You hear it in the Californian drawls at dinner parties. You feel it when a New Yorker lands into freshers week and knows a quarter of their cohort. You see it in the apartments that resemble New England summer homes. Nearly one in five students at the University of St. Andrews are American—more than any other university in the U.K.— and it shows.
Tucked into the once sleepy East Neuk of Fife, the town has been turned into what some call “mini-Nantucket”, where around every street corner you hear an American accent. This is not your average British university experience.
Over the past two decades St. Andrews has been transformed from a quaint, windswept Scottish university into a globally recognized academic institution—a kind of “Ivy-adjacent” outpost, attracting Americans who are also applying to highly rated U.S. schools. “On paper St. Andrews is 20 percent American, but it definitely feels like quite a lot more,” says one student from the U.S.
A key reason for this influx? The Common Application, more widely known as The Common App. Among other U.K. universities, such as Edinburgh and Warwick, St. Andrews is available on the platform— the American answer to Ucas—that lets students apply to multiple universities in one go. “Without it I wouldn’t have applied,” one third-year student reflects while another admitted, “I honestly think that’s why so many Americans come to St. Andrews.”
For many Ivy League-aspiring candidates, St. Andrews provides a competitive alternative. “There was no way I was ever getting into any of those,” one student from the U.S. says, but “St. Andrews in my mind, and also in my parents’ mind, was still a very good education and a lot easier to get into.”
With Columbia topping $90,000 (£68,000) a year, St. Andrews offers a tempting alternative: a world-renowned four-year degree, easier to get into and far cheaper overall. The same logic applies to Ivies and top non-Ivies alike. One international relations and French student sums up her decision to choose $35,000 for St. Andrews over $90,000 for UCLA: “That’s honestly what it came down to.”
It’s not just the price tag that’s drawing in American students. St. Andrews has cultivated a prestigious reputation among the East Coast elite, with university recruiters making regular trips to New York to appear on panels at top prep schools in the so-called pipeline.
“Lots of schools would come together and there would be a representative from St. Andrews,” says one third-year student from New York who attended a private school for girls in the city. She notes that these talks were particularly targeted at the city’s single-sex institutions. Another student recalls how a visit from a St. Andrews representative to her school in Connecticut became the deciding factor in her application.
Perhaps surprisingly, connections are solidified for many American students before they fly across the pond. One student from New York says that he recognized about 60 students from home and from other states on arriving in his first year.
“The general social scene of uptown New York is transplanted here,” says another student from New York. “They’ve all grown up together, their parents all work together, and they all summer in the Hamptons together.” Now they’re all at St. Andrews together.
“I remember one of the first nights I arrived,” a student from New York reminisces, “I went to dinner with my family, and there was a private gathering in the restaurant of students and parents from back home. I thought, how do all these people know each other already?”
After receiving offers, many American students attend pre-term mixers. One student joined about 80 offer holders at a gathering in Los Angeles hosted by a current St. Andrews student; another met about 30 prospective peers in New York. At these events, some were even “adopted” into academic families—a St. Andrews tradition where third-year “parents” select first-year “children” to join their social circle.
“There’s this kid who I grew up with who adopted me before I even got here, it was all New York City kids that they knew of before,” one geography and sustainable development student says.
These Upper East Siders’ habits have rippled across the town itself: Goyard bags in the library, Zadig & Voltaire cashmere for a coffee at Pret and a fresh Dyson blow-dry for a 9am lecture.
“The general university culture is very different when there is such a big wealth divide,”one British student observes. “None of them live off pesto pasta as most students should.” Many enjoy memberships to the five-star Old Course Hotel gym, even though one student added, “There’s really no need for it—it’s further from campus than the uni gym.”
An American student describes walking into first class on a post-Christmas flight from JFK to Edinburgh. There were about 70 St. Andrews students on the flight, and of the 20 seats in first class 10 were filled with students from New York. “These people were sitting in first class on their way back to school,” she says bemused.
