St Andrews stats: meet your spouse, become an alcoholic?

[anon1]

I've heard this said in a couple of places now - it's something along the lines of

"When studying at St Andrews, one in four students meet their future spouse, and one in eight end up with an alcohol dependency".

I'm not so interested in the alcohol bit - but is it true about the spouse thing? Does anyone know the source of this?

cheers!

[Senethro]

Its probably true of almost any university really, unless its some college that only does Astronomy, electrical engineering and computer science.

Does anyone else get the fear of dying alone when they see schoolfriends facebook status start involving marriage/engagements?

Barely more than half a semester left, I should really make an effort to ask out this girl... :/

[queen of scots]

I met my husband here

Don't know if it's as high as 1 in 4 meet their future spouse though. I've heard various figures over the years.

[Duggeh]

I married Jack Daniels, killing two birds with one stone.

[Abserdman]

Chemistry had a day in Week 2 where previous graduates came back to talk to us about what they were doing now and how they got there. Out of the 6 people who were talking 4 of them had married people they'd met in St Andrews.

Looks like pretty good odds to me!

[Duggeh]

I met Orudge here.....

[theshadowhost]

Chemistry had a day in Week 2 where previous graduates came back to talk to us about what they were doing now and how they got there. Out of the 6 people who were talking 4 of them had married people they'd met in St Andrews.

Looks like pretty good odds to me!

Maybe the reason they came back to talk is that the person they married was still here?

TBH i have heard these stats before, but i dunno how true it is. I graduated two years ago and have only heard of two people i met getting married to other st andrews people (not each other), and none of my friends.

in regards to the people i know on facebook getting married, it seems really too young to be getting married to me, (at 23) and some of the people seem younger than that, but i think thats just cause i am comparing it to my own life and that getting married at my age would a stupid move for me to make.

Maybe i am just jaded but i would like to see how long these people stay together...

[ChrisH]

Wow, the odds have lengthened since I started. I was told 3/4 find their partner and 1/4 become drink sozzled, with no clear answer as to whether there was overlap or not.

But then maybe those numbers are just McIntosh's!

[Hennessy]

It's interesting to me that you "meet" your potential spouse here, like it's some sort of unwinnable thing that will take hold of you once you leave St Andrews (much like alcoholism). I wonder if people meet here and decide to get married or come across each other years later, remember getting wasted one fateful night and getting together in a bed/corridor/bathroom/kitchen/garden and sort of cling to that.

I wouldn't mind getting married to a student from St Andrews, there's a higher probability than the rest of the country that they'll be:

a) Above average intelligence (able to hold a conversation and look interested)
b) Dedicated (to get through four years here)
c) Talented (lots of different clubs here, a wide range of interests)
d) I was going to put attractive here, and there are some rare gems, but the Scottish weather hardly works for your tan does it? Neither does the precautionary need for a warm waterproof clothing on a regular basis.
e) Loaded. The collective Daddy and Mummy sure send a lot of their privately educated fashionista spawn here, and seem to have an endless pot of money with which to support them, but the credit crisis may change this.

That or you get married to a idiotic chancer with no talent, no sex appeal, a bare bank account and a drink problem. Lovely.

[FunkyBanana]

That or you get married to a idiotic chancer with no talent, no sex appeal, a bare bank account and a drink problem. Lovely.[/quote]

Heyyy, that's my dating profile you've stolen there...

[Gubbins]

Its probably true of almost any university really, unless its some college that only does Astronomy, electrical engineering and computer science.

Hey...! Out of ten astronomers I can think of (admittedly, some did indeed turn to physics), three married or will marry St Andreans. That gives a standard error range of 13-47%, which corroborates with most statistics I've heard... so ner! Pttttttth!

I did hear 1/3 met their partner and 1/3 became alcoholics, and that numerous debates were had over whether it is the same third.

[Haunted]

My ambassador told me it was 1/3 married and 1/4 developed alcohol problems.

Anyone know what the statistic is for dropping out/not graduating?

[queen of scots]

Hey...! Out of ten astronomers I can think of (admittedly, some did indeed turn to physics), three married or will marry St Andreans.

My husband's an astronomer, funnily enough!