Ask a Current Student Thread

Hi Adam,
I appreciate your help.
1. Do you have many mature students around (over 30 y/o)? I'm possibly starting Finance & Management studies (I have offer from Aberdeen but still waiting for Edinburgh to respond)

2. Regarding accommodation, which would suit for me as a mature student who values quietness?

3. Did you found some courses almost impossible to comprehend or has studying been easy for you?

4. What was/is your monthly budget is you don't calculate your accommodation costs?

Thanks!

Hi Adam,

I've also got a couple of questions.

a) WHat exchange year opportunities were presented to you and did you/why didnt you take up on them?

b) What is the part-time work situation like in Aberdeen? And what is an idea of wages?

c) What's the music scene like? Any local venues etc. Is it doable to drive down to Edi/GG just for a concert?

Chur!

Hi all


-Adam

Hi Adam,a few questions...
1. In first year did you go catered or self-catered and what was your opinion of your option?
2. Is there anywhere which is considered the best accommodation, particularly for first year students?
3. How expensive is living in Aberdeen (student wise)?
4.How easy is it to get from the Hillhead accommodation to the main campus and are there buses or do you have to walk?

And just overall your opinion of the Uni
Thanks!

I am really interedted in sharing a flat wit students from there... as I don't find one cheap room I will have to choose to Napier Universities as there are a lot of links on facebook pages and they are not that expensive. Any help to look for cheap rooms in Aberdeen or someone from there who shares any room?

Thanks

Hey, thought I'd reply to this as I am a 1st (nearly 2nd) year student of languages at Aberdeen.

1. I am in South House - self-catered halls in Hillhead. They are pretty good, they are very cosy and the room sizes aren't too bad. Most of the accommodation now has been modernised, South House is next apparently!

2.Depends what you want out of accommodation, and your own budget. Obviously going into New Carnegie is good as you have your own ensuite and the rooms are more modern and you guys would have a living space (in South House we only have the kitchen table).

3. For food shopping, you just need to shop around a bit. Luckily Lidl is close to Hillhead, and it's not expensive really. A lot of people (including me) also get online deliveries, such as Asda (I hear they are dropping their delivery cost to £1?). Clubs can be expensive - Institute is £5 entry and drinks are not that cheap either, but if you go on Tuesdays to places like Underground it is free guest list entry (make use of guest lists! discounted entry!) and £1 a drink.

4. Hillhead is a 15-20 minute walk to and from the actual University itself through Seaton park (slightly hilly, you can get out of breath haha but good exercise), but there are also buses in the centre of Hillhead which take under 10 minutes to get there, running every 20 minutes. A huge reminder is that if you are a young Scottish student, remember to take your Youth Bus Pass! A £2.50 or so journey to the town centre becomes £1.65 with one of them. Student Day Ticket to hop on and off whenever you want during the day is £3.50 with University card. Night buses also run and are £3 (can't get discounts unfortunately), they don't run on weekdays but at the weekend they can take you home at like 3am.

Thank you so much! Do you have any opinions on self catered/catered? I'm having a really hard time choosing...
Your answers/advice was so helpful thank you! I just need to choose accommodation now..

Well I'm just in self-catering so I can't really comment on the catered, but I personally don't see much point in the catered ones, if you are a picky person you should go self-catered. Surely you'd also just want something of your own choice rather than what's on offer. They also don't give you food whenever you want, only certain meals, so you'll still have to prepare meals anyway, or if you aren't on time for the meals. To me, it doesn't seem like the best option, but if you have the spare funds then it's entirely up to you.

Thanks for the thread. I have some questions about transportation. Do students mostly take the bus to town? or walk? (£2.50 sounds a bit expensive) And is cycling a common thing in Aberdeen?

To town, yes, most people take the bus because otherwise it is quite a long journey there and back. £2.50 is for one-way, so most students use their student card to buy a £3.50 day ticket, to go there and come back however many times they want that one day. Cycling is quite common, there are plenty of bicycle storage racks on Hillhead, many cycle to university.

Sorry another question. I chose a self-catered hall, but I wonder if it's actually possible to walk-in to the catered halls and just pay cash for a meal?