Traveling around the three streets of the coastal town, one student says, “I know people that take taxis all the time.” However, it’s not only the Americans who travel in style. One third-year recalls an international student who had “a guy with a G wagon on call pretty much at all times” —the shorthand used for the G-Class SUV manufactured by Mercedes-Benz.
And for reading weeks and spring breaks, “the travel can be really flashy”, one student says, speaking of groups of wealthy East Coast Americans who often holiday in large groups, renting out massive villas. “They’re on boats and they go to these very expensive dinners, taking taxis all around.”
As for the housing? Meet “the Farmore Kids” —the offspring of the East Coast elite who enlist the same interior design shop that upholstered the sofa for Prince William’s flat when he was at St. Andrews.
With a keen eye for what’s popular back in the States, Farmore Interiors has become the go-to for American students and their families. The process is simple. Many parents will purchase a place for their child, and Farmore will fully renovate, furnish and transform it.
“I am known in New York by the New York mums,” says its owner Juliet Rathbone. “We sell similar brands that they can buy at home, so rather than schlepping it all the way over, they can come to us and create a little bit of home in their flat here.”
Farmore also provides an an “all-encompassing” range of concierge services for predominantly American students, including private doctor’s appointments, airport drop-offs and event planning.
From graduation parties to Thanksgiving dinners, Rathbone organizes private events for her “Farmore Kids” and their families. For those who want to entertain in their own houses, her service also includes caterers, fun napkins and table settings. “We always have back-up and can drop them more chairs,” Rathbone explains.
Even for those not enlisting the help of Farmore, Thanksgiving can be an opulent affair. American families intending to jet over to celebrate in the Scottish town swap turkey-hunting tips on the “Parents of Students at the University of St. Andrews” Facebook group and order as many gourmet hampers as the local farm shop, Balgove Larder, can produce. Private chefs are organized in Airbnbs and lavish Thanksgiving spreads are served at the Michelin-starred 18, located in the Rusacks Hotel. One third-year student attended a private dinner at the Hide, an exclusive dining experience where 40 guests came together to enjoy a festive feast.
When they’re not hosting dinner parties, students can be seen attending a variety of upmarket events. The charity fashion show DONT WALK—sponsored by Vivienne Westwood, L’Oréal and Morgan Stanley—is a regular fixture. Auctioned items reach over $1300, and Moët flows all night. This isn’t your run-of-the mill student party.
The student-led St. Andrews fashion show, which once featured the future Princess of Wales in a certain see-through dress, began as a creative outlet for students affected by 9/11. Today it continues with a large American contingent and features 1,000 guests, designer clothes and runway-worthy choreography.
“They bring really great energy to the social scene,” said one British student of the Americans involved, describing them as “very eager” to plan events. However, “they don’t really know how to budget”. With tickets starting at $128, the cost of attending these events is far above the norm for U.K. universities, more comparable to those in New York and Los Angeles, according to one student.
Despite the lack of an official fraternity, that culture inevitably seeps into university life. Where many Americans are seeking a traditional college experience, societies are naturally influenced by sorority and fraternity culture. Some flat leases even tend to circulate within American friend groups, much like in frat houses, with rumours suggesting that “initiations” could be required to snag a sought-after spot.
Her Campus—a glossy lifestyle publication with a distinctly sorority vibe—has weekly photoshoots with strict Pinterest dress codes and personalized cocktails at events. One member said: “The social events, taking cute photos, having cute girl things and then doing it for charity feels sorority-esque to me.” Another believes that “it has transformed over the past two years … [now] it is very similar to a lot of my friends from home who are in sororities”.
Games traditionally associated with fraternities—such as beer pong and beer die—have “become part of the social climate”, said one student. As another put it, this brings a new dynamic to St. Andrews: “In America, you have that slightly more fratty, house-party vibe at college and because we are such a small town it’s fun to have that energy.”
The university blends Ivy League exclusivity with a one-of-a kind social scene. American influences shape everything—from lifestyle to societies —making the experience truly unique. As one British student put it, “I wouldn’t have had this anywhere else in the U.K.”
Tilly Frain-Bell is a third-year student at the University of St. Andrews
