then comes “Raisin Weekend” in October, where parents and their children exchange raisin-related gifts and have a big shaving-cream fight on the Lower College Lawn. “It’s lots of good fun,” Izzy told us.
Isabella also explained that she was wearing a heavy woolen robe on a bright, sunny day because it’s yet another St. Andrews tradition. During formal events, first-years (known as Bejants) wear the robe squarely around their shoulders. Second-years (semi-Bejants) slip the robe off their right shoulder, and third-years (Tertians) drop it off the right side. Fourth-years (Magistrands) let it go off both shoulders.
This display is meant as a metaphor for increasing confidence along one’s academic journey.
Bella’s boots, apparently, were just made for walking.