Mehmet, Final Year Astrophysics, 2009

Over the past five years at St. Andrews, I have found it extremely difficult to regret any part of my choice to study here. Between a fantastic department with friendly academics and a supportive student environment, and a lovely little town where all my friends live but 10 minutes away, every new semester in St. Andrews presents new experiences and challenges.

Being in my final year, I feel that I am very familiar with the School of Physics and Astronomy. The past four years have been challenging to say the least; and yet every single course I have taken (all chosen carefully from the plethora of courses available) has been interesting and captivating in different ways. Not only has my understanding of physics and astronomy balooned, but I have gained considerable mathematical and computational skills, as well as skills in scientific communication and collaboration. All of us are confident that we will succeed in any career we find ourselves going into -- and the choices are huge!

Social life is, to me, as important as the academic side of things at university -- and St. Andrews could not be more accomodating. Between the scores of societies that cater to every interest from politics to music to food, the numerous pubs dotting our streets and the fact that almost every available flat is occupied by a student, it's easy to feel like this town is a home away from home, and that your fellow students are family.

Over the years I've been here, I have been an enthusiastic member of the School's Student-Staff Council, which is a body that exists to encourage dialogue between students and staff in the department. Having been a student representative for astronomy since my first year, I've had the priviledge of seeing notable changes in the way courses are run thanks to feedback from students reaching staff through this medium. Furthermore, it has been a great way to meet fellow students in other years (a great way of getting some insight on what courses to pick!) as well as the lecturers at the department, who are all extremely friendly and approachable.

As an international student, I found it very easy to integrate into the diverse and friendly community at St. Andrews. The university boasts students from over 100 nationalities, and this is certainly evident in the diverse number of cultural societies that exist; not to mention the fact that it is so common to hear a multitude of languages on the streets at any time.

I thoroughly encourage anyone with a passionate interest in physics and astronomy to study at St. Andrews.

 

First posted BDS 17.11.09